Cuisine Paradise 9th Blog Anniversary

Today, 30 April marks the 9th Birthday of Cuisine Paradise. With that I feel like time really flies fast as I have being working "full-time" on this blog for almost more than 3500 days. I sincerely thanks everyone for supporting my humble blog and social media platforms throughout these years.

Overnight Oats - 隔夜燕麦

Overnight Oats

Overnight oats is a popular and convenience quick meal which you could easily prepared at home using a few simple ingredients and tweaks it accordingly to create different flavours. This healthy treat is actually made with rolled oats (also known as old fashioned oats) that “soaked up” any sort of liquid such as yogurt, milk/non-dairy milk or juice which therefore eliminating the need of cooking.

Furthermore beside rolled oats; by adding some chia seeds it also helps to thicken the mixture and at the same time improve health benefits such as fatty acid (Omega 3 and Omega 6), dietary fibre, protein and etc which is essential for our body.

Japanese Dark Pearl Chiffon Cake - 日式黑珍珠戚风蛋糕

Japanese Dark Pearl Chiffon

Being a chiffon cake lover, I am always excited to explore new flavour so when I saw Eileen's Japanese Dark Pearl Chiffon photo on my Facebook timeline. I immediately bookmarked the recipe because of its unique name plus the use of "dark chocolate" as one of the key ingredients.

Just to share this recipe was initially from Aunty Yochana website many years ago and bakers who tried all shared good review on it even till now. This recipe is slightly different from the chocolate chiffon cake which I made previously because it had a richer taste and moist texture which similar to those Japanese Souffle Cheesecake.

Hello Kitty Brunch, Hello Kitty Pop-Up Toaster plus Giveaway

[Cornell Hello Kitty Pop-Up Toaster] Hello Kitty Brunch

Few weeks ago, I received two very kawaii Hello Kitty print toasters from Cornell to do a review plus a giveaway for our readers. The toaster has a very eye-catching red and white design which brings smile to anyone who used it. Furthermore this pop-up toaster also enable you to have a Hello Kitty print on the toasted bread too.

So with the long Easter Weekend instead of bunny brunch we decided to have Hello Kitty Brunch whereby I could test out the lovely toaster.

Weekend Brunch @ GRUB, Bishan Park

Weekend Brunch @ GRUB, Bishan Park

After reading a few recommending cafes to visit from food blogs and Instagram photos, GRUB has being on our visiting list for quite sometime.  So last Saturday since we do not have any plan  except getting our usual weekly grocery. We decide to settle our brunch at GRUB which is located at one end of Bishan Park (510 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1) along Sin Ming Ave which is opposite Block 408.

For your information, GRUB don't not accept reservation on weekend so be early before noon to avoid long waiting time.

Emicakes Mother's Day Promotion + Mother's Day Cakes Giveaway

Time flies and Mother's Day will be approaching in less than a month. This year why not let's take some time to remember the wonderful impact that our Mothers have instilled in our lives. I am sure their unconditional love, unrelenting support, and untiring effort to provide for our needs are the very reasons why we would love to celebrate this special day for our beloved Mums.

Chong Pang Chong BBQ Chicken @ Geylang Bahru Food Center

[CHONG PANG CHONG] BBQ Chicken Wings

Located within Block 69, Geylang Bahru Food Centre, Chong Pang Chong (忠邦忠) is one of the franchise outlets of Chong Pang Huat (忠邦发). The stall is facing towards the open car-park together as the same row with Hainanese Pork Chop Rice and Western Food. And beside selling BBQ chicken they also provides supply of "cooked or uncooked" chicken and satay for party and event too.

So whenever I visit Kitchen Capers to get some baking items I would usually drop-by during dinner time where we could at the same time indulge ourselves with some of yummy food there such as the BBQ Chicken, Wanton Noodle or Western Food.

New McDonald's Wholegrain Muffins + McDonald's Surprise Alarm + Giveaways(CLOSED)

[photo credit: McDonald Singapore]

With the launched of the new "Wholegrain Muffins" you can now swop out to this new choice at no additional costs when you order your favourite McMuffin items for breakfast. And for your info these wholegrain muffins are each made with eight grams of whole grains, providing about half a recommended serving of whole grains making it convenience for you to include wholegrain in your daily meal intake.

