Steamed Buns with Pork & Salted Egg Filling

Another recipe I tried using straight dough method
The result was similar to my first baos, soft but didn't stay soft the next day and it had chewy texture. And somehow I couldn't get smooth looking skin this time, not sure why
I used pork and salted egg filling. It's yummy but I found the pork is a little too dry

Recipe for pork filling:

What you need:

300g pork loin, pounded with meat tenderizer and then slice thinly
7 cloves of garlic, minced
vegetable oil, water, dark sweet soya sauce, salt, pepper

Method:
Heat oil in a pan, sautee minced garlic til fragrant
Add in pork, and stir fry til cooked
Add in water, dark sweet soya sauce, simmer over low heat til the meat is soft (I simmered for an hour til the water only a little bit left)
Adjust the taste with salt and pepper, mix well

Note:
I reckon that I should have added some thickening sauce into the pork mixture to get a more moist filling

Additional for filling: salted egg yolk, cut each egg into 8

Recipe for bao skin is from Vivian Pang Kitchen

What you need:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup low protein flour

(I used 3 cups Hong Kong flour)

2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
190 ml water

1/2 tsp double acting baking powder
1 tbsp water

Method:

1. I used bread maker to knead the dough
2. Pour water followed by Hong Kong flour, sugar and yeast into the bread maker pan
3. Let it knead for 30 minutes
4. Take the dough out of the pan and let it proof in slightly oiled bowl til doubled in size about 1 hour
5. Punch the dough on lightly floured surface and knead for awhile to release air bubbles
6. Mix double acting baking powder with water and stir til bubbles
7. Flatten the dough and pour baking powder mixture on it, knead for awhile
8. Divide dough, each 40g (I got 11 pieces)
9. Flatten each dough and spoon pork filling and place 1/8 piece of salted egg at the centre
10. Shape oval (I did seal down, my mum did seal up LOL), place on square banana leaves
11. Leave to proof for another half an hour
12. Place in a steamer (make sure the water is already boiling) and steam for 15 minutes

 

 

 

 

This post is for Aspiring Bakers #31 Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

  

 

Sabah Burnt Bottom Rice Vermicelli In Pork Gravy

This dish is so yummy and loved by my family :)

Recipe is from Wendy's site

What you need:
(1 serving)

50g rice vermicelli
2 eggs, lightly beaten (I added a pinch of salt)
1 shallot, sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
80g pork slices (I used minced pork)
3 tbsp oil

Marinate pork with:
1 tsp soya sauce
pinch of sugar
few drops of sesame oil
1/2 tsp corn starch

Gravy: (mix together)
2 tsp corn starch
1 cup water
1 tsp oyster sauce
salt, pepper and soya sauce to taste

Method:

1. Soak rice vermicelli in hot water til soft, drain
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil, pour the beaten egg like when u make omelette
3. Immediately arrange rice vermicelli on the egg, fry til the base of the egg is golden brown
4. Flip the omelette and fry the other side with rice vermicelli til it takes on some colour
5. Dish out the omelette, place it on a deep serving dish, omelette side up
6. Heat 1 tbsp oil and sautee shallot, followed by garlic. Add in minced pork and stir fry til cooked. Pour in the gravy mixture, bring to boil
7. Adjust the taste and the thickness as desired
8. Pour the pork gravy on the omelette and serve immediately

The next time I cook this dish again, I will mix in some mushrooms and vegetables too
Only pork is a too plain to me :)

This post is for Malaysian Food Fest, Sabah Month hosted by Mary from A Pepper's Love

Chocolate & Cheese Steamed Buns - My First Baos

Finally I did my first steamed buns
I love eating them, but somehow I haven't made them myself, even when I have a long list of steamed bun recipes waiting LOL
For this, I must thank Aspiring Bakers event this month which encourages home bakers to give a try to make homemade steamed buns.
I thought I would miss it, luckily I did not. So happy, especially after I missed two of the earlier Aspiring Bakers recently in February and April this year :)

