Malaysian Rainbow Cake/Kek Lapis Recipe

makes a 6 inch cakeprep time: 1 hourbake time: 2 hourstotal time: 3 hours

• 325 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 80 grams superfine sugar
• 195 grams egg yolks (about 12)
• 90 grams condensed milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 160 grams cake flour
• 280 grams egg whites (about 8)
• 120 grams superfine sugar
• food coloring, if desired

This cake is an undertaking, both in ingredients and in time investment. But it’s worth it! You definitely don’t need to go the rainbow route, but if you do, I recommend gel or powdered colors, the regular food coloring that you get at the grocery store will dilute the batter too much. Don’t start this cake unless you have the time to devote to baking, you’re going to need at least 2 hours of active baking time, staying by the oven to take the cake out and pour on new layers. If you don’t color your layers, you’ll still end up with a gorgeously layered cake due to the light browning that will occur on the top of each layer.

via Bake for Happy Kids

Arrange your racks so that one of them is in the top third of the oven – it should be one spot away from the top rack. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of a 6 inch square pan, preferably without non-stick coating (see notes) and butter the sides.

In a stand mixer, with the paddle, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Cream in the sugar. On medium-low, add the yolks in, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the condensed milk and vanilla extract. Sift the flour into the butter mix and fold in gently until just combined. Scoop the butter mixture out into a separate large bowl and set aside.

Clean the bowl of your stand mixer throughly – you want it to be completely grease free. With the whip attachment, beat the whites on medium until foamy. Gradually turn up the speed and pour in the sugar in a slow, steady stream. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Fold in the whipped egg whites into the butter batter, in thirds, being careful not to deflate the whites.

Place your prepared pan into the oven, to preheat. At this point, if you’re going to go the rainbow route, you need to weigh the total amount of batter you have. You’ll need to divide the batter into the number of colors you have, plus 1 extra layer. So if you have 9 colors, like I did, I needed 9 colored layers + 9 white layers + 1 extra layer on top. So I divided my total batter weight by 19.

Once you figure out how much each layer is going to weigh, weigh out all of the layers and color them. Carefully take the pan out of the oven and pour in an un-colored layer, using a spoon to push the batter (which will be much more liquid-y when it hits the hot pan) to the edges. Switch the oven to the low broil function and place the pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until it is lightly browned. Check often because the thinness of the layer will make it very easy to overcook/burn.

When it’s lightly browned, remove from the oven. It should be slightly firm. Spoon on the next layer, your darkest color. Bake for 3-5 minutes. Remove and then spoon on an un-colored layer. Repeat until all the layers are cooked. At the end, the cake should feel quite firm and should be cooked through. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a rack.

Let cool completely before trimming off the sides. This cake is best eaten the next day so wrap tightly in plastic wrap until you’re ready to eat. Slice, and enjoy!

Notes: If you use a non-stick pan your cake will release easily, but you’ll probably end up with sides and a bottom that are more well done. I had to trim off quite a bit of my cake due to this, so I recommend using a “stick” pan. There’s something about non-stick coating that causes higher heat, so I’d just stay away, if possible.

If you want to bake a cake without any color, just skip out on the coloring portion of the recipe. You probably don’t need to weigh out each layer, either, if you’re not to particular. Just use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out each layer, which will ensure that the layers are equal.

not mine.credit and owner:  I AM FOOD BLOG

Linat-an Recipe (Boiled Pork Soup with Lemongrass)

Linat-an is a boiled pork soup dish that resembles Pork Nilaga. Although both dishes might sound the same, there are notable differences that can help us distinguish one from the other.

Linat-an makes use of lemongrass (tanglad) and it also requires vegetables that are not present in Nilaga, such as: red bell pepper, string beans (sitaw), and taro root (gabi). As far as I am concerned, this soup dish is more of a Sinigang without a souring agent.

