Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Thanks to Harold, who sent us a picture of a double chocolate banana bread one day,
I could not get double chocolate banana bread out of my mind.

Double chocolate banana bread.

Double chocolate banana bread.

I tried other things, I went to 7-11 and bought dreyers triple chocolate ice cream.



Double chocolate banana bread.

I ate a packet of Indomie,

Double chocolate banana bread.

I watched endless cute kittens and cute Kpop idols on youtube...

Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread.Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread. Double chocolate banana bread.

ARGGHHHHH!
This must be how it feels like being in Stephen King's movies.
Luckily, this obsession is easy to solve.

I just had to google recipes for double chocolate banana bread and make the first one I encounter.
It's Smitten Kitchen's Double Chocolate Banana Bread.

Recipe
My slight adaptation:
I reduced the sugar from 3/4 to 1/2 and I used the sugar I have at home (caster sugar).
I tried to follow the baking time 'til the end but my toothpick came out clean after only about 30 minutes of baking - so I had to take it out way earlier than 55-65 minutes. I recommend frequent testing after 30 minutes.

- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter pan. Mash bananas, Whisk in melter butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla. Mix baking soda, salt, flour and cocoa (I didn't sift as instructed by original recipe - sorry, too lazy) in another mixing bowl. Mix wet and dry ingredients until just combined (actually OB helped me mixing the batter, so I am sure it was overmixed), add chocolate chips. Pour into pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes, run a knife around the edge and invert it out onto a cooling rack.

The cooling process was very hard for me as SC and OB's grabby hands could not stay away from the cake. Warning: very very chocolatey.
WE LOVE IT, and I can finally stop obsessing with DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BANANA BREAD... well, until my next craving, or whenever Harold posted another picture of double chocolata banana bread :)

Please check out the original recipe here.

The Grilled Pork Neck Dish That I Bring To All Potluck Parties

I don't know how to call this dish... I used to call it sate (or satay - I am not a big fan of this word, Indonesians say SATE!) grilled pork neck because I make it how I make sate, but nobody's convinced because there is no skewering involved, there is no peanut sauce and the end product doesn't look anywhere within 100m radius of sate. So, I see how sate or satay might not be a great name for it :)

So let's just call this the Grilled Pork Neck Dish That Rita Brings To All Potluck Parties. BecauseI really brought this dish to almost every potluck party I attended. People love it (or at least they pretend to), and even if people don't love it - I have no issues finishing it myself. Hehehheh. 

It's very easy to make. Idiot-proof level.

I can't think of easy ways to ruin this dish... except maybe if you're bringing this dish to a party naked, and it is not a nudist party. That will ruin the dish. Sorry - I tend to go off topic like that.

Now, to make this dish.

Recipe

Meat

- Pork neck meat (I usually buy frozen ones from Kai Bo. You can buy fresh if you want), or you can substitute this with thigh chicken fillet with skin on.

(Quantity recommendation: if this is one of the many dishes of a potluck party, 1 big slice of pork neck meat that's available in Kai Bo frozen food shop should be ok for 4 people. If you're treating this as one of the main dishes, then 1 slice serves 2. If you're serving this to a crazy greedy pork-lover, allow 1 per person)

Marinade

- Shallot, thinly sliced (1/2 shallot per 1 slice pork neck)

- Kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)

- Soy sauce 

(Ratio of soy sauce : sweet soy sauce = 1 : 3)

- ground nutmeg, ground coriander seeds, cumin

Dipping sauce

- Kecap manis

- Fish sauce (just a dash)

- Lime juice (or lemon juice)  

- Lime wedges or lemon wedges

- A bit of ground nutmeg

- Thinly sliced shallot (just a bit - you can set aside some when slicing shallot for the marinade)

- Chopped fresh chillies (preferably the green birds eye chilli - cabe rawit ftw! or omit if you can't handle the heat)

Mix well & serve in small bowls with the lime or lemon wedges 

How to do

(Ideally prepare the night before serving)

Marinating

Defrost meat if you bought frozen. Pat dry, po ke the meat all over with fork (or meat poke...r?). Place meat in container, add marinade, massage the marinate all over the meat and refrigerate overnight (or a couple hours).

Grilling

Preheat oven to 250C, grill meat until the surface gets nicely caramelized. You can baste with the marinade or make more of the dipping sauce for basting. This normally takes about 40 minutes in my oven.

Charcoal grilling would be awesome too.

When done, slice diagonally and thinly, squeeze lime juice all over it and serve with dipping sauce.

