Steamed egg cake (雞蛋糕)

Steamed egg cake or 雞蛋糕 is one of the Chinese traditional snack or dessert. In olden time, they even treated it as a birthday cake and have it colored with red or pinkish. This traditional steamed egg cake was done by hand - what I meant by hand is, they usually whisk the batter by hand whisk, transfer it to bamboo steaming tray and steam at high heat.

It is one of my childhood snack as my maternal grandmother will make it occasionally. Besides, we also bought from that hawkers’ stall or at the wet market. It was soft and full of egg's fragrant smell. It sold at very low price, as it is suppose to be one of the simplest cakes at that time.

As per today, it has been selling commercially by using electric mixer; pre-mix ingredients and the taste wouldn't be the same anymore. I hardly find those soft and fragrant steamed egg cakes around nowadays! As my maternal grandmother has passed away and I didn't have the chance to learn how to make a good steamed egg cake, I began to find it online and also consulted many people the traditional recipe of making steamed egg cake. I have tried several recipes online and from the recipe book, which consist of many ingredients and ways in making it. I couldn't get the correct taste and the correct texture of the cake by using those recipes.

It was either can't rise nicely, the cake became too hard or too soft or didn't taste like a steamed egg cake. I didn't know that making such a simple steamed egg cake can be that hard at times, by looking at those recipes & pictures shown on the net, they are really good and nice!

As I have tried it for several months, trying an error by using the simplest ingredients, adding and minusing some of the ingredients, adjusting and improving the recipe. Finally, I am able to make a close to the original taste and texture of traditional steamed egg cake. There are several tricks and tips, which I have tried and tested including the differences of using an electric cake mixer and manual hand whisk, both gave me a total different result. Flour also plays an important role in making this cake, if you want to know which flour gives you the best soft texture in this recipe, check out my tips at the end of this post ...

Since I started making this cake as an experiment few months ago. My son too fell in love with this steamed egg cake. He is my loyal customer and always praised the cake. He can even ate half the 20cm steamed egg cake by himself. He would give me a smile on his face each time I passed the steamed egg cake to him. There is no other compliment that is greater than a child's smile after a hard work and I would say it is worth it. Same goes to my hubby, he would just grabbed and savored happily.


Tell me that I am too earnestly involved in making this cake. I even added my own ingredient to make a Cheese Steamed Egg Cake. The taste is so good with a touch of the cheesy flavour! It is suitable for kids as it is the most simple and soothing steamed cake! All the ingredients are simple and easy to prepare. You can do it within an hour, and it didn't require any complicated preparation.

Now, I can make it anytime as it has becomes one of our all time favourite steamed cake and it is much healthier! I have shared the recipe with my friend and she had a great time and successfully made this cake, even her family loves it very much! Give it a try!

Ingredients: 3 eggs (Grade A) 100gm Castor sugar 150gm Cake flour / Superfine flour 1 tsp Baking Powder 4 - 5 tbsp Milk 20cm bamboo steaming tray / rice cooker steaming tray Baking paper Methods: 1. Line a 20cm bamboo steaming tray / rice cooker steaming tray with baking paper. Set aside. 2. Whisk sugar & eggs with hand whisk for 15 mins or until batter turns fluffy with creamy lemon colour. 3. Combine flour with baking powder. Sieved. 4. Pour half portion of flour mixture into egg batter. Mix and stir well. 5. Repeat with the other half portion. 6. Add in milk and stir well. Adjust milk amount according to the thickness of the batter. If you find that batter is too thick, add another tablespoon of milk. 7. Pour batter into bamboo steaming tray. 8. Boil a pot of hot boiling water. Steam egg cake at high heat for 15 mins. 9. If you cover the steaming tray with another lid or a stainless steel plate, steam for 25 mins (I didn't cover with double lids for this recipe). 10. Open lids, test with a skewer, if the skewer comes out clean. The cake is done. 11. Remove egg cake immediately from the steaming pot. Let cool, then cut into pieces and enjoy! Cheesy Steamed Egg Cake Ingredients: 3 eggs (Grade A) 100gm Castor sugar 150gm Cake flour / Superfine flour 1 tsp Baking Powder 2 tbsp of Shredded Cheddar Cheese 6 - 7 tbsp Milk 20cm bamboo steaming tray / rice cooker steaming tray Baking paper Methods: 1. Line a 20cm bamboo steaming tray / rice cooker steaming tray with baking paper. Set aside. 2. Whisk sugar & eggs with hand whisk for 15 mins or until batter turns fluffy with creamy lemon colour. 3. Combine flour with baking powder. Sieved. 4. Pour half portion of flour mixture into egg batter. Mix and stir well. 5. Repeat with the other half portion. 6. Add in milk and stir well. Adjust milk amount according to the thickness of the batter. If you find that batter is too thick, add another tablespoon of milk. 7. Add in shredded cheese, break it with the whisk until well combined. Pour batter into bamboo steaming tray. 8. Boil a pot of hot boiling water. Cover the steaming tray with another lid or stainless steel plate. 9. Then, cover the pot and steam at high heat for 25 mins. 10. Open lids, test with a skewer, if the skewer comes out clean. The cake is done. 11. Remove egg cake immediately from the steaming pot. Let cool, then cut into pieces and enjoy! Useful tips: • Use cake flour / Superfine flour, it will gives your egg cake a smooth, light and soft texture compared to multipurpose / plain flour. • Whisk with hand whisk until egg batter is fluffy and creamy. I have tried electric cake mixer but the result is not as good as hand whisk, the cake became softer, bouncier and rise nicely with hand whisk. • Cover steaming tray with another lid to prevent steaming hot water dripping onto the egg batter to get a better nicer looking surface. • Adjust the amount of milk by testing the batter. The batter shouldn't be too thick nor too thin, test with a fork, if the batter is running down constantly, the batter is well done. • Use large eggs, Grade A is the best. • Use a high cooking pot about 30 - 40 cm tall for steaming. I am so glad to shared with all of you bits of my tips on this recipe! Let's the tradition carry on to another generation!

