Cakeroll with Ham+Chinese Sausage with Butter Cream and Peanut Coating

When I was little, my mom used to make this type of cake for my birthday and I love it. Her recipe is a little different than mine because she made it with fresh pork liver instead of the liver pate.

Cake Ingredient:• 6 eggs
• 120g sugar
• 100g all purpose flour
• 20g corn starch
• 60g vegetable oil
• 70g milk
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat oven to 340F
Separate egg yolks and egg whites in different bowls.
In a stand mixer, beat egg white with 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and salt until stiff peak.

In a separate bowl, using a whisk mix egg yolks with milk and vegetable oil and then add all purpose flour and corn starch, mix well until it become creamy.
Fold 1/3 eggs whites into the egg yolks and stir with a spatula in one direction, then pour all the egg yolks into the rest of the egg white and mix well.
Cut a piece of parchment paper and line it inside the jellyroll pan, then pour the egg mixture on top.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Take the cake out from the pan and let it cool for 5 minutes.


Fillings:• 1 cup of Chinese sausage (chop into little cubes)
• 1 cup of cooked ham (chop into little cubes)
• 1/8 cup of purple shallot (chop well)
• 1 can of liver pate (spreadable one)
• 4 tablespoon of butter
Using a sauce pan on medium heat, melt butter. Add shallot into butter and stir it until a light golden colors.
Add Chinese sausage and ham and cook well in medium heat. Add a little salt and sugar.


Butter cream:• 1 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup of chocolate powder
• 1 tablespoon of milk
• 2 cup of raw peanut (roasted on a hot pan then crush it with the food processor)
Using a stand mixing bowl, beat butter until it become creamy and fluffy. Slowly add in the milk. Gradually add sugar and chocolate powder, beating until almost stiff.

Arranging the cake:Spread liver pate onto the cake

Top with sausage and ham

Roll the cake and put it inside the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

Spread butter cream around the cake. Then add crush peanut on top.
Place cake in refrigerator for another 20-30 minutes, serve chills.

Stir Fry Beef with Leeks

Homemade stir fry beef with leeks. This is one of my favorite dishes inspired by Phoenix Chinese Cuisine in California.

Ingredients:
• 2 packages of Sakira Beef
• 1 cup of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoons of chop garlic
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 table spoon of sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoons of ground pepper
• 1 tablespoons of dry sherry
• 1 big leek

1. First, cut leak in half from top to bottom. Wash them in cold water.
2. Trim off the ends of the leeks, cut the leeks crosswise into 2 inches pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add garlic, stir them until it has a golden color.
4. Add the beef, stirring quickly to separate the pieces.
5. Add the oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce.
6. Add the leeks and dry sherry, cook for 2 minutes.
7. Add pepper and cook for 10 seconds.
8. Spoon the mixture into serving dish and ready to serve.

Cha Bo

Cha Bo is also known as Vietnamese Beef Ham. I usually eat it with steam rice cake and fish sauce.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs fresh beef – ground twice – ask your butcher
• 1 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
• 2 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1/2 package of Alsa-Baking-Powder
• 1/2 tablespoon potato starch
• 2 1/2 tablespoon cold ice water
• A little bit of chop garlic and black pepper (optional)

• Marinate ground beef with all the above ingredients.
• Place the ground beef inside a plastic zipper bag, place flat on a surface and put it inside a freezer for 3 hours.
• Put the ground beef into a food processor and pulse it couple time, if it’s too hard then you can add 1 tablespoon of cold ice water to soften it. The texture should be very smooth and had a pinkish colors.
• Wrap it up in banana leaf or in plastic wrap and tied it with multiple plastic string. Steam for about 30-35 minutes (will vary depending on size). Remember that the beef ham will rise and expand a bit when cooked.

Chewy White Chocolate Chips with Macadamia Nuts and Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cups white chocolate chips
• 1 cups macadamia nuts
• 1 cup dry cranberries

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and cranberries by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Banh Beo Tom Tuoi

Banh Beo is one of Vietnamese traditional cuisine. It is filled with dried fresh shrimp, mung bean and green shallots and it’s serve with fish sauce.

