Masterclass & New Menu Tasting at Salt Tapas & Bar

This weekend was a little bit different for me. I was invited by Salt Tapas & Bar for a small but special event hosted by them.

Australian celebrity chef Luke Mangan's second culinary venture in Singapore is a take on traditional Spanish tapas with an Australian twist. And somehow, I personally felt that the dishes has some Asian and Middle Eastern spices influences too.

Salt Tapas & Bar conveniently located at Raffles City Shopping Centre, #01-22A (City Hall MRT), situated opposite the iconic Raffles Hotel. A little piece of Spain in the middle of Singapore. 

Step inside, it's part bar, part restaurant, part indoor, part outdoor. A little bit of everything. There is no mistaking the Spanish feel with exposed brick walls, tall bar stools, marble counter tops, colorful Spanish floor tiles and mosaic red wall tiles. A casual and welcoming vibe. It gives me a nice and comfy feel. The cozy and relaxed atmosphere set it right. I kinda like it. 

The mix of warm lights, wooden tables, and wooden chairs with a cushion on top. It's laid-back ambiance, a little like chillax and a little like.... home.  

The event started with Chef Ronald Li sharing with us on his seafood selection in the house, good tips in filleting fish. He also showcasing his cooking technique on Pan-seared fish with white wine clams, artichoke, pak choy and verjuice sauce. The existence of pak choy which is our common asian vegetables goes quite well with this dish.

We were then seated for the food tasting. That long list of dishes printed on the menu actually makes my heart stopped beating for awhile. No doubt that the list of dishes looked pretty attractive. But the first thing in my mind was "How is this possible to finish?"

For the first, we had 4 different appetizers. 

Top Left : The Pork belly sliders which consist of BBQ pulled pork, pickled cucumber and green chillies is pretty delicious. This wasn't planned on the menu. Chef just happily bring it over to us. 

Top Right : Grilled Flatbread with dipping sauce also wasn't planned on the menu. But this dish could be skipped if you were there. Unless you like Flatbread or na'an kind of bread. 

Bottom Left : Taco of tempura soft shell crab with pineapple salsa and wasabi mayo. The pineapple salsa taste pretty refreshing. 

Bottom Right : Day Sashimi with ginger, shallot and feta. This dish doesn't impress me tho. 

Chef serves us 3 different Salad, which I thought it would make my mom a happy person, because she loves vegetables more than meat. 

Top : Grilled Big Head Prawn with Papaya Salad, Fried Peanut and Tamarind dressing. I like the idea of using tamarind dressing for salad. 

Bottom Left : House Salad with Ponzu dressing, Pickled Ginger and Crispy Beancurd Sticks. The Beancurd Sticks were coated with some Furikake to give a lil' taste in it. 

Bottom Right : Beet, Ricotta Cream, Fig, Pickle Green Chilli, Honey and Thyme Dressing. My mom enjoyed the fresh Fig alot. 

I'm already full before I could finish those salad. But we still have main dish to go. Haha.. *take-a-deep-breath*

For the main dish, 3 varieties are prepared for us. 

Left : Pan-seared fish with white wine clams, artichoke, pak choy and verjuice sauce. This was the dish that Chef Ronald demonstrated to us earlier.

Top Right : Seafood Paella to share. The Paella rice is nicely spiced. Good effort. 

Bottom Right : Grilled Sirloin, Pork Ribs, Spicy Cajun Spitchcock with sauteed veg and mash to go along with the meat feast. The Pork Ribs is packed with good sweet flavors. 

At this point of time, we were already very full. But I spotted Churros on the menu. So, I rubbed my belly, and I tell myself to stay positive and continue eating.

Left : Churros served with Nutella Sauce, Orange Marmalade, and Chantilly Cream. Their churros is puffy and light. 

Top Right : Liquorice Parfait was nice and refreshing. It has the right mix of sweet and acidity. 

Bottom Right : Dulce de Leche & Salted Pecan Semifreddo, Strawberries and wafer. While this dessert is no lack of good presentation, but it is tad too sweet to my liking. But my mom likes it tho. 

It is a very good experience overall. Thanks to Chef Ronald Li and his team for the good effort.  

