輕、軟、棉... 我的「低糖檸檬雪芳蛋糕」Light, moist and tender... My Sugar-Reduced Lemon Chiffon Cake

This is one of my favorite cakes! I'm always a great fan of any dessert with lemon, love the lilting flavor. This cake is so delicious, you only need to dust with powdered sugar and serve at room temperature.

Equipment: ONE 8" 2-piece tube pan

Ingredients:

(A) Dry ingredients

• Cake flour, sifted, 140g
• Raw caster sugar, 115g
• Baking soda, 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon
• Salt, 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon 

(B)  Moist ingredients

• Neutral-tasting oil, 67g (I use rice bran oil or grape seed oil)
• Egg yolks, 5
• Water, 97g
• Lemon juice, 20g
• Zest of 1 lemon, 5-6g
• Organic lemon extract, 1/2 teaspoon (Optional)
• Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon 

(C) Egg white

• Egg whites, 6
• Cream of tartar, 3/4 teaspoon
• Raw caster sugar, 25g

Preheat your oven to 160C. If you are using the Toshiba GD-ER400 microwave oven, preheat after Step 3 to 160C and bake at 150C.

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine (A) with a whisk until well mixed.
2. Make a well in the flour mixture, add (B) into the well and beat until smooth.
3. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, beat until soft peak form. Add the sugar in (C) and beat until stiff peak form.
4. Gently fold the egg white to the batter in 3 batches until just blended.
5. Pour the batter into the tube pan. Run a spatula through the batter to remove any air pockets and bake for 55 minutes.
6. Remove the cake from the oven. Invert the pan and allow it to suspend way above the counter and allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.
7. Unmold the cake. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

輕、軟、棉... 我的「低糖檸檬雪芳蛋糕」

這是其中一款我最喜歡的蛋糕！我向來鍾愛含檸檬的甜品，特別喜歡其清新的香氣。這蛋糕非常美味，只是簡單灑上糖霜，於室溫食用最佳。

餅模：8 吋日式戚風模一個


材料：

(A)

• 低筋麵粉, 過篩, 140克
• 原細砂糖, 115克
• 發粉, 1/4 + 1/8 茶匙
• 鹽, 1/4 + 1/8 茶匙 

(B)

• 食油, 67克 (我選用米糠油或葡萄籽油)
• 蛋黃, 5個
• 水, 97克
• 檸檬汁, 20克
• 檸檬皮茸, 5-6克
• 天然有機檸檬精油, 1/2 茶匙 (隨意)
• 天然雲呢拿精油, 1 茶匙 

(C)

• 蛋白, 6個
• 他他粉, 3/4 茶匙
• 原細砂糖, 25克

把焗爐預熱至160度。如果你是用東芝 GD-ER400水波爐，可於步驟3後把爐預熱至160度，入爐後以150度焗。

方法：

1. 把材料(A)入大碗中，以打蛋器攪拌至勻均。
2. 在麵粉混合物正中撥出一個井，加入 (B) 以打蛋器拌至幼滑無顆粒。
3. 把蛋白加入一個絕對無油的大碗中，以打蛋器打至出現很多大氣泡。加入他他粉繼續打拂。待蛋白打至軟身，加入原砂糖，繼續拂打至有光澤的細膩蛋白，取起打蛋器時呈筆尖狀。
4. 把蛋白分三次拌入麵糊，手法要輕要快，直至均勻。注意：過度攪拌會消減蛋白霜的氣泡。
5. 把麵糊倒入焗盤，用膠刮在麵糊中劃一圈，消除大氣泡，放入焗爐焗55分鐘。
6. 把蛋糕取出，倒扣至完全放涼。必須離開枱面一段距離，讓蒸氣消散。
7. 把蛋糕脫模，撒上糖霜裝飾。

Baked Eel with Honey Citron 柚子蜜燒白鱔

After triple testing the recipe, it is done!!! Fresh water eel is in season and it's very oily, I always serve this with some sort of salad. I served it with some home-pickled young ginger today and it was great! 