And wait for the crowd to ask you for the recipe ;) 

Budget Dinner: Beef & Radish in Chu Hou Sauce Recipe

Fresh beef meat is getting really expensive these days. In Hong Kong, always eating at home does not always mean that you'll spend a lot less! 

Here's how to make the most out of HK$20 beef for dinner. My mil's recipe ;)

Recipe

- HK$20 beef meat, sliced thinly just like for stir frying. This saves cooking time too.

- half a medium radish, skin peeled off & cut into chunks

- 2 cloves garlic, crushed

- 1 cm ginger, crushed

- 1 tbsp Chu Hou sauce (we use Lee Kum Kee)

- a bit of cooking oil

- just enough water to cook the beef & radish

Saute garlic & ginger until fragrant. Add beef, add radish, add sauce, add water, cook until radish chunks are soft.

There's so little beef in this dish but it feels so... hearty :)

Enjoy it with 2 bowls of steamed rice or use it as noodles/pasta sauce.

Save the money for your next fancy restaurant meal... or shoes :)

Super Easy Fruit Sorbet - Nova Gelato Maker

How to make super easy fruit sorbet at home without an ice cream maker or manually "churning" for hours? I'm so glad I've found Nova gelato maker!

(This is not an advert, Nova does not sponsor this post nor gave me any free product hehehe).

So easy to make icy fruity dessert that's perfect for summer, healthier, and fun for OB to make!

To make, simply freeze cut up fruits. We made strawberries, lychee & blueberries.

Aren't they gorgeous?

The possibility is limitless. You can use mango, pineapple, banana, yoghurt, add crushed oreos for texture, shaved chocolate, and even booze! Uh huh!

To start making, simply thaw the frozen fruits for 15 minutes & dump them into the chute.

OB loves helping out!

And you have lovely fresh gelato, sorbet, icy fruit, or whatever you wanna call it. 

The machine doesn't take so much space & easy to clean too!

It's HK$880 if bought from their website, price could be cheaper in some other shops (I bought from Patisserie Corner for HK$700).

Here's their official website: en.nova-greenliving.com

How to Make Easy Ice Sweet Corn Summer Dessert

Mega delish easy ice dessert. Just the perfect thing for this crazy sticky hot humid Hong Kong summer.

I saw this dish made by a celebrity in a Korean show called Happy Together, the Late Night Cafetaria segment. It's brilliant! It's savory-sweet, sweetness can be adjusted to any level, many different combinations can be done, it involves some sort of ice & super easy to make. I just had to try it!

Recipe (adapted from the show)

- 1 small can of coconut milk (the original recipe uses 1 box of milk)

- sweet corn kernels (fresh or canned - whichever lights your fire)

- condensed milk

Pour coconut milk into freezer friendly container, freeze. A couple of hours before serving, thaw in fridge until you can "mash" it with a fork. Or you can freeze the milk/coconut milk in smaller container so that you can use blender to make the "shaved milk ice". Place a serving of the granita-esque coconut milk in a bowl, add as much corn kernels (if you're using fresh corn, cook the corn & get the kernels) as you like & top it with condensed milk. 

Icy creamy sweet savory goodness. LOVE! 

Sponsored Post: K-Food & CN Blue Video Plus My Kimchi Ramyun Omelette

Are you a fan of Korean food? Do you remember your first Korean food experience? Mine sent me back years ago when I was studying in Sydney. I lived with Korean flatmates, and one of them is an amazing cook. She introduced me to homemade Korean food. I remember the flat always smelling of kimchi as my flatmates made a huge batch and we always had our fridges full of them. Interestingly, I was not in love with Korean food in the beginning, I was probably not as adventurous an eater as I am now. The thing that really got me hooked was… Shin Ramyun instant noodles (well, of course – isn’t it the official international student food?). We always had boxes of ramyun to survive on a student budget, and I still eat them often - up until now :)

I love Korean food a lot more now – thanks to my obsession with Kpop & Kdramas. Anyone with me on this? Tell me I am not the only mad and obsessed ahjumma here. Whenever I see my idols slurping a bowl of ramyun… (I don’t wanna finish this sentence, can you finish it for me?)

Here’s a video of one of my favorite Kpop groups, CN Blue – promoting Korean food. My bias is Jung YongHwa – liked him since You Are Beautiful (I love rooting for the underdogs), and he looks so charming in this video – especially on 00:47 mark where he’s promoting Citron tea. Cuteee! Are you a CN Blue fan? Who’s your bias?

Apart from enjoying my ramyun as per the cooking instructions with a lot of sinful toppings, I also love turning it into an omelette.

