Archive for June, 2008
Steamed Moist Chocolate Cake
This blog is in response to Remya’s comment on Moist Chocolate Cake. I have no idea of how to bake the Moist Chocolate Cake in an oven which only has grill and reheat function. But I thought of the Chinese way of making cake which is by steaming.
So, I experimented with half of Moist Chocolate Cake recipe with steaming instead of baking. I used half of the recipe because that’s how much my steamer can accommodate. I steamed the cake for 30 minutes over high heat.
The cake turned up absolutely perfect, very moist and chocolaty. I would recommend using the steaming method in the hot summer.
Remya, I hope you will try out the steaming version of the Moist Chocolate Cake.
Sesame Baked Tofu
Tofu is a source of protein for vegetarian. One half-cup serving of raw firm tofu has double the content of protein from one half-cup of dairy milk. Tofu is low in calories for the protein it packs in. One half-cup of tofu contains 94 calories. For comparison, for each 100 calories serving, tofu contains 11 grams of protein while 100 calories of ground beef provides 8.9 grams of protein, and a 100 calories serving of cheese contains 6.2 grams of protein.
Here are more nutritional facts about tofu:
- Tofu is a cholesterol-free food, as are all plant-based food.
- One half-cup serving of raw firm tofu has only 5 grams of fat.
- One half-cup serving for firm tofu contains about 227 mg of calcium or about 22% of the recommended dietary allowances (RDA).
- One half-cup serving of firm tofu contains about 1.82 mg of iron, this can vary greatly, depending on the brand. The RDA for women is 18 mg, and 8 mg for men.
The Sesame Baked Tofu takes on the flavour of the seasonings as tofu itself is quite bland. The toasted sesame seeds gives the dish some crunchiness and nuttiness. This dish goes well with some baked sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs firm tofu, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1/8 cup tamari
- 1/8 cup water
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
Spinach Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing
Here is the recipe for the Spinach Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing prepared by the seniors in the Cooking Club for Seniors in South Arm Community Center. This salad is a nice change from lettuce and tomato and much less expensive. In spring, one can get a bunch of spinach for fifty cents.
Spinach and oranges are both rich in fibre and folate, as well as vitamins A and C. Spinach is a rich source of iron and that’s why the Chinese use spinach for treatment of anemia.
Spinach is undoubtedly one of the best nutritional valued healthy vegetable as the creator of Popeye the sailor man cartoon used spinach as a source of strength.
This salad is very refreshing with the citrus dressing. The toasted sesame seeds and slivered almonds add crunchiness and nuttiness to the salad.
Ingredients
Salad ingredients:
- 2 cups (500ml) chopped fresh spinach
- 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon chopped red or green onion
- 1 tablespoon raisins
- 1 tablespoon toasted slivered almond
Dressing ingredients:
- 1 1/2 teaspoon (7ml) olive oil or canola oil
- 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) sesame oil (optional)
- 1/4 teaspoon (1ml) honey or sugar
- 1 pinch powdered ginger
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon (2ml) orange rind
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) orange juice
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
Instructions
 Wash and dry spinach using a salad spinner. Tear the spinach into bite-sized pieces and place in a serving bowl. If you are using pre-wash spinach sold in plastic bag, you can skip the above step.Finely grate a small amount of peel from the orange and set it aside for the dressing.
Peel the orange, slice it into bite-sized pieces and add it to the spinach. Add chopped onion, raisins and toasted almond. |
 Prepare the dressing by adding all the ingredients for dressing in a bowl, mix well. You can use a jar and shake the ingredients to mix.When ready to serve, pour the dressing on top of the spinach and orange slices and sprinkle with sesame seeds. It was a long story why we added the sesame seeds to the dressing.
