Baking disaster : Mooncakes

This morning, I attempted to make mooncakes using the mung bean paste and the new mooncake moulds from Malaysia.

I prepared the mooncake skin following an online recipe and the given steps.  See the photos below for the result.  

I am totally disappointed with the result.  This means, I will have to look for better recipes. 

I am unsure about what went wrong apart from the dough of the mooncake skin had been kept in the fridge for four days.  And, the oven was not been preheated and the temperature was set at 180'C. They were baked for 15 minutes.  

There was a bit of dough left so I decided to make some biscuits.  They taste better than the mooncakes!

One thing for sure : don't use mung bean paste for filling.  It's best to use red bean (adzuki beans) paste or lotus paste or durian paste.

Lesson learned!

Photo 1: baked mooncakes

Photo 2: close up photo of the baked mooncakes

Cinnamon Rolls - Part 4

Today, I made cinnamon rolls for the fourth time although the second attempt had never been mentioned before.

I managed to knead the dough on my glass worktop.  This time, I applied a lot of flour on the surface of the worktop to prevent the dough from sticking on it.  I was able to form a proper shaped dough like those on Youtube videos.  I was really excited but had to wait for 1.5 hours for the dough to rise. 

This time, I applied some cooking oil to the bowl before placing the dough in it.

Patience is a great virtue.  The dough doubled in size after 1.5 hours.  This time, the dough was easier to be removed from the bowl where it had sat due to the coating of the cooking oil in the bowl.  

I sprinkled some flour on the glass worktop and on the dough before it was taken out of the bowl.  I found that the rolling of the dough easier as the dough was not sticking to the glass worktop.  I was able to roll the dough four times this time.  The shape of a cinnamon roll had formed successfully.

I placed the cinnamon rolls in a tray and left it in the cold oven to rise for another 1.5 hours.

After 1.5 hours, I simply insert the tray into the preheated oven at 180'C and baked for 15 minutes.

Voila!  Enjoy the photos!

Photo 1: dough is ready for rising

Photo 2: waiting to rise

Photo 3: cinnamon sugar filling

Photo 4: waiting for the second rise

Photo 5: ready for baking

Photo 6: close up of ready cinnamon rolls

Photo 7: freshly baked cinnamon rolls

TV series: Prince of Lan Ling (兰陵王)

I have just finished watching this series.  It was better, compared to the other series, Princess of Lan Ling Wang.  The series come with English subtitles.

William Feng and Ariel Lin star as Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lan Ling and Lady Zheng, his wife.  Ariel Lin sounds so Taiwanese in this series which is a bit hilarious.  Meanwhile, William Feng as the Prince of Lan Ling is not bad as the Prince but his hairstyle and makeup are awful.

I enjoyed watching this series although the opening theme song is not suitable for period dramas.  I couldn't stand it.  

Overall, if you are a fan of William Feng and Ariel Lin, you'll probably enjoy the series!

Baking mooncakes: Lye water & maltose

On 23 March, I went to Wardonia Hotel at Argyll Street, St. Pancras, London, to meet my schoolmate for the first time in 23 years.

We have grown old and mature.  Monica has always been lovely and kind, as far as I have been able to recall.  She brought me mooncake moulds as requested.  

We decided to have our meal in Leicester Square.  The dinner was OK.  After the meal, I decided to leave Monica and her husband, Hong, to discover Chinatown on their own.

I went to Loon Fung to look for lye water and found one brand, Tung Chun, 500ml.  I decided to go to See Woo to see if I could get any cheaper.  The shop had the same brand of lye water but smaller in volume, 225ml, which was adequate for my 1st attempt on mooncake making.  I paid £2.25 for the bottle but didn't get a tub of maltose as it was priced at £1.60 for 500g at See Woo but £.149 at Loon Fung where I bought from.  

My plan to make moon cakes is going smoothly as planned.  Thanks to PRINCE2!!! :-)

red kidney bean soaked in a bowl of water, lye water and maltose

Cinnamon Rolls Part Deux

I made some cinnamon rolls yesterday to see if the only recipe in my previous blog worked.  I was still unable to make the rolls look like those in online Youtube videos.

I think the problem is probably due to the texture of the dough and the lack of kneading in my case.  I used a spatula and hand to knead the dough instead of using a food mixer.

The texture of the finished roll is good.

