Beancurd Meat Rolls (腐皮肉卷 ) and Banana Cake with Oreo chunks

The pressure is on....exam is coming soon, especially those that are seating for PSLE & 'O' level exams. It is hard on the kids and on the parents. Don't we already know since we went through it ourselves, but probably with much less pressure that time, lol! I do feel that it's real hard to be a student nowadays. Although my kids still have a few years to go, I am already fearing the process and "torment" my kids have to go through. :( But it's part and parcel for kids here in Singapore, so as a parent, we can only help our kids make this journey a little easier by being there for them. I sincerely wish those students especially my 2 nieces that are sitting for the Singapore-Cambridge exam all the very best! 加油！

Back to food. Today I'm introducing a dish call Beancurd Meat Rolls (腐皮肉卷 ). It may seem like the Hokkien style five spice meat rolls (五香肉卷), but it is much simpler to prepare and lesser ingredients involved. It's really quite simple to make, I bet any mommy at home knows how to whip this up. :)

I didn't do a good job frying them, looks a little uneven browning. (-_-") I suspect it's because I left the meat rolls in the fridge before frying them...made the skin a little soft. Or maybe it's the brand or type of beancurd skin? Anyway, just make sure you have ample time to wrap and fry them at one go.

Ingredients for Beancurd Meat Rolls (腐皮肉卷 ):

Meat filling:

500g minced pork (preferably with some fat to make it tender, i.e 五花肉)

100g fresh prawns, shelled and mince small

1 tbsp finely minced ginger

5 water chestnut, peeled and diced ( I omitted this time)

1 egg

2 sprigs of green onion, cut into small sections

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1/4 tsp sesame oil

dashes of white pepper

1.5 tsp cooking wine (绍兴酒)

1 tbsp sugar

1.5 tbsp cornflour

beancurd skin, at least 60cm by 60cm

egg wash

frying oil

Method:

• In a large mixing bow, add in all of the ingredients up to cornflour and mix it well.
• On a counter top, open up the beancurd sheet and moisten it slightly the corner you are using with a clean damp towel a little.
• Scoop about 1 heaping tablespoon worth of filling onto a corner of the moisten beancurd sheet. Then cut out the sheet enough for you to wrap one roll. Fold in the sides and roll it up like a swiss roll and brush the ends with egg wash to seal it.
• Have ready a frying pan heated up with some oil and fry the meat rolls until golden crispy. Scoop up and drain on paper towels. Serve while still hot or over a bed of sauted greens.

I had mine served over some sauted bai chai (小白菜) just to make it a more well balanced dish, heehee. :D One thing to note is that you should go easy on the salt on this as the beancurd skin itself can be quite salty. So one of the reason why I moisten it was not only for easy wrapping, also to wipe away some of the saltiness on it. :) Do try this out and make it for your family, I'm sure they'll enjoy this dish very much, just like mine did. :)

Next up is desert, a simple cake that my kids love; Banana Cake with Oreo chunks. I probably have posted close to a dozen banana cake recipes in my blog now, but it always seems like a popular and easy to reach ingredient to use, don't you agree? It not only moisten but also added extra flavor and texture. And with Oreo added, what's not to love? This recipe has been adapted from the recipe in Florence's blog; Do What I Like.

This is actually a simple moist banana cake with a lot of Oreo chunks mixed into it. Some how I feel that my kids loved it mostly because of the Oreo in it, lol! :D

When I served the last slice to my younger daughter, she said "Make again tomorrow Mama!" Lol! I said "Don't you want to try other cakes?", her reply was simple "No". ^_^"

Ingredients for Banana cake with Oreo Chunks:
Set A:
135g all purpose flour (sieved)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda (original calls for 1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp salt
30g brown sugar
34g castor sugar
1 tube of Oreo cookies, cream and all, broken into chunks

(B)
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
40g melted butter
25g corn oil
1 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp condensed milk
1/4 cup plain yoghurt (original calls for sour cream)
3 medium banana, mashed.

Method:
1. In a large mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients for Set A and mix well.
2. In another separate bowl, mix all the ingredients for Set B and mix well.
3. Pour (A) into (B) and mix everything with minimum handling.
4. Spoon batter into muffin tray lined with paper muffin cups up to 80% full.
5. Top with sliced banana and oreo pieces if desired.
6. Bake at 180C for 20 minutes for muffins and 30 minutes for loaf pan. If tester comes out clean, it's done.

The crumbs are fine and the cake is light, not dense. Remember not to overmix the batter. :) Feel free to subsitute the Oreo with Chocolate chips, but I doubt it'll be the same. :P Try it out and you will see what I mean. Happy baking!!

Okay all, have a great week ahead! Cheers!
BB