Orange Butter Cake Recipe

Harrow...

So while I was trying to decide on which of my recipes to post today, I realised that I've been sharing a lot of Asian recipes lately. I'm not complaining (and hopefully you're not, too ;p) but a change would be good. Starting with quite possibly, my all-time favourite, feel-good cake: The Orange Butter Cake.

For some reason, I'm not very much of a Dessert person, seriously (which is sad to say, sorry!!). I actually struggle to finish a whole slice of chocolate cake, cupcake, muffin or more than one macaron... My sugar tolerance is just lower than most and I feel full from desserts relatively quickly and I don't know why. That said, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good dessert, I really do. I just eat less of it.

But then again, there's certain types of desserts that I REALLY enjoy and can eat a lot of. I hope to share them all on this blog, eventually. And Orange Butter Cake is definitely one of them. Even friends that I know who aren't really into desserts enjoy this cake a lot. Boy oh boy, you have no idea how much Butter Cake I can eat especially when they're fresh out of the oven, warm and still crusty. Generally, I enjoy less sweet, light or warm desserts.

Mum wrote down this recipe for me on a piece of paper about a year ago. Though to be honest, I wasn't very sure about whether or not I should be sharing this recipe because it's such a common cake and I'm sure everyone's already got their own favourite good old-fashioned, classic Butter Cake recipe already. And there's not much variations across all of them anyway. Another thing, baking is SERIOUSLY not my forté. But, I've been making an effort to learn and improve in that department =)

But I guess that's besides the point. All I really want is just to share with you things that I love to eat. And also, what I LOVE to use when I'm baking this cake, i.e. Homemade Butter (!!!!). Ever since I bought homemade butter from Victoria Market for the first time about 3 years ago, I've never looked back. It is soooo much more fragrant and better in flavour than even the more "premium" brands, such as Lurpak or President. You have to try it for yourself to know what I mean.

But more than that, it is almost half the price. Only $10/kg which means my usual 2-stick-block of butter is only $2.50. How friggin' cheap is that?! Good for my student wallet. I buy it all the time and use it for everything now. Unless, I've run out and it's inconvenient for me to go to the market, then I would get butter from the supermarket. But, yeah. Please try buying homemade butter if you've never done so before. It makes a HUGE difference in recipes, such as this Orange Butter Cake and the aroma just comes through so beautifully with this cake =)

"Curds & Whey", where I normally buy my butter from in the deli section of Victoria Market

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Orange Butter Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter (softened) *

175g caster sugar

200g self-raising flour (sifted + 1/2 tsp salt)

5 eggs (separated)

zest and juice from 1 large orange (or 2 small) **

* Use the best butter you can find

** I normally prefer my Butter cakes more crumbly and fine. Some people prefer their butter cake moist. For that, use 2 large or 3 small oranges instead of one (as per picture below)

If prefer Classic Butter Cake, omit oranges altogether

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 deg C. Line a bread baking pan/20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar with an electric beater until light and fluffy. Drop in egg yolks, one at a time until well combined. Stop beater.

Fold in half the flour, orange juice and zest until well combined. Fold in remaining flour, orange juice and zest. Beat egg whites until soft peaks formed. Fold in egg white to get smooth consistent batter (do not over-fold!). Pour into baking pan and bake for 45 minutes (or test if skewer poked through the cake comes out clean). Rest on wiring rack for 10 minutes.

Optional: Dust with icing sugar after cake has cooled. Just to look purrty.

Baked sometime last semester at 11pm during a midnight cake craving after watching Masterchef lol

Baked for family when I was back in Malaysia during Winter

Baked about a month ago as an afternoon snack when my friends came over to study =)

Moist version with larger granules didn't rise as high but more orange flavour and still just as yummy

This Orange Butter Cake was really the first cake that I actually baked successfully all by myself (phew!). If you're a beginner baker like me, I definitely suggest you to try this recipe out too. Good luck! =D

Brahim's Beef Rendang

Hello all,

Back with a recipe, as promised. But before I get into it, I'd like to take this chance to thank every one of you who has "Liked" The Hungry Excavator's Facebook Page. I really appreciate it and I truly hope I get to share a meal with each and every one of you one day.

Not many of you know this, but the reason why I'm so humbled is because this blog has actually been around for awhile, collecting dust, mainly. As much as I've always wanted to, I've never actually had the chance to blog recipes/reviews/pictures properly because I've constantly been too swamped by the amount of coursework I get as an Engineering student for many years.

