Banana Butter Cake

Food cost in Malaysia has gone up tremendously; at least by 25%. With the recent removal of the sugar subsidy, our sugar now costs RM1.90/kg when it was used to be RM1.45/kg and not only that, there is always a shortage, with the local stores limiting purchase of 2 kg per customer. With that, all other food cost that are related sugar have also gone up.

Butter has always been an imported item and again the cost has also gone up. We can never buy cakes or pastries that are 100% butter. Somehow, I always felt taste matters! I still make my own butter cakes,simply because it tastes better and I can't buy them from the local bakeries. They have to be pre-ordered from a 'cottage industry' bakery or home-made.

Here, I have a rich Banana Butter Cake recipe to share. It is always a hit especially among the men, and it is full of chunks of banana.

Tips: (1) Use over-ripe bananas;

(2) Living in a tropical country, I would always chill my butter first.

(3) I use canned Golden Churn Butter, unsalted.

(4) Sift flour with Bi-carbonate of soda at least twice, to incoporate them evenly.

(5) Mash bananas COARSELY.

BANANA BUTTER CAKE

(makes 2 loaves of 5"x9")

12 oz butter, chilled and cut into smaller cubes

10 oz caster sugar

2 tbsp condensed milk

2 tbsp evaporated milk

6 grade A eggs

16 oz flour

1 full teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 1/2 cups mashed bananas or 8 medium bananas

1 Sift flour with bicarbonate of soda at least twice.

2 Beat butter with sugar in medium speed until light and fluffy.

3 Beat in the 2 types of milk, alternating with each other, starting with the condensed milk.

4 Increase beater speed and gradually beat eggs, one at a time, until just combined.

5 Fold in flour in two batches.

6 Mix in mashed bananas quickly.

7 Put mixture into two loaf pans of 5" x 9" and bake at moderate oven (180 deg Celsius) for 1 hour.

8. Cool cakes out of pan in a rack.

Hakka Kao Yuk

This is a traditional Hakka dish. The Hakkas are one of the indigenous people of China (there are more than 1000 different dialects spoken in China). This dish is cooked three times before it reaches the dining table: boiled, fried and steamed. The key ingredient of this dish that's found in the sauce is the 'Nam Yee' which is made from fermented taro or yam cubes, rice wine and ground red rice.

HAKKA KAO YUK

(STEAMED BELLY PORK WITH TARO)

1.5 kg belly pork with skin

800g taro root

1 tbsp light soya sauce

2 squares 'Nam Yee' with 3 tbsp sauce liquid

2 tbsp thick soya sauce

2 tbsp light soya sauce

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tspn 5-spice powder

4 tbsp minced garlic and shallots

1/2 cup water

1 cup oil for frying

spring onions and coriander for garnishing

1. Wash and remove any hair from the pork's skin.
2. Bring a pan of water to boil and boil pork for about 15-20 minutes in simmering water.
3. Remove and pat dry with paper towels. Coat pork with the 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce.
4. Peel and halve taro length-wise. Slice taro into 1cm thickness.
5. Heat up 1 cup oil in wok. Fry taro pieces until lightly browned. Remove and leave aside.
6. With the remaining oil, fry the pork and brown on all sides and skin began to blister.
7. Remove and soak fried pork in cold water.
8. In a small mixing bowl, combine 'Nam Yee' , dark and light soya sauce, 3-spice powder and sugar with the 1/2 cup water together.
9. Leave about 3 tablespoon oil in the wok and reheat. Fry the minced garlic and shallots until lightly browned.
10. Add in combined sauce ingredients and bring to boil and let simmer for a while or until sugar has dissolved. Let sauce thicken a little and sauce began to bubble and looks glossy.
11. Dish out and leave aside.
12. Slice pork pieces into 1cm thickness and 2" wide. Coat pork pieces with half the sauce.
13. In a heatproof dish, arrange pork pieces alternating with taro pieces, with the pork skin and rounded sides of taro faced down.
14. When finished, pour all remaining sauce into the arrangement.
15. Prepare steamer and steam the dish for about 1 hour or until pork is soft and tender.
16. To serve, turn over onto a serving plate and garnish with shredded spring onions and fresh coriander leaves.

Mini Chicken Pies

My 11 year old daughter had just started secondary school and school ends at 2pm and sometimes at 3pm if there is extra-curriculum activities. She usually had much time to have lunch or the canteen food was not to her liking and she usually comes hungry and wanting to have a snack. I made these pies for her lunch box or for a snack after school.

MINI CHICKEN PIES
(Makes about 10 pies)

2 chicken breasts, deboned and skin removed
1 carrot, diced
250g button mushrooms, quartered or smaller
300g cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 medium Bombay onions, diced
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tspn parsley flakes
1 tspn dried oregano
2 tbsp oyster sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 tspn cornflour mixed with 1/4 cup water
10pcs x 4" diameter aluminium foil disposal pie dish

400g frozen puff pastry
(I use 'KAWAN' brand ready-rolled puff pastry, 40g x 10pcs pack)
1 egg, beaten for glazing

1. Dice chicken breast into 1cm cubes.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions until transparent.
3. Add in diced chicken, carrot, mushrooms and cauliflower. Stir-fry until chicken is lightly browned. Stir in dried hearbs, oyster sauce, salt and pepper.
   
4. Add in about half-cup water and cover for about 1 minute or until carrots are soft.
5. Cook further, stirring until liquid has been reduced to about 1/3 of the total mixture.
6. Stir in cornflour mixture.
7. When sauce has thicken, dish out pie-filling mixture onto a bowl and let cool until just warm before using.
8. Roll out pastry to fit pie dish. Using pie dish as a template, cut out 10 pcs that are 1cm larger than the diameter and 10 pcs that are of the same diameter of the pie dish.
9. The larger ones will the base and the smaller ones will be for the top.
10. Spoon in filling after the bases have been fitted into the pie dishes. Add in about 2 teaspoons of gravy to every pie.
11. Wet the edges of the cut pastry and place the smaller rounds of pastry on the top of the pies. Press with finger to seal edges together. Use a fork to make patterns around the edges of the pies.
12. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Brush pies with egg wash and bake for 35-40 minutes

Note: Unbaked pies can be kept frozen and packed in freezer bags for up to 1 month. Thaw in fridge before cooking as usual.