Caramelised Banana Chiffon Cake - 焦糖香蕉威风蛋糕

Caramelised Banana Chiffon Cake

Hi peeps! How does cake filled with caramelised banana sounds to you? Good? Today I would be sharing another chiffon cake recipe which inspired by one of my girlfriends through our WhatsApp chat. And with the recipe shared by her friend I decide to give it a twist by using gula melak instead of caster sugar to caramelise the banana for that unique fragrant and taste.

Philips Airfryer Food Truck + Philips Airfryer Giveaway

To celebrate its third year of bringing the goodness of air-fried food to consumers, Philips has created a fun Philips Airfryer Food Truck that will embark on an island-wide visit from 04th - 16th April 2014 bringing the smells and tastiness of air-fried snacks to Singapore consumers.

So if you are keen to find out more details about Philips Airfryer and at the same time sample some of the food cooked using the Airfryers which has up to 80 percent less fat when compared to fresh fries prepared in a conventional Philips fryer you can refer to the Food Truck schedule shown below.

[With Recipes] The New Bosch MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine and MaxoMixx Hand Blender

BOSCH Master Gourmet Launch

Last Saturday, together with ShiTing (lobsterpaints.com) and a few fellow bloggers I attended the Bosch Master Gourmet Launch featuring their new MaxxiMUM Kitchen Machine and MaxoMixx Hand Blender held at My Private Chef. Indeed it was a fun event with recipes demonstration session by Chef Stephan Zoisl as well a a hands-on session for participants.

The purpose of this launch is to introduce the latest premium kitchen machines from BOSCH which serves as an essential tool for those who cook and bake as an intergral part of their lives. And in this post I would be sharing some details on these new machines as well as the demonstrated recipes shared by Chef Stephan.

[KitchenAid Dough Recipe] Matcha Azuki Bun with Salted Cherry Blossom

Matcha Azuki Bun with Salted Cherry Blossom

Hi folks, it's Monday again and I hope you had a great rest over the weekend. Recently you might have realized that I am back into bread making from those Instagram posts which I have shared while testing out my new KitchenAid KSM150. And after trying a few bread recipes, I still think the best result achieved is from the “five thousand dollars starter dough” recipe which I shared last week.

So in this post, I will be using the same 5K starter dough recipe with a twist to turn it into our current favourite bread which is; Matcha Azuki Bun with Salted Cherry Blossom.

Pumpkin Red Bean Balls vs Gula Melaka Steamed Cake with Sweet Potato

Assorted tea snacks for Bake King March recipes

March is coming to the end and this month my baking project with Bake King features some quick and easy Asian tea snacks such as Pumpkin Red Bean Balls and Gula Melaka Steamed Cake with Sweet Potato. Pumpkin Red Bean Balls has a very soft texture when bite and it pairs well with the sweet red bean paste which makes it sort of like the Mochi (Japanese rice cake made of mochigome).

[KitchenAid Dough Recipe] 5 Thousand Dollars Starter Dough Bread - 五千元的老式面包

5K Starter Dough Bread

Apart from the Baked Egg Cake (烤鸡蛋糕) which I did recent, I also come across another "viral" recipe known as "5 Thousand Dollars Starter Dough" from my friend; Amy's (Motheringcorner) Facebook timeline. And through their discussions, it seems like many of the home bakers are trying out this recipes too. According to their comments this is seems to be another popular "dough" recipe when compare to the Tang Zhong (water roux - 烫种法) method a few years back. So without hesitate I decide to give this recipe a try and at the same time test out my new KitchenAid stand mixer.

[Weekly Meal Planner #3] Our 5 Favourite Western Dish Recipes

It's Monday again and I hope you people have a great week without any blues. For this last Monday of March we shall continue on our  "Weekly Meal Planner" column with FIVE of our family favourite western dishes such as braised wine chicken, chicken skewers, mushroom pie and homemade mushroom soup. These dishes are easy to prepare and you could even get ready the necessary ingredient the night before so that your meal would be ready on the dining table in less than an hour.

Out of the 5 featured recipes in this post; my favourite are Braised Red Wine Chicken and Chicken Mushroom Pot Pie because both are comfort food which could be easily whipped up and they taste awesome especially during cold weather or after a hectic day at work.

Banana Coconut Bread using Coconut Flour

I always love things to be simple when it comes to food preparation for the family. So whenever the recipe calls for "one pot dish" or "one pot cake" I would be most delighted to try it out because I get to wash lesser utensils as well as time spent in the kitchen. So here I have a quick recipe which only requires stir and mix after which you could sit back and relax while waiting for the cake to be out from the oven.