It wasn't until recently about a month ago, that I finally made an active decision to change that and dedicate more time to do things here the way I've always envisioned to from the start =)

Thus, you can say that "The Hungry Excavator 2.0" was re-launched with my first "proper" post, beginning with the Carlton Community Cookbook Photoshoot about a month ago. And things could not have been better since then. I'm so happy that I'm finally doing this right and am enjoying every minute of it!

So, before I do anything else, I want to thank you all for your support through this journey and for growing with me as I try my best to improve in my ways of sharing Life* with people everywhere through Food. I hope you all come back and feel inspired in one way or another through this space.

Also, please feel free to leave a comment cause your words really do make my day =)

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Anyway, back to the post. This Beef Rendang Recipe is really delightful. One of the many recipes that I've tried by Ellie of Gourmand Recipes. I love it so much because it's easy and I've always, always preferred my Rendangs dry, less saucy and not to have coconut milk. The softened kerisik (after cooking) is delicious and gives an additional texture to the dish, which I absolutely love.

When buying desiccated coconut, pick the finest one you can find in your local Asian grocery, they're so cheap. I think they've got two kinds: "shredded coconut" or "coconut paste", I used the latter because it's finer and easier to cook. I think the former is more for things like Lamingtons... I think.

Bought my paste and grated coconut from Yahweh Asian Grocery, near Melb Uni

And before you shun me for not making my rendang from scratch, let me explain. I know that I won't be making my own rempah paste anytime soon because of uni, but this is a very, very easy and equally satisfying alternative. I'll save that homemade stuff for the holidays.

But for now, don't beat yourself up for using store bought pastes. Because not everyone always has the time. My recipes are mostly targeted for quick, easy weeknight meals anyway (though I will share more fun, experimental recipes from time to time).

So when I actually DO use store-bought products, I make sure that they're good quality, such as these. For Rendang, I only use the brand, Brahim's, because I found it to give better flavour. Though if I were to do things differently, I would soak a few small dried chillies in hot water, pound them and add them to the paste. Only because I did find it a bit mild and I like my Rendang piping hot.

Overall, very tasty and happy with this nonetheless and I'm sure you'll love it too. I made this for a friend and we both enjoyed it a lot. Do try and take good care, y'all! =)

Brahim's Beef Rendang Recipe

(adapted from this recipe by the former Almost Bourdain)

Ingredients

1 packets Brahim's Rendang Paste

450g beef (brisket, gravy or chuck steak)

1 cup desiccated / grated coconut

2 cups hot boiling water

6-8 cloves garlic, cut into slivers

4 tbsp oil

Method

To make kerisik: Fry the grated coconut in a non-stick frying pan (without oil) on low heat. Keep stirring so all the grated coconut are browned evenly. It will take about 5 minutes (depending on size) to turn it into deep golden brown and you can smell the aroma. Dish and set aside.

Cut the beef in 5 cm / 2" cubes. Heat oil in a wok, add garlic and fry until slightly browned. Add beef and fry until all sides are browned. Remove beef from wok.

Add rendang paste to the wok and cook until the paste is bubbling. Add the kerisik and hot boiling water. Bring to a boil and add the beef and continue cooking until it's boiling. Turn down the heat, cover with lid and let it simmer in low heat for 2 hours. Stir it occasionally. If liquid dries up, add a bit more water.

After 2 hours of simmering, the sauce should be thickened and the meat should be very tender. Now turn back to medium-high heat, lid off and continue to stir-fry it until the sauce is completely thickened and dried. Serve with steamed rice, roti or nasi kunyit.

2 long hours of patience graciously rewarded =)

My dinner that night -- Brahim's Rendang with Stir-fried Celery with Prawns =)

In Malay, we say "Sedaaaap~" which means, "deliciouuus~"… Nom nom nom… Ciao!

Soy Sauce Pork Cubes Recipe

So when I first decided that I wanted to learn to cook about 2 years ago, the Internet was really my only source of inspiration. More specifically, certain food blogs that I came across. It was the first time I really came across a food blog and I was amazed. Tested and tried recipes, from people's own home kitchen, shared with the rest of the world in a quick and easy manner. I'm sold.

Of course for the longest time, there were only 3 blogs that I really kept revising to draw ideas and inspiration from, that would slowly increase my passion of being in the kitchen and learning to make good, delicious food. They were: Hunger Hunger (run by my friend's mum also from KK), Almost Bourdain (now moved to Gourmand Recipes) and Rasa Malaysia.

I've cooked SO many of their recipes since the start, that I can't thank them enough for their wealth of knowledge as I was taking baby steps in the kitchen during those times. Before that, most of my cooking was almost entirely inedible, seriously. Till this day, I'm still learning and find cooking for my friends and family to be such an amazing and rewarding experience.

