Silver Needle Noodles

This noodle is commonly known in Hong Kong as "Silver Needle Noodle" (銀針粉) or as "Rat Noodle" (老鼠粉) in Singapore and Malaysia.

The noodles are named as such because of the tapering shape at both ends of the noodles which is much like a rat's tail or a needle. Not to worry, neither rat nor needle is used to make this noodle - safe for consumption.

This noodles can be made from a variety of flours or flour mixture like rice flour, corn flour, tapioca starch or wheat starch.

I have used a combination of wheat starch and tapioca starch in this recipe, as I like my noodles to be chewy.

My kids and I had fun shaping the noodles with our hands. Good fun with kids if you have plenty of time to idle and it is not messy at all. The best part is that you get to eat them at the end of the session.







Ingredients:
140g wheat starch
60g tapioca starch
pinch of salt
170ml boiling hot water
2 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add in the boiling hot water and stir with a pair of chopsticks. Cover with a wet towel and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add in the olive oil and knead till you get a smooth dough.
3. Roll into two log-shaped pieces and cut them into small pieces about 3g each. Shape dough with your hands.
4. Put some oil into a big pot of hot water and cook the noodle till transparent.
5. Once the noodle is cooked, drain and put them into a mixing bowl, add one teaspoon of olive and toss the noodle around (to prevent them from sticking to each other).
6. Chilled overnight before using.

Pineapple Jam

Sesame Sauce Cold Noodles

Crispy Stuffed Bean Curd Puff

New Loaf Pan

Met up with Y Chan (another talented baker and blogger) today at CityPlaza for lunch. We had gifts for each other and this new loaf pan is what she gave me.

It is a 450g aluminium loaf pan with crinkles in all six sides (that is inclusive of the cover) and the interior is supposed to be non-stick. I wonder if it will be difficult to dislodge the baked bread with all those crinkles. I'll have to try it to know then. Thank you very much Y and I liked it very much.

What gifts did I have for Y Chan?
Of course with my newly acquired skill of macaroons baking, I baked her some macaroons and a loaf of 65C Rye Raisins bread.

The Venetian, Macau

I was at The Venetian, Macau for a couple of days.
Look at the beautiful architecture of the Hotel.
Did I go to the casino? Did I gamble?
Yes, of course! I won HK$500.00 from the bingo machines!!! The rest of the games were too difficult and expensive for me.

The Venetian is huge and the casino is huge too. We were staying in the North suite and to get to the swimming pool and spa we had to walk like for ages. I think the hotel needs some buggies to transport the guests instead of making them walk. So you can imagine how big the place is.

Didn't dare to take a photo of the casino area, was afraid the bouncers would come after me!!!

The Grand Canal Shoppes is such a pleasant place to shop with over 60 brand name shops. You can hear the beautiful singing of those steering the gondolas while shopping. Wonder why won't they at the Broadway, they had beautiful vocals.

Spare a few moments to enjoy the photos.

Inside the Bella Suite, The Venetian.

Excellent Blog Award

Thank you Faery's Kitchen for this award.

Yummy Blog Award

Precious Moments, thank you for the award.

Will do the writing when I have gathered my thoughts.

Happy Mother's Day

Dear all,



Regards,
Florence

Taro Rice

My maid is on 4 weeks vacation in Philippines (luckily she'll be back next week), so the lazy mum and a person not so into cooking the 3 meals of the day (see my profile) had to improvise and get the meals done nicely, easily and of course hassle free.

My mum has given me several suggestions when I spoke to her last week and this is one of them - one pot rice cooker taro rice. My mum is a great cook who loves marketing and cooking. However, my sisters and I did not pick up her skills when we were at home but now I'm collecting some of her famous and delicious recipes. Mothers of her time always cook via the agaration method,so sometimes it is not easy to follow her recipes.

Anyway, the rice cooker taro rice was quick, easy and delicious. Thank you, mum!