(For 2-3)

Ingredients: 

• Fresh water eel*, boned, flesh with skin on, 300g
• Korean honey citron, 2-3 tablespoons

* The fishmonger can remove the slime on the skin and bone the fish for you. 

Marinate:

• Soy sauce, 2 tablespoon
• Dark soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
• Raw sugar, 1 tablespoon
• Toasted sesame oil, 1.5 teaspoon
• Ginger juice, 1.5 teaspoon
• Mei Kwei Lu Chiao**, 1.5 teaspoon (can be substituted with Xiaoxing Wine)
• Lemon juice, 1.5 teaspoon
• Zest of half a lemon

** "Mei Kwei Lu Chiao" is kind of Chinese wine, brewed with grain wine and fresh roses, has a very intensive rose aroma, often used in marinade. Can be drunk alone or in cocktails.

Material: Stainless steel skewers or bamboo skewers. Bamboo skewers shall be soaked for at least 30 minutes to prevent burning when baking in the oven.

Method:

1. Rinse the eel and pat dry with kitchen towel. Cut into 5cm pieces.
2. Combine the marinate. Marinade the flesh for 30 minutes.
3. Put the skewers through the flesh.
4. Line the baking tray with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
5. Bake in the oven at 220C without preheat for 8 minutes with skin down.
6. Brush honey citron on both sided and bake with skin down for 4 minutes.
7. Brush honey citron on both sides and bake with skin up for another 5 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven. Remove the skewers and serve.

柚子蜜燒白鱔

經過再三嘗試這食譜，終於完成了！魚鱔正合時，極肥美，所以每次我都會配點帶酸的涼拌菜解膩，而今晚配上自家醃製的酸子薑，非常對味！

(二至三人)

材料： 

• 白鱔*，去骨，淨肉約 300g
• 柚子蜜，2-3 湯匙

* 買魚時記緊請檔主為你去潺、去骨。

醃料：

• 醬油 2 湯匙
• 老抽 1 湯匙
• 原砂糖 1 湯匙
• 麻油 1.5 茶匙
• 檸檬汁 1.5 茶匙
• 薑汁 1.5 茶匙
• 玫瑰露酒 1.5 茶匙 (可以紹興酒代替)
• 檸檬皮茸半個

其他材料：不銹鋼串燒义或竹籤。竹籤必須浸清水30分鐘以下，以免烤焗時燒焦。

烹調方法：

1. 洗淨及用廚紙拍乾鱔魚。切5厘米段。
2. 拌勻醃料，放入鱔魚醃30分鐘。
3. 用串燒义或竹籤把每塊魚串好。
4. 焗盤舖上焗爐紙。
5. 皮向下，放入未有預熱焗爐 220度焗 8 分鐘。
6. 於兩面塗上柚子蜜，皮向下焗 4 分鐘。
7. 於兩面塗上柚子蜜，皮向上焗 4 分鐘。
8. 從焗爐取出。取出串燒义或竹籤，立即上碟。

溫馨提示：

• 我是用東芝ER-GD400，因為加溫快，並未有預熱。如果用其他焗爐，請按個別情況決定是否需要預熱或調節烤焗時間。
• 白鱔快熟，請按買到的食材的實際情況，酌情加減烹調溫度及時間。
• 不同品牌的柚子蜜濃稠情度、甜度不同，如果你認為太稠又或要減甜，可兌冷開水至合口味。

Local organic farmers need our support 本地有機農夫需要我們的支持

Visiting the organic market is our routine on Sunday, especially in cool weather because there are abundant high quality salad vegetables, root veg and tomatoes, which are all our staples. I must admit that organic vegetables are a bit expensive, but if you have visited an organic farm you will discover how much time and efforts farmers have to input for the crops and it is fair enough they charge us more.

We visited the FarmFest 2015 today, holding at the Mongkok Stadium from 23 to 25 January. We grabbed some organic fresh produce for the coming two to three days: broccoli, cherry tomatoes, romaine, other lettuces... and a jade perch too, which had already became our dinner tonight.