Once I get myself a food mixer, I'll try the cinnamon roll recipe in my previous blog to see if the shape of the rolls has improved.

For the filling, this time, I just mixed 60g brown sugar and 15g cinnamon powder in a bowl by using a fork to stir them all together.  Then, I brushed 50g melted unsalted butter on the flattened dough.  I sprinkled the sugar-cinnamon mixture on the flattened dough before rolling it into a roll.  This amended process helped the filling easily distributed and stuck to the flattened dough.

Below are the photos of my second attempt on the cinnamon roll recipe:

Baking disaster: Classic streusel blueberry muffins

I completely messed up the streusel and the oven temperature:  adding too much flour to the streusel; not massaging the streusel with two hands; and baking the muffins at 280'C instead of 190'C for 35 minutes.

(I baked the muffins for 10 minutes before smelling the burnt streusel from the oven!  The kitchen was covered with smoke!!!)

The result was muffins covered with burnt streusel.  The saving grace out of this trial was the texture of the muffins.  They were soft and fluffy due to the sieving process and milk.  Another one was the tulip wraps, that were correctly home made by me!

I will follow the instruction for the muffins in the future.  Enjoy the photos below.

Photo 1:  Classic streusel blueberry muffins

Photo 2:  blueberries inside the muffins

Photo 3:  half eaten by me!

Recipe by Anna Olson

Streusel Topping Ingredients:

⅓ cup (50 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (50 g) packed light brown sugar
¼ tsp (0.75 g) baking powder
¼ tsp (0.75 g) ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp (45 g) cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Muffins Ingredients:
½ cup (115 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) finely grated lemon zest
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 ½ cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (6 g) baking powder
¼ tsp (1.5 g) salt
¼ tsp (0.75 g) ground nutmeg
½ cup (125 mL) 1% or 2% milk
2 cups (250 g) fresh blueberries

Cooking with homemade orange zest without a grater

Today, I made vanilla cookies to fill up my biscuit tin.  And, I decided to make use of the orange zest that I made yesterday.

orange zest

I could taste the orange zest in the biscuit.  Not bad.  Soak the dried skins in hot water for 10 seconds before using them.  This will definitely soften the skins.

I am going to use the lemon zest in my next project, the Classic Streusel Blueberry Muffins by Anna Olso.  

Classic Streusel Blueberry Muffins by Anna Olson

Creating my first video on Youtube

My first thought of publishing videos on Youtube was it would be fun.

So, I created my first video on Youtube to learn about Youtube video productions.  It was an easy process, to be honest, as long as the instructions were followed.

I used the Youtube's Video Editor to upload photos and add a theme audio to the video.  The final product looked more like PowerPoint presentation slides!

I also added subtitles to accompany the photos.  The process of adding the subtitles to the video was pretty tricky, although, it was not complex for me to handle.

Overall, the experience is very rewarding.  I shall be creating and publishing more videos online in the future!

My first video

2016 TV series : Love is More than a Word EP01 Season 1 (识汝不识丁) ie China's first tv series with same sex love story

'Love is more than a word' is the first Chinese mainland tv series about a same sex relationship between a magistrate and a talented lawyer.  Same sex relationship in China has been around before and after the unification of China by the Qin emperor.

The most famous same sex courtship in the ancient China is the affair between Emperor Ai of the Western Han dynasty and Dong Xian, famously known as ' the passion of the cut sleeve' (斷袖之癖).

Master Tao Mo, a newly appointed county magistrate, arrives in his county with his two most trusted servants, Lao Tou and his page.  Tao was illiterate and bought his position via donations to the imperial court.  After being laughed at by scholars at a tea house, Tao pursued and hired Adviser Jin on Lao Tou's advice.

At the same time, a young and talented lawyer, Master Gu Shen, became interested in Master Tao. He would help Master Tao when the latter needed help.

If you are curious about the story, watch it!  I really enjoyed the series.  

Episode 1

There is a book written on the subject of passions of the cut sleeve which is available for sale on the Amazon website.  See the link below:

Homemade orange and lemon zests without a grater/ zester

I have been making fruit juice on a daily basis.  However, I have been throwing away the pulps from the juice into the bin bag because I have no garden to turn this green waste into compost.

There are several obvious solutions.  One of them is to use them to make muffins.  However, I discourage myself from eating too many muffins.  

