Strawberry Jam and Ginger Nut Cheesecake

Big geeky cheesecake fan here!!! Yes I am. So why not make a very simple, presentable cheesecake?! 

Well yes I am going to! I own another cookbook called "Nosh for Students" by Joy May... It's a very old edition that I had bought over 10+ years ago, and have recommended it to friends who have no idea about cooking even if they are not students!!! I think I have bought 3 editions for 3 individuals and that includes Mr Games and Mrs SweetTooth!! ...

I have some strawberry jam (not being used) on the side. I have concentrated lemon juice in the fridge not being used. All I need is a pot of double cream, fresh strawberries and cream cheese!! Plus some sugar, I used sweetener instead... So here's some pictures with full instructions below...

Ingredients:

- Half a tub of cream cheese (any brand)

- 1 third of the Double cream (if using a small pot add half)

- 2 tablespoons of Lemon juice (concentrated) or more if you want it to settle really hard

- 1 tablespoon of Sugar or Sweetner

- 5 Ginger biscuits

- Strawberry jam

- 2-3 Strawberries

- Big spoonful of butter or margarine 

The ingredients

How to make in pictures (for one big pot for one person):

1. Take the 5 ginger biscuits and place into a plastic bag and seal. Crush the biscuits using the base of a bottle or a food can or rolling pin.

Crush those biscuits!

2. Melt the butter into a saucepan.

Melt the butter

3. Add the ginger biscuits into the pan, and mix well until it is all clumped together.

Mix the butter with the biscuit crumbs

4. Leave to cool for one minute and add into a plastic pot or suitable container (I have used a plastic container to show you what I've done for each layer).

Place biscuit mix into a pot

5. Put the cream cheese, double cream,  sweetner or sugar and lemon juice into a bowl and mix well.

Mix the cream cheese, double cream, sugar and lemon juice

Mix it well!!

6. Once mixed place on top of the ginger biscuit mix that is already in the container, and flatten (if possible!).

Place the cream cheese mix into the container

From the side

7. Add some strawberry jam on top, and decorate with the fresh strawberries.

And now decorate with the jam and fresh strawberries

Refridgerate it!

8. Place in the fridge overnight then eat it! 

Close up of the top

I think it only keeps for one day... so eat it quickly!! ^_^ Easy right?!

Crispy Fried Noodles... It's so easy!!

When I talk to my colleagues and friends they always seem to be fascinated that Chinese cooking is so easy when I explain it. It's not like stewing or baking for many hours (roast duck takes 2 hours and roast pork takes an hour in the oven...) it's easy - mainly steaming, boiling or stir frying.

Now this is a very simple way (or is the way) of making crispy fried noodles. So stop going to the takeaway (even though I go once in a while) and make your own... I own this cookbook Quick and Easy Chinese Cuisines by Judy Lew, who unfortunately passed away last year, this book taught me how to make crispy noodles because my dad was too busy working to teach me many years ago... So I got this book less than 10 years ago, I thought it looked the best out of all the Chinese cookbooks on display in Foyles in Charing Cross Road at the time, as it has some very decent pictures in colour! There's a new edition from 2003 out, so purchase that one if you find it!

My Chinese cookbook, "Quick and Easy Enjoy Chinese Cuisine" by Judy Lew

Making fried noodles!!

Ingredients (my own mixed version - my dad does this a lot, mixing and matching ingredients):

- Extra fine noodles (dried) - 1 portion

- Vegetables (any type) - washed and chopped (I used 2 green bell peppers and Chinese cabbage here)

- Meat - cut into small edible chunks (I used chicken here - any cut will, breast or thigh, skinned and de-boned)... You can use any meat!!

- Seafood (optional, I used prawns here)

- 1-2 tablespoons of Cornflour

- 4 tablespoons of Oyster sauce

- 2 tablespoons of Light Soy Sauce

- Half a cup of hot water

- Cold water

- Vegetable oil

- Salt and Pepper

The main ingredients in pictures:

It's important to use Extra Fine Noodles to make crispy noodles

The other ingredients. The chicken is at the bottom

Chopped up Chinese Cabbage

Chopped up green peppers

Cut up chicken thigh meat

Cooked prawns

How to cook (for one person... I was actually cooking for three people here, so it looks like there's a lot!):

Note: Before you start frying the noodles ensure you prepare your topping ingredients beforehand as this is genuinely a quick dish to make (if you're making it for yourself)!... And loads of plates to wash afterwards!