Salt Tapas & Bar exudes Spanish vibes entwined with the easy ambience of Australian culture providing a fun and vibrant space for friendships to be cultivated and diners to relax. With their wide variety of cuisines and wine, this would probably your next chillax stop. 

I hope I can travel to Spain soon for authentic Tapas experience!



Salt Tapas & Bar 
Address : 252 North Bridge Road, #01-22A Raffles City Shopping Centre, Singapore 179103
Phone : 68370995
Operating Hours : 11.30am - 11pm

Hakka Garlic Braised Pork Belly (香蒜焖腩肉)

This is another Hakka dish that will make me eat two bowls of rice with just the sauce. This is somehow similar, but different from the usual Tau Yeu Bak (豆油肉) or Lor Bak Png (卤肉饭) commonly seen in Hokkien, Teowchew and Taiwanese Families. This is simpler. Only 9 ingredients, but packed with flavors.

The Hakka people have marked cuisine and style of Chinese cooking which is little known outside the Hakka home. Often concentrates on the texture of food, the hallmark of Hakka cuisines. My grandma always says, braised pork belly must be soft enough, but the skin still retain its chew. Pork belly must be reasonably big chunks, but still, it should be maintained at bite size. This sounds complicated to me when I was younger. But when I grew older, I started to understand my grandma's logic.

Do use good quality soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Pay a little more for premium sauce or you may ruin the whole dish. It's your choice.

Ingredients
(Source: My late Grandma Mdm. Chong, with modification)

• 600g Pork Belly, with skin (五花肉, 连皮)
• 4 pcs Arrowhead, diced (慈姑/牙姑) - Optional
• 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits (猪油 + 猪油渣)
• 30 cloves Garlic, cut into half (蒜头)
• 500ml Water (水)
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce (蚝油)
• 1½ tbsp Soy Sauce (酱油)
• 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (黑酱油)
• 20g Rock Sugar (冰糖)
• 1 Sprig Spring Onions (青葱) - Optional

The basic for this recipe is simple. The main ingredients is Pork Belly, Garlic, and condiments. To make this dish more attractive, I added Arrowhead (I love this!), and some Spring Onions to give color contrast. Hence, Arrowhead and Spring Onions is optional for this dish.

Preparation is simple. Cut pork belly into bite size, and for garlic, leave it whole. Cut arrowhead into diced size.

Method

• Heat up 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits. When you can smell the pork lard aroma, add in garlic cloves until garlic looked slightly yellow and aroma comes out. 
• Add in pork belly pieces, increase the heat slightly, fry for awhile. Add Arrowhead, stir fry the pork set its shape and almost cooked.
• Add in rock sugar, add water, oyster sauce, soy sauce and dark soy sauce. Stir well and bring to a boil. (Tips : Once it is boiled, you may go ahead to transfer the dish to a claypot for further simmering. I did that. But this step is optional)
• Covered, lower heat and simmer for approximately 40mins until the pork pieces are tender and the flavor has been absorbed, or until the gravy is almost absorbed. Add spring onions, give it a quick stir and its ready to dish up.
• For tastier result, cook this dish a day in advance. (Read on)

Here's the picture tutorial on cooking process. 

Braised pork feature in Hakka delicacy highlight very much about it's texture in Hakka palate. The meat must be well caramelized which depends very much on cooking technique. The dish must be fragrant, well braised, but the meat still retain its good firm bite. It should't overcook and the pork shouldn't fall apart. Do taste the meat before dish up.   

Pork must cut into larger pieces as it will shrink during cooking process. We use 500ml water for braising process. So, set fire on as low as possible. Otherwise you will have no more sauce at the end. So, do your heat control well.

I would not recommend you to eat this dish right after you cooked it. Overnight would be the mist ideal plan. But if you insist, I'd urge you to cook it in the morning or afternoon. Leave it there, covered, let the flavors infused all over. Heat up under low low fire and serve hot for dinner. Yumms!!!

I would also suggest you to take a look at my another two Hakka Style Braised Pork Belly dishes

Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Dried Cuttlefish (吊片焖花腩)

Hakka Simmered Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Green / (客家梅菜焖猪肉)

Happy cooking!!!!

Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Dried Cuttlefish (吊片焖花腩)

Hakka cuisine may be described as outwardly simple, but tasty. The ingredients are generally seasonally available in the market. Pragmatic and simple.

This is another Hakka Style Braised Pork Belly dish. Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Dried Cuttlefish (吊片焖花腩). This recipe has some similarity to my previous Hakka Simmered Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Green (客家梅菜焖猪肉), but this one taste more Umami. The skill in Hakka cuisine lies in the ability to cook meat thoroughly without hardening it, and to bring out the proteinous flavor (Umami Taste) of the meat.

My late father loves this dish so so so much. He always be home early when he knew my mom is going to cook this dish for dinner. Whenever I cook this dish, I will think of my dad's smile and how he ask my mom to scoop another bowl of rice for him.

It's a sad thing that not many younger generations know this dish. I asked a few youngsters few days ago, they didn't know it actually exist. I hope this dish can be recreated again and again and again by other families and bring the Hakka traditions back to the dining table.

Ingredients
(Source: My late Grandma Mdm. Chong and My mother - Mdm Chai)

• 500g Pork Belly, with skin (五花肉, 连皮)
• 100g Dried Cuttlefish Strips (吊片丝/鱿鱼干丝)
• 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits (猪油 + 猪油渣)
• 8 cloves Garlic, cut into half (蒜头)
• 2 shallot, sliced (小葱头)
• 2 slices Ginger, julienned (姜)
• 700ml Water (水)
• 1 tbso Shao Xing Wine (绍兴酒/花雕酒)
• 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce (蚝油) *See Note
• 1½ tbsp Soy Sauce (酱油)
• 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce (黑酱油)
• 20g Rock Sugar (冰糖)

Note : 
My grandma didn't use Oyster Sauce when she cook this dish. My mom improvised this dish to make it even tastier by adding half a tbsp of Oyster Sauce at later days.

Life was so much simpler during childhood times where we only have very little condiments. Pigs were locally farmed, and pigs are fed with grains that is almost organic. Meat taste more porky and delicious too. So, it's the change in society that makes recipe change? I'm not sure, but I think it's not difficult to understand :)

Preparation

• Rinse dried cuttlefish strips and soak dried cuttlefish strips in 700ml water for 20mins. Remove soaked cuttlefish strips and reserve the 700ml water for later use.
• Cut pork belly into bite size.
• Slice shallots, julienned ginger, and cut garlic cloves into half.

Method 

• Heat up wok WITHOUT oil. Add in cuttlefish strips and julienned ginger, stir fry on medium heat until cuttlefish aroma comes out, and looked abit dry. Dish up and set aside.
• With the same wok, heat up 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits. When you can smell the pork lard aroma, add in sliced shallot, garlic cloves and fry till fragrant. The garlic looked slightly yellow. 
• Add in pork belly pieces, increase the heat slightly, stir fry the pork for awhile until the pork set its shape and almost cooked.
• Add in cuttlefish strips and Rock Sugar. Fry for awhile, add water, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and soy sauce. Stir well and bring to a boil. (Tips : Once it is boiled, you may go ahead to transfer the dish to a claypot for further simmering. I did that. But this step is optional)
• Covered, lower heat and simmer for approximately 45mins until the pork pieces are tender and the flavor has been absorbed, or until the gravy is almost absorbed. Scatter Shao Xing Wine, mix well, let it simmer for another minute and its ready to dish up.
• For tastier result, cook this dish a day in advance. (Read on)

Dried cuttlefish were sold in two forms. The whole dried cuttlefish is commonly sold in the market generally for brewing soups. The dried cuttlefish strips were sold in a pack to ease the convenience of consumers to snip their own strips at home. Dried cuttlefish strips generally used to cook dishes like stir-fry or steamed pork patty.

Save the hassle. Just buy the dried cuttlefish strips and your job would be so much easier. I bought my dried cuttlefish strips from Japan during my trip to Osaka last year. It taste so so so good! Haha.

Here's the picture tutorial :

This dish is the same as my previous braised pork belly dish. I cook this portion, half portion eat fresh, and keep the remaining half for tomorrow. This dish keeps well for upto 3 days in the fridge, and probably 12 days in the freezer. And I swear that it taste so so so soooo much better on the next day.

