Simple and tasty Malay snack- Prawn Fritters!

These are highly addictive and easy to make fritters! It resembles the Indian vadai as I added prawns. To give it additional texture and fragrance, I also added curry leaves and onions. It is a hit at gatherings and parties and will be gone in an instant so do make more!

Makes 8-10 medium size fritters
Ingredients:
1 pack Adabi Tepung Cucur Udang mix (available at Sheng Shiong Supermarket)
225ml water
20-30 tiny fresh prawns with shell on, washed, cleaned and pat dry
1 onion diced
1 handful of roughly chopped curry leaves

1. Whisk the adabi mix with water until you reach a thick consistency.
2. Fold in onions and curry leaves.
3. Heat up oil to 140 deg Celsius.
4. Place prawns in and on each spoon of batter and place in oil to deep fry till golden brown on each side.
5. Serve with raw green chili! Enjoy!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Savory ham & cheese petite pancakes for little hands

Pancakes are a hit among children usually. Instead of making it sweeter by adding golden syrup, why not try a savory version by adding honey shaved ham and sliced cheddar cheese? Honey shaved ham also make a better option than regular sliced ham as a thinner slice is used, making it lesser in sodium without compromising in taste as the texture of shaved ham is light and the taste of honey shaved ham with a choice meat cut is better than the regular picnic ham which is made of put anything but real meat, hence the price difference. You could also try using sliced turkey breast at the deli, whichever that works!
The brand of pancake mix used is morinaga. It uses wheat flour and produces really fluffy pancakes. The fluffiness makes it good for making this savory pancakes as the filling is hidden in the pancake itself.
Also, use a piping bag or a squeeze bottle to make it easier to create round petite bite sizes. My elder daughter loves these in her lunch box and I hope your children love it too! For my little daughter, I made them plain or you could add fresh berries and serve with applesauce.

Ingredients
150g Morinaga pancake mix
1 medium size egg
100ml full cream milk
Honey shaved ham diced
President sliced cheddar for burgers diced

First prepare pancake batter by whisking flour, milk and egg and spoon the mixture into a squeeze bottle or piping bag.
1. Heat happy call pan or non stick pan on low heat for 2 minutes.
2. Squeeze bite size round pancake batter on to pan.
3. Place ham and cheese in the middle of each pancake batter.
4. Squeeze more batter just to cover the fillings.
5. Wait till you see the batter is cool through then flip over.
6. Off the fire and let the remaining heat cook the pancake.
7. Now it's really to serve! Enjoy!

For young children, you may place sliced berries as fillings and serve with applesauce.

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Strawberry shortcake recipe: a simple taste for little ones

I got a four leaves strawberry shortcake for Trinity when she was 1 year old cos I feel that it is uncomplicated, simple sponge cake with fresh strawberries and since during infanthood, babies have not been exposed to cakes due to sugar and whole milk content, hence to begin eating, should be something light on the palette. And if all else fails, just eat the fresh strawberries for picture sake!
So for Tiffany's 1st birthday, I wanted her to have a strawberry shortcake as well. The only difference this time is that it is homemade! My baker friend Stephanie told me that strawberry shortcake consist of 2 things. A good sponge cake and creme Chantilly.
So I began researching on various recipes and in the end, I got 2 delicious recipes which worked together perfectly!

To create, I used my kenwood mixer and here's my tips:

1. Make sure eggs used in this recipe is 60g each and must be at room temperature. Cold eggs DO NOT reach their maximum potential when whipped which means that meringue for the creme Chantilly will not be as voluminous as it ought to be.
2. The traditional way to make creme Chantilly is to place your mixing bowl under a bowl of ice water but how are we going to achieve that using the kitchen stand mixer? Well, I place the entire mixing bowl and whisk attachment on the fridge and chilled it for at least 1-2 hours before use. This way, the bowl and whisk will be icy cold and nice!
3. I used Korean strawberries. These strawberries are really
Sweet and nice! If not, go for organic strawberries which has a tender texture and sweeter than regular strawberries.
4. Do try serving them as cupcakes literally. I got the silicon cupcake bakeware for coldstorage.
It comes with saucers too! In white or pink!

Here's my recipe combined from cakeboss' website and my creme chantilly recipe.

For sponge cake:
Recipe from the cake boss website

http://www.cakeboss.com/cakebossspongecake.aspx

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup butter (lightly salted)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt


1. Beat eggs in large mixing bowl with paddle attachment for 4 minutes. Do not skip this step!

2. Add sugar, and continue beating for another 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and stir on low until just combined.