So many recipes I was confused which one to try first
I decided on straight dough method by Happy Home Baking
Why the filling choice? Just my curiosity. I have never tasted steamed buns with chocolate or cheese. I saw many of my Indonesian home bakers friends make them. I just wanted to know the taste. And I wasn't disappointed at all. Steamed buns with chocolate or cheese filling are not bad at all, in fact they're real good :)

I found the recipe for the steamed buns is pretty good, soft and fluffy, but somehow I and my family found the texture was a little more like bread. And they weren't so soft anymore the next day
I reckoned that I have over proofing the dough during the first proofing
It said to proof til doubled in size about an hour, but I did for 1 hour 45 minutes, cos I had to fetch my girl from school. When I saw the dough, it's about tripled in size :-|

What you need - straight dough method:
(makes 12)

300g Hong Kong pau flour

3g baking powder

3g instant yeast

30g caster sugar

160ml water

15g vegetable oil

enough chocolate chips and grated cheddar cheese for filling

Method:

1. Sieve Hong Kong pau flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add yeast, caster sugar and mix well
2. Pour in water and oil into the breadmaker pan, followed by the flour mixture. Let it knead for 45 minutes. You may continue to do the first proofing in the machine, but I took out and put the dough in lightly oiled bowl and proof til doubled in size (about an hour)
3. Punch down the dough and give a few light kneading to release the trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 portions (about 40g each). Roll each portion into a smooth round
4. Flatten each dough into a small disc with your palm, make the edges thinner and the centre portion thicker. Wrap each dough with 20g of filling. Pinch and seal the seams. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of banana leaf. Cover loosely with cling wrap and leave buns to proof for 25 minutes
5. Place buns in a steamer and space them apart so that they do not touch one another. Steam at medium to high heat for 15mins (make sure the water is already boiling before steaming). Remove immediately and serve warm. Keep any leftovers in fridge (covered with cling wrap or store in airtight containers) and re-steam till hot before serving

This post is for Aspiring Bakers #31 Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

 

Crispy Oyster Mushroom

A super addictive snack. So yummy! :)
I made a batch and it's gone so quickly!

Recipe is from Nina's site

What you need:

2 packets (300g) of fresh oyster mushroom 
2 eggs (I used only the whites)
1 tsp salt
150g plain flour
50g corn flour
5g baking powder (I used double acting)
enough oil for deep frying
garlic salt

Method:

1. Mix together plain flour, corn flour and baking powder
2. Wash clean mushroom, cut lengthwise (remove the stem)
3. Dip mushroom in the egg whites, drain
4. Put in the mushroom in the flour mixture, make sure all are fully coated
5. Heat oil in frying pan (lots of oil!) and deep fry mushroom til crisp
6. Remove from heat and drain over kitchen towel, let cool
7. Sprinkle with garlic salt and toss well
8. Keep in airtight container

 

 

This post is for  Little Thumbs Up May - Mushroom, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and  Doreen from my little favourite DIY, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours

 

 

Mushroom Omu Rice with Pan Fry Salmon & Stir Fry Cabbage with Fishcake and Mushroom In Thick Gravy

A simple meal for my family :)

 

 

I used the same recipe for the omu rice, it can be seen HERE
But this time I only used sliced shitake mushroom and chopped yellow capsicum for the rice
For the pan fry salmon, I only rubbed the salmon fillet with salt and pepper and pan fried over medium low fire til golden brown and cooked

And I cooked another dish to complete the meal...

I just sautéed garlic and added in sliced fishcake, sliced mushrooms, stir well
Added in salt, pepper to taste and a pinch of chicken stock powder. Poured in water and bring to boil. Threw in sliced cabbage and cook til the vegetable softened, about 2 minutes
I mixed in corn flour and water mixture and stir til I got the thickness I desired

Simple, isn't it? But it's tasty and the whole family enjoyed them
We ended our dinner with all plates and bowls empty :)


This post is for  Little Thumbs Up May - Mushroom, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and  Doreen from my little favourite DIY, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours

15 Minutes Pizza With Ham & Mushroom

Anything quick and easy always excites me
So when I saw Ann from Anncoo Journal posted 15 Minutes Pizza, I knew I would make it
And I did yesterday. All gone very quickly. Everybody loved it :)

