075 - PANCAKES

Me, and my love for Pancakes. Phew. We go wayyyyy back.

Pancakes are by far, one of the best things to have for breakfast in the morning. I mean, picture this; a hot, steamy, fresh off the griddle 5 stacks of Pancakes, topped with Butter and Maple Syrup.

You grab your fork and knife, and proceed to make a cut from the center towards the edges, and a big mouthful of those goes right into your mouth. BAM. That’s heaven right there.

Anyway, this recipe is perfection. I found it by accident, give it a tweak to adjust with our Eastern taste palate, and I’m going to show you how to make it.

Here’s my version of PANCAKES.

For 8 Serving, you will need;

Yea, not all Ingredients are pictured here.

Dry Ingredients;

-        1 ½ Cups  All Purpose Flour

-        3 ½ Teaspoons Baking Powder

-        ¼ Teaspoon Salt

-        1 ½ Tablespoon Sugar

Wet Ingredients;

-        1 ¼ Cups Milk

-        1 Egg

-        3 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

-        1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Mix all of the Dry Ingredients (Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Sugar), and use a fine sieve/strainer to sift everything, so there will be NO lumps. Lumps in the finished batter? Yes yes yes. Lumps in the beginning? NO NO NO. Anyway, Set aside after.

The Sifter, straight out of American Pie movie. Wait. That's Stifler.

Flour

The O.G.

Baking Powder

Salt

Sugar

Sift away!!

Step 2 – Melt the Butter using anything you have. I’m just so lazy that I resorted to the microwave. Let cool for a moment. Get your Milk, and combine it with the already-cold-to-handle melted Butter. You’re probably wondered when we will put the eggs in. Guess what? AIN’T NOW. Oh yeah, don’t forget to add your Vanilla Extract in at this point!

Milk

Butter

The 2nd O.G.

Whoops, too much!

Step 3 – Get a large bowl and mix the Dry Ingredients with the Wet. Add the wet ingredient gradually to avoid creating too many lumps. Once all ingredients are combined, crack your Eggs and mix to combine. Don’t mix too much, just enough that there is no more visible flour left.

Step 4 – Get a non-stick pan, set the heat to MEDIUM. You don’t want to go too high and risk burning the pancakes!. Once the pan is hot, add the batter slowly, and set the timer to cook the first side for 1 to 1.5 minutes depending on the size of your pancakes. I cook mine for 1 minute exactly on each side. Once you see bubbles popping, take a peek underneath, and if it’s nicely brown, you’re ready to flip.

Lovely

Bubbles? That's your cue!

Step 5 – Give it a flip and cook the other side for another 1 minute.

HEY MY BABIES!

Step 6 – Repeat

Step 7 – Serve

Serve this baby with anything you want. Impress your loved ones.

Cheers

xx

072 - Roti John (BREAKFAST ON STEROIDS!)

So, Roti John is a breakfast food popular in Singapore and Malaysia. Legend has it, the recipe was conceived when a Caucasian male (just like Indonesians who called them ‘Bule’, locals there calls them ‘John) was requesting a meat sandwich for breakfast. Hah, if I were the locals, I’d serve him some Egg sandwiched between 2 white breads. The Locals? Nah, they’re going ape nuts by mixing meat, onion, and eggs before smashing a baguette on top to finish it off.

Results?

F*CKING. TASTY.

So here it is, ROTI JOHN.

For 1 Serving, you will need;

- Ground Meat – 100 Grams – Don’t go cheap, get a good quality meat for REAL treat.

- Eggs – 2 Whole

- Onion – ½ piece – Diced

- Baguette / Hot Dog Bun – 1 Piece – Sliced in the middle

Meat Seasonings

- Paprika Powder – ½ tsp

- Salt – ¼ tsp

- Black pepper – ½ tsp

- Garlic Powder – ¼ tsp

- Curry Powder – ½ tsp

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Heat oil in a non-stick pan on high heat. Stir fry meat, moving constantly. Add all the meat seasonings one by one while stirring. When meat turns brown, about 2 minutes, it’s done. Set aside to cool.

Hot Oil

Stir the meat quickly. This will help to prevent it from sticking

Add all the seasonings

Mix!

Lovely!

Step 2 – Crack the eggs into a bowl; add the diced onion and the meat. Give a nice mix with a fork. Set aside while you heat a small amount of oil in the pan.

Eggs

Onion

Meat

A lump of ugly mess. But it is going to be tasty!

Step 3 – Pour the mixture into the pan, just enough that it covers ¾ of the pan. Quickly put the bread in, and give it a nice press so the mixture will stick to it. Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat.

The mixture is looking lovely!

Press it down!

Step 4 – Once you see the edges started to brown, give the sandwich a flip, and toast the other side for another 2 minutes, or until it reaches your liking.

Flipped!

Step 5 – When finished, sliced into portions, give it a shower of condiments and…

Step 6 – SERVE!

And that's how you make, Roti John.

xx

068 - Coffee Jelly

Japanese people are creative with their dessert. Endless array of sweets awaits you if you ever come to visit Japan someday. 

One of my favorite is this COFFEE JELLY. 

It is basically coffee mixed with sugar and agar added. Add some evaporated milk, and, BOOM. Delicious.

For 6 portion, you will need;

·         Water – 600 ml

·         Agar Agar – 1 Packet (Approximately 15 grams)

·         Coffee – 2,5 Tbsp. Instant coffee do just fine, but freshly ground coffee is even better.

·         Sugar – 2,5 Tbsp. Brown sugar, white sugar, whatever sugar worked just fine.

·         Evaporated Milk – 1 Can

Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Pour the water into a large pot, set the heat to high. Let It come to a boil

Step 2 – Once boiling, add the Agar and quickly stir to combine. After that, add the sugar. Again, stir to combine. Let it boil for another 1 minute.

Agar

Sugar

Step 3 – Remove the pot from the heat, then add the Coffee. Give it a nice stir.

Step 4 – Transfer the mix to a mold of your choice; let it cool in room temperature for 20 minutes before putting it into the fridge for an additional 2 hours. After 2 hours, take it out, cut it into small squares and..

Tip: remove the air bubbles for great finish!

Step 5 - SERVE!

To make sure you get the best of both worlds, make sure both the Jelly and the Milk is cold prior to serving.

Give this recipe a try!

Cheers

xx