Xiao Long Bao (Steamed soup dumpling)

I like making little snacks but I always shy away from making xiao long bao. Yes, I love eating them very much especially when I'm away in Taiwan or back in Singapore. Of course Ding Tai Fung serves good xiao long bao but for the authentic version one can find in Nanxiang xiao long bao in Shanghai. One fine day I hope .......

So here I am in my first attempt on making xiao long bao.....

Xiao Long Bao

Ingredients

Soup Jelly
4 cups of water
6 chicken wings

• 5 dried scallops-soak till sot


• 2 spring onion


• 1 knob of ginger, smashed


• 3 cloves of garlic-smashed


• 1 tbsp of gelatin powder
  Bring to boil all the above ingredients (except gealtin powder). Once boiling, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 2hrs. Off the fire.

1. Sieve the boiling liquid into a bowl. Then stir in the gelatin powder, mix well so that it's not lumpy.



2. Pour the liquid into a plate and let it to cool in fridge until it sets. Then cut into cube.

Filling

• 500 gm of mince pork


• 100 gm prawn-finely chopped


• 4 spring onion-finely chopped


• 3 tbsp soya sauce


• 1 tsp of white pepper


• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine


• 1 tsp sesame oil


• 1 tsp sugar

1. Mixed all the ingredients, also add in the cut soup jelly. Mixed well. Set aside in the fridge until you're ready to wrap the xiao long bao.
   

Skin

• 3 cups plain flour


• 1 cup boiling water


• 1 tsp vegetable oil


• 4 tbsp cold water

1. In a large mixing bowl, put in the flour. Pour in the boiling water, use a chopstick and continue to stir vigorously.


2. Then add in the vegetable oil and cold water, use your hand to knead the dough. The dough should feel sticky. Continue to knead for about 5minutes into a soft dough. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 30minutes.


3. Lay the bamboo steamer with either napa cabbage leaves or iceberg lettuce leaves.


4. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Take 1 portion and roll into a long log. Then divide the log into 14 pieces.


5. Dust the work surface with flour, use a rolling pin and roll each piece into 3inches circle. For wrapping, the thinner the edges the easier it will be for pleating later.


6. Scoop 1 tbsp of filling onto the skin wrapper, and start to pleat. Continue until you're done with all the fillings. You can learn how to pleat from this video.


7. Place the dumplings onto the steamer and steam for around 10-12minutes.

The flavors are there but I still need to improve the quality of the skin......

a

Chinese radish cake/Loh Bak Gou 蘿蔔糕

I have always wanted to attempt making this savory radish cake but never come round to it. It's commonly found in Hong Kong dim sum restaurant. Reason is I'm not sure of the success rate and also it requires quite a lot of effort I would have thought. And I have no excuses not to make it to consume during Chinese New Year. But I had researched online for quite a number of recipes and decided to stick to this one and change some ingredients as I can't find them in my local supermarket and make do with what I have in my pantry. It's not that tedious as I would have thought and the end result is yummy-licious delights. For those would like to follow the step, you can follow this video (it's in Cantonese though)

Loh Bak Gou 蘿蔔糕
Ingredients:

• 200g smoked bacon - finely chopped (you can use Chinese lap yuk and Chinese sausages)
  
• 2 tbsp dried shrimps-soaked and finely chopped-I omitted this
  
• 3-5 large dried shitake mushroom - soaked, removed stem and finely chopped-keep the soaking water
• 4 dried scallops- soaked for 1 hour and shredded-keep the soaking water
• 3 shallots-finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic-finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp salt or to taste

• 750 - 800g shredded radish-drained any excess water
  
• 250-300 ml water (from the water used to soak scallops and mushroom)
• 220g rice flour
• 30g wheat starch/corn starch/tapioca starch
• 1/2 tbsp chicken powder
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
  

1. Mix rice flour, starch and water together.
   
2. Heat up a non stick wok with 2 tbsp oil and fry shallot and garlic till fragant. Then add smoked bacon , dried shrimps, mushroom and scallop. Fry till fragrant. Add in white pepper and salt to taste. Remove to one side. Check if the wok has any brown sticky bits, if yes wash before proceeding to next step. Browning bits can make the cake looks greyish or brownish.
   