The jade perch is a species from Australia, it is fast growing with high nutrition value. They were transported to the venue in huge iced buckets. Don't expect the farmers to prepare your fish as fishmongers in the wet markets, I brought the whole fish home and prepared it by myself. I am glad that I still remember how to cut open a fish decently in 2-3 minutes. As far as I can remember, last time I slaughter a fish was in the laboratory in university, instead of scalpels I used my chef knife today.

Parcel-Baked Jade Perch with cherry tomatoes, fennel bulb, onion and herbs

This is the third time I cook fish in a parcel this month. Please refer to Parcel-baked Seabream with Thai Herbs. I love this foolproof method so much! It is absolutely flexible on the choice of herbs and veggies, be creative to pick your favorite herbs or any herbs and spices you have on hand, with some leftover fresh veggies from the fish and you can always have something different.

Apart from salad lettuces, our favorite local winter organic vegetables are fennel bulbs, carrots and beet roots of different colors. Fennel bulbs can be served raw in a salad or stir-fried with meat and seafood, while my favorite is stir-fried the bulb with ostrich steak or pork cheek. I always save the greens for making soup or cook with French blue mussels. For the different carrots, I like to cut them into wedges, sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and bake in the oven, you can also save the greens for making soup. And for the beet roots, you can simply cut them into large chunks, steamed them, then drizzle with plenty of balsamic vinegar and season with sea salt and pepper, chill them overnight and they'll be very appetizing. Never throw the beet greens away, cook the tender leaves like other leafy vegetables and save the mature leaves for making soup.

To let you have some concept on the local seasonal organic vegetables, I took some pix at the FarmFest 2015.

Please support our local organic farmers!


本地有機農夫需要我們的支持

每星期日到有機巿場已是我們的指定活動，特別由秋季開始，各種沙律菜、根菜和蕃茄都特別多、長得特別好，都是我們最喜歡的常用食材。我承認本地有機蔬菜較傳統種植貴，但只要你參觀過有機農莊，你會發現每樣農產品都要農夫投入很多時間和心力才可能有收成，明白他們取價公道。

我們今天到本地漁農美食迎春嘉年華參觀，活動由 23-25日一連三天在旺角球場舉行。我一口氣買了兩、三天的蔬菜，有西蘭花、不同品種的車厘茄、各式沙律生菜...和寶石魚。而寶石魚己成為我們的晚餐。

寶石魚品種源於澳洲，它勝生長快和營養價值高。魚場把魚放入大冰桶送到會場，我帶回家中仍非常新鮮。但始終是展覽會場而不是巿場，賣魚的人又不是魚販，所以並無即場劏魚、打鱗的服務。雖然我對上一次劏魚己是在大學的實驗室，幸好我的技巧並沒有太生疏，只是把手術刀換成廚刀罷了！

這已是我本月第三次用紙包焗魚，做法請參考 Pat's Cooking Journal 的泰式香草焗海 "魚立"。我非常喜歡這簡單的烹調方法！香草和蔬菜配搭非常彈性，只要加點創意，選擇自己喜歡的香草，又或隨意配搭家中現成香料，加點已有的新鮮蔬菜，每次都有不同風味。

這個月第二次用紙包焗魚：材料有澳洲新薯、車厘茄、茴香球、洋葱、檸檬百里香、蕃茜和迷迭香等。

我最喜歡的冬季本地有機蔬菜，除了沙律生菜，可算是茴香球、各色蘿蔔和紅菜頭。茴香球可以做沙律或炒肉類海鮮等，我最喜歡把球切絲炒鴕鳥肉或豬頸肉，而葉莖則可煮湯或煮法國藍青口。各色蘿蔔七彩繽紛，我最喜歡把它們切角，簡單加入海鹽、胡椒和意大利陳醋烤焗；當然亦會留下葉莖煮湯，是五行湯的重要材料。至於各色紅菜頭，切大塊蒸熟，淋上橄欖油和意大利陳醋，放雪櫃一晚，非常入味醒胃，而嫩葉可以作一般葉菜炒或灼，如果葉較老，當然亦不應浪費，可用來煮雜菜湯。