Very easy and tasty. Perfect for breakfasts or cut into smaller portion as a snack. I added kimchi, spam, and cheese too. My favorite combo!

The perfect snack for watching more Kshows and Kdramas 

A cup of citron tea would be lovely too.

Enjoy!

“This post has been sponsored by Korean Department for Agriculture and Trade, but all thoughts are my own"

Super Easy Cheat Cherry Tart

Looks impossibly impressive, absolutely gorgeous, and super yummy!


I am not calling this a recipe. But here's how to make this beautiful yummy dessert.
Preheat oven to 200C, Lightly butter baking sheet, place frozen roti prata on top (one per person), brush the top with beaten egg, bake until it's fluffed, take it out of the oven. Arrange halved cherries on top, add some sugar all over, bake again until golden brown and serve.

It doesn't get any easier than this, no?
Enjoy!

Sweet Summer - How To Make Cherry Clafoutis

Saw the recipe on Gary's blog and I just had to make it! It's my favorite kind of recipe. Minimal, simple ingredients and the dish sounds and looks absolutely divine. I went to buy fresh cherries right away and got it done. If only I'd stop procrastinating things other than food...


Very easy to make!
Recipe (literally taken from Gary's blog. I followed every step!)
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pounds of red cherries, stem removed, pitted (alternatively you can add blueberries, strawberries or even apricots or pears)
• 0.5 cup of flour
• 0.5 cup caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup of milk
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• powdered sugar

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 180C, lightly butter baking pan. Set aside.

2. Warm the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer (do not boil) and set aside.

3. Combine eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk by hand or by food processor until smooth. Gradually add in warm milk. Continue to whisk until thoroughly combined. The batter will be a little watery - even more watery than whipping cream - but that's how it's supposed to be, so don't worry! 

4. Pour the batter into baking pan. Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes until slightly set. Remove pan from oven - do not turn it off!

5. Put cherries into the batter in single layer. Put baking pan back into the oven and continue to bake for an additional 40-45 minutes. Surface should be brown and batter set. 

6. Take the pan out of the oven. Let cool slightly, and run a knife along the sides of the pan to loosen up the clafoutis.

7. You can serve it immediately or let cool to lukewarm/room temperature. Before serving, dust with powdered sugar, cut into wedges or squares, and optionally put a scoop of ice cream on top (preferably homemade - that's Gary. For me... I'd totally buy since I haven't tried making ice cream before heheheh).


Halfway done. How gorgeous are those cherries!

And...

The beauty.

Dig in! I had it for tea time and breakfast the next day. I absolutely ADORE the flavor of baked cherries.

Thanks for the recipe & inspiration to bake again, Gary!

How To Make Easy No Bake Chocolate Pots de Creme with Fresh Berries And Fruit Compote

A super duper easy dessert to make. Totally right up my alley.

Luscious chocolate, a kick of tartness from the compote and fresh summer berries.

Perfect.
Recipe
(adapted from May's recipes Chocolate Pot De Creme)
Serves 6 (but I made this into 4 bigger portions)
The chocolate
- 100g dark chocolate
- 1/2 tsp instant coffee
- 250 ml cream
- 30g white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp whiskey (omit if making for kids)
- a pinch of sea salt

Chop chocolate, place into mixing bowl.
Put cream and sugar into saucepan, add vanilla and salt. Bring to almost boil.
Pour into chopped chocolate, add instant coffee & whiskey. Set for 1 minute, beat until smooth and shiny.
Pour into ramekins, let cool, chill for at least 5 hours.

The fruit compote (optional)
- a handful of berries (I used 3 strawberries and 7 blueberries)
- a tbsp of water
- 1 tsp sugar
Chop berries, place in sauce pan, cook using low heat. Keep cooking until fruit became softened and produced some liquid. Add a bit of water if needed. Add sugar bit by bit until you achieve balance between tartness and sweetness. Let cool, add into chocolate pot de creme with fresh fruits...

...or eat with toasts, or croissants, or bacon... the sky is the limit really.

Now... dig into that luscious pot of chocolatey fruity goodness.

Happy summer!

Easy French Onion Soup Recipe

I am not a big fan of French Onion Soup. The ones that I've tried were all too sweet for my taste. But when my friend suggested that we make our own version together, we instantly agreed. I figured that if we are making it ourselves, we could definitely adjust the flavors to suit my savoury taste ;) and we did just that.

We adapted a recipe posted on Jamie Oliver's website by a member, and we love how easy it is.

