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Pandan Gula Melaka Layer Cake

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Preparing Pandan Sponge Cake
Line bottom of an 8-inch cake round pan with 1 layer of parchment paper. Do not grease cake pan. Preheat oven to 180°C. Whisk castor sugar and egg yolks till well combined. Mix in melted butter. Add milk. Whisk thoroughly. Add and mix pandan paste. Add sifted cake flour and baking powder into mixture. Add salt. Whisk till all combined.
With an electric mixer, whisk egg whites till frothy. Add cream of tartar. Whisk till thick foam forms. Gradually add castor sugar. Continue to whisk till firm peak stage. Gently fold in egg white mixture to the yolk mixture in 4 batches. Mix till all is well combined.
Gently pour batter into the 8-inch cake pan. Shake cake pan from side to side till the batter is level, tapping the pan against table top. Place on lower rack of the oven bake till golden brown, about 20 mins or till a toothpick comes out clean.
Remove pan from oven. Leave to cool. Using a butter knife gently slice through the side of the cake pan to loosen it. Unmould cake to a cake board and remove parchment paper. Peel off the top skin layer of the sponge cake.
Repeat twice, so you get 3 layers of pandan sponge cakes.

Preparing Pandan Juice
Slice off 5cm from the roots. Trim into 4cm lengthways. Grind in a juice blender with 40g of water until fine. Pour through a sieve into a container.
Pandan juice can be stored in a refrigerator for 2 weeks.

Preparing Pandan Kaya Layer
Use a 8-inch round removable bottom loose cake pan (not spring form pan).
Place water in a small pot that retains heat well. Add sugar, unsalted butter, pandan juice and salt till the butter and sugar melts. Turn off heat.
Place coconut milk in a bowl. Add hun kwee flour. Stir thoroughly. Add coconut milk mixture to the pandan mixture through a sift and stir thoroughly until there are no lumps. Add pandan paste and mix well. Add agar-agar powder and stir thoroughly.
Turn on heat to medium-low. Cook and stir mixture till thick enough to coat sides of pot thinly. Turn off heat. Stir till residual heat dissipates. (Mixture should now be thick enough to coat sides of pot thickly but thin enough to flow smoothly).

Preparing Gula Melaka Kaya Layer
In a saucepan, bring water, butter, gula melaka and salt to a boil while stirring until completely dissolved. Turn off heat.
Pour coconut milk into a bowl. Add hun kwee flour and stir thoroughly. Add coconut milk mixture to the gula melaka mixture through a sift and stir thoroughly until there are no lumps. Add agar-agar powder and stir thoroughly.
Turn on heat to medium-low. Cook and stir mixture till it is thick enough to coat sides of pot thinly. Turn off heat. Stir till residual heat dissipates. (Mixture should now be thick enough to coat sides of pot thickly but thin enough to flow smoothly). This mixture thickens faster than the pandan kaya.

Assembling cake and pandan kaya layer
Pour a thin layer of pandan kaya into the base of the cake pan. Tilt pan from side to side and swirl kaya to form even layer. Wait till the kaya layer has cooled slightly, about 60 secs (less if it’s cold where you are).
Place 1st layer of sponge cake in the middle of the cake pan. Make sure there is a little space in between the entire edge of the cake and the cake pan to allow the pandan kaya mixture to flow smoothly around the sides.
Pour a thicker, even layer of pandan kaya on top of the 1st sponge cake into the sides of the sponge cake. Wait 30 seconds or so.
Place 2nd sponge cake layer and pour thick, even layer of pandan kaya on top and into the sides of sponge cake. Wait 30 seconds or so. Place 3rd sponge cake layer. Do not apply any pandan kaya layer for this 3rd layer as it is for the gula melaka layer.
Leave assembled cake to cool down.

Assembling Gula Melaka Layer to the 3rd Sponge Cake
Pour gula melaka layer onto the 3rd layer of sponge cake, flowing to the sides.
Leave the cake to cool to room temperature before storing into the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
To serve, unmould cake by pushing the base of cake pan upwards carefully. Place a cake board on top of the cake. Flip it over. Now the pandan layer is at the top. Use another cake board. Flip it over again so the gula melaka layer is right back on top.
Slice and serve chilled.

Additional Notes:
Ensure each kaya mixture is cooked till thick in texture but not overly thick, otherwise it will not set completely even after refrigeration. If kaya is too thin, your sponge layer will start floating. If kaya is too thick it will not flow evenly.