You may replace the orange with strawberries when they are in season. You may also substitute the sesame seeds with poppy seeds. |
South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors
I had promised Minoo and Stella to visit the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors since it was established in January 2008. The South Arm Cooking Club meets on the second and fourth Tuesday. Unforturnately, Tuesday is my cake meet day with Polly because she is off on Tuesday. As all the cooking clubs are coming to an end in June for the summer break, I decided to cancel my cake meet in order to visit the cooking club for seniors on their first meeting in June. I was lucky as this will be the last meeting to cook for the club as they decided to go out for lunch instead of cooking for the last meeting.
It was a huge turn out that day. There were thirteen in the meeting including me, some had shy away from the photo session. The young lady at the far left, Stella is the coordinator for senior programs in the South Arm Community Center while the lady at the far right, Minoo is the coordinator of all the cooking clubs in Richmond.
The group made a scrumptious meal that day. We had Basmati Rice Flavoured with Saffron, Meatballs with an Italian Tomato Sauce, Spinach Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing, Sesame Baked Tofu and Baked Sweet Potatoes.
The group was divided into 3 groups to work on different recipes. Above are the salad and tofu groups.
The group here is working with the meatball recipe.
After labouring in the kitchen, the group is enjoying the food they prepared.
After lunch, the group is divided into two groups. One group is to divide the leftover food for them to take home.
While another group is in charged of cleaning up. This is team work. I truly enjoy this cooking club.
The meatball recipe we used is the one we made in the Gilmore Park Church kitchen.
Click on the link below for the recipe of the Italian Tomato Sauce we made to go along with the meatballs.
Meatballs
In the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, we helped Karen to make meatballs for the community meal. We made about 800 meatballs.
Karen made us a Wedge Salad for lunch. It is a classic 60’s steak house lunch. It has a wedge of iceberg lettuce served with a creamy dressing and served with a form of beef, in our case beef meatballs. Karen made Thousand Island dressing for the salad.
Here is the recipe for meatball. I’m posting only the ingredients for a smaller portion which serves about 6 people. For those who are interested for a recipe which serves 100 people, you can email me for the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef, lean
- 1 medium or large egg
- 1 to 2 tablespoons flax seed, ground
- 1/2 cup buckwheat or brown rice flakes or rolled oats
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon thyme, dried leaves or ground
- 1/2 cup milk or soy beverage
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Fried Steamed Bun (Sang Jien Pau)
Using the Napa Cabbage and Pork buns, Grace showed us another way of cooking the bun. The buns are fried and steamed together and therefore, it’s called Fried Steamed Bun or in Cantonese, Sang Jien Pau.
The Fried Steamed Bun is golden brown in colour unlike the steamed version which is white.
The Fried Steamed Bun is crispy on the surface but soft and fluffy inside. The toasted sesame seeds gives the bun an extra crunch and fragrant.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 Heat one or two tablespoons of oil in a frying pan on medium low heat. Place the buns into the pan and you should hear the sizzling sound. |
 Add some water into the pan and cover the the pan for 5 to 6 minutes. |
 The bottom of the bun should be golden brown by now. Flip the bun over and add some more water. Cover and let cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until it’s golden brown on both sides. |
 The Fried Steamed Bun is best serve immediately so that you can enjoy the crispy skin.Grace, thank you so much for showing us how to make various Chinese Steamed Buns. We look forward to your sharing again. |
Napa Cabbage and Pork Steamed Bun (Choy Yoke Pau)
Grace showed us how to make another batch of dough on the spot. For this batch of dough, we made Napa Cabbage and Pork Steamed Bun or in Cantonese it’s called Choy Yoke Pau.
The Napa Cabbage and Pork Steamed Bun is moist and taste great. You can substitute the cabbage with garlic chives.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the dough:
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk (you may substitute with water plus two tablespoons of milk powder or 1/2 cup of coconut milk plus a cup of water)
- 1 tablespoon margarine
- 1 teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 or 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 egg, optional
Ingredients for the filings:
- 1/2 lb lean ground pork
- 1/2 head small Napa cabbage
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- constarch
- ginger powder
- salt
- sugar
- white pepper
Click on the link below for the instructions.