Another solution is to dry the skins in the oven.  If I need to use lemon/ orange zest in my recipe, I'll just chop the dried lemon/orange skins into small pieces.  I dried the skins in the oven today.  Voilà!

slices of dried orange skin

slices of dried lemon skin

Loaf tins for Korean Egg Bread (계란빵) in the UK

Korean egg bread or Gyeranbbang*

I came across this Korean street food over the Internet.  Apparently, it's quite a famous street food in Korea.  It costs around USD$1 or KRW1000 (one thousand won).

I was planning to make it but I couldn't find the little loaf tins.  Today, I found the tins by Paul Hollywood on the Curry's website.  But, they are too expensive.  

So, I decided to surf on the web.  Guess what?  Lakeland has a special offer on the mini loaf pan priced at £4.99 (see the pan below):

*Photos copied from https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/102386591503695199/
and https://www.lakeland.co.uk/71889/Fillables-8-Hole-Mini-Loaf-Pan

DIABLO Devilishly Good Toasted Snack Maker

The above snack maker is seen as a possible substitute for the Malaysian pancake pan.  Has anyone used this pan before?

It looks interesting, though!

I'll probably buy it if I come across it in local charity shops.

Photo*

*Copied from the Curry's website:

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cookware/cookware/diablo-devilishly-good-toasted-snack-maker-10135140-pdt.html

Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening

I was looking for pineapple cookie moulds and guess what?  I came across the famous vegetable shortening, Crisco All-Vegetable Shortening.  I've heard about it so much on online blogs and Youtube videos.

In case you are looking for this particular brand, today is your lucky day.

Enjoy baking!!!

Crisco vegetable shortening*

* Photo copied from the Waitrose website:

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=95782#

To make a mooncake: the essential stuff

Mooncakes!!! 

 
a mooncake box and a whole mooncake (lotus paste and egg yolk)

2 quarters of a mooncake with lotus paste and egg yolk

It is extremely frustrating that some ingredients in Asian baking recipes are difficult to find.  One of them is mooncake glaze that is used to glaze the cakes after they are removed from the oven.

However, I've found an alternative: confectioners edible glaze varnish.  If it is too thick, add some water to dilute the liquid.  I would try it on one mooncake first to see if it works and then proceed with the rest if the glaze turns out to be OK.

Another one is maltose.  It's hard to find it in local supermarkets like Tesco or Sainsbury's.  However, specialist shops do sell it.  So far, I've found one (brand: Dragon Boat), which is made in China.

The other is lye water.  This ingredient browns the mooncake skin so it's quite essential if you wish your mooncakes turn out to be like those made by pros.

These days,  mooncake moulds are easy to find.  If you are visiting Hong Kong, go to the Shanghai Street where authentic wooden mooncake moulds, along with moulds for other Chinese traditional cakes and pastries, are sold.

Mooncake kits are also available to buy in the UK all year round.

I'll share my verdict on these items once I've made my mooncakes!!!  Of course, the recipe is included :-)

mooncake mould

One man's rubbish may be another's treasure

I have started baking recently.  I am kind of ambitious about this activity as I find that reading the ingredients and what they do to the recipe can be enjoyable.  For example, if a recipe (mooncake) needs lye water but the ingredient cannot be found in the local shop, baking soda (soda bicarbonate) can be used as a substitute.

My next project is making kuih talam or kuih kusui.  However, I realised that I needed several pudding bowls for steaming the mixture.  So, I began hunting for pudding bowls in my local shops. The new ones would cost £3.50 each.  I needed at least 6.  So, I went to a local Cancer Research charity shop to see if they have any.  I found a set of 6 glass bowls by Duralex for £2.25.  Which is a bargain.  

The next bargain is an ice cream maker by Kenwood.  I paid £6 for it.  I can now make both ice cream and sorbet.  

Charity shops hardly disappoint their hard core fans!

little bowls by Duralex

Kenwood ice cream maker

2014 TV series : 16 Summers (16個夏天) aka The Way We Were

I love this teen-to-adult romantic tv series produced by Ruby Lin, Taiwan's TV Queen.  

Taiwanese producers are better at making teen romantic tv series or films.  I tend to prefer watching their productions to other productions from HK and the mainland China.  Back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s, Taiwanese films tended to be silver screen blockbusters.  