Chicken Laksa

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To Cook
Prepare noodles as per packet instruction – drain and set aside. Heat oil in wok over low heat and stir fry Laksa Paste until fragrant. Then, add coconut milk and water, bring to a boil.
Add vegetables and heat through. Put in chicken fillet and cook to tender. Then turn down to a simmer. Pour in fish sauce. While cooking, place noodles in serving bowl and top with bean sprouts.
Spoon laksa soup on top of noodles and garnish with shallots and coriander.
Serve with a wedge of lime if preferred.

Waxed Meat Claypot Rice (Lap Mei Fan)

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To Cook
Combine some pepper, salt and cornstarch to form a marinade in a bowl. Marinate the chicken meat in the mixture for 10 mins.
In a claypot, add the rice and water. Bring to a boil.
Blanch the vegetables separately and leave to the side.
Lower the heat when the rice has boiled. Leave to simmer for 5-6 mins or until the rice is partially cooked. Place the marinated chicken on the rice.
Leave to simmer for approximately 10 mins or until the water is absorbed and rice is cooked.
Place the sausages and vegetables on top of the chicken.
Combine the light and dark soy sauce with the oyster sauce together in a small bowl. Pour on top of the claypot rice. Turn off the heat, cover the lid and leave to simmer for 5 mins.
Garnish with spring onions and sesame oil.

Japanese Sake Steamed Clams

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To Cook
Over medium high heat, add the sake and ginger to a large pan and allow to boil.
Add the clams and dried chilli to the pan and turn the heat up to high. Cover the pan with a lid and allow the clams to cook until they are done. The clams are done when they open up.
Remove the lid and sprinkle the black pepper and spring onions over the clams.
Serve hot together with the soup and some steamed rice.

Bubur Cha Cha

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To Cook
Steam diced yam, golden and purple sweet potato in a wok over high heat, until softened, about 20 minutes. Test with a sharp knife or toothpick. They should be very easy to prick through.
Use a large deep pot. Add 1 litre of boiling water with the rock and fine sugar. Bring it to boil. Add pandan leaves. Reduce heat to simmer for 10 min.
Pour in coconut cream. Once it boils again, drain up and discard the pandan leaves.
Add the sweet potatoes. The rock and fine sugar should dissolved completely.
Taste and add more sugar if needed. Served hot. Or let it cool down and chill in fridge if you like it served cold.

To Make Tapioca Flour Cubes
Sift tapioca flour if lumpy flour is found in it. Then, place tapioca flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Slowly stir-in hot boiling water and combine well until mixture turns dough-like texture. When mixture is cooled, form it into dough on a well-floured table top.
Dust some flour on your palm and divide dough into 4 parts. Mix each portion with 3 different colouring prepared and leave one portion as ‘white‘ original colour (no colouring added).
Knead to combine well and until it becomes a non-stick dough. Then, roll and shape each portion out into long and squarish thin stripes. Thereafter, dice into small cubes.
Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. When boiled, reduce heat, and put in tapioca flour cubes to cook for about 30 min, or until all the cubes float up. Texture of cooked tapioca flour cubes should be chewy, bright in colour with a little translucent appearance.
Dish up and plunge cubes into a bowl of iced water for few seconds. Drain and remove cubes from iced water. Reserve for later.

Crab and Dried Scallop Soup

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To Cook
When the shiitake mushrooms are softened, slice them thinly into strips. Also cut the bamboo shoots into strips.
Begin heating the chicken stock and water in a pot over medium high heat.
Add the dried scallops into the pot and boil for about 20 minutes.
Add sliced the shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoots and crab meat to the pot, quickly followed by the oyster sauce, abalone sauce, soy sauce and hua tiao wine. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Boil the soup for about 5 minutes before adding in the cornstarch solution to thicken the soup.
Make the cornstarch solution simply by mixing the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Stir well, making sure there are no lumps in the solution.
Thoroughly mix in the cornstarch solution with the soup and it will gradually thicken.
Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls and garnish with some fresh coriander.
Optionally, you can mix in some black vinegar and/or blanched beansprouts with the soup.