Here's the recipe.
Our adaptation:
- we omitted the egg yolks
- we used red wine
- we used gruyere and cheddar
- we seasoned with salt and white pepper until we achieved the perfect balance of sweet and savory, but bearing in mind that cheese will be added
- we added grated cheese, then croutons, then grated cheese again on top
- we'd consider adding mozzarella into the cheese mix next to add that "stringy melty" quality to it


The recipe mentioned that using croutons isn't convenient, but we did it and it was easy and yummy. We'd use croutons again.


Grilling in the oven.


Perfectly golden brown.


Out of this world.

Creamy Sweet Corn & Bacon Pasta Recipe

Sweetness of corn & saltiness of bacon. I always love such a combo. Initially I made this for my toddler (OMG, feeding my son bacon - that makes me a bad mom, right? Oh well... just once in a while... and mommy wants some too!). So here goes.

Recipe
(serves 2)
- pasta for 2 (measure using those pasta measuring rings), I used spaghetti
- 2 fresh sweet corn kernels
- 2 strips of bacon per person (I used lean back bacon and removed the fat)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- butter, cream, salt, pepper

Cook pasta according to the instruction on the packet - do not overcook. If pasta's done before sauce is done, drain and set it aside. Meanwhile, melt about a tbsp butter, add garlic, saute until fragrant, add bacon, add corn, cook until there's a bit of brownage going. Add cream to your liking (I added about 120 ml), season with salt and pepper. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve hot.

Add some fresh herbs if you like. I didn't since I'd have to pick them out one by one as my big boss (the toddler) demanded. Oh man, I'm such a loser mom.

Anyway, enjoy the pasta!

How To Make Ridiculously Easy Cheat No Bake Chocolate "Cake"

I love anything cheat and anything lazy. Short cuts, I adore thee!
What else is new? :)
When I first saw the idea on TV (TLC, Buddy's cooking show), I fell in love with it immediately and decided that I HAVE TO make (an adaptation of) it! And here goes...

This beautiful gorgeous gorgeous "cake" isn't a cake. It's made of bread, soaked in chocolatey goodness. Uh huh! Oh yeah! So, pick a bread with desired texture, you can pick fluffy ones, or chewy ones... but make sure you pick one that can withstand liquid and won't turn into mush. I picked a chewy one made of mixed grains with lots of nuts in it. I love that it has a bit of saltiness in it. So, here's how I made this.

Recipe (Adapted from Kitchen Boss)
- Chunks of bread that you like, cut the crusts, I made two thick chunks
(if you wanna make more, adjust the liquid recipe)
- 100gr dark chocolate (or you can use milk chocolate or white chocolate - the world is your chocolate box)
- 1 cup coffee
- 2 tbsp sugar (you can adjust the sweetness)
- 2 tsp rum essence
- 1 shot vodka (you can use rum and omit the rum essence, I did this because I only had vodka)
- Strawberries (or fresh fruits of your choice to go with chocolate)

Cut chocolate into chunks (or you can use baking chocolate chunks), melt over double boiler. Add coffee, sugar, rum essence and vodka, mix well, take it off the heat. Cut crust off bread and cut into chunks. Soak bread in the chocolatey liquid, make sure the liquid gets all absorbed the inner parts of the bread. Baste them, flip them upside down. Once all the chocolate liquid gets absorbed by the bread, you can serve it.

On the TV show, it's served with whipped cream. Since I am not a fan of whipped cream, I planned to serve it with ice cream. But in an effort to be healthier, in the end I served it with fresh fruits instead.

Beyond yum and so damn easy. Perfect for me.

And here's a behind-the-scene shot of baby M "helping out" during the photoshoot.

He flipped the mirror around, took the mirror away, and threatened to touch the chocolate a few times :D

Have fun, hope you like the crazy lazy recipe.

Peanut Butter Indomie Goreng - Happy New Year 2013

Wanna crank your Indomie Goreng up a few notches?
Add 1 tbsp peanut butter mixed with 1 tsp hot water, freshly chopped chilli & a touch of lime juice.
My first breakfast in 2013.
Happy new year, everybody!

Ps. Excuse the iPhone photo, my DSLR is in Canon hospital :(

Pandan French Toast - Ugly Delicious

The color might be lurid green and scary, but I can assure you that it's very yummy!

Bread soaked in mixture of egg, melted butter, coconut cream, sugar & pandan essence. It's a no brainer, really! Must be yum! I will definitely use coconut cream more often when making french toasts. It gives me that much needed kick-in-the-gut richness.