今天在本地漁農美食迎春嘉年華拍了一些相片，讓大家了解一下近期有供應的蔬果，希望大家多支持本地有機農夫：

Steamed grouper with minced garlic and homemade black olive and black bean paste 蒜茸欖豉醬蒸海青斑腩

We dined out a few days in a row last week, definitely need a healthy, nutritious and delicious meal at home! I bought a piece of grouper from the fishmonger, told the lady to cut it into big chunks as I planned to steam with homemade black olive and black bean paste. Black olive and black bean paste is not available in market, you can replace it with black bean paste with minced garlic in a jar from supermarkets or grocery stores.

This dish is very good with steamed brown rice, must add the jus over the rice, it's awesome!

Ingredients:

• Grouper, a piece around 400g at the belly, scaled and cut into big chunks, approx. 2.5 cm thick, rinse and pat dry

Marinade*:

• Black bean paste with minced garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoon 
• Hot chili bean paste with garlic, 1 teaspoon
• Mirin, 1 1/2 teaspoon
• Cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon
• Ginger slices, several
• Raw sugar, pinch
• Sea salt, pinch
• Oil, drizzle

* The seasonings taste very differently among brands, please adjust the proportion to your liking.

Seasoning and garnish:

• Soy sauce, drizzle
• Spring onion and/or coriander

Method:

1. Marinade the fish chunks for 15 minutes.
2. Steam for 12 minutes. 
3. Drizzle with little soy sauce, serve immediately.

蒜茸欖豉醬蒸海青斑腩

這星期一連幾晚外出用膳，週末絕對需要在家吃一頓健康、營養豐富又美味的晚餐！今天到魚檔買了一塊海青斑腩，請女職員為我把魚斬件，因為我打算用自家制欖豉醬蒸。巿面並無欖豉醬供應，可以超級市場或雜貨店出售的蒜茸豆豉醬代替。

這道菜非常下飯，特別是配糙米飯，而魚汁正是精華所在！

材料

• 海青斑腩一塊，約十兩，去鱗切一吋厚件，沖淨，以廚紙輕輕拍乾

醃料*

• 蒜茸豆豉醬，1 1/2茶匙
• 辣豆瓣醬，1 茶匙
• 味醂，1 1/2茶匙
• 粟粉，1/2 茶匙
• 薑，數片
• 原砂糖，少許
• 海鹽，少許
• 油，少許

*各個品牌的調味料味道各有不同，請就着自己口味調配醃料份量。

調味

• 醬油，少許

方法

1. 加入醃料，醃魚肉15分鐘。
2. 蒸 12 分鐘。
3. 淋少許醬油，趁熱上菜。

Parcel-baked Seabream with Thai Herbs 泰式香草焗海 "魚立"

Parcel-baked is a foolproof method to cook seafood: the seafood is protected from direct heat by parchment paper to prevent overcooked; it's is steamed by it's own jus and the fragrance is "sealed" inside the parchment wrap.

I cooked this dish with a huge seabream, over 30cm length. If you cook this with a smaller fish, please adjust the oven temperature and the cooking time.


Ingredients:

• Seabream, scaled, rinsed and pat dried
• Lemongrass, 2 stalks, only need the white section, bashed with back of knife
• Thai basil, handful
• Lemon or lime, sliced
• Slices of ginger
• Salt and Pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil

Material: Parchment paper and kitchen twine

Preheat the oven to 200C. If you are using the Toshiba ER-GD400HK, don't need to preheat the oven.

Method:

1. Sprinkle the fish with little salt and freshly ground black pepper. 
2. Lay the parchment paper onto the baking tray, put lemon slices, stalks of lemongrass and some Thai basil onto the middle of the parchment paper. 
3. Put the fish onto the herbs, stuff some Thai basil, lemon slices and ginger into the stomach of the fish.
4. Put the rest of the lemon and herbs onto the fish, drizzle with olive oil. 
5. Fold the parchment paper and tie both ends with kitchen twine. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until it's done.