This quick Banana Coconut Bread has a lovely moist texture plus coconut scent from coconut flour used and I also love the extract dose of walnuts which gives the bread an extra crunch and nutty flavour.

Baked Egg Cake (烤鸡蛋糕)

Baked Egg Cake - 烤鸡蛋糕

Currently this Baked Egg Cake (烤鸡蛋糕) is one of the popular cakes amount online home bakers from one of the Facebook group known as "I Love Baking And Cooking - 我愛烘培，我愛做飯". And thanks to all the lovely members I have learn quite a few tips from those who always inspire each other with new ideas either in baking or cooking.

[Weekly Meal Planner] 5 Recipes On Our Weekday Meals #2

After planning and cooking for weeks, months and even years it sometimes make SAHM (Stay At Home Mum) feels that all these routines seems to be a "hectic chore" which are never ending. Often we just wanted to create some decent and healthy meals that are less time consuming and "hopefully" they suits everyone's preference in the family too.

So after much thoughts and suggestions from readers, I decided to start a new column on this blog known as "Weekly Meal Planner" from 01st March 2014 onwards featuring our weekday dinner menus hopefully on Mondays base on a bi-weekly timeline. The featured dishes might vary from Asian, Western or even just 5 recipes on soup or dessert for the week which I hope it would help to inject some new ideas into your weekly menu planning.

[Chinese Remedy] Five Flower Tea - 五花茶

Know about this remedy from one of my boy's classmate mum who saw it from 早安您好! (Good Morning Singapore!) TV show. So when I happen to see this pre-packed 5 Flower Tea (五花茶) from the Chinese Medical Hall (中药店) I decided to get a pack to try it out.

SeoulFoodProject - #01 Instant Noodles Box (with recipe + cooking video)

[SeoulFoodProejct] Box 1 - Instant Noodles

Last few weeks I was back into chasing Korean Drama which introduced by my bestie on a latest fantasy romance known as My Love From Another Stars (來自星星的你) by Kim Soo-hyun (金秀賢) and Jun Ji-hyun (全智賢). And like most other Korean dramas there are always one/two scenes featuring their instant Korean Ramen which makes me salivate while watching it.

But now with this "instant noodles box" from SeoulFoodProject, I can easily enjoy pipping hot Korean Ramen anytime of the day. Furthermore this themed box also comes with a "golden pot" which used for cooking the ramen as well a set of Korean cutlery.

[Weekly Meal Planner] Double-Boiled Winter Melon Soup And Pan-fried Batang Fish

Time flies and now that we are already in the 1st week of March where most of the primary school kids are having their CA1 (Continual Assessment Test) I am sure most of the parents will be busy with the revisions. In this post I will be sharing how to prepare individual serving portion of Double-boiled Winter Melon Soup as well as one of our favourite dish; Pan-fried Mackerel (Batang / 马鲛鱼).

Different Types of Ceramic Soup Pot

I am sure you have seen these ceramic soup pot (炖盅) while ordering double-boiled soup from restaurants or food center. Above are some of the collections that I have for different type of soup ranging from savoury to dessert. For your information, you can either used individual soup pot for a bigger pot for sharing purpose, meaning it all depends on what type of soup and the serving methods.

[Wordless Wednesday] River Safari, Singapore (河川生态园)

River Safari, Singapore - 河川生态园

[River Safari, Singapore - 河川生态园] Mississippi River

Weekend Dinner @ Southwest Tavern, Tradehub 21

[Southwest Tavern] Weekend Dinner

When it comes to weekend, "food hunting" is always something that we look forward to whenever we roam around different parts of Singapore. And last weekend while we were in IMM Jurong area, we decided to visit Southwest Tavern which served American style cuisines from one of the participated restaurants in my trustworthy Entertainer Mobile App list.

2014 Chinese New Year Family Gatherings

It had being almost a week since the last day of Chinese Lunar New Year (CNY) ended on 14 February 2014. And during that two weeks we get to meet up with relatives and friends as well as enjoying all the festive feast and family bonding time. With this summarized post I would like to share with you peeps on what we did during CNY as well as some festive food that we enjoyed.

[Day 7 Of CNY] Ren Ri (人日) and Yu Sheng (鱼生)

Day 7 of Chinese Lunar New Year (年初七) is also known as Ren Ri (人日) meaning the common "birthday" of all human beings. During this day most of the family will gather everyone in the household to have a feast together in order to celebrate the occasion and at the same time do a Lo Hei Yu Sheng (捞起魚生) to bring in luck for the family.