 

 

What you need:

 

1 pack of 5 wholemeal wraps

pasta sauce of your choice (I used Prego traditional sauce)

sliced honey baked ham

sliced shitake mushroom

grated cheddar cheese

grated mozzarella cheese

 

Method:

 

Place each wholemeal wrap on a lightly oiled baking sheet

Spread pasta sauce, followed by arranging ham and mushroom

Sprinkle both cheeses and bake in preheated oven of 200degC for 15 minutes

Serve immediately

 

 

This was the wrap I used, really value for money with great taste, too :)

 

 

The next day after school Abby asked to have this pizza again for lunch. I had to tell her that I had no more left.
Looks like I will make this again sometime soon :)

This post is for  Little Thumbs Up May - Mushroom, organised by Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids and  Doreen from my little favourite DIY, hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours

 

Sabah Fried White Mee Hoon

Very similar with Tuaran Mee I cooked the other day. As delicious, too
This time I used chicken meat and fish cake slices

Recipe is from Mary from A Pepper's Love

What you need:

150g seafood (I used chicken breast, diced and marinate with salt and pepper)

300g thick rice vermicelli (soaked in hot water til soft)

4 cloves of garlic (I used 7)

1/2 big chili (I didn't use)

1 egg (I used 2)

1-2 stalk of choy sum or gau choy (I used half packet of chye sim)

1/4 carrot (I used 1/2 - julienned)

1/2 big onion, sliced

1 tsp chicken stock (I used powder type)

3 tbsp chicken soup (I used 7 tbsp)

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp light soya sauce (I added)

 

Method:

1. Heat the wok with 2 tbsp oil. Put meat and fishcakes to fry for few seconds. Add garlic followed by carrot and onion
2. Add eggs, stir briefly, immediately add in mee hoon and stir fry for few seconds and finally add chye sim
3. Add chicken stock & chicken soup and light soya sauce, then continue to stir fry for few second
4. Serve hot

 

After I made my Tuaran Mee the other day, I read a blog post by Kelly from Kelly Siew Cooks, sharing her cooking the noodle

I just realized that one important element in the dish is to let the egg coat the noodles.

So I tried on this dish I cooked today, but I guess I still didn't do a good job in that

I shall try again :)

 

 

 

This post is for Malaysian Food Fest, Sabah Month hosted by Mary from A Pepper's Love

THB#18 Blueberry Almond Cake

Another keeper recipe from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas
The Home Bakers bakes recipes from this book currently, and many times, if not all, impressed by the results :)

A super soft and moist cake, bursting with lots of juicy blueberries and crunchy almonds
Perfect for tea time companion! Delicious!

The original name for this cake is Marionberry Hazelnut Cake
Anybody familiar with marionberry? I am not. In fact, I never heard about it :)
I googled for the image, it looks similar to blackberry, but more to oval in shape
Tastewise, I am clueless, I never even see it here in Singapore hehehe...

Hence, I chose blueberries to replace marionberry, and instead of hazelnut, I used almond instead
I baked half recipe using 20x10cm rectangle pan
I followed the recipe accordingly, but reduced both sugars to 1/8cup each (total 1/4 cup for both sugars combined) - the sweetness is just nice to my liking
I replaced almond extract to vanilla extract
Using almond meal and omitted 1/2 tsp cinnamon (for half recipe) supposedly mixed in the batter
1 cup of blueberries seemed a lot for the pan I used, but I used up all anyway
I used chopped almond for topping

For the full recipe, please visit Janis from The Kitchen Is My Shrink whom has chosen this great recipe from the book :)

This post is for The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours

 

To view other members' baking this cake, please visit The Home Bakers (THB)

Sabah Chicken Rice Parcels (Linatan)

I was intrigued to try this dish, but I wasn't too sure if my family accepted it
I was pretty sure they like it, but at the same time I was certain they'd think it's too bland
Indeed I was right, that's what they said when they tried on this dish. No taste, that's what they said :)
But overall, this is a dish they don't mind having :)
For me, I personally love this dish. Yes, a little bland but it's really tasty and fragrant too :)

