Don't Worry, Everything is Fine!

Tasting the softness and smoothness of this mousse reminds me so much of that particular moment when I feel safe and everything is alright - an exact perception when I hear someone expresses "Don't worry, everything is fine!"

Never experimented with egg whites in a mousse recipe until now. And it was so amazing how great the texture turned out. Come to think about it, I would recommend this recipe for an afternoon tea during friends gathering. It is sweet, tasty, and who could actually resist lychees, right?

LYCHEE MOUSSE
Serves 10 persons
Prepare:
- 1 big comma-shaped cake ring size 11"x7"x2"
- Aluminium foil

1. Crust

Ingredients:
- Oreo cookies - mash cookies together with the sandwiched cream > 190 gram
- Salted butter - melt > 60 gram

Method:
- Cover the side and base of cake ring with aluminium foil.
- Mix mashed Oreo cookies with melted butter to form paste.
- Press Oreo paste to cover base of the cake ring.
- Refrigerate for an hour.

2. Lychee Yogurt Mousse, Topping Jelly and Decoration

Ingredients :
- Canned lychees > 2 cans (each can is about 485 grams)
- Egg white > 60 grams
- Sugar > 60 grams
- Whipping cream > 140 grams
- Plain yogurt > 100 grams
- Gelatine powder > 30 grams
- Hot Water > 50 grams
- Cherries or other fruits available > partially coat with white chocolate
- Carved orange peel
- Chocolate curls

Preparation:
- Open 2 lychee cans and separate 10 pieces of lychees for decoration.
- Weight the rest of lychees plus syrup to 700 grams. Puree them until fine.
- Separate 400 grams for mousse, and 300 grams for jelly topping.
- For jelly topping, strain lychee puree into fine juice.
- Refrigerate both.

Lychee Mousse :
- with electric cake mixer, whip egg white at medium speed until frothy.
- Gradually add in sugar and continue whipping until soft peaks form. Leave meringue aside in the mixing bowl.
- Whip cream at medium speed until soft peaks form. Set aside.
- Melt 20 grams of gelatine powder in 30 grams of hot water. Dissolve it and set aside for a while until it is just warm.
- Mix lychee puree with yogurt.
- Fold lychee mixture into meringue bowl and mix well at low speed.
- Then fold in whipping cream. Finally add warm gelatine. Mix well.
- Remove cake ring from refrigerator.
- Pour lychee mousse into cake ring and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

Lychee Jelly Topping :
- Halve and slice 8 lychees lengthwise.
- Prepare white chocolate coated cherries for decoration.
- Melt 10 grams of gelatine powder in 20 grams of hot water. Dissolve it and leave to just warm.
- Mix gelatine with the strained lychee mixture.

Composition:
- Take out the firm lychee mousse from fridge.
- Arrange lychee slices on top of the mousse.
- Gently strain lychee jelly onto the surface of lychee mousse to the level where cake ring is 95% full. Straining avoids bubble forming on the jelly surface.
- Decorate with white chocolate coated cherries while jelly is still runny.
- Refrigerate overnite.
- Decorate with carved orange peel and chocolate curls before serving.

Tofu Chaos

Just came back from a holiday in Jakarta and had a bunch of Indonesian cook books. So excited! Have many recipes queueing up for experiments - just can't wait to get my hands dirty!

Popular for its spicy foods, Indonesian cuisine offers a vast range of variety - originated both from its rich cultures expanding from 26 provinces and rich natural resources which provide distinctive spices and ingredients. Petai bean (Parkia speciosa) for one is a rare plant popular only in southern Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and northeastern India. Bright green in color and was called sator in Thailand, petai bean has a very strong smell - the reason why it is best to be combined with other strong flavoured food like garlic, shrimp paste, or curry.

So thrilled to cook the dish out of something as unique as these beans. Let's see how it turns out! To find out simply follow the recipe as follows...

TOFU CHAOS
Serves 4 persons
Prepare: a rectangular baking tin 22cm x 11cm x 6cm

Ingredients:
- Prawn – peel, devein, slice > 70 grams
- Wet white tofu – dice into 1 cm cubes > 300 grams
- Red chilies – slice > 5
- Green chilies – slice > 3
- Shallots – slice > 8
- Garlic – slice > 2
- Tomato – dice > 1
- Petai beans - slice > 10
- Spring onion – chop 2 stalks
- Basil leaves – pluck from stem > 4 stalks
- Egg > 4
- Sweet corn – cut into grains > 4 tablespoons
- Coconut milk > 250 ml
- Salt > 1/2 teaspoon
- Sugar > 1 teaspoon

Method :
- Grease rectangular baking tin.
- Preheat oven at 180 degree Celcius.
- Whisk eggs in big bowl. Add coconut milk, salt, sugar, and corn. Mix well.
- Fold in prawns, tofu, chilies, shallots, garlic, tomato, petai beans, onion leaves, and basil leaves.
- Scoop into baking tin about 90% full. Bake at 180 degree Celcius for 45 minutes until surface is dry and cooked.
- Cut into blocks. Serve hot or cold.