3. Next heat the wok with 2 tbsp of oil. Once hot, add in the radish and stir fry for around 6 minutes. You'll notice that the radish will excrete it's own juice during cooking process.
   
4. Stir in flour mixture, taste to check if more seasoning is needed and cook at low heat stirring all the time for till the mixture started to thicken like gooey congee . Turn off heat.
   
5. Grease a retangular cake tin or aluminium foil container. Scoop the mixture into the container. Prepare the steamer. Place the cake into steamer and steam for about 1 hour 20minutes. Once cooked, it is a bit soft at the moment, don't worry, the cooling process overnight will cause it to set. Remove from steamer and cover the top with aluminium foil and let it to cool overnight.
   
6. Once it's set, you can easily removed from the container and you can slice the cake. You can dust it with just a little corn starch/potato starch. You can also omit the corn starch and fry on it's own.
   
7. Prepare a non stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Once hot, put in the cake and let it shallow fry till a golden brown surface is achieved on both side. Served hot with sprinkling of spring onion and XO sauce/sambal sauce/or thick dark soya sauce.
   

Enjoy.....

Shredded radish

Steamed and cooled radish cake-ready for slicing

I gave some loh bak gou to my guinea pig friend to try my first attempt and it's thumbs up :-)

Just to let you all know I was given a new kitchen gadget by a friend...... A soy milk making machine. It's a brand made in China (Joyoung) and gosh I'm impressed.....only at a press of a button, and 20minutes later you'll have the freshest hot soy milk. I highly recommend this machine for those who like fresh soy milk. I've been milking it every morning for breakfast :-)

Fu Qing Sweet Potato Dumpling

Today I'm going to talk about sweet potato. They're the survivor food during the World War II back in South East Asia. The price of basic necessities like rice increased drastically due to hyperinflation. The local can't afford these staple food anymore. Therefore root plant like tapioca, sweet potato, taro were replacing rice as staple food. Moreover these can be grown in the farm land or even in the backyard garden. I remembered, my grandad used to tell us the stories of how the people survived just on sweet potato, 3 meals a day during those war period back in Malaya. Thanks to this humble root plants that provide so much nutrients to stave off starvation back then.

Here is the Wiki explanation on the nutrients rich sweet potato:
Besides simple starches, sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, beta carotene (a vitamin A equivalent nutrient), vitamin C, and vitamin B₆. Pink and yellow varieties are high in carotene, the precursor of vitamin A. In 1992, the Center for Science in the Public Interest compared the nutritional value of sweet potatoes to other vegetables. Considering fibre content, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron, and calcium, the sweet potato ranked highest in nutritional value. According to these criteria, sweet potatoes earned 184 points, 100 points over the next on the list, the common potato.(NCSPC)
Sweet potato varieties with dark orange flesh have more beta carotene than those with light coloured flesh, and their increased cultivation is being encouraged in Africa, where vitamin A deficiency is a serious health problem. Despite the name "sweet", it may be a beneficial food for diabetics, as preliminary studies on animals have revealed that it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and to lower insulin resistance.^[13] Some Americans, including television personality Oprah Winfrey, are advocating increased consumption of sweet potatoes both for their health benefits and because of their importance in traditional Southern cuisine.
A 100g root is reported to contain 108-121 calories, 68.5-72.3 g water, 1-1.7 g protein, 0.2-0.4 g fat, 25-31.0 total carbohydrate, 0.7-1.0 g ash, 21–36 mg Ca, 38–56 mg P, 0.7-2.0 mg Fe, 10–36 mg Na, 210–304 mg K, 35-5,280 µg beta-carotene equivalent, 0.09-0.14 mg thiamine, 0.04-0.06 mg riboflavin, 0.6-0.7 mg niacin, and 21–37 mg ascorbic acid.
The peptic substance (0.78 percent total, 0.43 percent soluble) present in fresh tubers contains uronic acid (60 percent) and methoxyl (4 to 5 percent). Other constituents include phytin (1.05 percent), two monoaminophosphatides (probably lecithin and cephalin), organic acids (oxalic acid), phytosterolin, phytosterol, resins, tannins, and colouring matter. Sweet potato contanins calcium, 30; magnesium, 24; potassium, 373; sodium, 13; phosphorus, 49; chlorine, 85; sulphur, 26; iron, 0.8 mg/100g; iodine, 4.5 µg/kg; manganese, copper and zinc are present in traces (Hug et al., 1983).

