Air-fried Pandan Chicken

Tags

chicken breast meat

Did this weeks ago when I found a oven-baked version of pandan chicken. And generally, most of the baking recipes can be converted to air-frying too. So why not? This is definitely healthier than deep-frying which pandan chicken is normally cook.

But I did not expect that the wrapping process can be such a horror! Mr Boyfriend did a better job than me at the wrapping.

Adapted from Bits of Taste (i used 3 chicken thighs & doubled the marinade)

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
6 dashes white pepper powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
grated ginger

What to do
1) Wash, clean and leave pandan leaves to dry
2) Cut chicken meat to small pieces (for easy wrapping) and marinade for 30mins (i normally marinade for hours, overnight would be even better)
3) Wrap chicken with pandan leaves (reference to Youtube)
4) Toast with oil (i used EVO) and air-fry at 180degree C for 20mins or till leaves are slightly charred (the meat is generally cooked after 10mins but can air-fry longer for better fragrance)

Review? Marinade was not strong enough for our liking. But the chicken was really filled with the pandan scent. During the air-frying process, the kitchen is also filled with the scent. But I must say air-frying is really healthier and the meat is very juicy.

Will I do this again? Unlikely. The wrapping is too tedious.

 

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Chiffon Cupcakes (Air-fried & Oven-baked) 清水小蛋糕

Tags

chiffon cake

I conquered my fear of chiffon! Yes, I did my first chiffon cake today – it’s cupcake size though. But heck! It’s still a chiffon. Never had I seen my mum bake a chiffon, and so, I’m extremely proud of myself that I managed to bake Chiffon Cupcakes! Long ago, I did requested for my mum to guide me through a chiffon cake, but for some reasons, the plan never work out. My mum wasn’t very enthu about it too as she baked the big chiffon before and it sink.

I decided to start small. It’s better than not starting at all! And as there’s extra batter after deciding into two trays, I pop-ed two cupcakes into the air-fryer and they came out better than those oven-baked! I guess height really does matters. So lesson learn: use a tall paper cups if you want to bake chiffon cupcakes.

What you need (seen at Happy Flour, from 爱’生活 My Life-清水小蛋糕)

1 egg
3 egg yolks
15g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50g vegetable oil
few drops of vanilla paste (i didn’t use)
50g cake flour (sifted)

3egg white
50g sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 175 degree C
2. Lined muffins tray with paper casing
3. Use hand whisk to mix 1 whole egg, 3 egg yolks, sugar and salt until well blended
4. Add in oil and vanilla paste, whisk till combined
5. Add in flour and stir until batter is smooth
6. Use a cake mixer and whisk the egg whites till frothy
7. Gradually add in the sugar and whisk till stiff peaks
8. Fold in 1/4 of the meringues into the egg yolk batter until combined
9. Fold in the rest of the meringue lightly in two portions until well combined
10. Spoon batter into paper basing till 60% full
11. Bake for 20 to 25mins OR air-fry at 140degree C for 15mins
12. Remove and cook on wire rack

The flatter looking one came from the oven and the taller one came from the air-fryer. Which is why I say that height did matter in chiffon. Texture wise, the taller one came out more fluffy and lighter as compared to the shorter one. But nonetheless, the flatter looking chiffon came out light and fluffy too. So, do use a ‘taller’ paper casing or paper cup if you plan to bake this. Taste wise, I’m pretty alright with the egg taste, not too strong. And comparing to a butter cake, this is almost like zero oil.

And that’s the story of My First Chiffon Cake. What’s yours?

p.s. I’m really surprised that the air-fryer baked such a prefect looking chiffon cupcake

Sometimes, height matters

Air-fried Honey Pork Ribs 蜜汁排骨

Tags

food, honey pork, pork ribs

I was very very very tempted by a photo of air-fried honey pork ribs on Facebook’s I Love Philips Airfryer page and had been wanting to cook it but the recipe shared was not detailed and in Chinese!!! A nightmare indeed..

Adapting the Chinese recipe  from Facebook and another recipe I found online (in Chinese too! what a horror) 阿基師偷吃步, I came out with my own version.

