November 26, 2009

Chiffon Cake with Walnuts and Resins with Shred Dry Pork On Top

Very excited!!! I mean it's way more exciting to bake an ultra successful Chiffon cake than to push out a smooth release. :) I know if I ever say this in front of my engineers, I am going to get a bunch of rolling eye-balls.

太激动了。 第一次做戚风蛋糕就如此成功。太有成就感了。 可口,细腻,咸甜适中。。。在我的印象中,戚风蛋糕是个高水平的象征。简直不敢相信我这种业余水平的,也能搞定。

我妈边吃蛋糕,边说:“这蛋糕比大华买的还好吃。要是那天你不想做你的工作了,你就改卖蛋糕吧。我觉得你的手艺还可以找碗饭吃。” 承蒙我家老妈抬举我呀!

Ingredients for the Flour Mix
1) 1/2 cup cake flour mix
2) 1 tsp baking powder
3) 1/2 tsp salt
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the above ingredient. Set aside.

Egg Yoke Mix
1) 4 egg Yolk
2) 2 tbs sugar
3) 3 tbs corn oil
4) 1 tsp vanilla extract
5) 2 tbs skim milk
whisk on medium speed for 2 minutes till all the ingredient is combined.

Then, add all the dry ingredient into the Egg Yoke Mix. Whisk till all are combined

Egg White Mix
1) 4 egg whites
2) 1/2 tsp white vinegar
3) 1/4 cup sugar


whisk on high for the egg whites and white vinegar for 2 to 3 minutes or until the mixture becomes pale yellow and 'ribbons' when lifted. Then, add sugar. Continue to whisk at high speed for another 2 min.

Tip: The most challenging part of making a chiffon cake is to make sure the cake still maintain a full body after it cools down out from the oven. The fully whisked egg white is the key to avoid a sagging cake body. How do you know the egg white is fully done? Turn over the mixing bowl. If the egg white does not fall or drip from the bowl, that's the sign.

Now, you can add the Egg Whites Mix into the Egg York Mix combined with all the dry ingredients. Fold the Egg Whites Mix in gently.

Tip: Another key here is the action of "fold gentally" not "mix". This will help you get a smooth and light texture of the cake.

Pour everything into a cake pan. Bake for 325F for about 30 min. Need to check before that to avoid an overbaked cake.

November 25, 2009

Red Bean Mochi Cake

过感恩节了,又要请邻居过来吃饭,又要去朋友那边聚会,简直把我妈搞得不亦乐呼,烤个红豆椰奶年糕吧。美国人的节日,中国人的过法,合情合理。

我家老妈是个好奇的人,每次教她用厨房里的新工具,她都像小孩玩玩具般高兴。 本来以为她会夸奖我几句,关于我的厨房工具如何先进云云。她反而说,“唉,不知到你在你的这些玩意上有乱花多少钱。”

这款年糕,香甜软糯,非常好吃。有一丝淡淡的红豆搀杂着椰子的香味。我用的“迷你”玛芬的烤盘,这样在派对上方便些,一人一块,没得抢,没得争。

我觉得这年糕凉了还好吃些。我家老妈是个土人土语的人物。按照她的高论,”这年糕绵揪绵揪的,很好吃。“ 唉,我这么洋气的一个人,怎么会有这么土的一个妈?!

Ingredients for the Flour Mix
1) 1 bag of Sweet rice flour (454g
2) 1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/2 sugar; 1/2 splenda)
3) 1/4 cup threaded coconut
4) 1/2 tsp baking powder
5) 1 tsp salt
Tip: Many recipes call for condensed milk. I replaced it with threaded coconut. This way, the rice cake still has the nice coconut flavor but the fat and calorie is much reduced.

Ingredients for the Batter
1) 3 large egg
2) 1/4 cup veggie oil
3) 2 cups milk mix (1/2 cup coconut milk plus 1 1/2 skim milk

Assembly
1) Mix all the ingredients for the flour together
2) Beat the ingredients for the batter together
3) Spray the baking pan with some cooking oil
4) Add a can of red bean paste into the batter
5) Place a small portion of the batter into each of the mini muffin pan
Tip: I made my own black sesame mix. The red bean mix is available in any Asian market.

Bake
1) Preheat the oven at 350F
2) Bake covered for about 60 min (double check just like how you check for cake)
3) Turn to boil. For 2 min till the top is browned
4) It's done when you stick a toothpick into and are able to take it out with nothing on it
Tip: You want to spray some oil on the foil before covering the baking pan with it.

Cool Down the Rice Cake
1) Cool down uncovered for about 15min
2) Cool down it for another 60 min covered; This will keep cake moist.
Tip:The cake tastes great if you microwave it the next day for just 10 seconds.

November 10, 2009

Hiking at San Pedro Park at Pacifica

Went for this hike with a bunch of friends. I was hoping to shoot some fall leaves, but only found out that's not the right place for that purchase. Oh well... It is what it is. Still took a few other shots to make the best out of the situation.


Saw somebody else did some cool shots with leaves on Flickr. Wanted to try it out myself. Well, guess it did not work out. :)


Some random pictures for a random hike on a random day.


These two I actually kind of like.

November 01, 2009

JiuZhaiGou National Park - Tibetan Village

JiuZhaiGou - ZhaGa Water Fall

到了九寨沟,一下飞机,就去了扎嘎瀑布。Parents in front of the famous ZhaGa Waterfall at JiuZhaiGou.

ZhaGa waterfall is the largest travertine waterfall in China. It is 93.2 meters (306 feet) high and 35 meters (38 yards) wide with an elevation of 3,270 meters (10,728 feet). In the upper reaches of the waterfall is a lake and in the lower reaches, is a multi-step waterbed.


我家老妈的两个女儿。干女儿比亲女儿好多了。 Mom has two daughters. She often jokes about the other daughter is much nicer than the real one. :)



JiuZhaiGou - Song Zhou

到了九寨沟,一下飞机,还没有等到去酒店登记,就迫不及待地要去玩。第一站去了松州牧泥沟。松州是当年文成公主出嫁的地方。

YunNan Stone Forest (ShiLin)

同家里人去云南石林游玩是上半年的事了。一直到现在才有时间整理。 唉, 忙呀。
So four of us took on a trip to explore the stone forest of YunNan. A very odd mix of travel partners with the Texas cowboy, the GuiZhou peasant (my mom of course), and the likes.


据说八仙里的张国佬以前倒骑着毛驴到这里,就睡在这儿。 导游说了,凡人睡了张国佬得石床,就会交好运的。 那么我也赶紧上去沾光沾光。


Little elephant.


Tried on the dress for the YuanNan BaiZhu, one of the 55 minorities in China. 当回云南白族吧。



A great place to play hide-and-seek. See how silly my parents could get!!! 我家老爸和老妈还在石林里躲猫猫。

The Grandma of Mickey Mouse

Took my mom, uncle, auntie and little Jimmy to a tour of southern California, and to my surprise that I survived the trip, and even enjoyed it.

我妈是米老鼠的奶奶。 哈,哈。。。