Tang Jia Ni, played by Ruby Lin, was an undergraduate at a university in Taipei.  She had two best friends, Wang Jun Jie and Zheng Rui Rui, and they were extremely close to each each.  One day, the trio decided to spend their time in a local swimming pool.  TJN decided to take a swim but she was getting into trouble in the pool.  WJJ jumped into the pool to help TJN.  At the same time, Feng Wei De did the same but WJJ had already saved TJN.

One day, TJN was molested by a customer at her workplace, a mini market, and she complained to her manager. However, her manager decided to ignore the complaint.  Feng Wei De (FWD) heard about the commotion and decided to stand up for TJN.  But, it didn't do TJN any good as she was now fired from her part-time job!

This how TJN and FWD met for the second time.  The third time was when FWD moved into TJN's flat and became her flatmate.

One incident after another eventually led FWD falling in love with TJN.  However, TJN decided to marry WJJ out of compassion in order to look after him.  WJJ became crippled as a result of being a victim of the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan.  FWD joined the army and left for Shanghai after the commission.

However, so many incidents occurred which eventually brought TJN and FWD.

I love the story very much.  Watch if you are a romantic fool!  I am sure you'll enjoy it very much.

Episode 1

Controlling the amount of sugar in homemade cookies

I have been making my own peanut cookies biscuits.  One reason is to control the amount of sugar that enters my body.  Recipes that quote 100g of sugar will only contain 70g.  For example, my peanut cookies only used 110g of sugar for every 300g plain flour and 300g ground roasted peanuts. I've made this measurement my rule of thumb.

I find that excessive amount of sugar in food tends to destroy my appetite.  I hope my experience will encourage people to consider making simple snacks or foods and controlling the amount of sugar in the recipe.

Please enjoy the photos of my peanut cookies I made today.  They taste awesome!!!

Baking stuff Part 1: How to make fondant

I came across online videos on how to make your own fondant instead of paying up to £8.50 for a tub from my local supermarket.

The ingredients needed for making fondant are given below:

Icing sugar or powdered sugar
Glycerine
Gelatine
Liquid glucose (corn syrup or Lyle & Son's golden syrup)
Milk
Butter
Vanilla extract
Water - from the kitchen tap
Marshmallows (some recipes use marshmallows)

I found these ingredients at the local Waitrose Upminster branch in Essex, UK.

Homemade fondant

Baking disaster : Cinnamon rolls

Today, I attempted to make cinnamon rolls after watching an online video on Youtube.  The video is given below.

I followed the recipe but added an extra 90g all purpose flour and over floured the worktop- in this case, it was a non-stick tray that I later used to bake the same cinnamon rolls.

Disaster occured!  But, the fragrance from the cinnamon rolls filled up the entire apartment which I felt compensated from the disaster.

The cinnamon rolls were more irregular shaped buns than rolls.  I got the texture right, though.  Altough two tablespoons of sugar were added to the dough, I could not taste the sugar in the buns except the one from the cinnamon mixture.

See the photos of my cinnamon buns (not rolls!).  Overall, the recipe in the video worked!

The recipe is given below:
Dough
500g plain flour
5g or 1 tsp salt
30g or 2 tbsp brown sugar (any type will do)
56g melted unsalted butter (vegetable oil is ok)
15g or 2.25 packets of instant dried yeast
1 cup of lukewarm milk (1/3 is used to mix with the yeast)
2 eggs (I used two large eggs.  I think it's best to use small or medium eggs)

Filling
2 tsp or 13g cinnamon powder
90g icing sugar (I used the same brown sugar because I forgot entirely about the icing sugar)
70g unsalted butter at room temperature

Icing
120g icing sugar
30ml milk
1tsp vanilla extract

Video

Photo 1: what a shape!

Photo 2: the bun is nice and soft

Photo 3:  They were meant to be rolls, not mishaped buns

2015 TV series : The Journey of Flower ( Hua Qian Gu)

I have just finished watching this tv series.  The story is about the love between a master and his disciple. This kind of love is strictly forbidden in the wuxia world.  After all, a master is like a father to his disciple.

Hua Qian Gu, a disciple of Bai Zi Hua, is the main character, who was born with a magical scent which attracts demons and devils.  She is then adopted by the Chang Liu Sect to be one of the sect's disciples.  After many trials and tests, she becomes BZH's only disciple but falls in love with her master.  

I love the opening theme of the series and hence, music video is given below, along with the episode 1.

Starring:  Wallace Huo, Zhao Li Ying.