1. Start off with your dried noodles. One portion = for one person. Boil them in some water for 4-5 minutes, and loosen. These are not like instant noodles, and so will take a little longer to cook.

1 dried portion of noodles = 1 person (depends on big it is in the packet really...)

Cook those noodles!!

2. Scoop and drain them, and rinse in cold water (I forgot to rinse mine in cold water). And leave to cool for a bit in a plate... (Re-use the water if you are making for more than one person).

Scoop and drain the noodles

3. Heat your wok or a large frying pan. Add about two tablespoons of oil (or more if you want it extra crispy) and swerve around, or use a paper towel to spread evenly. (You can also use a big pot and deep fry them if you want your noodles extra, extra crispy!!)

Heat the wok

5. Add the cold noodles in, and spread out in the wok or pan. Leave it to fry on one side for about 2 to 3 minutes...

Spread the noodles out to pan-fry

6. Then flip over to fry on the other side for another 2 to 3 minutes...

Flip over to pan-fry on the other side

7. Serve on a plate immediately... (Forgot to take a pic here).

8. Using your pre-prepared ingredients (meat, veg, seafood etc...), fry the chopped meat first and cook until it looks cooked.

Add the chicken and cook

9. Add the seafood in (if this is not the first ingredient used). Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes or it may depend on how big the meat is...

Add the prawns in 

10. Next add your vegetables. (You can add salt and pepper at this stage, but I've hardly used any here - just a bit of salt). Stir fry the meat and vegetables for 2-3 minutes. Add half a cup of hot water and cover for 2 minutes.

Add your green peppers in 

The the Chinese Cabbage goes in next... add hot water to simmer...

11. Add soy sauce and/or oyster sauce. If using black bean paste, add a tablespoon of sugar to sweeten the salty black bean taste. Then simmer for 2 minutes.

Add soy sauce and oyster sauce...

12. Prepare your cornflour (use about a tablespoon per portion / person) and add cold water... Pour this slowly into the meat and veg (or spoon it in slowly), then stir gently. Wait until the sauce starts to thicken...

Prepare the cornflour with cold water... then pour or spoon in slowly into the ingedients

Sauce is thickening!!

Once thickened, cool for a minute then add onto the top of the crispy noodles and then serve!

How beautiful is this!!! ^_^

Easy right?! There might be a lot of steps, but it's just worth it and if you make this all the time the faster you will get! :D One of my colleagues couldn't eat this as I didn't use the right meat!! :( So I made another one with only seafood and veg... she was very happy!! ^_^

Now how much did I spend? Under £10 for 3 people! And I already had the sauces, oil, seasoning and cornflour ... plus the free water :D 

It makes me wonder how many Chinese people can make this! ¬,¬""

DIY Bubble Tea

After reading @kevvieguy's experiment on making bubble tea (post is here, and the post he recommended is here), I also decided to give it a try! I'm a big bubble tea fan, and to make my own instead of going to the shops is a definite bonus... I spend too much these days on eating and drinking out, and not enough time making my own things...

So I kind of copied @kevvieguy, but changed ingredients as I was being lazy...

I bought this instant Thai milk tea (I actually don't know what flavour it is), and the black tapioca pearls (I couldn't find the coloured ones in my local store)...

Thai Milk Tea and black tapioca pearls

I cooked the pearls first for 5 minutes as instructed, drained them, and then I added honey instead of making my own syrup... Lazy Geek!! :) (I estimated the amount of pearls needed here).

Boil those bubbles!

Nice and glossy :)

Almost ready..

Then next I added the instant tea into a glass, added some cold water...but then I think it didn't dissolve too well, so I added some hot water, then re-added some cold water...

And then finally I added the tapioca pearls that were soaking in the honey...