泰式香草焗海 "魚立"

把海鮮用焗爐紙包着焗是十分簡單的做法：焗爐紙避免海鮮直接受熱，不易過熟；是被海鮮的原汁蒸熟，香味又被紙封着，確保原汁原味。

我用了一條相當大，長逾一呎的海"魚立"煮這道菜。如果你用的魚較細，請自行調低焗爐溫度和烹調時間。

食材：

• 海"魚立"一條，去鱗、洗淨、印乾
• 香茅兩支，只用白色一段，用力拍鬆
• 九層塔一把，洗淨
• 檸檬或青檸，切片
• 薑片適量
• 海鹽及黑胡椒
• 初榨欖橄油

物料：焗爐紙和烹飪用綿繩

把焗爐預熱至 200C。如果你是用東芝水波爐 ER-GD400HK 則無需預熱焗爐。


方法：

1. 在魚身撒上少量鹽和適量黑胡椒。 
2. 把焗爐紙放在焗盤上，在正中舖上檸檬片、香茅和九層塔。
3. 把魚放上，在魚肚中放入九層塔、檸檬和薑。
4. 把餘下的檸檬和香草放上，澆上初榨欖橄油。
5. 把焗爐紙摺好，兩端用烹飪用綿繩綁緊。放入焗爐中焗20-25分鐘至全熟。

My Honey Cake 我的蜜糖蛋糕

My dear friend is a Jew from Australia. When we were living in DBay, both our units were located on the same bay and I could always see her unit from my living room. We were so close, emotionally and in terms of distance, but I was suffering from mood disorder and refused to meet people, even close friends. I finally made up my mind and visited her and she baked a honey cake for us, that was the first honey cake I ever tried. She has already moved back to her home country for a few year. To me, honey cake is not only a delicacy, but a loving memory of the moments we shared.

I had been searching for honey cake recipes for a while, but most of the recipes have very high fat content, which were not what I was looking for. I was very excited when I found a recipe called for very little oil in a cookbook. After baking the same thing for many times, I knew what I want: a cake with more moisture and tender crumbs, with more intense aroma of spices and a stronger note of rum.

In the past three weeks, I had tried to bake 4 different versions and sent to my friends as guinea pigs and I managed to please the palates of people who had a bite of it. This is a relatively light cake but not fluffy, to be served with just a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar, may be a dollop of whipped cream with a dash of liqueur. I always have this with a cup of Nespresso for afternoon tea. So yum! Please be reminded: the cake tastes even better after sitting overnight! Do not ever serve this right from the fridge, take it out 30 minutes before serving.

This is a heart-warming gift to friends and family! It's a sort of healthy delicacy even those whom are health-cautious will feel comfortable to devour. 

Here is the version I'm most satisfied with lately:

Equipment: ONE 9" pan or TWO 6" pans, grease and line the pans


Ingredients:
(A)
All-purpose flour, sifted           120g
Finely ground almond, toasted 55g
Baking powder                         1/2 teaspoon
Baking soda                              1/2 teaspoon
Ground cinnamon                     2 tablespoons teaspoons
Freshly grated nutmeg             1/4 teaspoon
Ground clove                           1/4 teaspoon

To prepare freshly grated nutmeg, you need whole nutmegs and a grater.
Whole nutmegs are available in some supermarkets or spice retailers.

(B) 
Egg yolks                                 4
Golden caster sugar                 20g
Cooking oil (Neutral- tasting) 3 tablespoons
Dark rum                                 3 tablespoons
Lemon juice                            2 tablespoons
Zest of 3/4 lemon
Honey                                      215g

(C)
Egg whites                               4
Golden caster sugar                 30g
Cream of tartar                        1/2 teaspoon


Preheat the oven to 160C.
If you are using Toshiba Microwave oven ER-GD400HK, preheat the oven after step 4 and reduce the temperature to 150C when you started baking.


