Coffee Chiffon Cake #glutenfree #glutenfreebaking #glutenfreerecipe

Today we are revisiting the Chiffon Cake. This time we have substituted coffee for the Pandan to give you an exquisite fluffy coffee chiffon cake is perfect for your high tea. This gorgeous cake is beautifully light and perfect when served with clotted cream.

These are the quantities for a large tin( 24x11cm)

Ingredients:

10 Eggs

1 cup Sugar

2/3 cup Vegetable Oil

1/2 cup Evaporated Milk

11/3 cups gluten-free SR Flour

1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

2 tablespoons Instant Coffee + 2 tablespoons Hot Water

Method:

** These cake pans are available from Asian Supermarkets. It is important that you do not use a non-stick pan as you want the cake to stay in the inverted tin until cool.

Separate the eggs.

Beat together the egg yolks and 1 cup sugar.

Add gluten-free flour, fold through.

Add oil and evaporated milk, fold till combined.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add 1/4 cup of sugar slowly, beating until firm peaks form

Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter mixture. If this is done to briskly the cake will not rise as much.

Place in cake tin (it is very important that the cake pan is not wet and not greased).

Bake at 180C for approx 45mins - DO NOT open the oven until the last 10minutes or the cake will sink.

It is also important to turn the cake over when it is removed from the oven. Leave it in the upturned pan until totally cooled before turning out. Turn over when cool and run a sharp knife around the outer and inner edge of the cake. Using the center pillar pull the cake out of the pan. 

Cut and serve! You can serve with clotted cream if you prefer! 

Our Journey So Far! #glutenfree #glutenfreecooking #glutenfreerecipe

We have been asked by quite a few people why we chose to begin blogging and give our recipes, expertise and knowledge free to the wider community. One of the Lee's is gluten intolerant and while he resisted admitting this this for a larger part of his life, he has found that cutting gluten from his diet means that bloated feeling after eating is now a thing of the past. He has more energy, and his general health and well being has improved. The general lack of choices in everyday foods drove us to explore how to make gluten free food more mainstream. We were tired of paying a fortune at the supermarket for anything that had a 'gluten free' tag. So we set about experimenting, focusing on fresh food and gluten free products that are readily available and not too expensive. 

 There are people who live with the much more serious condition of Coeliac disease, in which the immune system reacts to the gluten in wheat. The villi in the small bowel atrophe and become flattened, affecting the surface area of the bowel available for absorption of nutrient. This can result in malabsorption issues. Our recipes are suitable for Coeliac sufferers and means a diet of lettuce and cheese is no more!

So, at Lee and Hock Lai’s Kitchen our mission is to make gluten free food that not only tastes great, looks great, but to all intents and purposes is almost impossible to identify as different from everyday food that contains gluten.  How many times have you heard people complaining that a gluten free diet is so restrictive and the baked goodies are stodgy, heavy and often like cardboard. Another problem with cooking gluten free food is that, often it requires expensive gums and specialty items that you have to source from health food shops.  Our aim is to make our gluten free recipes fairly inexpensive by eliminating these types of ingredients from our recipes. It also means that you can make our recipes with items that you can readily source from your regular supermarket. Many of our recipes are dairy free as well making them suitable for lactose intolerant and we also try to restrict our use of corn flour as many people have issues with corn as well. With #glutenfree, #dairyfree, #vegetarian, Lee and Hock Lai's Kitchen really has something for everyone.

Also, do not be put off using recipes from our blog if you are not on a gluten free diet as you can simply substitute normal flour back into the recipes for a fantastic result. We try to cover all areas of the menu and soon will include a special section for healthy lunch box treats and one pot, slow cooked dinners for Mums who are frazzled at meal times with homework, after school activities, and bath time! 

Stay with us on our journey as we further explore and continue to bring you new recipes and new products.

Lee and Lee Hock Lai

Pumpkin Scones #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipe #glutenfreebaking #baking

With all the talk of gluten free cakes and pastries being tough, tasteless and like rocks, this recipe for Pumpkin Scones will blow you away. They are as delicious as they look and you will be hard pressed to even know they are gluten free. Serve them at your next morning tea!

