Cooking has always been one of my hobbies. Sometimes we may have a recipe ready in hand. But in certain occasion that particular recipe needs to be redefined to suit the situation. For this round, I am looking into Kung Pao Chicken but for confinement purpose. Hence the taste shouldn’t be too spicy and yet it needs to be nutritional and tasty.

Ingredients for Kung Pao Chicken:

• 2 x pieces of chicken breast meat
• 4 – 6 x pieces of dried chili
• 3 – 4 x table spoon of sesame oil
• 3 x table spoon of light soy sauce
• 2 x table spoon of Chinese wine (Shao Xing)
• 2 x table spoon of dark soy sauce
• 2 x table spoon of oyster sauce
• 8 – 10 x black pepper seed
• 2 x table spoon of corn flour
• 2 x pieces of ginger
• 3 – 4 x slices of garlic patter
• 1 – 2 pinch of salt and pepper powder
• 2 x plants of spring onion

First of all, pound the ginger until some juice is out.

Then extract the juice out from the ginger.

Cut the chicken into cube sizes. It is not necessary to debone all.

Next, pour the ginger juice to the chicken cubes.

Also add in 2 table spoon of Chinese Wine.

Then a few sprinkles of pepper powder. Stir the mixture well and marinate them for 10 minutes.

While the chicken has been marinated, chop the garlic into small pieces, and cut the dried chili into few pieces. You may take out the seeds from the dried chili to reduce the spiciness.

Heat up the pan and pour in the sesame oil.

Once the pan is hot enough pour in the chopped garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant with golden color.

After that, pour in the marinated chicken pieces.

Stir the chicken cube until they are semi-cooked.

Add in the light soy sauce.

Followed by the dark soy sauce.

Next, the oyster sauce and the dried chili.

Next smash the black pepper seeds and into the pan for the aroma and the spiciness of the pepper. Add in 2 more table spoons of Chinese Wine.

Next, mix the corn flour into 1/3 cup of water and pour into the pan to starch the gravy. After starched, add in the salt to taste.

Close the cover of the pan and slow down the fire and let it simmer for another 7 minutes.

Once cooked, sprinkle some spring onions on top of the dish.

With this portion of dried chili and pepper, this dish will be a bit spicy but not too overwhelming. Therefore, it is very suitable for ladies who are in confinement.

Kung-Pao Chicken

The main ingredients which are used to make this healthy Austalian banana bread are the usage of brown sugar instead of white sugar, replacement of vegetable oil instead of butter or margarine as well as the high fibre bananas. Below are the ingredients which some of them in brackets are the substitute or replacement of ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 275g Bananas
• 275g Brown Sugar (can be cut down to 250g)
• 275g Plain White Flour (Rose Flour)
• 3 eggs
• 70ml Vegetable Oil (Olive Oil)
• 140ml Milk (Low Fat Milk)
• 5g Bi-Carb of Soda
• 8g Baking Powder
• Pinch of Salt

The milk can be substituted with low fat milk. The eggs can be replaced with organic eggs.

The brown sugar shown on the picture below is not very suitable for the bread as there is a kinda weird smell. The more suitable brown sugar to be used would be the “Prai” brand brown sugar. As for the bananas you may use organic banana too.

The flour can be substituted with rose flour which has a more fine texture.

The baking powder and soda have no substitution available at this moment.

Before I even begin, someone has already been waiting impatiently for the cake.

Steps and Method:

1) Mash the bananas then mix bananas, sugar and egg together.

2) Add salt, milk and oil one at a time while mixing.

3) Sift flour, bi-carb of soda and baking powder together and add to the mixture.

4) Mix on medium speed for 10 minutes.

5) Place the mixture to the mould.

6) Bake at 160ºC for 2 hours, depending of the heat and the ability of your oven. However, do check out the cake every 30 minutes to ensure that it is in constant heat.