Poster*

Episode 1

Opening theme, 心之火 (Fire of the Heart.  I would translate it as A Lover's Desire)

*Photo copied from the website below:

https://hiliuyun.deviantart.com/art/hua-qian-gu-569454303

TV series : Legend of Chu and Han (楚汉传奇)

The story is about the conflict between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu in gaining the dragon throne after the fall of the Qin dynasty.  Liu Bang became the first emperor of the Han dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han..  

I personally enjoyed this tv series although it is said to be not popular in China.  I beg to differ because the series have excellent actors such as Chen Dao Ming, Sun Haiying, Qin Lan and many more.

Episode 1

TV series : Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) aka The First Emperor of China

If you are interested to learn about the man who united China, this is probably the best TV series to watch as it has many great Chinese actors such as Zhang Feng Yi and Fan Bing Bing.

It starts with Ying Zheng growing up in the Zhao state with his mother under the protection of Lu Bu Wei.  LBW is reportedly the biological father of YZ as his mother had already been pregnant when she was given to the Prince of the Qin state.

I would watch the series, The Qin Empire 1, followed by The Qin Empire 2 and The Qin Empire 3, first before watching this series.

I have always been fascinated by the history of China starting from the Qin Empire to the Qing dynasty.  I hope to visit China one day to explore its history.

I hope you'll enjoy watching this TV series.

Qin Shi Huang episode 1

Recipes for Malaysian snacks for tea

I came across a list of recipes of Malaysia's popular tea snacks online today.  I thought it would be excellent to share the information with the public.  It's in Malay, though.

One of my favourite snacks on the list is cucur udang or deep fried prawn fritters.  They usually come with a bowl of chili or satay sauce.  When I was in Malaysia, I would have the snack at around 15:00pm for tea.  This is how I spent my early childhood in the country.

Cucur udang or deep fried prawn fritters*

Apam balik or Malaysian peanut pancake is also found on the list of recipes.  The last time I had was in Singapore in July 2009.  I was visiting my siblings at that time.  A classic Malaysian tea snack, apam balik is better freshly served out of the pan and must contain a tablespoon of cream corns on top of ground peanuts & sugar mixture.  

Apam balik aka Malaysian pancake**

* Photo copied from the website below:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/71284893@N00/3866966007

**Photo copied from the website below:

https://www.joe-music.net/forum/index.php?topic=919.1350

Orange & lime cookies with vanilla flavour

This is totally an ultimate indulgence! The whole apartment smelled of orange fragrance.

The ingredients are given below:

Cookie dough:

300g plain flour

115g sugar

skin of orange/ lime (coarsely chopped)

150g margerine

one tablespoon of vanilla extract

a pinch of baking soda (to make the cookies crunchy)

an egg for egg wash

Preheat the oven at 180'C

1.  Mix all ingredients together until they form into a dough.

2.  Make small balls out of the dough and place them on a non-stick baking tray.

3.  Apply the egg wash in the middle of the cookies.  Make a small dent by using a straw or the bottom of a pen cover.

4.  Place the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

5.  Take the tray out and let cookies cool for 30 minutes before consumption.  Enjoy!

Ready to eat

Freshly baked cookies from the oven

三生三世十里桃花 Eternal Love 片尾曲MV【涼涼】楊宗緯 張碧晨演唱版 CROTON MEGAHIT Official

Nice song from the TV series, 'Eternal Love'.

Part 1: Cooking ingredients for Chinese & Thai cuisine

Today, it's all about ingredients in the Chinese and Thai cuisine.  This is just the beginning as I am only covering about the ingredients in my kitchen cabinet.

Ferns' hot curry paste
This is used in many Chinese takeaway spicy dishes such as Singapore fried rice and noodles.  It's highly recommended by Chinese chefs.

I purchased it for around £2.25.  I will share the verdict once I made the Singapore fried rice and noodles.

Place of purchase:  Loon Fung, East London

Sesame oil
It's used in many Chinese dishes.  I simply love the fragrance.  It can be added to many Chinese soups and fried noodles (before the noodles are served)

Place of purchase:  Loon Fung, East London

Ground chili with fried garlic
A Thai product.  I was introduced to it in 1996 when I first arrived in London, UK.  I never saw it in Penang.  It's a must for every chili lover although it tends to cause wind to my delicate stomach.

Add a teaspoon of the chili to your fried rice and you'll find the dish awesome.