What you need

500g pork ribs (i used frozen pork ribs)

Marinate

1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ginger paste/ juice
1/8 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce (i added this because the marinate seems too dry)

Sauce (mix all in a bowl besides the garlic)

1 tbsp light soy sauce
some chopped garlic
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp honey (can increase to 2 tbsp)
1 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp tomato sauce

Method

1. Marinate the pork ribs with the marinate (i marinated them overnight)
2. Air-fry the pork ribs at 160degree C for 8mins, slightly under cook and set aside (normally the ribs will be deep-fried instead)
3. Stir-fry the chopped garlic with some oil till fragrant and pour in the sauce and bring it to boil
4. Do a taste test and adjust accordingly if desired. Otherwise, add in the air-fried pork ribs and stir-fry till cook and fully coated with sauce. (i fried till there’s no leftover sauce)
5. Serve warm, best with white rice

I am surprised how well this turned out! My slightly caramelized ribs.. The ribs are just cooked so the meat is still tender and juicy. The marinates are just right, not bland and not too overwhelming. The sauce could be a bit sweeter though, but nonetheless, it’s already pretty delicious! I coated some rice with the sauce and it was yummy! This is definitely appearing on the dinning table again. And definitely a healthier version as normally the ribs will be deep-fried first before coating with the sauce.

Tempted?

Updated 27 Sep 12: i used 2tbsp honey for the sauce and it’s just hit the spot and taste prefect

Unlike baking, there’s no rules in cooking

Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake (Air-fried vs Oven-baked)

Tags

dutch processed cocoa powder, sour cream pound cake

Its pretty rare for me to actually bake a chocolate cake as my mum will always talk me out of it. She is likely the only person that dislike chocolate cake. And it’s not because of the taste, but the color. But I had bookmarked this recipe for the longest time ever and the review was so good!

To make things more interesting, I made a 8” Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake using the oven and 5 cupcakes using the air-fryer.

What you need (as seen at The Little Teochew, from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

181g all-purpose flour
57g cake flour
92g Dutch-processed cocoa powder
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (i omit as i used salted butter)
340g unsalted butter (i used salted)
500g sugar (i followed The Little Teochew for 380g)
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract (i omit)
242g sour cream (i used yogurt)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325degree F (+/- 163degree C) and prepare a 10” Bundt pan (i used 8” square tin)
2. Sift flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt (if using) into a bowl
3. In a bowl of an eletric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until very creamy, about 2min. Gradually beat in the sugar and increase the speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is well-blended and light, about 4min.
4. At medium speed, add in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary
5. In a small bowl, stir in the vanilla extract into the sour cream.
6. If your mixer has a splatter shield attachment, attach it now. At the low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 additions and mixing just until blended.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top
8. Bake for 65 to 75mins, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Cool on a wire rack for 15mins before removing the cake from the pan and let it cool completely before cutting

If using air-fryer, preheat at 140degree C for 5 to 10mins before putting the cupcakes in and bake for 15mins or more, until the cake tester comes out clean

I know the ‘instructions’ seems like a handful but it’s worth the effort! And it’s actually like a normal ‘butter cake’ but with additional of cocoa and yogurt. But I forgotten about creaming the butter first and did both the butter and sugar together, which is the method I’m used to. Hope it is a harmless mistake!

And using the 8” square tin increased the baking time, it took me around 1hr 30mins to cook the cake thoroughly. And I increased the temperature to +/- 180degree C. 163degree C seems a bit low.

After the long long waiting time, I finally get to taste the cake! I couldn’t wait for the oven-baked one so tried the air-fried cupcake first and it was really good! I cannot believe the air-fryer produce such soft cake! The texture is 99% similar with the baked one. I doubt anyone can tell the difference between the air-fried cupcake and the oven-baked cake. Both are as good!

But personally I won’t really use the air-fryer to bake cupcakes unless I only want to bake 5 to 6 cupcakes. Otherwise a baking oven will be faster. But nonetheless, I’m amazed by the results of the air-fryer.