Additional Information:

• Always heat check on the progress of the bread while cooking, some oven will never take 2 hours. It usually only takes 1 hour plus.
• The portion of brown sugar can be cut down to 200g if your are not the sweet tooth type. The more ripe the bananas, the more sweet it will add to the mixture. So it makes more sense to cut down on the sugar if the bananas are too ripe.

The final outcome of the bread was very satisfying although the bread has overwhelmingly expanded. Anyway, the aroma was nice and the taste was great, not too sweet or oily.

After our hard work of baking, it was just in time for some afternoon tea.

For those who are conscious about health while don’t wanna miss out the temptation of banana bread, you can try out this recipe.

With the recipe below most of the ingredients used are healthy and meretricious. It is also a great recipe for those who are on diet and who have health concerns.

The ingredients listed as below:

1. 1 Baby Romaine Lettuce
2. 6 to 7 Loose Tomatoes
3. 1 Japanese Sweet Corn
4. 1/2 Red Cabbage
5. 1 box of Raisins
6. 2 big onions
7. 3 table spoons of Olive Oil
8. 6 table spoons of Apple Cider with Honey
9. 1 pinch of Salt
10. 2 tablespoons of butter/ margarine
11. 1 cup of croutons (optional)
12. 2 large egg, slice (optional)

Before you start, make sure all the vegetable are washed thoroughly, else it will have bitter taste of pesticides.

How to prepare:

First, slice the onions into to rings and cut the tomatoes into pieces before placing all into a salad bowl.

Next, cut the red cabbage into slices than add them into the salad bowl as well.

As for the romaine lettuce, it should be cut into 1-2 inch slices.

After that, steam the Japanese sweet corn for about 10 minutes, then peel off the corns into a  bowl and add in some butter/ margarine and pinch of salt to taste. Stir well.

Once the sweet corns are well-prepared, mix them in the salad bowl together with the raisins. Cut the lemon into half and squeeze it to get the lemon juice on top of the salad. Remember to use a small spoon to hold the lemon seeds from dropping into the salad mixture.

On top of the lemon juice, add in of olive oil and apple cider with honey to the bowl, stir them well. Try the salad out and if you feel that it is not sour enough, add in more lemon juice. Otherwise, if you feel it is not sweet enough you can add in some honey as well. It is all customized to suit your taste.

My candid shot while I was preparing the salad. Luckily my saliva is not dripping into to the bowl.

Ingredients:

1. 450 g baking flour (baking powder)
2. 4 eggs
3. 6 oz sugar
4. 225 g butter
5. 1/2 cup warm water
6. 1 tea spoon condensed milk
7. 4 pieces of fragrant bananas
8. 1 tea spoon banana essence
9. pinch of salt

First, sift the flour and the salt to ensure a finer texture.

Second, use a mixer to beat the butter and sugar until it turns white.

Next, crush the bananas using a fork (if you don’t have better tools).

Mix warm water with condensed milk and banana essence in a separate cup.

After that, beat the eggs and place them one by one into the mixer which contains butter and sugar.

This is then followed by crushed bananas which are slowly poured into the mixer as well.

Add in the baking powder slowly in stages to have a smooth and thorough mixture.

Add in the warm water with condensed milk, it is not necessary to pour in the entire cup. It is entirely up to your own judgement.

After you are done with the last step, you can remove it from the mixer and stir it again manually. Follow the direction when stirring and do not change the movement from clockwise to anti-clockwise and vice-versa.

Once done, all the ingredients can be moved to the mould laid with baking paper and some butter.

There are many ovens out there. For mine I am using this “UFO” type of oven that is blowing hot air from top to bottom. If you are using this oven, you need to warm it up for 10 munites. Bake the cake for 50 minutes over the heat of 90′C and let it “huat”! (means rise).

To test if the cake is well baked, the easiest way is to use a thin stick over the cake to feel if the texture is still moist.

If everything goes fine. You will get yourself a delicious banana cake!