Yumms!! Two bowls of rice please!!!

I would also suggest you to take a look at my another two Hakka Style Braised Pork Belly dishes

Hakka Simmered Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Green / (客家梅菜焖猪肉)

Hakka Garlic Braised Pork Belly (香蒜焖腩肉)

Happy cooking!

Hakka Simmered Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Green / (客家梅菜焖猪肉)

This is one of my maternal Grandma's favorite dish that she always cook for us. She's Hakka, Hor Por Clan (河婆客家) and she's one real traditional cook! I always have fond memories over this traditional 梅菜焖猪肉 Hakka Simmered Pork Belly with Mui Choy (a.k.a Preserved Mustard Green) dish.

In Hakka dishes, there are 3 elements - Salty, Fatty, and most importantly, Fragrant. 

When I was small, due to my parents working schedule, I grew up under my maternal Grandma's care. I was heavily inspired by my grandma's simplicity in life. My grandma's dishes isn't fancy. They are classic, traditional, very flavorful, and surprisingly, no one ever complaint about her repeating same dishes even if it is quite often. I can talk about my grandma's dishes for 3 days 3 nights and I'm not sick about it. That's how close we are to each other. 

We grew up eating this. So, my mom could whip up this dish very well too. Before I replicate this dish at home, I called mom to confirm certain details to ensure I didn't screw this dish up. I'm cooking this for my Mother-In-Law who's a big fan of Mui Choy (a.k.a Preserved Mustard Green).

This dish involves two types of Mui Choy. Sweet Mui Choy (甜梅菜) and Salted Mui Choy (咸梅菜). Don't ask me if you can use only Sweet Mui Choy or only Salted Mui Choy. This dish needs both Salted and Sweet Mui Choy combined together to achieve the right balanced taste.

My mom says, this dish can go with or without Ginger. For usual day to day cooking, ginger can be skipped. This version, ginger is added and hence, this dish is suitable for confinement mums as part of the confinement menu. If you are ginger haters, skip the ginger. Simple as that.

Ingredients
(Source: My late Grandma Mdm. Chong and My mother - Mdm Chai)

• 400g Pork Belly, with skin (五花肉, 连皮)
• 100g Sweet Mui Choy (甜梅菜)
• 150g Salted Mui Choy (咸梅菜)
• 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits (猪油 + 猪油渣)
• 4 to 5 slices Ginger, julienned (姜)
• 7 to 8 cloves Garlic, slice half, leave the other half whole (蒜头)
• 400ml Water (水)
• ½ tbsp Oyster Sauce (蚝油) *See Note
• 1½ tbsp Soy Sauce (酱油)
• ½ tsp Pepper (胡椒粉)
• ½ tsp Sesame Oil (麻油)
• 15g Rock Sugar (冰糖)

Note : 
My grandma didn't use Oyster Sauce when she cook this dish. My mom improvised this dish to make it even tastier by adding half a tbsp of Oyster Sauce at later days.

Life was so much simpler during childhood times where we only have very little condiments. Pigs were locally farmed, and pigs are fed with grains that is almost organic. Meat taste more porky and delicious too. So, it's the change in society that makes recipe change? I'm not sure, but I think it's not difficult to understand :)

Method 

• Heat up wok WITHOUT any oil. Add in chopped Mui Choy, julienned ginger, and whole cloves garlic. Stir fry in medium heat until you can smell the Mui Choy aroma, and it looked dry. Dish up and set aside.
• With the same wok, heat up 3 tbsp Pork Lard with Lard Bits.When you can smell the pork lard, add in sliced garlic, garlic cloves from the Mui Choy and fry till fragrant and garlic looked slightly yellow. 
• Add in pork pieces, increase the heat slightly, stir fry the pork for awhile until the pork set its shape and almost cooked.
• Add in Mui Choy and Rock Sugar. Fry for awhile, add water, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil. Stir well and bring to a boil. 
• Under low heat, let it simmer for 20 to 25mins and the dish is ready. After simmering for 20mins the sauce for this dish remain minimum. Refer to photos below. 
• For tastier result, cook this dish a day in advance. (Read on)

Two important point that I need you to take note while you prepare this dish.