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Pan-grilled Prawns with Crabmeat

This is my follow up post from my previous post on my all time favourite - "PRAWNS". Do you believe picture can tells thousand words... ?
Let's savor this delicious pan-grilled prawns and crabmeat! This dish is just so simple and easy to prepare, you just have to marinade the prawns, stick them on the bamboo sticks and pan-grilled until cooked. Sizzle them with some dipping sauce from the marinating ingredients! And it is ready to go...
This dish is simply a fantastic choice to serve guests; I believed no one could resist the temptation of grilled seafood... irresistible?

Ingredients: 20 pcs large Prawns - washed, removed shell (retain tail) 10 pcs Crabmeat (ready packed) 10 sticks of Bamboo stick - trimmed & soaked with water Marinate: Dash of Salt Dash of White pepper Dash of Olive oil 2 cloves Garlic, minced Coriander leaves, minced Methods: 1. Marinade prawns with marinate ingredients for 1 hour. 2. Trimmed bamboo sticks according to your grill pan length. Soak with water to prevent the sticks to get burn. 3. Stick prawns and crabmeat with bamboo stick according to your preference. 4. Heat up grill pan, sprinkle some olive oil. 5. Grill prawns & crabmeat accordingly until both sides are cooked. Set aside. 6. Heat up olive oil in a non-stick pan, sauté the remaining marinating sauce for dripping. 7. Serve and enjoy! Useful tips: • Add some squeeze of lemon juice or lemon rind before grilling can makes the food tastes even more fragrant and delicious!

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Cheesy & Creamy Butter Prawns

Do you love prawns? I suppose most of you can't resist the temptation of bouncy, juicy fresh big prawns? I'm one of the big fans of prawns! Be it steam, fried, grill or stir-fry! I can finish most of them... haha... Need not to say when it is added with cheese and the fragrant curry leaves? The sauce is just 'finger licking good'... even little children will fall in love with it.

This is also a popular dish in Chinese restaurant, it comes with added "cili padi (hot spicy tiny chillies)" in their recipe to give the dish a "hot kick" If you love spicy creamy prawns, try adding some "cili padi" in it, it will definitely give you a fantastic hot creamy prawns in town!

Isn't it simply appetizing? I believed many of you would definitely love this to bits...

Stay tuned for my next favourite prawns recipe! Oh yeah! I am a 'prawn addict’!

Ingredients: 15 pcs Large prawns 1/2 cup Curry leaves, washed 150ml Evaporated milk 2 tbsp Butter 2 tbsp Shredded Cheddar Cheese Marinate: Dash of salt, sugar, pepper & corn flour Methods: 1. Washed & peeled prawns. Removed vein. 2. Soak prawns in iced cold water with ice cubes for 10 mins. Drained 3. Pat dry. Season with marinate. Keep in the fridge for 30 mins. 4. Heat oil, pan fried prawns for 1 min each side (don't over-cooked). 5. Dish up, absorb excessive oil on kitchen towel. Set aside. 6. Heat butter, once sizzled, add in curry leaves. Saute for 1 min. 7. Add in evaporated milk. Keep stirring and simmer till sauce is thicken. 8. Add in cheese, simmer for 1 min. 9. Add in prawns. Mix well, dish up and serve hot.

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Turmeric Fragrant Butter Rice

Turmeric is one of nature's most powerful healers. Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant. Turmeric is native to Indonesia and southern India, where it has been harvested for more than 5,000 years. It is known for its anti-inflammatory properties.

As I googled, I found out that turmeric has plenty of goodness and natural remedy for so many diseases. There is also traditional way of applying turmeric as a agent for skin beauty.If you hoping for a healthy growing supple skin and complexion, turmeric is one of the natural remedy to help to reduces pigmentation and even put your skin tone and smoothen your skin naturally. It can also use to reduces pregnancy stretch marks on your belly. It can also strengthen your bones, especially for women by making it into a drink with milk in the Indian's way. Isn't it amazing?
{References below}

It also proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease, lowers the cholesterol level, prevent colon cancer, improved liver function and many many more!

