SerenityBakes&Cooks

The boys were offered a food sampling of Yakiniku Pork at Cold Storage supermarket and to my surprise, it was so delicious that my little one Z chomped down his share happily. And by chomping down, I mean that he chewed and swallowed everything! This 5 year old of mine finds pork and beef meats tough and he often spits them out after chewing them. I still give him a tiny portion at mealtimes though, to get him used to eating them! So guess what, that day, I picked up a pack of frozen Iberico pork collar and a bottle of Yakiniku sauce to give it a try at home. And this has become one of my favourite items to cook, just because it is so quick and easy! You should know by my recipes posted so far, I simply love Quick and Easy!! =) Yakiniku Pork (Serves 4) Ingredients: 1 pack of frozen sliced pork collar or pork belly  1 pack of enoki mushrooms (cut and washed well) 1/2 brown onion (sliced) Yakiniku sauce (any Japanese brand will do, you can refer to the bra...

A small portion of Teriyaki Salmon can cost easily over $10 if you eat it in a restaurant. With $10, you can serve this dish to a family of 4! But first, you will need to invest in 2 very important condiments often required in Japanese cooking - Mirin and Cooking Sake. Teriyaki sauce is made up of soya sauce, mirin (a sweet rice wine), cooking sake and sugar. The basic ratio that I use is 2:2:1:1 in the above order mentioned. So if you are cooking a thin salmon fillet (approx 150g) for one person, the amount of condiment will be as follows:- 1 tbsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tbsp cooking sake and 1/2 tbsp sugar. That's all it takes to make your teriyaki sauce. Teriyaki Salmon Ingredients: 1 piece of fresh salmon fillet with skin on, approx 300g (make sure to remove any bones in it if you are cooking this for kids) 2 tbsp each of soya sauce and mirin, 1 tbsp each of cooking sake and sugar (mix well in a bowl) A little sea salt (optional) Method: Wash salmon fi...

A meal is not complete without some greens. Here is a very quick way to dish up a piping hot bowl of  baby spinach in chicken broth and some wolf berries.  Spinach in Chicken Broth Ingredients: 250ml pack of chicken broth 1 pack of chinese baby spinach (washed and cut) Handful of wolf-berries (also known as goji berries), washed 1/2 to 1 tsp of Huatiao/Shaoxing wine Method: Heat up chicken broth in your pan or wok When broth boils, put washed spinach into the broth and let it cook covered When spinach is almost done, add in a handful of wolf berries and the Huatiao/Shaoxing wine and let it cook for another minute Dish out and serve Isn't this so quick and simple? No oil required! =) If you like, you can put in a handful of garlic slices to boil with the chicken broth. You can also add in some chopped salted egg and century egg. Enjoy! Pics for your reference: Just one pack required. So convenient! Cut and wash spinach well ...

It had been a pretty hectic past 2 weeks and with the hubby's birthday fast approaching, I was torn between the convenience of a store bought cake and baking something for him. Homemade won of course, and I decided to make his favourite tiramisu in a tin.  I have been using this tiramisu recipe on  BBC Goodfood , and it is so easy and delicious. I hope you will like it.      No Bake Tiramisu (adapted from BBC Goodfood) Ingredients: 600ml heavy or whipping cream (I like to use Bulla as it whips up very easily and holds well) 250g mascarpone cheese, softened 75ml marsala (I use Kahlua, a coffee liquer) 5 tbsp light muscavado sugar or white caster sugar 300ml strong coffee, made with 2 tbsp coffee granules and 300ml boiling water (I use a single shot of Nespresso expresso - Ristretto capsule) 175g pack sponge finger 2 tsp cocoa powder Method: Put cream, mascarpone cheese, Marsala (or liquor of your choice) and sugar in...

This is one of the early dishes I made using my favourite Happycall Pan which proved to be a hit with the family, especially my older boy who is a picky and fussy eater! To my amazement when I made it for the first time, he ate up the black fungus with gusto! At dinner time, he will be mentally counting how many pieces of chicken he can eat while ensuring that the daddy who eats later than us, gets enough when he comes back from work =) Chicken wings with black fungus (recipe from  Mamabliss ) Ingredients 16 chicken wings (marinate at least 2 hours with 1 tsp dark soya sauce and 2 tbsp light soya sauce, and a dash of white pepper) 10-20 pieces of black fungus soaked in water (See my favourite brand of black fungus below) 2 slices of ginger, cut into thin shreds For the gravy 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce to be combined in a bowl 150ml water Method: Heat up your pan/wok with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and stir fr...

Smooth Pandan Kaya  Kaya is a coconut jam which consists of coconut milk, eggs and sugar. It is a most delicious spread on toast bread and cakes. In Singapore, many coffee shops serve a breakfast set of kaya toast, soft boiled eggs and a hot drink such as teh (tea), kopi (coffee) or milo! The traditional method of making kaya is to cook it over a pot of boiling water but you will need to constantly stir the mixture so it doesn't curdle. But... did you know that you can also use the jam function on your bread machine? This bread machine recipe works really well for me. It is so simple, if you have a bread machine and a blender, try this! It is wholesome and free of preservatives.  Eggs, Coconut Cream, Sugar and Fresh Pandan Extract Ingredients: 1 cup eggs (about 3-4 eggs) 1 cup sugar (you can reduce the amount if you like it less sweet, but you should have minimum 3/4 cup sugar) 1 cup coconut milk 2 tablespoons fresh pandan extract (see  Ho...

Store bought pandan extract is inexpensive and convenient. But if you have the time, do try making your own! The smell and taste of fresh pandan in your bakes is truly awesome! It is not difficult to do as long as you have a blender! :) Today, I share how it is done: Cut pandan into small pieces Blend the cut pandan and water Blended pandan leaves Sieve pandan leaves to extract the precious liquid Beautiful green colour of the liquid Pour it into 2 small bottles and leave overnight to get the extract Ingredients: A packet of pandan leaves (about 10-20 leaves), wash thoroughly 100-150ml water (Adding more water does not give you more extract, it dilutes the pandan taste) Method: Cut pandan leaves into small pieces Put cut pandan and water in a blender and blend it well Pour the liquid through a sieve and try to extract every bit of liquid from the blended leaves Pour into 2 small bottles and leave overnight in the fridge. You will see a ...