Recipe is from Wendy from Table For 2..... or More and I cooked the rice using Happy Call pan inspired by Veronica from Peng's Kitchen


What you need:

400g chicken (I used half chicken, deskinned the breast, thigh and wing)
300g rice
700ml water (I added a little)
1/2 tbsp salt
banana leaves, wash and blanch in boiling water to soften
5 cloves of garlic, minced (I added for extra taste)

Method:

1. Rinse rice and soak for 30 mins
2. Heat up Happy Call pan. Place chicken pieces, meat side down onto the pan. Let it sizzle for a whileover medium heat, add in water and salt. Bring to boil. Cover pan and simmer on lowest heat for 10mins

3. Drain the rice and put it in the simmering chicken broth. Stir to distribute the rice evenly. Bring to boil
4. Cover pan and let it simmer on the lowest heat for 10mins until the liquid is absorbed and rice is cooked
5. Turn off heat and let the rice sit for another 30mins
6. Remove chicken from the rice and shred it
7. Spoon a few tbsp of warm rice onto prepared banana leaf, top with some shredded chicken and fold like a parcel
8. Preheat steamer and steam the rice parcels for about 30 minutes (I did this but it's optional)

See the dish below.. It's sambal stir fry chayote prepared by my mum to eat with the rice parcels for extra kick. Eat them together with onion crackers was really a fulfilling meal. Yum! :)

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Sabah Month hosted by Mary from A Pepper's Love

Individual Cheesecakes for Mother's Day

This bake is to respond to my current craving to something cheesy
After all, all mummies today deserve to indulge themselves right? LOL

So many cheesecake recipes in my to do list. Steamed, baked, no bake, light, spongy, buttery, creamy, fruity, chocolaty...which one, which one...
I read my craving and it told me I wanted something rich and creamy, hence my choice on this recipe by one of my trusted site, Joy Of Baking

To accompany the cakes, the toy car was contributed by Ian, the pink dress doll by Abby and the yellow lily was DH's LOL

Oh my, so rich, so creamy, just like I wanted!
The sweetness of this cake went so well together with the tangy berries

What you need:

For the base:
100g crushed digestive biscuits (I used marie biscuits)
15g white sugar
65g melted butter

For the filling:
454g (2 boxes) cream cheese, room temperature
130g white sugar (I used 120g caster sugar)
a pinch of salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp lemon zest (I used zest of 1 lemon)
120ml sour cream, room temperature (I used plain low fat yoghurt)

Method:

Preheat oven to 150 degC and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners

For crust:
In a small bowl combine biscuit crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press a heaping tbsp of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling

For filling:
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add vanilla extract, lemon zest, and yoghurt and beat until incorporated

Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight)

Serve with fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries or strawberries/raspberries sauce. Also nice to drizzle them with some chocolate sauce

To all mummies, hope you had a great time today celebrating Mother's Day :)

2nd Anniversary Bake Along #44 & THB #17 Essence of Orange-Chocolate Wafer Cupcakes

These super moist cuppies are really delicious and loved by my family
I followed the recipe, didn't reduce the sugar quantity and I found it's a little too sweet but still tolerable
I soaked the golden raisins with rhum before processing them, too
Every bite I had was with a hint of rhum fragrance. Hhhhmmmm....

For full recipe please view Eileen of Hundred Eighty Degrees, whom has chosen this keeper recipe, very good choice!

I submit this post to:

*The Home Bakers hosted by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours
where we bake recipes from the book Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas and this is our 17th bake

 

 

*Bake Along, organised by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids where we are now celebrating 2nd anniversary :)

 

 

 

Please view below for other superb cupcakes :)

 

And for all mummies out there, hope you'll have a great time celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow

Stay tune for my bake for this special day tomorrow :)

 

 

Sabah Fried Turan Mee (Egg Noodle)

Simple and delicious dish and loved by the family

 

 

Recipe is from Mary from A Pepper's Love

 

What you need:

(modified a little)

 

seafood - I used prawns (halved) and fish slice (I used tilapia fillet, but after stir frying the slices became small pieces LOL)

