October 10, 2020

Coronavirus Cake

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Coronavirus Cake

October 10: National Cake Decorating Day

Highlander’s birthday was at the height of a national stay-at-home order this spring due to COVID-19. We had to find ways to celebrate creatively, safely and quietly (drive-by parades and front lawn decorations are not allowed in our tiny townhome community anyway). Islander decided to decorate a coronavirus cake (it was humorous to some friends but understandably controversial to others). But we already had the limited ingredients in our pantry when store shelves were nearly empty from panic buying.

Since it is National Cake Decorating Day, this post focuses more on decorating a coronavirus cake than on a recipe (use your favorite cake mix and frosting recipe). A ball-shaped pan is needed (thanks to Brother Justin Q. for giving one to us some years ago). We made the spike proteins using red fondant. It turned out cute and was a unique cake for Highlander’s birthday during a global pandemic.

Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 box red velvet cake mix
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • Vanilla frosting
  • Black food coloring
  • Orange nonpareils and green jimmies/sprinkles (optional)
  • Red fondant

Directions

In a mixing bowl, dump the red velvet cake mix and stir in the water, eggs and oil.

Mix until the batter is smooth. Divide in the greased halves of the ball-shaped cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 25-35 minutes or until the cake is baked through. Cool the cake completely.

Slice off the round tops to level the cakes. Place on cake on top of the other, with one half on the bottom. In a large bowl, tint the vanilla frosting with a little black food coloring to make a gray color.

Frost the cake, let it dry and smooth it out with Viva brand paper towels. Use a small round piping tip to gently press circles on the frosting.

Randomly place clusters of orange nonpareils and green jimmies/sprinkles around the cake. Roll out red fondant into a long skinny rope (1/4 inches thick). Cut 1-inch long pieces and shape the bottom as a spike and the flatten the top. Roll out red fondant and flatten to 1/8 inches thick. Cut small triangles.

Let the triangles and fondant spikes dry before using water to assemble them. Let dry and harden again.

Insert spikes into the cake. Refrigerate to set. Top with matching red candles. Slice, serve and celebrate that you are not sickly from the virus.

Notes

  • Colored frosting gets darker overnight so tint the vanilla frosting a lighter gray if desired.

  • We pray that there will be a vaccine/cure for the coronavirus. Please stay healthy and safe!

 

October 6, 2020

Somen Salad

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Somen Salad

October 6: National Noodle Day

One of the most colorful, attractive and popular potluck dishes in Hawaii is somen salad, a cold wheat noodle dish topped with slivers of fried egg (tamago), meat (char siu, ham or Spam), fish cake (kamaboko) and vegetables. The dressing is a sweet soy-vinegar sauce that complements this salad well. As a side dish, it is light enough to eat with an entrée. As the main meal, it is hearty and satisfying enough but not heavy. Somen salad can be prepared ahead of time and people can assemble the ingredients they prefer for themselves. But it is the presentation of all the toppings that make this a pretty and picture-perfect food.

Hawaii adapted somen salad from a similar Japanese recipe called “hiyashi chuka”, a cold ramen noodle dish translated as “chilled Chinese” food. The Vietnamese also have their tasty noodle bowls. They are all yummy in their own way. So celebrate National Noodle Day with oodles of noodles, colorful toppings and a delicious dressing—and serve up somen salad!

Recipe

(From Mary Ann P. and Phyllis S.)

For the dressing

  • 1 cup chicken broth/stock
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • ¼ cup shoyu (soy sauce)
  • ¼ cup sugar, granulated white
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Add the sesame oil. Bring mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Save for later (we bottle and refrigerate the rest).

For the salad

  • 1-2 eggs, beaten and fried, cut into strips
  • Lettuce, chopped/shredded
  • Cucumber, chopped into strips
  • Carrots, cut into “match sticks”
  • ½ block kamaboko (fish cake), chopped into strips
  • Char siu, ham or Spam, cut into slivers
  • Cilantro leaves and chopped green onion to garnish (optional)
  • 1 package (9 ounces) somen noodles, cooked and drained

Directions

Beat the eggs, fry in a pan and slice into strips.

Shred the lettuce. Chop the cucumbers and carrots into strips. Cut the fish cake into strips.

Cut the char siu/ham/Spam into slivers. Chop some green onions and/or cilantro for the garnish (optional).

Cook the noodles according to the package, about 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Arrange the noodles in a tray. Garnish the top with the egg, vegetables and meat. Garnish with green onions and cilantro (optional). Serve with the salad dressing on the side.

Notes

  • Mahalo to our friends Mary Ann B. and Phyllis S. for sharing their somen salad recipes.
  • Substitute the kamaboko fish cake for kanikama crab meat.
  • Search our blog for more noodle recipes, like pancit and pasta.

 

October 1, 2020

Moon Cake

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Moon Cake (Easy)

September/October: Moon Festival/Mid-Autumn Festival

We timed our 20th wedding anniversary trip in 2016 to Taiwan and China around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Monica C., Islander’s former college roommate, said the weather is more pleasant that time of the year in Taiwan and we could celebrate fall together. At the time, she was teaching in Hualien and took us to see her university. She introduced us to her boss who offered us tea and a special snack—a rich pastry filled with red bean/black sesame/lotus seed paste surrounding an egg yolk inside to represent the moon. It was a hospitable gesture to us guests. When we proceeded to tour China with our group, we ended up in Suzhou at the time of the Harvest Moon date. Our tour guide, Kevin Y., gave us mini moon cakes to taste. We also saw them all over the Chinese cities we visited—at grocery stores, at the hotel lobbies and even at Starbucks!

We have eaten our fair share of moon cakes throughout the years in celebration of the Mid-Autumn festival. Whether they have egg yolk centers or not, are made with traditional flour dough or mochi (“snow skins”) and a variety of fillings (even savory ones), we always bought them at the store in pretty packages. They were quite expensive, and we often wondered how long ago they were made before they ended up for sale.  And sometimes we just didn’t like the filling combinations (our favorite is red bean without any egg yolks) that were available.

Fortunately, Islander’s ESL student from Taiwan, YaJu Y., gave her an easy recipe for a moon cake that she demonstrated at her children’s elementary school during the festival. Although not too traditional, these moon cakes are fairly easy to make, tastes great and are not overpriced. The dough is not as soft but has a nice mild crusty texture to offset the sweet red bean paste (from a can). YaJu free forms the dough into balls, but we had fun making these moon cakes together using a special mold with auspicious Chinese character imprints.

Have a happy harvest and make easy moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Recipe

(From YaJu Y.)

Ingredients

  • 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 can red bean paste
  • 1 egg beaten mixed with 1 teaspoon of water (egg wash)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese with butter until soft and creamy.

Gradually add the flour until a sticky dough comes together. Roll out dough onto a clean, lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in 1/3 cup balls.

Roll and flatten the dough. Fill each with 2-3 tablespoons of red bean paste. Gather up the edges and pinch the seams to encase the filling. Roll on the surface to smooth it out.

Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil and lightly misting it with cooking spray. In a lightly floured moon cake mold, place the filled dough inside, using fingers to spread the dough to the side edges of the mold. Press the mold onto the baking sheet and release.

Brush a little egg wash on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve with tea. Store leftovers in airtight container.

Notes

  • Islander’s Mommy used to make a Filipino version of moon cakes called hopia. Some Filipinos put ube (purple yam) or mung bean paste inside. It is similar to Taiwanese style moon cakes because of the proximity of the two countries.

  • For a sweeter crust, add 1-2 tablespoons sugar.

  • We bought our moon cake mold from Amazon.

 

 

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