Marble Cake

Marble Cake Recipe
Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Bake Time: 40 Minutes
Makes 3 mini loaves

Ingredients:

2 sticks (220g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
7 oz (200g) plain flour/all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
7 oz (200g) fine or powdered sugar (confectioners sugar or icing sugar)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
4 tablespoons fresh milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease the pan with some butter.

Mix the flour and the baking powder together and sieve. Add in salt and mix well. Set aside.

Use an electronic beater to mix butter and sugar until well combined or pale yellow in color. Add in the first egg. Beat well after each addition of egg until creamy. Scrape down the sides and add in vanilla essence and fold in the flour into the mixture and mix well. Finally, add in the milk.

Divide the batter into two portions. Stir the cocoa powder into one portion and mix well. Transfer the plain batter into the greased baking pan. Shake it lightly to distribute evenly. Pour the cocoa batter in the middle of baking pan, and lightly swirl the cocoa batter with a butter knife. I usually do the “S” shape with the butter knife a couple of times. Do not overmix.

Bake until golden brown and cooked, about 40 minutes. Insert a cake tester in the middle of the cake to test doneness. Remove it from the oven and let cool on the wire rack for another 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve immediately.

Spicy Basil Beef Salad

Spicy Basil Beef Salad Recipe
Adapted from Cooking Light
Serves 4 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

12 ounces top sirloin steak
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Dressing

3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh lemongrass
1 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons sambal oelek
1/8 teaspoons sugar

Salad

1 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves (Thai, Italian and  lemon basil)
1 cup sliced cucumber
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 shallots, sliced

Method:

Heat a nonstick pan at medium-high heat. Season the steaks with the salt and black pepper. Add the steaks to the pan and cook until desired tenderness. Turning the steaks every few minutes will help it cook more evenly.

Transfer the cooked steaks to a plate and let stand for 8-10 minutes before slicing.

Prepare the Dressing by mixing all the ingredients.

Combine the Salad’s ingredients in a salad bowl. Drizzle 3/4 of the Dressing mixture over the salad and toss gently.

Divide the salad into 4 servings and top each plate with sliced steaks. Drizzle the remaining dressing on the steaks.

Cook’s Notes:

You can reduce the fresh basil leaves to 1/2 cup and add 1 cup of mixed spring green.

Feel free to substitute the top sirloin steak with your choice of steak.

Sambal oelek can be found at Asian grocery stores.

Steamed Fish with Ponzu

Steamed Fish with Ponzu Recipe
Serves 2 | Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

8 oz sea bass
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
3 dashes white pepper
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
1-inch piece ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 scallion, cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons Mizkan AJIPON® Ponzu

Method:

Clean and rinse the sea bass with cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Season with the sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, and white pepper. Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms with hot water for about 15 minutes. Squeeze the mushrooms dry of water, cut the stems and sliced into thin pieces.

Arrange the mushrooms on top of the fish. Steamed the fish for about 4-5 minutes or until cooked. Discard the cloudy water that seeps out from the fish. Add the ginger and scallion on top of the fish and pour the Mizkan AJIPON® Ponzu over the fish. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Sambal Belacan

Ingredients

• 50g shrimp paste (belacan), crumbled
• 120g fresh red chillies, seeded
• 5 bird's eye chillies
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, remove the veins
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Juice of 2-3 calamansi limes
• 1/4tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp oil

Method

Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan. Add belacan and fry over low heat till fragrant.
Put in both chillies, salt and kaffir lime leaves. Fry for about a minute, then remove from heat. Tip into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Dish out and add sugar and lime juice to taste.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or serve immediately as a condiment for vegetables, such as cucumber, ladies fingers, carrot, celery and cherry tomatoes.