I love this Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake! I should really call this the Deep Chocolate Yogurt Pound Cake instead since I didn’t use any sour cream. True to it’s name, it has a very deep favor in chocolate. Intense but yet not overwhelming that you get sick of it. Texture-wise, it’s soft and almost ‘melt-in-your-mouth’ type but the softness is not that of a butter cake. It’s truly an amazing chocolate cake. Kid of Mr Brownie and Ms Butter? Imagine compacting this cake into 50% of it’s volume, likely you will get a very tasty brownie.

The only thing I will change if I were to bake this again, its a slightly bigger baking tin. Maybe it will help to reduce the baking time.

I also baked some Coconut Raisin Cupcakes as a gift to a friend and his parents who had been very kind to Mr Boyfriend and me. This is the first time I’m giving my bakes as a ‘present’, hope they enjoy them.

P.s. I tried air-frying some Coconut Raisin Cupcakes at 180degree C for 15mins and they came out looking like they had been deep-fried instead.

Pure pleasure

Air-fried Crispy Roast Pork 脆皮烧肉

Tags

food, spice powder

Surfing through the numerous food blogs online, quite a number of them had posted about roasting crispy roast pork using an oven and all the roast pork came out looking so perfect! I drooled over the photos but I had never thought I will ever do this myself. But I did! And the result was amazing… This is my Crispy Roast Pork (脆皮烧肉) Journey…

The three items that are crucial for making a crispy roast pork – five spice powder mixture (five spice powder + garlic salt + white pepper), salt and the special skewer to prick the skin of the roast pork (can be bought from wet markets).

For the dry rub (five spice powder mixture), it was adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover – 2tsp garlic salt + 1tsp five spice powder + 1 tsp ground white pepper. She used this amount for a 2.8kg pork belly, I used around 2/3 of it for my 700g.

pluck excess hair, if any

Method-wise, it’s a mixture from the neighborhood aunties, Blessed Home Maker who had also air-fried her crispy roast pork and Nasi Lemak Lover who oven-roast.

Method (i used a 700g pork belly, the size fitted nicely into the air-fryer)

1. Cooked the pork belly thoroughly in water (so far the blogs i visited will blanch the pork only, pat dry, prepare skin, season and dry in the fridge overnight. but the neighborhood aunties recommended cooking thoroughly)
2. Remove from water and let it air-dry in the open (around 3 to 4 hours). Pluck excess hair if any.
3. Pat dry any excess water from the pork belly and prepare the pork skin by pricking the skin with the sharp skewer, the more holes the better (for crispier skin)
4. Lightly score the skin with a knife
5. Massage the dry rub into the meat area
6. Rub some lemon/ lime juice on the skin and followed by salt (told by neighborhood aunties)
7. Preheat the air-fryer for 5 to 10 mins at 160degree C (i laid aluminum foil underneath the basket to ‘collect’ the oil for easy washing)
8. Place the pork belly skin facing up into the air-fryer
9. Air-fry for 160degree C for 30mins, 180degree C for 30mins

Seasoned pork belly

Hope this helps for air-fryer users

After air-frying for one-hour, you will be rewarded with this golden brown and crispy skin roasted pork! Doesn’t the color looks so amazing and satisfying? I did a CRISPY ROAST PORK! It’s HOMEMADE! I am so proud of myself.

After letting it cool in the air-fryer basket for awhile, the slicing ceremony takes place! It truly looks so amazing. And I love the dry rub! And at first Mr Boyfriend was worried that the roast pork will turn out very salty, but it’s not! The skin is not salty and the meat is not salty. But the garlic salt did give the meat a slight spiciness  but nothing too overwhelming. Overall, the dry rub is a very nice seasoning to the roast pork.

Please please please remember to prick the skin as much as you can. Don’t be worry with damaging the skin. We though we pricked sufficiently but some parts were missed can came out slightly chewy but overall, the skin was still crispy. Very tasty crispy roast pork!

Will I do this again? DEFINITELY a YES! It is worth the effort and time. But will I do this without an air-fryer? No, because the oil from the pork splatter all over the place.

I love my air-fryer…

Cooking is an amazing journey