One - Both Sweet and Salted Mui Choy must be washed, separately soaked with water for 20mins to reduce saltiness, rinse again, squeeze dry, and then cut them finely. Refer to photos below.

Two - This is traditional dish. My grandma uses Pork Lard. I follow. Never fear of eating Pork Lard. They are natural oil. Do prepare some at home, put it in the container and store it in the fridge. I always separate my Pork Lard and Crispy Lard Bits separately. But if you really don't have time to render your own Pork Lard, then too bad for you. You may use good quality Peanut Oil tho. But to be honest, sometimes Pork Lard's aroma is irreplaceable. Haha...

Prepare everything before you heat the wok. General Rule... 

Dry frying Mui Choy with ginger and garlic cloves is to bring out the Mui Choy flavor and remove some unwanted preserved smell on the Mui Choy.

By looking at these pictures, I'm sure this is quite clear on how this dish is cooked.

Look at above photo, 400ml water, simmered for 20mins and these are the leftover sauce for this dish. Never waste a drip of these goodness. This sauce makes you eat another bowl of rice. 

Usually, I cook this portion, half portion eat fresh, and keep the remaining half for tomorrow. This dish keeps well for upto 3 days in the fridge, and probably 12 days in the freezer. And I swear that it taste so so so soooo much better on the next day.

I refused to let tradition dies off. I probably will hate myself if I don't jot down this recipe and share with everyone. Sometimes, such simple dish is the only thing that make your family member come home early for you. Like if you agree! :)

P/s. My Mother-In-Law ate alot of rice because of this dish. Haha...

I would also suggest you to take a look at my another two Hakka Style Braised Pork Belly dishes

Hakka Braised Pork Belly with Dried Cuttlefish (吊片焖花腩)

Hakka Garlic Braised Pork Belly (香蒜焖腩肉)

Hong Kong Royal Chicken / 香港贵妃鸡

Happy New Year to everyone! It's a brand new year for 2016 and CNY is just around the corner. I think it's the right time for me to share my Hong Kong Royal Chicken recipe.

Tender chicken piece with some gelatinous layer in-between. Salty, with a hint of angelica root. The existence of Cekur, Turmeric and Spring Onion on the water bath injected all the flavors into the chicken and gives really good flavor. A dish that looked simple, but yet requires every details to be followed to ensure it's success.

Chinese New Year is just a month away and I would like to share with you Hong Kong Royal Chicken (香港贵妃鸡) recipe which I think it is ideal as part of the CNY dish served during Chinese New Year dinner.

During my previous trip to Hong Kong last year Jan'15, I had Gui Fei Chicken in Hong Kong Tasty Congee Noodle Wantun Shop 正斗粥麵專家, it was really good. I like it. So, I decided to replicate it at home. But the one in Hong Kong is dried version. The one I've re-created is with sauce. I like the idea of having sauce. If you are unsure with the sauce, you could always serve the sauce separately.

The chicken dish on the picture above is showing half chicken only. I save the other half for the next meal.

My mom did this once, many years back. She gave me quite a number of tips to ensure I didn't go wrong. These are the tips :

1. Cekur (沙姜 Sand Ginger) is a must. Do not replace with Cekur powder or ordinary ginger. They are different. 
2. Turmeric (黄姜) is also a must. Do not replace with Turmeric powder. 
3. Choose a nice chicken for this dish. Even if you have to pay more for the chicken.

Ingredients
(Source : Harvest Rich Recipe Book, with modification)

• 1 Fresh Chicken, preferably Kampong Chicken (est. 1.3kg) 甘榜鸡
• 60g Cekor Ginger 沙姜
• 15g Turmeric 黄姜
• 5g Angelica Root 当归
• 2.4L Water, or more 水
• 75g Sea Salt 海盐
• 2 + 2 tbsp Rose Wine 玫瑰露酒
• 1 tsp Sugar 糖
• 1 Sprig Spring Onions 青葱 
• 5g Goji Berries / Wolfberries 枸杞子

Turmeric is easily available at the wet market. But not all wet market sells Cekor Ginger. I got mine at Tekka Market, where they sell all sorts of spices to cater for Indian and Malay cooking. I love Tekka Market :)

For the water, you just need to make sure that you have enough water to cover the chicken, Probably 2.3L to 2.5L, depends on the size of your pot.