After my first 3 food blog encounters, I slowly progressed to The Little Teochew and The Pioneer Woman after stumbling upon them by chance. Two more amazing food blogs that shares incredible recipes that I had the privilege and joy of recreating in my own kitchen. And fast track till this day, I'm slowly discovering more and more amazing people in the food blogging community. Every person that I've included in my blog roll (to the right of this page) continues to inspire me so much with their passion for food.

Anyhoo, back to this recipe. This Soy Sauce Pork Cubes recipe is one that I've made many times. Another amazing find from Hunger Hunger. I fell instantly in love with it since the first day. Soy sauce + Pork. How typically Chinese can you get, right? But by golly, we were FLOORED. Absolutely knocked off our socks. This was SUCH a tasty dish that we couldn't get enough of!

The reason why it tasted so good was 1) it was braised for a very long time. 2) the fats from the pork had given the sauce lots of flavour 3) the sauce was thick and glossy from the use of rock sugar 4) it tastes friggin' incredible with rice

This dish is so gratifying and I highly recommend it to anyone, do give it a try and I promise you won't regret it! =)

Note: The dish is slightly saltier than normal dishes but expected as it goes GREAT with rice. Add an extra piece of rock sugar if you wish to balance it out, but I don't find necessary. Also, my friend, Ann, was the one who taught me to cut up my spring onions and store them in the freezer (see top left of first picture below). Great way because they're normally too big and tend to go bad before I'm doing using the whole bunch. The flavour and aroma is still retained and now I have spring onions readily available whenever I need them. Good tip, thanks Ann.

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Soy Sauce Pork Cubes

(Adapted from this recipe by Hunger Hunger)

Ingredients:

800g pork belly, skin on

3 shallots (small red onions), sliced thinly

3 tbsp Shaoxin wine or rice wine *

5 tbsp dark soy sauce **

2 tbsp light soy sauce **

2 large pieces rock sugar

1/4 cup water or stock

1/2 cup spring onions, sliced

* Use rice wine instead of Shaoxin wine if you want a stronger soy sauce flavour

** Use Lee Kum Kee's Selected soy sauces

Method:

1. Wash and cut the belly pork into 'cubes' of about 1 1/2 "/3 cm thick. You can blanch the pork with hot boiling water if like to remove hairs and dirt. This step also prevents the sauce from becoming cloudy. (I skipped this step).

2. Heat up a heavy pan or a glass casserole dish like Corning's. Add 1 T oil, sear pork over high heat until white all over. If you are cooking more than 1 kg, it is good to cook this in two batches so that the high heat is maintained and the meat gets seared without letting out liquid. Dish pork aside and fry the shallots until fragrant in the same pan.

3. Return pork to pan, add the soy sauces, the wine, the rock sugar and 1/4 cup stock or water until pork is immersed in liquid. Cover. Reduce heat so that it gives a medium-low simmer. Water will come out of the pork as it cooks. Stir once in a while.

4. After 45 minutes, test the pork. If you like it softer, cook another 15 to 30 minutes. Otherwise, uncover and add extra rice wine if like. Add more water if sauce starts to dry up. Stir well to mix and increase heat to high to reduce the sauce until it's very thick. This may take another 10 minutes or more if there's lots of liquid.

5. Stir in the spring onions and serve hot with plain boiled rice. Add a plate of stir-fried veggies.

(Picture from when I cooked it sometime last semester)

Steamed Egg Recipe (clap for joy)

So you know how when you were younger, your taste buds used to be really, really simple. There was once upon a time, when our knowledge of food and taste was so unadulterated by all the complex/sophisticated techniques and ingredients we have come to experience over the years.

You either like a food or you don't, that was it. It wasn't about how it looked, or how expensive it was, but simply how it made you happy/excited from the very first bite, for whatever reason it may be. You would eat delicious food wide-eyed, and smiling.

Mum likes to remind me that when I was younger, I used to be such a picky eater. But then there are those times, when I would walk into the kitchen, and immediately clap for joy at the sight of what was prepared before me, and she would laugh. My excitement and appreciation was uncontrollable. I can tell you now, that till this day, this is still the case =)

There's so many home-cooked food that I can remember off the top of my head that would make me feel this way. Dinners with deep fried prawns, fried nam yu pork, plum sauce duck, ikan masin eggplants, the list goes on (and on...). There's so many of these kind of recipes of my childhood that I plan to revisit and recreate on this blog, so do stay tuned.