Ingredients:
• 200 gram rice flour
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 10 to 15 large peeled shrimps
• 3 fresh green shallots
• 1 cups mung beans (soaks in warm water for a couple hours)
• 2 thinly chopped garlic cloves

Fish Sauce: 1/2 cup of sugar + 3 tablespoon of fresh squeeze lime juice + 1 cup of hot water + 1/2 cup fish sauce + some fresh Thai chili (depend on how spicy you want)

• In a bowl, mix flour, salt and water together with a spoon, stir constantly to avoid lumps.
• Pour the mixed flour into little cup and steam the mix flour with high heat for 5-10 minutes (depend on the size of the cup).
• Heat a non-stick pan, put a little oil, and then put in chop garlic. Wait till garlic turn golden, put in peeled shrimps. Be careful not to overcook the shrimps.
• Then put the shrimps in the food processor and pulse for a couple times.
• Heat a non-stick pan, transfer the shrimp contents, stir constantly and crush gently the contents against the pan until it become dry and their texture should look like cotton. Reserve the content in a bowl.
• Clean the soaked mung beans with water and steam it for an hour or two.
• Then use the food processor to crush it.
• Remove the white part of green shallots and mince into 5mm long sections.
• In a small sauce pan, heat the oil, add the green shallots, stir quickly and remove from heat.
• Serve Banh Beo with fish sauce, dried shrimps, mung beans and green shallots

Banh Bo Hap

Banh Bo Hap is one of the traditional sponge cake from Vietnam. It is made from rice flour, coconut milk and yeast.

Ingredient:
Part 1
Kneading:
• 16 oz rice starch
• 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
• 3 tablespoons yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups of warm water (not too hot)

Pour 2 tablespoons of sugar into a bowl, sift yeast on top of sugar then pour 1 cup of warm water (do not mix them) and let it dissolves for 2 minutes.
In another bowl, mix rice starch and tapioca starch with 1 cup of warm water. Stir well, and then pour the mixture into the yeast with sugar that was previously prepared. Mix well.
Wrap the bowl with a plastic wrap and leave it inside the oven for 12 hours. (Do not turn on the oven). The batter should rise and falls when you take it out from the oven.

Part 2
Boiling sugar:
Combine 1 can coconut milk with 3/4 cup of cold water, 1 cup of sugar, 1 bag of vanilla powder and mix them together on medium heat. Let it cool, and then add with the batter that was previously leave overnight inside the oven. Let it rest for another 1 hour.

Part 3
Steaming:
Let the water boil in the steamer. Spray the small bowl with vegetable oil then put it inside the steamer and warm them up before use. Pour the mixture into the bowl and steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
You can add food color into the mixture before put it into the steamer.
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 Another easy way to make the steam rice cake is to buy the pre-mix flour at any Vietnamese supermarket and follow the instruction printed on the package. TL is one of my favorite brands.

Strawberry Chocolate Cream Puffs

Cream puff is one of my favorite desserts that I thought it would be very complicated to make but actually it’s not. This puff is filled with chocolate whipped cream and fresh strawberries.

Ingredients:
Dough
• 1 cup water
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs

Filling
• 1 1/2cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoon baking cocoa

Glaze
• 1 ounce square unsweetened chocolate
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 tablespoons water

Some fresh strawberries cut in half

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add flour and salt all at once; stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let it stand for 5 minutes. Using a stand mixer in medium speed; add egg in dough one at the time until dough smooth and had a creamy texture.

Cover a baking sheet with foil; grease foil. Used piping bag with star nozzle to shaped the puff.

Bake 400 degree for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degree and bake for another 30 minutes longer or until puff turned light brown.

Remove puffs to a wire rack. Immediately cut a slit in each one of them for steam to escape.

Using a stand mixer in medium speed, beat heavy whipped cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and cocoa, beating until almost stiff.
Add filling and fresh strawberries.
Melt chocolate and butter; stir in sugar and water. Drizzle over puffs. Chill.

Kungpao Shrimp Spaghetti

This is one of my favorite dishes at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) restaurant in California.

Kung Pao Sauce
■ 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
■ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
■ 3/4 cup soy sauce
■ 1/2 cup dry sherry
■ 3 tablespoons red chili paste with garlic
■ 1/4 cup sugar
■ 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
■ 2 tablespoons Asian toasted sesame oil

For the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture
■ 2 egg whites
■ 2 tablespoons cornstarch
■ 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Pasta
■ 1 pound dry spaghetti
■ 1/2 cup plus two tablespoons olive oil
■ 20 to 24 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
■ 20 whole Chinese dried red chili peppers
■ 1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
■ 1/4 cup minced garlic
■ 3 cups coarsely chopped scallions

To Make the Kung Pao Sauce: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the chicken stock and cornstarch until the cornstarch has fully dissolved. Stir in all the remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.

To Make the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture: In a mixing bowl, use a small whisk to stir together the egg whites, cornstarch, and salt until thoroughly blended; take care, however, not to beat them into a froth. Set aside.