Method:

1. Combine (A) in a bowl with a whisk.
2. Mix all ingredients (B) in a medium bowl with a mixer except honey until blend. Add honey to the mixture and blend until homogeneous.
3. Add dry mixture (A) into mixture (B), mix until just blend and smooth. Do not over-mix.
4. In a clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg white in (C) until frothy. Stop the mixer, add the cream of tartar, continue to beat until foamy. Add sugar in 3 batches, beat until stiff peak formed.
5. Fold in beaten egg white into the batter in 3 batches, until no white streaks. The final cake batter shall be just blend without over-mixing.
6. Pour the batter into the lined pan(s). For 6" pan(s), bake 35-40 minutes. For 9" pan, bake 45-50 minutes.
7. Test with a cake tester for doneness.
8. Unmold the cake and allow to cool completely on a rack.

Hope you'll like this too!



我的蜜糖蛋糕

好友是猷太裔澳洲人，當年我們先後搬入愉景灣，又剛巧我倆的單位都坐落在同一海灣，我可以由客廳望到她的家。雖然我倆很親蜜，住處又很接近，但我當時有情緒病，不願與人接觸，包括好友。我最後都立定決心去探望她，而她正是用蜜糖蛋糕招待我們，亦是我人生第一次嚐到蜜糖蛋糕。她幾年前己經搬回老家。蜜糖蛋糕對我並非只是一種美食，而是滿載着我和她一同分享的美好的回憶！

自此我花了一段時間在網上搜尋蜜糖蛋糕的食譜，但往往因為要用太多油而令我卻步。後來在一本烹飪書找到少油食譜，非常興奮。重覆做過同一個食譜令我非常清晰知道我的要求：較濕潤和細膩的蛋糕體，香料的香味要較濃、有層次和加強一點冧酒的芳香。

我最近三星期試過四款不同材料份量的蜜糖蛋糖，每次都有找朋友當「白老鼠」，每次都能滿足他們的味蕾。這是一個不肥膩又帶質感，不是輕飄飄那種。只要撒上糖霜己可，又或配上添了酒香的忌廉就更加美味。我最喜歡下午茶時間配一杯無糖 Nespresso，太美味了！不要急着從焗爐取出就要吃一件，這蛋糕焗好後放一夜味道更醇和。如果焗好放入雪櫃，請提早半小時取出，待至室溫才吃。

我最喜歡的品嚐方法！

這是我暫時最滿意的版本：

焗盤：直徑 9" 一個；或 6" 兩個

材料：
(A) 
中筯粉，過篩 120克
杏仁粉             55克
泡打粉             1/2 茶匙
梳打                 1/2 茶匙
肉桂粉             2大匙
鮮磨肉豆蔻     1/4匙
丁香粉             1/4匙

大型超巿或香料店都可以買到原粒肉豆蔻。只需用刮皮器磨出所需份量。

(B)

蛋黃                 4
原細砂糖         20克
煮食油 (淡味) 3大匙
冧酒                 3大匙
鮮榨檸檬汁     2大匙
檸檬皮屑        大半個
蜜糖                215克

(C)
蛋白 4
原細砂糖 30克
他他粉 1/2 茶匙


把焗爐預熱至攝氐 160度
如果你用東芝水波爐 ER-GD400HK，可於完成步驟 4才預熱焗爐。

方法：

1. 把材料 (A) 倒入碗中，以手動打蛋器拌勻。
2. 除了蜜糖，把材料 (B) 倒入另一碗中，以電動打蛋器拌勻。再拌入蜜糖至均勻。
3. 把 (A) 加入 (B) 中拌勻，注意不可過份攪拌。
4. 把蛋白加入一個絕對無油的大碗中，以電動打蛋器打至出現大氣泡。加入他他粉繼續打拂。分三次加入砂糖，繼續拂打至有光澤的細膩蛋白，取起打蛋器時呈筆尖狀。
5. 把蛋白分三次拌入入麵糊，手法要輕要快，直至均勻。注意：過度攪拌會消減蛋白霜的氣泡。
6. 把麵糊倒入焗盤，放入焗爐：6" 盤約 35-40分鐘；9" 盤約 45-50 分鐘。
7. 以鋼針或竹簽測試是否熟透。
8. 把蛋糕脫模，在架上放涼。

希望你喜歡！