This Steamed Egg dish was definitely one of them. Since I was a kid, one of my favourite things to eat was Eggs. Eggs, eggs, eggs... Boy, did I love eggs... I could eat a big plate of rice with this every time and would always secretly wish we could have this for dinner every night. No kidding.

The silkiness of the egg, countered by the saltiness of the duck yolk (placed right at the centre as the "treasure" of the dish), on a bed of tasty mince which had lots of sauce or gravy to go with your rice. Simply, divine. I'm so glad that I can make this dish for myself now.

And what's best is that it's not only delicious, but it seriously takes close to no time to make.

3min prep time + 10min cooking time, it's done before your rice is even ready. Awesome.

On a more technical note, I've always found the perfect ratio of egg to water that will give you a smooth and delicious consistency is 50ml of water per egg. So do feel free to use this if you use a deeper dish or would like to increase the volume of your egg. Also, 10min total steaming time under high heat works best for me. If you find that your eggs still haven't set, steam longer but not too long or they will turn out too stiff and "egg-y". You could also omit the "poking step" by steaming it longer under lower heat but I'm lazy and this is quicker.

Now tell me, what are some of the food that you now, or used to, like eating that would make YOU clap for joy? Anything from your childhood or of late?

Would love to hear the stories behind all the food that still brings a heartfelt joy to you or your family. Hope you're all having a smashing start to the week!

Blessings,

Winston =)

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Steamed Egg Recipe

Ingredients:

Ground meat:

250g minced pork

2 tbsp sesame oil

3 tbsp Shao Xing wine

2 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

4 tsp chilli oil (optional, if you like a bit of kick like me)

Egg custard:

3 eggs (your usual 60 - 70g ones)

150ml water or chicken stock

dash of white pepper

1 salted duck egg (optional)

Method:

1. Separate duck egg white and yolk. Combine all ground meat ingredients, including duck egg white (if using). In a separate bowl, whisk egg, water and pepper. Set aside.

2. Place ground meat at the bottom of a 22cm deep dish (approximate). Pour egg custard on top. Place duck egg yolk in middle.

3. Steam on high heat for 7 minutes. Open cover and use spoon to poke all around the egg mixture (to release built up steam in egg). Garnish with spring onions if you like and continue to steam for another 3 minutes (which makes 10 minutes in total). Serves 4 as a meal with rice and other dishes.

EASY Basil Pesto Pasta Recipe

Hey everyone,

So most of my friends know this about me already, but at the end of the day, what I LOVE to eat MOST is simple, tasty, comfort food. Period.

Though I may love to savour finer foods from time to time, nothing gets me more going than food that's tugged a certain string in your heart and hence an appetite that you later cannot control. These kind of food comes from a different place and it could be a big, hearty plate of spag bol, or some Chinese pork dish so tasty that you'll quickly inhale it with a mountain of rice.

That kinda stuff, y'know? Nothing fancy but hits home.

And another thing I'm going to be doing on this blog is starting a new series called: Simple Meal Ideas.

This collection of recipes is personally dedicated to all of you, who, like me, can struggle with limited time/ideas/resource (cause I'm a student on a budget, too) to prepare a meal on a busy night of the week after a long day of work.

I have all the international students and busy working class people out there specifically in mind for this. The main objective is also to inspire people who have always been to scared/tired to cook anything with recipes SO SIMPLE that they know easy, healthy, delicious meals are really not as daunting as they'd think.

Also, hopefully to give more "experienced" cooks new ideas if they've already hit a bit of a "rut" in their daily diet. Cause I know that happens to me quite often, too.

I've already started by sharing my Creamy Butter Chicken and Milk Jelly Recipe, and today's recipe is going to be based on one that's been passed on to me by my sister quite some time ago.

It's one that I've made SO often for so many friends and family because it truly is one of the simplest, yet tastiest dishes you can prepare for yourself. It's basically mixing everything together. But the key is to season it with lots, and LOTS of cracked salt and pepper.

I've received so many positive feedbacks for this dish over the years and I always feel bad because they don't realise how little effort actually went in and was required to prepare this dish. However, I have a strong feeling it's partly because it's a good change from your usual Tomato/Cream based pasta. Seriously.

And please note that I made this dish for a friend's 21st last weekend and there were 30 people and hence the extremely, extremely humongous portion size. And the only reason I managed was because of how simple this recipe really was. Otherwise, I'd be stuffed.

Also, what I LOVE most about this recipe is that you can make it with ANYTHING you want and it uses lots of fresh ingredients from your local deli. However, I personally do prefer the sun-dried tomatoes from the jar simply cause they are fuller, chewier and sometimes sweeter compared to the ones from the deli.