In this post I would be sharing how we celebrate Ren Ri and some of the auspicious meaning when eating Yu Sheng (鱼生) as well as a recipe for Longevity Noodles (寿面).

[Valentine's Bakes] Chocolate Flourless Cake and Chocolate Raspberry Tart

[Valentine's Bake] Chocolate Flourless Cake

One more day to Valentine's Day and I am sure most of you have already prepared or going to get some lovely gift(s) for your dearest. But if you are still looking for quick and easy valentine's day recipes; here we have a ready in 30 minutes (including preparations and baking) Chocolate Flourless Cake recipe for you.

To prepare this cake, you can easily get the "heart-shaped pan" from Daiso like what we did then grab some good quality of Dark Chocolate (I bought the Cadbury 70% dark chocolate) and Strawberries and  you are ready to make one.

[CNY Bakes] Mixed Fruit Pastry Cake, Chocolate Beetroot Cupcakes and Honey Joys

During this Chinese New Year I did baked quite a few items such as Cheesy Pineapple Rolls, Matcha Butter Cookies, Kueh Bangkit and etc as new year gifts which you can read more about it here (with recipes). Whereas for our family gathering (with recipes on savory dishes) I also prepared some tea cakes which our guests can enjoy them with coffee/tea after the savory dishes.

And in this post I would be sharing 4 recipes on the items that I had prepared for the dessert corner during our family lunch gathering.

[With Recipes] 2014 Chinese New Year Lunch Gathering With Relatives

This is the second year we invited our relatives over for Chinese New Year lunch gathering where everyone can mingles around as well as enjoy some homecook dishes and cakes prepared by my mum and myself. As usual we have a big group of relatives and to prepare a semi buffet for 30 people in a home base kitchen with gas stove and a microwave convection oven (my built-in oven was down) was rather a bit challenging for us. But thanks god we managed to get all the food up on time and everyone enjoys the array of food and family bonding time too.

So here is a long-winded post with photos of the food as well as related recipes (or recipe links) for your reference in case you need some inspiration on what to cook before the 15 days of lunar new year ends on Friday, 14 Feb 2014 (ooooo it's also Valentine's Day too)

[With Recipes] Our 2014 Lunar New Year Reunion Dinners

Our Reunion Dinners

Time flies fast and today is the 4th day of Chinese Lunar New Year which I believe most of you had a great long weekend with abundant of food and bonding time during house visiting. And out of the 15 days of new year celebration we are still down with another 11 days more to indulge with the New Year atmosphere and food.

Here I would like to share with you how we celebrate our reunion dinners with family and relatives during the week of Chinese New Year Eve.

[Wordless Wednesday] Celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year In Singapore

[Chinese Lunar New Year] Chinese New Year Ornaments

[Chinese Lunar New Year] Chinese New Year Ornaments

[With Recipes] Our Chinese Lunar New Year Goodies

Three more days to go before the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration begins and most of the households are busying with new year bakes such as pineapple tarts, almond cookies, love letters and etc. Whereas for savory dishes most of us will be making the ngoh hiang (minced meat roll), braised soy duck, braised sea cucumber, chicken curry and etc.

In this post, I am sharing some of the goodies (with recipes) that we had made till date such as Kueh Bangkit, Orr Nee, Ngoh Hiang and etc which you might be interested to try any of them during the 15 days of lunar new year feasts.

Birthday Feast @ Blue Bali on Cluny

Blue Bali on Cluny

Although I have not being to Bali (a small island in Indonesia) but I have heard good reviews on their food and many of its tourist attractions from friends who went over for holidays. So last Saturday, we decided to make a reservation at Blue Bali on Cluny to have an early celebration for my Birthday.

As usual, we found this restaurant using the Entertainer App which is now one of our reliable food source adviser that provides great saving dining deals.

[Blue Bali on Cluny]

Blue Bali on Cluny is located along the backyard of a colonial house at Bukit Timah which is within the faculty at the back of NUS Law School. And due to its “hidden” location, first timer might take quite a bit of time to find the place (like we nearly give up finding the location because google map just pin “10D Cluny Road” ends the car park entrance of Singapore Botanic Garden; Nassim Road) if you are not familiar with the area.