Veggieful Soba Noodle Salad

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To Cook
Heat a pan and spray with preferred oil. Fry the tofu until lightly golden brown. Slice into ½ cm slices and set aside. In the same pan, add asparagus, carrot and zucchini and pan fry until they have some colour but not too soft. Put aside.
Place a saucepan of water to boil. Then add in edamame to the boiling water for a few mins. Remove the edamame and place into a bowl of cold water, reserve the hot water. Shell edamame once cooled and set aside. Reserved hot water can be used to cook the soba noodles to save time if preferred. Cook soba noodles according to packet instructions. Refresh under cold water.
Mix together soy sauce, mirin, grated ginger, garlic, red chillies, lemon juice and rice vinegar.
To assemble the dish, put noodles in a large bowl and add in coriander, shallots and mixed sauce. Combine thoroughly. Add in cucumber, zucchini, carrots and shelled edamame. Mix well, distribute fried tofu and garnish with toasted sesame seeds.
Drizzle some sriracha according to taste. Serve immediately.

Fish Curry with Rice Vermicelli (Khanom Jeen Nam Ya)

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For the fish
Gut and clean the fish thoroughly, then cut into medium sized pieces.
In a pot, bring water to boil, then add fish to boil for about 5-10 mins or until fully cooked. Drain the water and remove fish from the pot. Set aside to cool.
When the fish becomes cool enough to handle, remove the skin and begin to debone the fish. Set aside the flesh while removing it before gently mashing the meat with your fingers to a mince-like texture.

For the curry paste
Cut off the ends of the lemongrass and remove the outer few layers. Finely slice the lemongrass and turmeric (if using fresh turmeric).
Using pestle and mortar (or a food processor), add a pinch of salt to the lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, and peppercorns, and pound to a smooth paste for about 20 mins.
Then add shrimp paste and pound mixture for another 5 mins. Set aside.

For the curry
In a large pot or sauce pan, add coconut milk and curry paste. Cook over medium heat.
Stir the curry until all of the curry paste dissolves into the coconut milk. Add in the minced fish, fish balls (optional) and add salt to taste. Lastly, add in the kaffir lime leaves and continue cooking for another 5 mins.
Keep stirring and turn the heat down when it starts to boil. Avoid rapid boiling the curry as it will curdle and separate the coconut milk. Keep stirring gently for about 5 mins once it comes to a boil.
Taste test for flavour and add more salt if desired.

To serve
Prepare the rice vermicelli according to instructions on the packet.
In a shallow bowl, place a serve or 100g of noodles. Ladle curry over the noodles, including fish balls.
Garnish with fresh herbs and vegetables and a wedge of lime.

Vegetarian Japanese Curry with Noodles

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To Prep
In a pot of boiling water, cook the somen noodles according to the packet instructions.
When the noodles have finished cooking, drain the water and then rinse them in cold water to stop them from over cooking, as well as to remove some of the extra starch.

To Cook
Heat a pan over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Allow it to heat up before adding in the onions and cooking until they become translucent.
Add the water in to the pan and bring it to a boil. When it begins to boil reduce it to a simmer, add the carrots and cook until they become tender.
Add in the cauliflower, broccoli and green beans.
After about 2 minutes have passed, add in the curry roux and stir the roux until the curry thickens.
To serve, plate the somen noodles in to a bowl or dipped plate and spoon over some of the curry.

Prawn Coconut Soup (Dtom Gati Gung)

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To Cook
In a saucepan over medium heat, add coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, coriander roots, sambal oeleck, chilli and fish sauce.
Bring to a slow simmer and let the flavours infuse for 5 mins.
Add prawns and stir gently. Simmer for 5 mins or until prawns are cooked.
Place 1 tsp of Yeo’s Sambal Oeleck in a small bowl and add oil. Stir.
Ladle soup into a serving bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves. Drizzle with the sambal oeleck mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

Spicy Tuna with Kale Sushi Bowl

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To Cook
Place the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold water. Place the rice and water in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 12 mins or until tender and most of the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for 5 mins.
Place the kale in a colander and pour boiling water over it. Drain and set aside to cool slightly. Squeeze out any excess water and finely chop. Add the kale and vinegar to the rice and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
Place the tuna in a medium bowl with the lemon rind, shichimi togarashi, sesame oil and salt and toss to combine.
Divide the rice between bowls and top with the tuna mixture, edamame, purple basil and extra shichimi togarashi to serve. Soy sauce to taste.

Mango Chicken Green Curry

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To Cook
Add oil to saucepan and lightly fry curry paste until fragrant.
Add 100ml of coconut milk and mix well with curry paste.
Add chicken and remaining coconut milk and water, then bring to simmer.
Add hard vegetables – e.g. carrot, broccoli stems and water chestnuts, bring back to simmer and cook for 1-2 mins.
Add remaining vegetables and cook for a further 2-4 mins until chicken and vegetables are cooked through.
Serve with rice and garnish with fresh Thai basil and sliced chili (if you like a bit of heat). Enjoy!