To Prepare the Pasta: Being a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 8 to 9 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick frying pan over high heat, heat the olive oil for about 1 minute. Add the shrimps to the Egg White-Cornstarch Mixture and toss to coat them. Taking great care to avoid splattering, add the coated shrimps to the pan and cook like a solid pancake until the egg mixture sets; then, using a large spatula, carefully flip the shrimps pieces over together and, with a wooden spoon, gently separate the pieces.

Carefully stir the Chinese peppers and roasted peanuts into the pan. As soon as they darken in color, after no more than 1 minute, stir in the garlic and scallions. Once the garlic begins to brown, after no more than 30 seconds, add the Kung Pao Sauce and toss and stir to coat the ingredients.

When the pasta is ready, drain it well and, in a large mixing or serving bowl, toss it thoroughly with the sauce. Serve family-style or transfer to individual serving bowls, artfully arranging the shrimps, vegetables, and peppers.

Fruit Tart

This fruit tart has a sweet pastry crust that is filled with a rich and creamy pastry cream and topped with your favorite fruit.

Crush:
■ 8 tablespoons butter, cold
■ 1/4 cup sugar
■ 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
■ 1/8 teaspoon salt
■ 1 large egg yolk
■ 2 tablespoon heavy cream

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse the butter and sugar together until combined. Add the flour and salt, pulse a few more times. Add the yolk and cream, pulse just until incorporated. The dough should be slightly crumbly (not wet) but should hold together when pinched.

Turn the dough out into a 9 .5 by 1 inch tart pan and press into the pan with your palms, working the dough up the sides with your fingers and pressing it evenly around the rim. (The pad of your thumb should be on the dough, while the pad of your index finger should be on the outside of the pan as you work your way around it.) Trim any overhanging bits of dough with a knife. Watch out for “thin spots” around the edge of the dough, as they will burn easily.

Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375 F. Bake for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Filling:
■ 2 large eggs
■ 3 tablespoons cornstarch
■ 2 cups heavy cream
■ 1/2 cup sugar
■ pinch of salt
■ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
■ 1 tablespoon butter

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and cornstarch, whisking until the cornstarch is completely absorbed and smooth. Whisk in 1/4 cup of heavy cream.

In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining heavy cream, sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture into the eggs, then pour all of the egg mixture back into the boiling half-and-half, whisking constantly. The mixture will become very thick. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter.

Transfer to a bowl and immediately press a piece of wax paper or a plastic wrap over the top of the cream to prevent a “skin” from forming. Then set aside for 15 minutes

Wait till the crush is cool, pour the custard over the crush. Decorate tart with all your favorite fruits.

Glazed:
■ 3 tablespoon apricot jam
■ 1 tablespoon cold water
Boil jam & water in medium heat, stir constantly. Then brush the jam over the fruit to creat the shinny look.

Chocolate Rose

 

First, we need to make the chocolate, here are the ingredients:

• 4 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/6 cup corn syrup

Melted the chocolate chips in high voltage microwave for 30 seconds.
Then add the corn syrup and stir wells.
Spread it on top of a plastic wrap or wax paper and put it inside a refrigerator to harden it.

To Make the Roses:

First we need to made little cone by rolling the chocolate with your palm.
Cut out another pieces and roll it into a roll.
Then cut it into 8 pieces for your rose petals.
Using your palm, roll the pieces into 8 little balls.
Then pressing it with the tip of your thumb to thinning the rose petals.
Follow the below pictures to make the rose.

Teriyaki Chicken

 

Ingredients:
For the chicken marinade:
•4 lbs of skinless chicken thighs
•3 cups of water
•1/2 cup vegetable oil
•1/2 tsp garlic powder
•1/2 tsp white pepper
•1/2 cup Kikkoman Soy Sauce
•1/2 cup dry Sherry

Teriyaki Sauce:
•3 cups of no sodium (unsalted) chicken stock
•1/5 cup Kikkoman Soy sauce
•1/2 Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce
•4 Tbsp light brown sugar
•1 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
•1/5 cup cold water
•A couple slide of ginger root
•A tiny bit of minced garlic

Marinade the chicken:
Cut the chicken in bite-size pieces together with the fat. Place the chicken in a large container.
Add water to the container with chicken and add dry Sherry. Add garlic powder, white pepper (I’m using ground pepper for my recipe because I’m out of the white pepper), oil and Soy sauce. Mix all of the ingredients and start massaging the chicken pieces for 15-20 minutes. Once you are done, cover the container and place it in the refrigerator OVERNIGHT!