Method

1. Wash and trim away visible fats from the chicken. Chop away the chicken feet. Set aside for later use.
2. In a slim and tall pot that can fit in a chicken nicely, fill with water, dissolve salt in water, add in Cekor Ginger, Turmeric, Angelica Root, 2 tbsp Rose Wine and Sugar, Bring to boil. Switch to low heat and continue boiling for 15mins.
3. Once water is boiled for 15mins, the water should have been infused. Hold the chicken head (refer to photo), soak the chicken body into the boiling water. With your hand still holding the chicken head, lift the chicken up, and soak it into the boiling water again. Do this for 4 times before you release the chicken head and let the chicken submerge into the water completely. By doing this, water will go into the chicken cavity, and hence, the whole chicken will be well cooked. Water level must completely cover the chicken.
4. Immediately turn the fire into dead low and slow, lids on, and leave it there for 5mins. Remember to set timer. Do not go over 5 mins. 
5. After 5 mins, heat off. Leave it there untouched. Set timer for 50mins (for 1.3kg chicken). Walk out of the kitchen and go watch your TV show. If your chicken is 1.7kg or anything bigger, please make it 1 hour and 10mins or so. You have to gauge the time yourself. For 1.6kg chicken, it would be about 1 hour.
6. Use a pair of chopsticks, carefully and gently remove the chicken from the pot and place the chicken to the big tub, and fill with running tap water to cool down the chicken. Try your best not to bruise or tear the chicken skin. We need the chicken to have nice appearance.
7. When the chicken is cooled down abit on the surface, put the chicken into a tub of ice-cold water to further cooling process until chicken turned room temperature inside out. Drain.
8. Chop chicken accordingly and arrange it nicely on a plate.
9. For the sauce, pour 2 tbsp Rose Wine and add Goji Berries into half bowl of stewed soup (the water that you used to cook the chicken), pour it on a separate saucepot, bring to a boil. Give it a taste to ensure the saltiness is right, or adjust it accordingly. Thicken the gravy with tapioca starch. Pour the gravy on the chopped chicken. Garnish with Spring Onions and serve.

You don't have to remove the skin for both Cekur and Turmeric. It is fine to leave the skin on, just remove the dirts if any. Shaving off the skin is just for cosmetical appearance only.

 

I used 菜园鸡 (Veggies Farm Chicken), which is widely available in Malaysia. I'm happy with it.

As advised by my mom, I adapted the recipe from a recipe book "Harvest Rich" by Choong Su Yin, and modified it accordingly. This is how the chicken dish looked like in the recipe book. The chicken looked really yellow, which I don't think the amount of Turmeric indicated on the recipe book gives this result. And the recipe book asked for 150g Salt that makes my jaw dropped.

Anyway, I'm happy with the result. My husband love this dish. Although this dish is not difficult to make, but there's quite a number of steps needs to be noted and not to be missed.

 

I hope you like this dish.

祝大家新年快乐，万事如意！

You may also like : Hakka Steamed Salted Chicken / 客家蒸盐鸡

Strawberry Peppermint Tart

There are times when all that matters is creating something glamorous. A little red dress instead of a black ones. Abit of lace peeking out, that sparky eye-shadow and lots of lip gloss. 

You might not know what I'm talking about, but when you look at this picture, I know you do. I'm talking about this Sexy Strawberry Peppermint Tart.

It's Christmas, and I thought, this is the right time to share this recipe. Christmas is about Red, and that little Green in-between. 

I've come up with my own version of Strawberry Peppermint Tart that I adore recently. It's light, refreshing and with that sweetness in-between the tang. I've spent quite sometime to come up with this favorite combination tart of my own and I come to a realization that different individual appreciate different type of layering combination.

I'm anal. I prefer mine. Sexy. Delicious!