3 cloves of garlic - minced

bokchoy - cut

eggs (I used 2 medium eggs)

1 pack egg noodle

2 tsp chicken stock

5 tbsp chicken soup

1.5 tbsp black soya sauce

vegetable oil

 

Method:

1. Cook the noodle according to the package instruction
2. Once cooked, drain and dip in icy cold water for a while
3. Heat oil and put in prawns and fish slice, stir fry for a few seconds til change color
4. Add in garlic and followed by egg
5. Add in noodle and stir fry for awhile til evenly mixed
6. Add in chicken stock, chicken soup, black soya sauce and finally bokchoy
7. Toss around for awhile til evenly mixed
8. Serve immediately

 

 

 

I love eating this dish with hot chilli sauce and prawn crackers :)

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Sabah Month hosted by Mary from A Pepper's Love

Sabah Meat Egg Rolls (Hakka Chun Ken)

This dish is very similar, if not the same, with a dish my mum used to cook for me during my childhood. There are a few difference in the making process and the ingredients used, though
And my mum used to serve this egg rolls in soup, with chicken stock, carrots, spring onion and cauliflower
Sometimes, my mum would slice the egg rolls and pan fry the slices, and eat them with soya sauce and cut bird's eye chilli mixture
That was one tasty snack, too :)
I cooked the dish once, the whole family enjoyed it :)
 When I saw this meat egg rolls is included in Malaysian Food Fest - Sabah month, I was like oh, I have to make this :)

 

Recipe is from LilyAnette with some modification

What you need:

400g pork loin cut, minced and beaten with mixer of kneaded by hand til sticky (I used 300g minced pork)
1 clove of garlic (I added)
2 shallots (I added)
2 egg whites (I added)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp. light soya sauce
1 tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1 slice of ginger, finely minced (I didn't use)

For the egg wrappers:
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 pinches of salt
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 3 tbsp water

extra cornstarch and water mixture to be used to 'glue' the egg rolls

Method:

1. Process garlic and shallots in the food processor til smooth
2. Mix minced pork, garlic and shallots mixture, egg whites, salt, light soya sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Mix well and set aside
3. In a medium bowl, mix eggs, salt, and cornstarch mixture. Make omelette on frying pan over medium low fire (I got 5 omelettes, and I found mine were still too thick, hence the wrinkly appearance). Let cool the omelette
4. Spread meat mixture over the omelette and roll up like rolling swiss roll, away from you
5. Tighten it, and seal the end with corn flour mixture
6. Wrap each egg roll tightly with cling wrap and steam for 30 minutes
7. Remove from steamer and let cool
8. Once cool, keep them in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting (this will be really helpful when doing the cutting)

 I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Sabah Month hosted by Mary from A Pepper's Love

Pandan Waffles

My kids love waffles. Since I didn't have waffle maker, we always ended up going to bakeries who sell waffles. You know, those types you order and they make for you on the spot, and you can choose the filling you like
I finally decided to get the maker so I can experiment with different kind of recipes
This is the first one I tried, and I couldn't complain. It's good. Really good :)

Recipe is from Ellena from Cuisine Paradise

What you need:

125g plain flour

50g caster sugar

1.5 tsp corn flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg, yolk and white separated

100ml coconut milk

80ml drinking water

1/2 tsp pandan paste

30ml vegetable oil

a pinch of cream of tartar

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk in coconut milk, pandan water(pandan paste mix with 80ml drinking water), oil and egg yolk till well-combined
2. In another bowl, sieve in all dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and corn flour
3. Stir in wet ingredients into the flour mixture til the batter is slightly lumpy and thick (do not over mix ) 
4. Beat egg white with cream of tartar on medium speed till stiff peak
5. Gently fold white into the flour better till incorporate
6. Preheat waffle iron and ladle batter onto hot waffle iron. Cook according to the machine instruction manual until golden brown
7. Serve with your favourite filling (my kids love it with chocolate spread)

Note: You can replace pandan paste and 80ml drinking water with 50ml fresh pandan juice and 30ml drinking water