Place of purchase:  Loon Fung, East London

Tamarind
Surprisingly, I found this in the local Sainsbury in Hornchurch, Essex, UK.  I never expected to see it but immediately grabbed a packet (69p, I think) so that I could make the pad thai sauce for my pad thai noodles.

Tamarind juice is widely used in many Asian dishes especially the Thai cuisine.  Tom yam & pad thai noodles, remember?  My parents used to make hot & spicy soup, as well as tom yam soup, using tamarind juice.  They even came up with deep fried king prawns with tamarind paste.

Place of purchase:  Sainsbury's, Hornchurch

Oyster sauce
A typical sauce in the Chinese cuisine.  It's typically used in the steamed dishes as well as stir fry dishes.  I tend to use the sauce in my lor mai gai (steamed glutinous rice).

I bought the Lee Kum Kee's Panda oyster sauce at Loon Fung.  I don't know why the panda was added to the brand.  But, one thing for sure, no traces of the giant panda are found in the oyster sauce!

Place of purchase:  Loon Fung, East London

Shaoxing wine or Hua Tiao Chiew

A regular star in the Chinese cooking.  It's a cooking wine and is used in many Chinese cuisine.  For example, my steamed glutinous rice recipe contains the wine. 

I bought it in February this year.

Place of purchase:  Loon Fung, East London

 

Ferns' hot curry sauce, sesame oil, ground chili with fried garlic & tamarind paste

oyster sauce

oyster sauce

Shaoxing wine

Orange cookies

My own creation!!!  The whole mandarin orange was used in the recipe including the skin.

The fragrance coming from the oven is awesome!

Recipe is given below:

Cookie dough:

300g plain flour

110g sugar (any kind but the weight must be the same)

juice of one mandarin orange (the skin of the orange  is removed and chopped with a handheld blender)

chopped mandarin orange skin

150ml of vegetable cooking oil (any as long as it is not olive oil)

Steps

1.  Preheat the oven at 190'C.  Mix all ingredients together until they form a dough.

2.  Make small cookie balls and place them in a non- stick baking tray.  Press the middle of the cookies to make a light dent (you can skip this step if you wish).

3.  Place the tray in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes exactly.

4.  Remove the tray from the oven and let the cookies cool for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!!!

Ready to eat :-)

TV series : 华胥引 or Hua Xu Yin: City of Desperate Love

I am watching this series at the moment.  I find that it is quite entertaining especially the first story about Song Ning (Jiang Xin) and Shen Yan (Yuan Hong).  The two generals, who fought on the opposite sides, married as part of their countries' peace treaty.  A misunderstanding which led to the death of Song Ning who decided to remain in her dream rather than returning to the reality.

Watch it if you enjoy Tang Qi Gong Zi's novel which the series are based on.

The soundtracks can also be purchased on Amazon UK (see below).

Hua Xu Yin episode 01

Puzzle: Find 6 Faces Hidden in The Roses

Puzzle: How Fast Can You Spot Spot's Hidden Master?

TV series : 芈月传 The Legend of Mi Yue 2015

Queen Dowager Xuan, the first dowager empress in the history of China, was depicted in this series. She was a princess of the Chu state, named Mi Yue.  She became a consort of King Huiwen of Qin as part of her sister's marriage entourage to the Chu king.

Lady Mi became a dowager after her son, King Zhaoxiang, succeeded his brother, King Wu, to become the next King of Qin.

The trailer and first episode are given below:

Trailer

Episode 1

TV series : 大秦帝国2：纵横 | The Qin Empire Season 2

The story tells us about the Qin state after the death of Shang Yang.  It introduces the characters, Zhang Yi, King Huiwen of Qin,  Mi Ba Zi who later becomes Queen Dowager Xuan, and King Zhaoxiang of Qin.

It is good to watch and viewers are encouraged to watch Zhang Yi's character as he is cunning and intelligent.  Ning Jing's character, Lady Mi, is rather comical but evolves into a political player as the series progresses.  

The first episode is given below.

The Legend of Mi Yue further explores Lady Mi's character.

Ep 01

Ingredients of today's fruit juice to combat cold

I had not been feeling well since yesterday so I decided to make fruit juice to combat a potential cold, along with Lemsip.

I used two apples, two mandarin oranges, a third of a large cucumber, three sticks of carrot, and a lime.  The lime made the juice taste sharp.