3. In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Add to eggs and sugar on low speed until just combined.

4. In a saucepan, heat milk and butter on low heat just until butter is melted. Add to batter, beat just until combined.

5. Pour into 2 greased 20cm round cake pans and the silicon cupcakes moulds. I fill them
3/4 full

6. Bake at 160 deg celsius until the middle springs back when touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cupcakes took less than 20 minutes while the cake took 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand in pans for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto wire cooling racks and cool completely.

Hint: Cakes are close to being done when you start to smell them.


Creme Chantilly

2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place your metal mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the refrigerator and chill it for 2 hours.

2. Combine everything and whisk till soft peak.

3. Cover and chill the creme until ready for use.

Strawberry shortcake

1. Remove cakes from pans carefully.
2. Chill cake in fridge for at least 30minutes to cool them.
3. Place 1st layer of cake, a layer of creme chantilly.
4. Place sliced strawberries neatly and lavishly.
5. Place 2nd layer of sponge and place a layer of creme Chantilly and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Add 2nd layer of creme Chantilly and decorate with strawberries and it's ready!

Strawberry cupcake

1. Use a small sharp knife to make an incision in the middle of the cupcake. Remove a chunk, the hole should be the amount of creme Chantilly you want to fill with.
2. Use a piping bag and squeeze the creme Chantilly to fill the cupcake and place an inverted strawberry onto it!

Children will love filling the creme Chantilly and placing the strawberries! Do invite them to help!

Then it's party time!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

Review and recipe: Hakka abacus seeds 算盘子 quick fix!

We found this gem located at the basement of smith street chinatown wet market, a stall which has a banner stating "staircase stall since 1978". This stall has an amazing display of frozen goodness. We bought a few to try and the most outstanding one got to be the handmade cooked and frozen abacus seeds at SGD$7 for a large box!

All you need to do is to prepared the side ingredients and seasoning to stir fry together and you will get a satisfying meal! It was so convenient and good! The aroma of the yam was strong and it was chewy and tasty!

However, it is definitely more meaningful and economical to make it ourselves so I have also included the made from scratch abacus seeds recipe which is really easy!

Here's how I prepared the dish:

Abacus seeds:
Either store bought from chinatown wet market or
Made from scratch:
1 medium sized yam (about 500g)peeled and sliced
100g of tapioca flour sieved
A pinch of salt

1. Steam the yam until totally soft.
2. Mash the yam in a big bowl.
3. Add a pinch of salt.
4. Sieve in half of the flour and knead while yam is still hot.
5. Continue to sieve in the flour slowly and knead until you can shape the abacus seed and it doesn't stick to your fingers.
6. Coat lightly with excess flour to prevent the seeds from sticking before use.
7. In a pot of boiling water add just a teaspoon of oil and add the abacus seeds. Once floating, they are ready to be used. Do not over cook as you need to store fry the side ingredients together later on.
*you can also choose to wait for them to cool and pack them in an air tight container and leave them in the fridge for the next day use.

The picture of the fresh abacus seeds on a plate is made by my parents!

Ingredients:s
Group A:
500g Minced meat
1 1/2tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 teaspoons of corn starch
A dash of pepper
Group B:
1 box of ready hakka abacus seeds
4 Dried chinese Mushrooms soaked in hot water (keep the water)
1 dash of sugar
2 tablespoon minced and pan fried dried shrimps (you can make a batch before Hand and keep in the refrigerator. It's useful for Chinese cooking!)
1/2 tablespoon shallot sauce (refer to pic below, the best! Aromatic! Avail in Sheng Shiong supermarket )
1/2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (refer to pic below, my mum's favorite brand, taste is thick and nice. Avail in major supermarket)
1/2 bowl chicken stock

1. Combine group A and marinate for at least 30minutes.
2. Remove mushroom from water and press away excess water.
3. Dice mushrooms
4. Heat wok in medium heat. add oil. Wait for 30 seconds and add shallots.
5. Stir fry till partial golden, add mushrooms.
6. Add sugar.
7. Stir fry till golden brown, add minced meat.
8. Use the ladle to break the meat into pieces to prevent them from sticking together.
9. Flip the meat to ensure both sides are well cooked.
10. Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the abacus seeds, and sauté for a couple of minutes.
11. Add the abacus seeds and sauté until the abacus seeds are cooked through.
12. Now it's ready! Garnish with red chili and lettuce or spring onions if desired!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

My reflection on motherhood

Today marks the full year of me leaving full time lecturing for the Early Childhood department and my darling Tiffany will turn 1 in a couple of hours time! Here's my reflection written as follows in the pic :)