LT Wong

jfrater, you're making me want to go off my (temporary vegan) diet.... I'll be more than happy to take that plate of lamb rack from you.

I've a question for the genoise experts. I get good lift and volume when I make a simple genoise, but when I do a chocolate version (with cocoa powder substituting for some of the flour), there is considerably less height. I noticed during the folding of the flour-cocoa mixture that the egg batter deflates a lot more than when I just fold in flour. Is this your experience too? Or do you have some insight into this? Thanks.

I have never thought about salting the water, because I will use older eggs for preparing hard boiled eggs. I may try testing salting the water to see if the peeling is easier for fresher eggs.

jrater, I have the book but have not been motivated to do anything. Until I saw your photos and your descriptions....I'm planning to make the chicken casserole this weekend! Thank you!

flourgirl Can you share your impressions of the new Baked book from Matt Lewis? I loved his first book, and want to know if his 3rd book is worth adding to my collection. Severe space constraints.....thanks.

pAitch, Please share your experiences so that we can learn with and from you. Thanks.

Those super-light crunchy little cubes are not puffed pork rind; those are pieces of lard. Each morning (way before 7 am), the chef is rendering his lard, and this is the end result which he throws into the dish for that crunch. Char kway teow is a sinfully delicious dish because of the lard.

Here are some of the better known ones - - Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice - various outlets at 425 River Valley Road, 401 Balestier Road, 18 Cheong Chin Nam (Upper Bukit Timah). http://www.boontongkee.com.sg/outlets.html - Wee Nam Kee - original outlet at Toa Payoh and branch at 275 Thomson Road #01-05 Novena Ville - Five Star Chicken Rice - various outlets at Cheong Chin Nam Road, 419 River Valley Road, - Tiong Bahru Boneless Chicken Rice - Seng Poh Road Market - Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice @ Mei Chin Food Centre Blk 159 Mei Chin Road Of course, there is the expensive chicken rice @ Chatterbox at the Mandarin Meritus Hotel in Orchard Road. You may want to go to Cheong Chin Nam Road or River Valley Road and eat at two outlets for comparison.

I normally scale them like a bread formula, and have not had problems with cheesecakes. As highlighted by minas6907, you really just need to watch the baking times if you are making smaller ones.

Add to plain yogurt or whipped cream for cake frosting. Add to melted dark chocolate and then add to whipped cream for a delicious filling for swiss rolls, crepes. Make a trifle with store bought pound cake, whipped cream, custard, sherry.

nickrey, I bought a copy of Barb Stuckey's book - Taste What You're Missing. The Passionate Eater's Guide to Why Good Food Tastes Good, and I am enjoying the book very much. Did you go try out the experiments? Like the one on your taster type? It's like taking the Mensa test - I'm afraid what I may find out.....

Hi I've both Silkomart and Pujadas, and both are excellent.

Hi, I think I know what Fred12fred means. I use a recipe based on Florence Lin's recipe. I will fry all the ingredients - lap cheong, dried shrimp, chinese bacon, mushrooms, and separately, the grated daikon during which I add all the other ingredients that have been cooked earlier. I have a slurry of rice flour and water/stock, and then add this into the pot with the grated daikon. You need some muscle to do some cooking/stirring here as this will cook the mixture partially. I then spoon this into greased tins and then steamed. I've been doing this for more than a decade and it has worked for me each time.

hi elzool, One question about the banana cake. Does the hazelnut crunch soften eventually? Mine did after two days. I was saving slices of the cake for myself to savour after work. Still delicious, but missing that crunch in the bite.

This is the recipe I use for genoise - 275g eggs (about 4-5 large eggs), 150g fine sugar, 140g flour (sifted), 30g butter (melted and hot) and a pinch of salt. Oven at 180C. 7-inch (3 inch height) round cake tin, lined and greased. Whisk eggs with sugar and salt till very thick (the batter falls into thick ribbons).Over 2 or 3 portions, sift flour over batter and fold in with whisk (I use the balloon whisk of my Kenwood stand mixer) - I whisk the batter gently but briskly at the top first where the flour lands, and then fold deep into the batter now and then. Remove a portion (about a third) to another bowl. Melt the butter and heat till bubbling, and beat the hot butter gently into this portion. It will deflate, but that's ok. Pour into the other batter and fold in. Turn into cake tin and bake till done. This can also be baked into an 8-inch tin, and gives a finished product with good height. I can slice this cake into 3 layers. You can add vanilla extract if you like. I used both plain/all-purpose or cake flour, and the result is more or less the same.

I am inspired, and resolve this weekend to make the banana cream....bought a bunch of bananas that are now waiting to turn black....

I love SPAM and corned pork (from Tulip, a brand from Holland). For surimi, try separating the roll and break it up into smaller pieces, flatten them slightly and deep fry them. It makes a very addictive snack. Go ahead and ban margarine.

I finally got around to doing the Apple Pie Cake, and it turned out quite nicely after the 2nd attempt. I tested the recipe almost as is (I almost always cut back the sugar amounts), but found it still too sweet so cut back even more the 2nd time round. I also made and used more of the apple filling, and topped up more of the pie crumb - those are addictive. This is definitely a keeper.

The cnngo articles are not bad. Every serious foodie will have their own favourite stalls. Resorts World Sentosa has just recently opened their hawker centre featuring top Malaysian food hawkers from various states in Malaysia - Malaysian food at Resorts World Sentosa

I feel so much better after going through this topic. Was feeling guilty after having ordered 30 more to add to my (measly in comparison) 200+ book collection. Looks like I can buy some more now.....

Has anyone tried any recipes from the book? I've seen Masterchef Australia, and the near-impossible Zumbo challenges. So, am wondering how mere mortals fare with his recipes.

Hello. My friend is visiting London soon, and I'd like her to help me buy some dried elderflowers to make cordial and puddings. Can someone advise where these can be purchased? Would it be a supermarket, or a health food store? Thank you. lt

I was checking out the sweet and salty cake recipe from this book (Baked by Matt L and Renato P), and the classic chocolate cake layer recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening. What properties does shortening confer on the finished product? And will replacing it with 1/4 cup of butter affect the final cake texture? Most of the cake recipes in the book call for that 1/4 cup of shortening. Thanks, lt

Singapore. Amateur baker/cook.

Teochew cuisine generally has a lighter touch where seasonings are concerned to allow the freshness of the ingredients used to shine. A case in point is their steamed fish which uses sour plum, salted vegetables, pieces of lard, tomatoes. I've not come across a book that is dedicated solely to it, so will be interested to find out what Jacqueline Newman's book contains. You will be able to surf and come up with some recipes. The Teochew recipes from South East Asia may sometimes include the use of ingredients not common in mainland Chinese cooking, because the Teochew and Hokkien Chinese had married South East Asians to produce the Peranakans or nyonyas-babas, who have a unique cuisine. The use of lemongrass and galangal in the braised duck recipe here - My link from Will is one example. My recipe for braised duck is very similar to it, although goose would have been the preferred bird. We would never use the har gao wrapper for the chive dumpling; making the dumpling skin is an art in itself. Are there specific dishes that you would be interested in? Some typical dishes would include pig's ear in aspic, oyster omelette (two varieties - the soft and the crispy variety), fish maw soup, steamed fish - pomfret is a favourite fish, braised goose/duck and of course, for dessert, or nee (which is a rich paste of mashed yam with lard and coconut milk).