You may login to these few websites for more info & benefits of Turmeric, an powerful and awesome spice:
References from:
WHFoods
Health Diaries
India Parenting

I still remembered I consumed a lot of Turmeric Fried Rice during my confinement period, according to the confinement lady, it is a good source to strengthen our womb and help us to get back to pre-pregnancy weight sooner after delivery. That was one of the traditional method, even Malays and Indians like to use Turmeric in their cooking during confinement.


Lemon grass is another herb that gives you not only fantastic flavour in your cooking but act as a natural remedy too. Lemon grass is similar in properties to citronella grass which has the insects repellant effects. So, plant some lemon grass in your garden to stave off bugs, mosquito & insects... Besides, lemon grass help in recovery fo the common cold flu, reducing fevers, cramp and many more... it is indeed a traditional remedy for many illness. Recently, lemon grass has found that daily intake of 1,000mg of citral represses cancer cells and helps battle depression.

What a awesome natural plant that gives us plenty of goodness in improving health and prevent illness. I would think it is a good idea to have a glass of lemon grass juice with honey every week, isn't it?

Reference from this website - read of the goodness of Lemon grass!

Looking at the goodness of these 2 powerful herbs. Why not to have some turmeric fragrant butter rice? It is tasty and full of goodness. This rice is best to be served with chicken curry, kurma chicken curry, rendang chicken or eat it on its own. Turmeric Butter Fragrant Rice also served during many occasions, especially in Malays or Indians' wedding, engagement & traditional celebrations. It is simply one of my favourite when I attending Malays or Indians' celebrations.

Ingredients: 2 cups rice, washed & drained 5 cloves garlic, minced 5 nos shallots, minced 8 slices ginger 2 nos lemongrass, cut diagonally into 2 cm thick 1 tsp turmeric powder 4 cups chicken broth / water 1 tbsp sunflower oil 2 tbsp butter Extra water for cooking Salt to taste (optional) Methods: 1. Heat oil, once oil is hot, add in butter. Saute garlic, shallots & ginger until fragrant, but not brown. 2. Add in lemongrass, saute for a while. 3. Stir in rice. Fry rice until fragrant and mix well. 4. Add in one cup of chicken broth / water and keep stirring. Repeat one cup each time. 5. Add in turmeric powder, keep stirring and mixing until rice is well coated with turmeric powder. 6. Keep stirring until water reduces to half. If you prefer more salty taste, add pinch of salt to taste. 7. Transfer to rice cooker. Add more water just enough to cover the rice. 8. Cook accordingly in the rice cooker. Once cooked, serve hot.

Weekend Herb Blogging is a great way of gathering and introducing readers on herbs recipes & goodness.
I am submitting this recipe to Weekend Herb Blogging #187, which is housed by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once and hosted this week by Katie from Eat This

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Basil & Pinto Bean Cheesy Soup

I thought of making an extra ordinary soup for lunch last weekend, which is not an ordinary soup that my son is having everyday. Oh yeah, my son is having 'soup' as one of his dish everyday! It will be fun to make something extra ordinary for him during weekends to have different taste of every bits of food and at the same time boost his Vitamins intakes by adding more vegetables in it. Isn't it great? Yeah! Need to squeeze my brain's cell a little!

I had each of everything in my fridge and also half packet of Pinto beans. Basil & Pinto beans in cheesy soup is simply fantastic! It was a great idea to make something that taste fresh and cheesy!

Then, I started to make my own Chicken broth using some left over that I had in hand, such as chicken bones, onions, celery, carrot & some green vegetables... make your own natural and concentrated chicken broth is always the best! At the same time, I can clear off my fridge... haha...

This soup is simply nutritious, high in vitamins & protein. Bon appetit!

Ingredients: 1/2 cup Pinto bean, washed & soaked 1 cup Fresh basil leaves, washed & peel coarsely 1/2 cup Carrots, diced 1/2 cup Celery, diced 1/2 cup Potatoes, diced 1/2 cup Yellow onion, diced 3 cloves of Garlic, minced 4 cups Chicken Broth 1/2 tsp Mixed herbs 1/4 cup of Shredded Cheese of your choice (I used Cheddar) Salt to taste Olive oil Methods: 1. Soaked pinto beans overnight. Pre-boiled until beans are cooked. 2. Heat olive oil on a saucepan, sautee carrots, onion, celery & potatoes until fragrant. 3. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Stir constantly. 4. Add in the broth, add pinto beans, boil for 2 mins. 5. Add in basil leaves & mixed herbs. Bring to boil and simmer for 15 mins. 6. Add salt to taste. Stir and mix well. 7. Off fire, add shredded cheese and let it melt in the soup. 8. Serve hot immediately.

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