When I create this Strawberry Tart, I imagined that I want my Strawberry Tart to have the kind of Strawberry overload succulence explodes in my mouth, the cheese layer melts away in my mouth like butter. And oh, I want that cakey layer too, but not heavy, and the combination taste must be nothing short of heaven. 

So, here, with all my cookbook readings and online readings, I've come up with my own favorite Strawberry Peppermint Tart. But I won't pretend to tell you that this is easy. The difficult part is not the tart making. The difficult part is to gather all the ingredients and to get the nicest Strawberries for the tart. 

I used 6 Inch Tart Tin (Gobel Brand), Made in France. Got it from Tott Store at S$26. If you are making bigger tart, you can double up the recipe accordingly. 

Ingredients

for the Tart Crust

• 90g Cold Unsalted Butter, cubed
• 150g Cake Flour
• 45g Icing Sugar
• 2 Egg Yolk
• Pinch of Salt

for the Almond Filling

• 40g Unsalted Butter
• 30g Icing Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Corn Starch
• 40g Almond Powder
• 1 drop of Vanilla Extract

for the Cream Cheese Layer

• 125g Cream Cheese, room temperature
• 20g Unsalted Butter, room temperature
• 25g Icing Sugar
• 15g Fresh Lemon Juice
• 50g Creme Fraiche
• 4 tbsp Good Quality Strawberry Jam

for the Strawberries Layer

• 30 to 35 Fresh Strawberries (I used Organic Strawberries from USA)
• 4 tbsp Mirror Gel 
• 3 tbsp Water
• Few drops of Peppermint Extract
• Some Fresh Mint Leaves

Method - for the Tart Crust & Almond Filling

1. Blitz Tart Crust ingredients in a food processor till crumbly. Pour the crumbs on a double layered clingwrap, wrap them up into a ball shape. Use your hand, give them a few press until the crumbs are well combined into a pastry dough. Do not overwork the pastry.
2. Roll the pastry into a round 8 inch shape with the aid of the clingwraps to prevent pastry from sticking to the rolling pin and working top. 
3. Wrap rolled pastry well with clingwrap, and put the pastry into the fridge for 1 hour. 
4. Remove pastry from fridge, remove the clingwrap, press the tart crust into the tart mold evenly with your fingertip. Do not panic if the pastry cracked. Just cut the excess pastry at the side of the tart and patch it on the cracked side. It's like playdoh. This tart crust pastry is very forgiving. Just shape the tart crust until you are happy with the thickness and prick the tart crust bottom with a fork to finish. 
5. For the almond filling, combine all almond filling ingredients in a food processor. Blitz until everything comes together, and it is ready to spread on top of the tart crust. 
6. Bake the tart crust with almond filling in the pre-heated oven at 175 Degree Celsius for about 23 to 25 mins. Remove from the oven and let the tart cool down. 

Method - for the Cream Cheese Layer 

1. In a big bowl, mix all Cream Cheese layer ingredients together until combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture on top of the cooled tart. 
2. Spread a layer of good quality strawberry jam on top of the cream cheese layer. if you are lazy, you can also mix the strawberry jam with the cream cheese. But your cream cheese layer will be softer. 

Method - for the Strawberries Layer

1. Ensure Strawberries are washed, hulled and dried with kitchen towel. 
2. To glaze, mix Mirror Gel, Water, and Peppermint Extract in a big bowl. Put the Strawberries in and give it a toss. Ensure Strawberries are all well coated with the glaze.
3. Arrange glazed strawberries on top of the tart evenly. Make sure strawberries are standing straight, tall, and proud. Make sure strawberries are arranged to the rim of the tart. Make it full!
4. Brush more mirror gel mixture on top of the arranged strawberries to give it a nicer gloss. Put the tart into a container, covered well, and let the tart sit in the fridge to set for about 4 hours. 
5. For finishing touch, arrange some fresh mint leaves on top before serving. 

I've did quite a few attempt. I tried to remove the almond filling layer, and double up the Cream Cheese filling. It's a crowd pleaser! But tart crust might crack during baking process. To salvage it, Alan recommend me to apply a layer of chocolate on the tart crust to secure it. Like that, my Strawberry tart will be fully cream cheese base and with that hint of chocolate. It's nice. Many people loves it.  