2014 Lunar New Year Bakes #1 - Cheesy Pineapple Roll and Black Gold

Chinese Lunar New Year is less than two weeks from now and you can see lot of festive goodies available in either supermarkets, bakery shops and even most of the households are busy with making their own expertise of bakes. Every year for my household, we only make pineapple tarts/rolls because they are our favourite and also when compared to the rest of the new year bakes (such as love letter, almond cookies, kueh balu, kueh lapis and etc) this is consider the most easiest with the help of ready-made pineapple paste.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) Festive Specials Available From 17 January 2014 plus Giveaway of Smoked Salmon Yu Sheng

[Din Tai Fung] Abalone Fortune Yu Sheng

From now till 28 February 2014, Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) is pleased to introduce a line-up of Lunar New Year specials which is available for dine-in or takeaway. And during this festive season, everyone loves to toss an auspicious New Year with Yu Sheng (鱼生) that brings healthy and prosperity for the new year.

Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) offers two different types of Yu Sheng such as:-
Salmon Prosperity Yu Sheng (富贵鱼生)
- Standard (serves 2 - 3 pax) @ SG$28.80++
- Deluxe (serves 4 - 6 pax) @ SG$48.80++
* Available at all outlets except Din Tai Fung at Parkway Parade

 Abalone Fortune Yu Sheng ( 财宝鱼生)
- Deluxe (serves 4 - 6 pax) @ SG$68.80++
* Available at Din Tai Fung at Paragon, Marina Bay Sands, Resort World Sentosa, Marina Bay Link Mall, BreadTalk IHQ and Raffles City only

Goodness of Beetroot

For those who dislike the “raw” taste of beetroot you can mix it together with carrot and apple to create this miracle drink which has gained popularity all over the world due to its health benefit. To make this effortless juice, blend the three mentioned ingredients above together and consume it immediately. In addition you can also add in a splash of lime juice to enhance the taste.

Entertainer App 1-For-1 Main Course @ La Nonna, Holland Village

Last Saturday while sourcing a new eatery for our usual weekend brunch as well as an early celebration for my boy’s birthday, we decided to pop over one of La Nonna’s branch which is located in Holland Village. Upon arrived, the outlook of the restaurant give us a warm and homely feel with friendly staff bringing us to our seats.

[La Nonna @ Holland Village] Outdoor alfresco area

If you are curious like us, La Nonna meaning "The Grandmother" in Italian and it serves traditional Italian country cuisine.

Titans Of The Past - Dinosaurs & Ice Age Mannals

[Science Centre Singapore] Titan Of The Past

My boy is a great fans of Jurassic Park movies and he loves all the dinosaurs especially T-Rex. So during December (2013) school holiday, we decided to visit this "Titans of the Past" exhibition which is currently held at Singapore Science Centre until 23 February 2014.

[Science Centre Singapore] Titan of The Past

Upon entering the exhibition hall, visitors will be greeted by the "The Growth and Behavior of Dinosaurs" which was developed by world famous palaeontologist, Dr Jack Honer who is also the technical advisor for the Jurassic Park movies.
 

Hoshino Coffee - 星乃珈琲店

[Hoshino Coffee] Hoshino Spaghetti

Every time when I went to the Uniqlo outlet at Plaza Singapura (PS), I will always see people queuing outside Hoshino Coffee which is famous for their Japanese hand-dripped coffee and fluffy souffle style pancakes. So two weeks ago while we were in town doing some Christmas shopping we decided to drop their outlet at PS to have our lunch.

[Hoshino Coffee] My mum and aunt

Since this is a casual family lunch with everyone around waiting for the food; I just took some quick photos using my mobile phone. And here is my mum and my lovely aunty who dote me since I am a toddler. For me it is always so warm-hearted to see their closed sisters’ kinship throughout the years where they often keep each other in mind.

[Photo Friday] Dayre - My New Daily Posts

[DAYRE] - A microblog on mobile app

Recently I am hook on "Dayre" which is a new mobile app that allows user to blog on the go without turning out the PC or Laptop. You can easily download this FREE App which available on iPhone and Android and start your first step of blogging anytime of the day using your mobile phone.

This app is great with short post (about 500 characters each post) which enable for user to share their daily encounters, views and etc with the unlimited numbers of media like quotes, photos, videos, stickers and location check-in.

[Wordless Wednesday] Welcome 2014 with Dim Sum Brunch @ Tak Po

[Tak Po (德宝) ] - Array of dim sun for our New Year Brunch

Fireworks @ Countdown 2014 at our neighborhood area