The lemongrass plays a great role in enhancing the flavor of this dish and the gabi makes the texture of the soup thicker, which I find enjoyable. If you have not tried to cook Linat-an before, I encourage you to give it a try. You’ll surely love it!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. pork spare ribs
5 string beans, cut in 2 1/2 inch length
A bunch of green onions, cut in 3 inch length
2 medium taro root (gabi), chopped
A bunch of lemongrass, cleaned and tied together
3 cups rice washing
3 cups beef or pork broth
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Procedure:

Combine rice washing and beef broth in a cooking pot. Bring to a boil.
Put-in the spare ribs, lemongrass, and onion. Simmer for 45 to 60 minutes or until the pork becomes tender.
Add-in the gabi. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
Put-in the string beans and bell pepper. Cook for 3 minutes.
Add the green onions. Cook for a minute.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer to a serving plate.
Serve. Share and enjoy!

Number of servings (yield): 4

not mine.credit and source: PANLASANGPINOY

Beef Mami Recipe

This simple beef noodle soup is a comforting bowl!

Serves 4
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 1 hour


½ kilo beef brisket
2 tablespoons cooking oil
5 cups water
3 pieces star anise
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium sized onion, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 kilo egg noodles, cooked
1 cup Chinese cabbage (pechay Baguio), chopped
4 pieces hard boiled eggs
¼ cup green onions, chopped


1 Brown the beef and sear the sides in a pre-heated soup pan.


2 Pour-in the water and bring to a boil. Allow to boil until beef becomes tender.


3 Add star anise, onion, garlic, salt and pepper to taste.


4 Place the cooked egg noodles and Chinese cabbage and let it simmer for a few minutes.


5 Pour the soup, noodles, and beef brisket in serving bowls then garnish with sliced boiled egg and green onions.

not mine.credit and source: YUMMY.PH

Buta no Shogayaki (Japanese Ginger Pork)

Ingredients (serves 2):

- 200g pork loin, thinly sliced

- 2 tablespoons sake (Japanese rice wine)

- 1 ½-2 tablespoons soy sauce

- 1 tablespoon mirin (sweet cooking sake)

- 1 knob of ginger (enough to make 2 teaspoons of grated ginger)

- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

- 2-3 cabbage leaves (these will be served finely chopped and fresh on the side)

*If you’re in Japan, you can find thinly sliced pork especially prepared for this dish at the supermarket (labelled 生姜焼き用). Otherwise, just ask your butcher to slice it for you, or simply slice it yourself at home.

*If you can’t get your hands on mirin, you can substitute it with about 1 teaspoon of sugar (adjust to taste).

Method:

1. Cut off the pork sinew at the lower end of the sirloin slice. During the cooking process, sinew shrinks and hardens so cutting it off will give you a more tender, juicy slice of pork at the end. It’s not a big deal though, so if it’s too much of a bother you can skip this step.

2. Make the sauce. To do this, simply grate the ginger and mix it together with the sake, soy sauce and mirin.

3. Lay the pork slices on a shallow tray and pour the sauce over them. Leave them for five minutes to soak up the saucy goodness. This also helps to get rid of any pork smell (something that Japanese people often complain about). If you don’t have a tray then a bowl will do the trick. Also, if you don’t want to wait five minutes, that’s okay; just pour the sauce on the pork and go straight on to the next step.

*Important! DO NOT discard any leftover sauce in the tray or bowl! You’ll need this sauce for the cooking process later on.

4. Slice the cabbage into thin strips and place them in a bowl of cold water. Doing this will give you really crunchy, crispy cabbage at the end, which, when eaten with the juicy pork, will give you an amazing food texture sensation.

*If you prefer, you can do step 4 at the very beginning of the preparation process.

5. Put the vegetable oil into a hot frying pan. Then, removing excess sauce from the pork as you go, lay the slices side by side in the pan. Remember to keep that sauce in the bowl or tray!

6. Fry the pork on both sides until browned. Once browned, it’s best to take the pork out for a bit to avoid burning the meat. Again, if this is too much hassle, don’t worry; just leave it in the pan and move onto the next step.

7. Now you get to use that precious sauce! Pour the leftover sauce you’ve been saving into the frying pan. When it bubbles and begins to boil, return the meat to the frying pan and mix it all together. Once it’s heated through, turn off the heat and serve.

To serve for dinner: place the pork on a plate and pour on the remaining sauce from the pan. Drain the cabbage and place it next to the pork on the same plate. Don’t forget your bowl of rice!

To serve for lunch: place the saucy pork and cabbage together in between two slices of bread for a delicious Japanese Ginger Pork sandwich!

Enjoy!

credit and source: http://en.rocketnews24.com/author/oonamcgee/