But I personally still prefer the version with almond filling in it. Because almond filling gives another level of distinctive flavor to the overall taste of the tart. And also, with the almond filling, I have no worries if my tart crust will crack or not during baking process. It will hold together. Very safe. 

Do take note that different type of strawberries gives different results in overall taste. My take is, if you are putting in so much effort to make this Strawberry Tart to impress your loved ones, you don't be stingy. Good ingredients gives you good quality tart. 

Now, let's take a look at the layers. It has thin layer of tart crust, a layer of almond filling, a layer of cream cheese filling, a layer of strawberry jam, and then, the fresh organic strawberries coated with peppermint glaze, and oh... that touch of green mint leaves. 

The tart has it's refreshing Peppermint moist, that cakey almond layer, and that creamy richness, while the strawberries are plump and juicy. One bite on it, it all mixes together to make a decadent scrumptious slice of heaven. 

Before you complaint about how expensive those ingredients are to make this Strawberry tart, ask yourself. How much are you willing to pay for a slice of Strawberry tart that looked like this at Fruit Paradise? Think again :)

I think I've had enough of describing how much I love Strawberry Peppermint Tart. It's Christmas! It must be Peppermint! 

When I'm looking at my Strawberry Tart, it's like, that little red dress fits you oh, so perfectly.

It's pure indulgence, pure pleasure. And this is the kind of pleasure you can create at home freely and share the joy with your friends and relatives. 

I hope you like it. And Merry Christmas to everyone!

Master Class with BBC Celebrity Chef Rachel Allen

A great start to the weekend comes in the form of fun bakes with Rachel Allen.

Collaborating with BBC Lifestyle, Rachel Allen is visiting Singapore for the 5th time and I'm honored to receive an exclusive media invite by BBC Channel to attend cooking master class with BBC Lifestyle conducted by her.

BBC Celebrity Chef Rachel Allen returns to TV screens on BBC Lifestyle (Starhub Channel 432) with a new series - Rachel Allen: All Things Sweet - as she indulges in her passion for delectable desserts.

BBC Celebrity Chef Rachel Allen returns to TV screens on BBC Lifestyle (Starhub Channel 432) with a new series - Rachel Allen: All Things Sweet - as she indulges in her passion for delectable desserts.

She recreates mouth-watering morsels from her same-titled cookbook and shares some sweet-making secrets in the class. The recipe in the class is flavor-filled Banana, Ginger and Golden Syrup Bread, and Chocolate Peanut Brittle Butter Cookies.

I brought Kattie along as I knew she will enjoy the fun. And indeed she is. She is so hyped throughout the class and cracked good jokes too. Chef Rachel recognized her as the 'relaxed assistant' as what Kattie named herself. This Irish TV chef is quite a fun person.

All thanks to Palate Sensations for the nice and fully equipped kitchen. Everything was nicely arranged upon our arrival. All we need to do is to whip away with the flow.

The recipe is not difficult to follow. The Banana Bread is just mix, pour over, and bake. Result is really nice. The whole kitchen smells so good. Look at this happy girl with her bakes.

My favorite part is the crunchy peanut brittle. Kattie did it very well. The peanut brittle was nicely and evenly coated with caramelized sugar.

I can't tell you how much love I had for those caramelized crunchy peanut brittle. I had been eating em' while the butter cookies still baking in the oven. I don't think I can wait. Haha..

When I popped some peanut brittle into my mouth, I told Chef Rachel that "Kitchen is how kitchen supposed to be like". She laughed and she popped some into her mouth too. 

This is the end result baked by Chef Rachel. The ginger taste is at the strong side. It needs to be reduced slightly as the ginger powder in Asia is probably stronger than those in UK.

This Chocolate Peanut Brittle Butter Cookies. Too good and too addictive. I feels like Christmas!

From impressive afternoon tea goodies to irresistible treats for the little ones, I believe Chef Rachel Allen's All Things Sweet cooking tips will entice to rediscover the joy of baking. Probably I should take a look at her cookbook soon.

There's always room for something sweet :)

All thanks to BBC Channel and Palate Sensation for the hospitality. We had fun and we had a great experience.