Serve with jam and cream

Ingredients:

2 cup gluten-free Self Raising Flour*
2/3 cup mashed Pumpkin
2/3 cup Sultanas
1/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Soda Water
20g Butter, softened
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Bicarb Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C
Place all ingredients into a large bowl.
Mix the ingredients with your hand until the mixture forms into a ball and does not stick to your hand. Be careful not to over knead it (*Depending on how wet pumpkin mash is, you may need to add some extra flour to the mixture)
Sprinkle some flour on the bench, press/roll the dough till about 2.5 cm height. 
Cut with the scone cutter. 
Brush lightly with milk.
Bake in 190C for about 20 minutes or golden brown on the top.
Serve with jam, butter or cream.
Makes about 12 scones

Teriyaki Sauce #glutenfree #japanesesauce #homemade

What was your first thought when you saw that the recipe for this post was Teriyaki Sauce? You probably thought that it is simpler to buy and cheaper too. That may be correct, but the pure and traditional Japanese teriyaki sauce is cooked using only 100% Japanese soy sauce, mirin , sake, honey and sugar. There is NO water added giving a sauce, rich of sweetness and salty of taste.
This sauce can be kept for several months in the fridge. You can use it when cooking Japanese teriyaki dishes, for bbq, to marinate meats.... Please check our gluten-free teriyaki dishes. There are more to come soon.
Here is the recipe I used before when I worked as Japanese chef!

Ingredients:

2 cups Japanese Soy Sauce- KIKKOMAN is the best

Ingredients

1 cup Mirin (Sweet Rice Wine)
1 cup Sake (Cooking Rice Wine)*
1 cup White Sugar
1/2 cup Honey
1 Onion - cut in half
1 Apple - cut in half
1 Carrot - cut into pieces
1 Spring Onion/ Leek
1/2 Lemon
Little fresh/ dry Chilli if you like
*you can use half sake, half white/red wine if you like

Method:

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan and cook on medium heat until boiling - be sure to watch the sauce as it is easy to boil over and lose the sauce.
After the sauce is boiling, turn to low heat and cook for another 45 minutes until reduced and slightly thickened.
Drain and put into the clean container/bottle after cooling.
Keep in dry cold place or fridge.

Strain or drain and bottle when cool

Vietnam Rice Paper Rolls #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipes # #asiancooking

Did you read the San Choy Bow (Lettuce Cups with Pork filling) recipe from our blog? I cooked extra filling when making the San Choy Bow and used the filling to make this popular hawker food of Vietnam Rice Paper Rolls - so easy, delicious and healthy.

Ingredients:

10 Rice Paper Wraps
1.5 cups San Choy Bow Filling , cold - please check our blog for the recipe
50g Rice Vermicelli Noodles - soak in hot water 10 minutes, drain.
1 cup Carrot - cut into fine strips - soak in ice water 10 minutes, drain
2/3 cup Cucumber - cut into fine strips
Fresh Coriander, if necessary

Method:

Soak a single rice paper wrap in the warm water 10 seconds.
Dry on a clean tea towel.
Place on a plate/chopping board.
Place the pork filling, rice vermicelli, cucumber, carrot and coriander in the centre of the rice paper -  do not overfill.
Roll up and cover with cling wrap if not eating immediately.
Only soak the rice paper wrap for 10-15 seconds, and begin the rolls as soon as possible.
Serve cold with the dipping sauce

Dipping Sauce:

1 teaspoon Chilli, chopped finely
2 tablespoons Peanuts, chopped finely
 Coriander, Mint or Thai Basil - chopped finely
1 tablespoon Sweet Chilli Sauce
1 tablespoon Thai/Vietnam Fish Stock
2 tablespoons Apple Sauce
1 teaspoon Lime/Lemon Juice
Some drops Sesame Oil
Ground Pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate 

Pea and Ham Soup #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipe #glutenfreecooking #winterwarmer

The combination of grains and legumes in the dried soup mix, along with the fresh vegetables and bacon give a hearty winter soup that is sure to warm your soul. Serve with gluten free croutons for that perfect winter meal.