DIY Thai Milk Bubble Tea

I didn't have a big straw and so I used a spoon and scooped them out to eat... Wow, chewy! Next time, if I'm craving bubble tea, I will make my own!! :D

Then the next day I made this one using instant Vietnamese coffee :D

Using Vietnamese coffee

DIY Vietnamese Bubble Tea

Ingredients:

- Tapioca pearls

- Instant milk tea (or any ice tea drinks you can make or buy)

- Water (cold and hot)

- Honey (or sugar to make the syrup to soak the tapicoa pearls)

- Ice cubes (optional)
- Big straw (purchasble in China Town)

How to make... instructions as above... too lazy to rewrite it all...  :P

Simple Spring Rolls

I'm writing this post for my friend Mrs Hen who LOVES spring rolls. Prawn ones. Vegetable ones. All the spring rolls in the world! Hahahah!! ^_^ 

These are real basic instructions that you can just follow (and I'm sure there's millions of posts and videos out there that will show you the same thing). The ingredients do not have to be exactly the same as the ones shown here! My friend, who I will call Mrs Travels, used cheese and prawns, and they were delicious (she's Chinese as well, and married to a Frenchman a.k.a. Mr Travels)...

So basic ingredients needed are as follows. You can use vegetables alone if you don't like to add meat or seafood. The wrappers cost £1.50 and there's 50 wrappers in the packet. Pre-cut vegetables for £1. Cooked shrimps were £2.50 (from a stall in East Street Market) and the egg - I guess this cost a few pennies but they came in a box! ^_^ So this Chinese snack cost just over £5! Not bad. In most restaurants and takeaway stores they will sell 2, 3 or 4 spring rolls for £1 or more!! Shocking!

My ingredients

Here's the picture instructions and full instructions are below (sunlight was in the way for the first few pics, whoopsie ¬,¬")...

Place wrapper diagonally 

Place a tiny amount of vegetables and 2 or 3 shrimps at the end facing you

Fold the tip over the ingredients

Roll once (or twice if there's loads of ingredients)

Fold in edges, then roll

Use some egg white to seal the roll

Prawn and salad spring roll made ^_^

34 wrapped spring rolls!!!! Made in half an hour!!!

Add the spring rolls into the preheated pan and oil

Cook for 2-3 minutes per side (it's like cooking a sausage)

Done! Some tasty spring rolls ^_^

Ingredients:

1. Cooked shrimps (the ones above I bought from East Street Market, which were in salt water). Or you can use defrosted prawns

2. Pre-washed and chopped up vegetables (you can prepare your own if you wish)

3. 1 egg (use only the egg white and you can discard the yolk)

4. Defrosted spring roll wrappers, which you can find in any Asian store - there are largers ones available. You can also use the round ones.

5. Vegetable oil for frying

How to prepare and cook (you can find instructions on the spring roll wrappers too):

1. Take one of the defrosted wrappers, making sure that one of the pointed sides is facing you (as in place it diagonally)

2. Take a small amount of the pre-washed vegetables and place at the pointed edge facing you, but leaving some space at the end...

3. Add a couple of shrimps on top of the vegetables

4. Fold the tip of the edge (the one facing you) over the filling

5. Then roll over once (or twice if you have a lot of ingredients)

6. Fold the edges inwards, then continue to roll

7. Once you reach the end of the rolling, dab a little egg white and then roll it over once more. The egg white will seal it.

8. Place in a plate and cover either with a clean damp cloth or a piece of kitchen roll

9. Repeat the above until you have run out of ingredients or until you have enough

Next...

10. Heat your frying pan (or deep fryer or big saucepan), add your oil

11. Slowly add in your spring rolls (about 5 or 6 at a time - depends on the size of the pan you use... I added about 11 or 12 in one go)

12. If you are using a frying pan, fry them for 2-3 minutes on each side (like frying a sausage)... For a deep fryer or a sauce pan - for about 3 minutes or until they are golden brown

13. Remove the spring rolls and place them onto a plate. You can use some kitchen towel to remove the excess oil...

14. Repeat steps 10-13 until you have cooked them all... Otherwise you can store them by freezing them until you are ready to use them. You can cook these frozen so you don't need to defrost them)

15. Finally let them cool for 5-10 minutes before eating and serving them

And that's how you make spring rolls!! ^_^

Easy?