For the Sauce:
Add 2 cups of chicken broth, in a small saucepan bring it to boil, add a couple of very slices of ginger root, tiny bit of minced garlic and cook for about 30 minutes. Fish out the ingredients; bring it to slight a boil. Add 1/5 cup of cold water.
Add Teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, sugar and turn the heat down to medium low.
In a small bowl, mix the corn starch with 1 tablespoon of prepared chicken broth and stir well.
Add the corn starch into the boiled chicken broth. Your sauce should only be thick enough to leave a glaze on the spoon or stick to the side of the pot if you splash a little bit of it- no thicker.
Remove sauce from the heat and start working on the chicken.

Take out the chicken marinade from the refrigerator. Start mixing the chicken with the dough hook in the mixer for at least 30 minutes until the chicken fat are separates to look almost like a fatty white snow.

Cook the chicken using a grill or skillet. Turn the heat up to maximum, spread just a little bit of oil on the surface. Dump the portion of chicken and cook for 5 minutes on each side, do not disturb the chicken. Pour the sauce over it. Toss the chicken with the sauce.

Tiramisu Cake

Ingredients:

For the Sponge Cake:
• 4 eggs (separated)
• 2 tablespoons cold milk
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup boiling milk
• 1 1/2 cups all purposes flour
• 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon coffee extract

Preheat oven to 325 F degrees, line 8-inches round cake pan with parchment paper then set aside.
In a mixing bowl, on low speed beat egg yolks and cold milk until it had a light yellow color.
Slowly add sugar and continue beating until thick ribbons form.
While the mixer is still running, slowly add boiling milk.
Sift the flour over the egg yolk mixture and gently fold in. Set aside.
In a medium size mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form.
Fold half of the egg whites mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Gently folding in the egg whites with an under and over motion.
Then fold in remaining egg whites with the vanilla and coffee extract.
Pour all mixtures into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 minutes or until cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
Remove from oven and place cake out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

For the Tiramisu Cream:
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 package of mascarpone cheese
• 1 teaspoons rum extract
Combine mascarpone and rum in the large bowl, beat until smooth.
Put the egg yolks with sugar in a bowl and set over a boiling pot, beat for 5 minutes or until the egg mixture triples in size.
Remove from heat and beat this mixture into mascarpone mixture, set aside.
Whip the heavy cream until the cream holds a firm shape, fold in vanilla.
Fold 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream. Then fold the whipped cream into the remaining mascarpone mixture, set aside.

Assembly:
Cut the sponge cake in half crosswise; moisten the cake with espresso mixture.
Top with half of the mascarpone mixture, spreading it out evenly.
Sprinkle generously with cocoa powder.
Top with the other half of the sponge cake layer.
Moisten with the remaining espresso mixture.
Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture, spreading evenly
Sprinkle generously with the cocoa powder then refrigerate for 4 hours before serving.

Pineapple Fried Rice

 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pineapple chunk
• 4 cups cooked rice, preferably at least 1 day old
• 4 Tbsp oil for stir-frying
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red or green chili (de-seeded if milder rice is desired)
• 1/2 cup roasted unsalted cashews
• 1/2 cup frozen peas
• 1 egg, beaten 
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 3 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable stock
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup fresh coriander
• 8-12 fresh shrimp/prawns

Step #1: Start by preparing the rice. Add a little oil to the rice (up to 1 Tbsp.) and work through with your fingers. You want to separate the grains of rice, so that they don't stick together. Set aside.

Swirl 3 Tbsp. oil around a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots, garlic, and chili, stir-frying for one minute, or until fragrant. Add shrimp/prawns.

Push aside the shallots, garlic, and chili to make room for the egg. Add the beaten egg to the wok/pan, and stir fry quickly to cook (like making scrambled eggs).

Mix together the chicken or vegetable stock, fish sauce (or soy sauce), curry powder, and sugar. Stir well, then add to wok/pan.

Add the cashews and stir-fry for 30 seconds.

Now add the prepared rice to the wok/pan. Stir-fry until all the rice has mixed with the sauce and is a uniform color. Break up any lumps with your utensil or a fork.

Cooking Tip: Don't be tempted to add any more water/broth or other liquids to the rice at this point, or it will end up mushy. You can push ingredients aside and add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan if rice is sticking. Also, continually lift/scoop up rice from the bottom of the pan, tossing rather than stirring it.

Add the frozen peas, raisins, and pineapple. Stir-fry to mix in.

To serve, sprinkle with spring onion and coriander.

Continue stir frying until everything is integrated (1-2 more minutes).