Ingredients:

2 cups Dry Italian Soup Mix
6 Middle Bacon Rashers - diced
1 Onion - diced finely
1 Carrot - diced
2 Turnips - diced
2-3 Potatoes - diced
2 cloves Garlic - chopped
About 4 litre of water or home make vegetables stock, check our recipe
Salt and pepper

Method:

Heat the pressure cooker with 3 tablespoons olive oil. 

Saute the onion and garlic. 
Add all ingredients and half water/ vegetables stock to cover it. 
Close the lid, bring up to pressure and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove from heat and let the pressure come down. Do not open the lid until the pressure is down completely!  
Open the lid and add the remainder of the water/vegetables stock.
Slow cook about 1.5-2 hours.
Blend using stick blender if you prefer.
Serve with gluten free croutons*, crispy bacon, and chopped parsley.

*You can use a leftover gluten-free loaf. Remove the crusts, cut  into squares and slow bake in the oven until hard and crispy. Rub with a garlic clove for extra flavour. 

Tips:

• A smoked ham hock can be used to replace the bacon.

• Add the salt at the end to taste as the soup will already be reasonably salty with the slow cooked bacon or ham hock.

• If you not have a pressure cooker, you can soak the soup mix over night. Cook on stove top for  several hours.

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Strawberry Mousse Cake #glutenfree #glutenfreerecipe #glutenfreebaking

This beautifully light dessert tastes as good as it looks. It is light on the pallet with the strawberry mousse exploding on the taste buds to give you a truly decadent dessert.

Base

Process crackers till fine

Ingredients:
150g gluten-free Crackers
50g Butter, melted
3 tablespoons Strawberry Jam

Method:
Crush the Cracker biscuits finely in the food processor.
Melt the butter and jam.
Add to the biscuit crumb and mix well.
Place into the tin and press down firmly.
Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or until the mousse has been prepared.

Sponge

Ingredients:
3 large Eggs, separated
1/2 cup gluten-free Self Raising Flour
1/2 cup Sugar

Add egg yolk mixture to egg whites

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter
1 tablespoon Milk
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line large square pan with baking paper.
Place egg yolks, sugar, milk, oil in a bowl.
Mix until smooth, add flour and mix well.
In another clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the beaten egg whites.
Fold together using a spatula.
Bake  for approx 18 minutes or until the skewer come out clean in the centre.
Remove from the tin and cool on the rack.
The tin will then be used for setting the mousse unless you have 2 same size tins.

Mousse

Ingredients:
200g Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar*
3/4 cup Thickened Cream
3 Egg Whites
2 Gelatin Leaves or 1.5 tablespoon Gelatin
1/3 cup Water
2 punnets Strawberries (500g) Leaves removed.**

Method:
 ** Place all  the strawberries into the food processor and process till smooth.
Separate into 2 portions - set aside 20% for topping.
Soak gelatin leaf in water for about 5 minutes, then boil in the water until melted.
Whip thickened cream.
Whip egg white until peaks form, set both cream and egg whites aside.
In a big bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
Add the strawberries, gelatine, thickened cream and egg white - mix well.
Pour half mousse on the base, place the sponge on the top.
Pour remaining half of mousse to cover the sponge.
Refrigerate for half an hour.

You can simply serve as Strawberry Mousse

Topping

Ingredients:
150g Strawberries**
8g Agar Agar Powder
1/2 cup Water
2 tablespoons Sugar*

Method:
Mix agar agar powder, water, strawberry puree and sugar.
Bring to the boil.
Set aside till luke warm.
Pour onto the mousse and set in the fridge over night.
* May need to increase/ reduce sugar depending on how sweet the strawberries are!

Tips:

• If there is too much mousse, set in another glass.

• If you simply want Strawberry Mousse leave the base and the sponge layer out of the recipe and set the mousse in some dessert glasses for a lovely light dessert!