Recipe
- bread of your choice (I used 1 small mixed grain bun, sliced to 1 cm thick slices)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 5 tbsp coconut cream
- 3 tbsp butter (salted), melted
- a pinch of salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- a few drops of pandan essence (add bit by bit, I added half a teaspoon)
- some more butter mixed with vegetable oil for frying

Melt butter, let cool for a bit while preparing other ingredients. Mix sugar, salt, coconut cream, pandan essence and melted butter in a bowl, soak bread pieces in the mixture and let them "marinate" in fridge for a couple of hours. Before serving, heat up some butter mixed with a bit of vegetable oil to prevent from burning, pan fry bread pieces until golden.


Rich, fragrant, sweet, and fluffffffy! I really adore the scent and creaminess of coconut milk in these babies.
Enjoy!

Peas and Bacon Crumble

I've been crumble-topping everything eh? I can't help it! It's super easy, it makes everything tasty... and pretty too! I love it.


Recipe
- 2 heaping tablespoon of all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 tsp of grated parmesan
- a bit of sugar, black pepper, nutmeg, grated lemon zest
- 1 small bowl of green peas
- 2 strips of bacon, cut into chunks

In a frying pan, render bacon fat, add peas, mix well and pour into vessel (I chose sturdy paper muffin cups, you can use cute small ramekins). Preheat oven to 200C. Using hands, mix flour, butter, grated parmesan, a bit of sugar, black pepper, nutmeg and grated lemon zest - never mind the chunks. Add on top of the peas and bacon, dump into oven until the top's golden brown.


Yum! Great as a side dish or snack or party food!

Super Easy Mini French Toasts

The first French Toasts I tried was the Hong Kong style golden brown deep fried one. I do love it, but I didn't realize that I'd love these non-deep-fried ones, and they are so simple to make too!

Recipe
(yields 6 mini french toasts. they are very rich and filling tho)
- 1 egg, beaten
- half cup of milk
- 1cm thick slice of butter, cut from 1 stick - melted, and 1 tsp for frying (mixed with cooking oil)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 small mixed grain bun, cut into 1 cm thick pieces

Mix beaten egg, milk, melted butter and sugar, add slices of bread, make sure the bread pieces are fully soaked in the mixture, let them "marinate" for at least 15 minutes. Heat up frying pan with cooking oil and butter, pan fry pieces of bread until golden brown.

You should get very fluffy, creamy, eggy inner part and crispy outer part. Very yum! And as if these aren't sinful enough...I ate mine with peanut butter, cream cheese, and Nutella. Perfect for breakfast or tea time.

Super Easy Choy Sum Shrimp Stir Fry

Another dish my MIL always makes, super sweet veggie, fresh shrimps. Beautiful. Finally I saw her making it recently. It's amazing how she can make the dish taste so good without even using aromatics like ginger or garlic. Very minimal, and the ingredients shine through.

Recipe
- 1 cup shrimps, deshelled, deveined, butterflied
- a pack of choy sum
- vegetable oil, salt, and pepper

Season shrimps with salt and pepper. Heat up frying pan with some vegetable oil, stir fry shrimps until half done and set aside. Stir fry choy sum until they reach the level of tenderness that you like (don't let them turn yellow), season with a bit of salt, add shrimps, stir fry until shrimps are just cooked, and serve.

Perfect for a light meal!

Sweet Corn Crumble - My Island East Markets Loot

I heard a lottt about the super sweet corn from Island East Markets, and finally, this week I got my chance to buy some!

Look at these beautiful corn kernels. Super sweet, good enough to eat raw!


Yes baby, come to mama!


I decided to make them into a crumble.

Have you ever smelt the aroma of corn and butter in an oven?

OMG. Heaven!

Recipe
(yields 2 ramekins)
- Corn kernels from 1 corn
- 2 heaping tbsp plain flour
- 2 heaping tbsp sugar
- 2 heaping tbsp salted butter (divided)
- 2 pinches of salt
Preheat oven to 180C, divide corn kernels to two ramekins, add half of the butter into both ramekin. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt and the remaining of butter, mix with your hand. Add crumble mixture onto corn, bake until golden brown.

OMG.

Yes.

Now, about Island East Markets. It is definitely something to look forward to every Sunday. Awesome fresh local produce, cute handmade/vintage stuff, fun for kids, delicious food, great crowd, and very close to Quarry Bay MTR Station! If you're in town, it is a MUST VISIT!


Click here to see more pictures from my visit.

Marcus wouldn't let papa's apple juleb go...

The first week of Island East Markets, I didn't get to shop properly because, my friends and I opened a stall sharing our love for vintage clothing! Click here to see more pictures.

We had a lot of fun and can't wait to book another stall to spread more vintage love!
See you at Island East Markets, everybody!