Baked Strawberry Cheesecake and Good Old Char Kwey Tiao

I have meant to put up this post over the weekend, but I guess I can never be able to blog as fast as I bake / cook, lol! I have 2 more posts overdue but have yet found time to write it out. Furthermore, there seems to be an endless list of things to do which I keep telling myself I will get to it soon. Simple things like replying a good friend's email can sometimes take me a week! So if you are one of them and reading this...please forgive me, lol! I remember I was never like this years back, I was much more organized and in control of things around me. Now? Geese...I wish I can get through a day without worrying simple things like whether I've placed clean socks in my girls' shoes, or even the lunch menu for tomorrow. Sometimes I feel that I haven't got much done and the day was already over. Helpless....But I believe there are many people out there have similar experiences.

But one thing is for sure...I will usually sacrifice my free time for baking / cooking. It's my comfort zone, my time out from all that hustle and bustle of my busy life. I am sure it is true for many of you out there too. ;)

For now, let's focus and talk about my bake: Baked Strawberry Cheesecake....verdict? Double thumbs up!

I made this for my dear mum when we met up for a dinner last Sunday. Yes, it's for Mother's day....my first Mother's Day cake for my mum. Like she always is, she was all praise even before she tasted it.

And since this was the first time I made this cake and I did not get a chance to taste it before giving it to my mum...I was rather nervous at that time. But I was lucky, it came out great and my whole family loved it. :)

I have actually came up with this recipe on my own, and I kind of forgotten certain proportion for some ingredients, so I think I shall not post it up for now. There were not many good strawberry cheesecake recipes out there...more blueberry ones I must say. So if you have a decent blueberry cheesecake recipe, feel free to substitute the blueberries to strawberries, it should work fine.

See that humongous strawberry? It's almost as big as my 4yr old's fist! My mum gave me half a dozen of those...perhaps she read my mind that I was gonna make something strawberry for her, lol! Overall, I must say this is indeed one of the best (only 2nd to this) cheesecake I've made. Hopefully I will have time to look through the recipe and get it out soon. ;)

The other item is my favorite hawker eat: Char Kway Teow (minus the fresh clams). As far as I can remember, char kway teow is probably the one food that I missed the most when I was residing overseas. I had replicate it several times in my kitchen while overseas...but now even in Asia! Don't ask me why...I don't feel it's troublesome at all, lol!

This is my version of char kway teow....meaning I have substituted some of the ingredients. I did not have fried pork oil, bean sprouts and clams, so I simple didn't use them. The result was still fabulous! My family and I enjoyed it very much. :) Wonder how I did it? Here it is:

Ingredients for HBS's Char Kway Teow:
500g wide flat rice noodle, blanched in hot water and rinsed
3 eggs, cracked and lightly beaten
some Cai-Xin ( 菜心)
2 tbsp chopped garlic
100g sliced lean pork
6 medium size prawns, peeled leaving tail and devined
some fish cake
1/2 Chinese sausage, removed casing and slice thinly

Seasoning A:
1.5 tbsp light soy sauce
1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce
Seasoning B:
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sweet dark soy sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
some sesame oil
pinch of pepper & salt
some sugar to taste

Method:

• Seasoned the sliced lean pork with 1/4 tsp of soy sauce, pinch of pepper, 1/2 tsp sesame oil & 1/4 tsp corn flour. Let it marinate.

• Fry 1 tbsp of chopped garlic in oil till fragrant. Add rice noodle and stir well. Add seasoning A. Stir well till the noodles are coated with the soy sauces. Dish up and set aside for later use.
• Again heat up the work and fried 2/3 of the beaten eggs. When done dish up and set aside.
  
• Add 1 tsp oil and add in lean pork and stir fry till cooked. Add in Chinese sausage, fish cake and cai-xin. Stir fry till cai-xin is cooked down. Add in rice noodles and follow by Seasoning B. Stir fry till everything is well coated.
• Add in the remaining 1/3 of the reserved egg and let it set a little before stirring in the noodles.
  
• Lastly add in the previously fried eggs and stir well. Dish up and serve immediately.

My younger daughter loved it and asked for 2nds! I was super glad my version was still well recieved even though my family have tasted the "real thing" at the nearby hawker before. ;)It may look like a lot of hustle, but the only "troublesome" part to me was preparing the ingredients (which I didn't have a lot). The actual cooking only took me like 5 to 7 minutes tops! So do consider cooking your own char kway teow...you'll love it! Have fun!