My Bread Machine

This is my bread machine : Kenwood BM300






Kenwood BM300
Size: 39 x 19.2 x 31.3 cm

◆ Two loaf sizes 750 grms and 1 kg
◆ 3 crust colour settings for personal preference
◆ Delay timer for freshly cooked bread in the morning or whenever required
◆ Express setting for fresh bread in 59 minutes
◆ Touch control panel with programme status bar for easy viewing of the baking process
◆ Speciality cycles including jam making programme for making pure home made jams
◆ Gluten Free recipe
◆ Power interuption memory
◆ Extended rising cycle
◆ Other: 750g & 1kg
◆ Colour: White/Grey Trim
◆ Wattage: 550W

Credits: Kenwood


My opinion:

If you ask me if this is good to use, I have no complaints because this is a credit card reward points redemption gift. Also I do not own a mixer, so the mixing and kneading of the bread machine does help me a lot during bread making process.

If you are thinking about a bread machine, you may consider buying a heavy duty mixer instead. Mixer can help you with cake making eg. beating of egg white or creaming butter and also mixing and kneading of bread dough.

Meme

I've been tagged by Yuri Bake Journal to write Five facts about myself.

The Meme rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Five facts about Do What I Like:
1. I love reading cook books both English and Chinese.
2. I love to bake and make snacks and desserts but not the 3 meals of the day.
3. I am nervous whenever I need to fulfill cake orders.
4. I give away 3/4 of my bakes to my neigbhours, buddies or whoever is willing to accept the lots of the good, the bad and the ugly.
5. I love watching K-dramas and has a vast collection.

Five bloggers I would like to tag:
Quick n Easy Treats
Play play in the Kitchen
Lily Wai Sek Hong
Playing with my food
Daily Affairs

Forever Friends

I am really glad and honoured to receive this from Lily Ng , who has been a great cyber friend and an excellent cook. I'm simply amazed by the varieties in her cooking recipe collection which give me lots of inspiration. Thank you, Lily!

Gong Xi Fa Cai

I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous New Year

Recent Bakes

Birthday cakes for MC and TL.
Happy Birthday ladies!



Butter cookies for JM & SE.

Preparation for Christmas Fruit Cake

I started preparation for my Christmas Fruit Cake about a week ago when the weather is cool enough so I don't have to chill the dried fruits in the refrigerator.

For the dried fruits in this cake that I am going to bake, I use a mixture of raisins, sultanas, currants, cranberries, blueberries, apricots and citron peel. I soaked them in my most expensive liquer, Hennessy XO. I used about 4 tablespoons of XO for about 400g mixed dried fruits. The dried fruits have already absorbed all the liquer and they are all plumped up and very aromatic.

Keep a look out for the Christmas Fruit Cake which I will be baking next week.

Let's take a look at the dried fruits.


Pretty and colourful kaleidoscope.

2008 Hello Kitty DIY Nian Gao Set

Wow! Another temptation for Hello Kitty fans.



This DIY set is available from Gift Ideas for HK$159.00

Consists of:
1 Hello Kitty claypot 18 cm in diameter and 11cm in height
1 Hello Kitty nian gao mold 16cm length 13cm width and 5cm in height
1 Hello Kitty steamer stand 14cm length 11 cm width and 6cm in height
1 nian gao recipe booklet
1 packet 150g strawberry chocolate

Blog of the Month Award

Woke up to a pleasant surprise this morning - I was awarded the Blog of the Month Award by Precious Moments. Thank you so much Edith.

With much joy, I would like to present this award to Yochana Cake's Delight for the endless amount of unique goodies that she shared and baked with love in her kitchen.

Hello Kitty 3D Jelly Mold

Hello Kitty 3D Jelly Mold is now on sale at APITA, Taikoo Shing for HK$35.90!








Last 4 pieces only!!!!

10 Nov,2007 - Went there yesterday and they have increased the price by a dollar to HK$36.90!!! I queried the saleslady and she said these are the new stocks. Maybe because I have been buying too many and they had expired their old stock had to reorder from the manufacturer!!!

World Bread Day Roundup

World Bread Day 2007 roundup is online now.

Zorra received 184 entries with more than 200 bread recipes from all around the world. A great time for sharing too!

There are so many wonderful bakers who shared their recipes and tips on bread making in their blogs. Some of them are real eye-openers!

Do check into their sites for details and maybe do some hands-on with their recipes and join in the After Hours Party.

My entry - Panda Bread is listed in the (A - F) section and filed under China (the only entry).

I am definitely looking forward to WBD in 2008. If you miss this year's event, do keep in mind the next WBD and join in the bread baking event.