As for the pesto, please feel free to make your own if you like. But as I've mentioned earlier, this recipe is designed to make it simple for people and store bought ones are not a bad option too.

But to be truly, truly frank with you, this recipe works best with cut up Ikea Meatballs ;p

Enjoy!

EASY Basil Pesto Pasta

(Serves 3 or 2 big eaters)

Ingredients:

250g pasta of choice

250g mushrooms of choice (sliced)

80g baby spinach

230g shaved ham (or Ikea Meatballs)

3 tbsp butter

100g basil pesto

100g sun-dried tomatoes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Boil pasta as per packet instructions until el dente. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside. Heat up pan/wok and saute the mushrooms with butter until soft. Stir in pasta, pesto and mix well to combine.

2. Stir in all the ham, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and mix well to combine. The bottom right picture is to show you how massive the portion was even for my huge ass wok.

3. Finally, crack lots and LOTS of salt and pepper. Even if you think you've done enough, you really haven't so keep cracking until your arms give out. Then, taste before giving it a final stir to combine. Now, enjoy! =)

P.s.

Don't know about you but I'm seriously lovin' the step-by-step photos! Definitely hope to be able to do it more in the future. Peace!

Carlton Community Cookbook Photoshoot

Hey guys,

So some time last semester, I decided to participate in a little passion project after being approached by my friend, Karen. Basically, Karen is the Founder and Senior Editor of Meld Magazine. An online magazine that serves to provide international students in Australia with relevant news in various categories and an opportunity to gain work experience in the media industry.

One of the projects they've undertaken this year was a community cookbook, with recipes contributed by people from various backgrounds that make up the entire Carlton community in Melbourne. It's a brilliant initiative with a fantastic vision to bring people together from various walks of Life, through FOOD.

Amazing.

So when asked by Karen if I wanted to contribute some recipes and also join the team as a photographer, I couldn't say no. It's something that I've always wanted to spend more time in doing on this blog, which is to cook, shoot and style photos of food more properly and beautifully. Unfortunately, being a full-time student at uni with a part-time job only makes it hard.

As for the recipes, I've decided to go simple and share my:

1) Milk Jelly

2) Creamy Butter Chicken (recipe below)

The whole experience was fun and exciting. And boy, do I have a new found appreciation and respect for Food Stylists now or what. It ain't easy. Cracking your head to think of what objects/ingredients to use as props, what goes well, what doesn't, everything! Mentally exhausting. Also, continuously repositioning your body just to get good angle and lighting. Phew!

Anyway, as tiring as it was, I had a blast and am so honoured for the opportunity to have a glimpse into the real world of Food Photography. Definitely an art I hope to improve on with time.

So the following are my final products/contributions to the Carlton Community Cookbook. Quite happy with the final outcome but as you can tell, there's always room for improvement =)

If you like, you can pick up a copy of it for only $15: here! Also, it ships anywhere. It's an amazing cookbook that's not just filled with simple and tasty ideas, but food from the Heart. Responses have been great so far and I'm sure you'll enjoy them too!

As for the future of this blog, I do plan to dedicate more time for updates and focus on sharing more tested and tried recipes from my kitchen. It's high time I picked up the slack on this blog, so watch this space!

Hope you're all doing well wherever you are.

Blessings,

Winston.

Heng Khuen Cheok's Cold Tofu

Ellie Khoo's Braised Mushrooms with Broccoli

Jor Ji Yeoh's Sesame Oil Chicken

Winston Chua's Milk Jelly (recipe: here)

Winston Chua's Creamy Butter Chicken

Creamy Butter Chicken Recipe

(An original recipe for the Carlton Community Cookbook)

This recipe is one of the first dishes I learned to cook on my own after I left home. Even after all these years, the wonderful aroma of the butter, curry leaves and chilli never fails to excite my senses. While I make this dish with chicken, it's also great with prawns or crab.

For the marinade:

600g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp water

salt and white pepper

For the sauce:

80g butter

3 bird's eye chillies, slices into small pieces

1 handful curry leaves

1/2 cup evaporated milk

2 1/2 tbsp sugar

Place the cornflour, water, salt and pepper into a large bowl and mix until cornflour has dissolved. Add the chicken pieces and marinate for at least 20 minutes.

Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium-sized frying pan until hot. Add the chicken pieces, in batches, and fry for 2 - 3 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

In the same pan, melt the butter on a low heat, so it doesn't brown. Add the chillies and curry leaves and fry until fragrant.

Stir in the chicken, evaporated milk and sugar and cook for a few minutes or until chicken is heated through and the sauce has thickened.

Spoon chicken onto a plate and serve immediately. Serves 4.