When buying sweet potatoes, select sound, firm roots. Handle them carefully to prevent bruising. Storage in a dry, unrefrigerated bin kept above 15deg Celcius is best. DO NOT REFRIGERATE, because temperatures below 15deg will chill this tropical vegetable giving it a hard core and an undesirable taste when cooked.Sweet potatoes add valuable, appetizing nutrients and color to any meal.
My mum used to make this little bite size sweet potato dumpling with fillings which is of 福清(Fu Qing-a clan in Foochow) origin. My mum is a person who make lovely food just with ''agak-agak'' (estimation) recipes. I made them today and will upload the recipes later. They tasted real good as they look......
I wander if these little delicacies can suitably call itself dim sum ? :-)

Fu Qing Sweet Potato Dumpling
Ingredients (make 20-24 pieces)

Wrapper

• 300 gm sweet potato-cleaned, peeled and cut into pieces
• 120 gm tapioca starch + additional 30 gm tapioca starch for dusting
  
• 50 gm wheat starch
• 1/2 tbsp lard/vegetable shortening/vegetable oil
• a pinch of salt
  
• 1 tsp icing sugar (optional-depend on the sweetness of your sweet potato)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil- for brushing after steaming
  

Fillings

• 250 gm mince meat-chicken/pork
• 4 stalks of spring onion-finely chopped
• 1 tbsp preserved sweet turnip/radish (Chai Po)-optional
  
• 1 tsp of finely chopped fresh ginger
  
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 1 tsp of sugar
  
• 1 egg-only use the egg white
• 1 tsp of corn flour

1. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl and let it marinate over night.
2. Next day, place the sweet potato into a pot, top up with water to cover them, boil for 15-20mins till soft. Use a fork to poke the potato, you should be able to poke through easily all the way through.
3. While the sweet potato is boiling, in a mixing bowl seive 120gm tapioca starch and 50gm wheat starch. Add in the vegetable oil/lard/vegetable shortening , icing sugar and salt.
4. Once the sweet potato is cook, drain immediately and add them into the tapioca, wheat starch mixture. Use a fork to mix and mesh the sweet potato with the starch. Continue to mix well. Once the dough is slightly workable with your hand, knead to combine well. If it's too sticky, dust with some additional tapioca starch so that it's workable. The dough should feel soft but not mushy. Let it rest for 15minutes or so covered with a damp towel.
   
5. Divide the dough to 20-24 portions. Roll with your hand each of them into a small ball. Press using your palm to form a circular shape wrapper, about 4mm thickness. Scoop about 1 tbsp of filling onto it, wrap like you would as wrapping pao. Repeat until done.
6. Prepare bamboo steamer, let it steam for 10-15minutes on high heat until cook. Remove from heat, brush the dumpling with some vegetable oil, this will ensure the skin will stay soft and glistening.
7. Garnish with some black sesame seed. Served with some soya sauce mixed with pickled ginger.
   

Enjoy of course.

Pampering Sunday Breakfast of Har Gow

Yes, awhile ago I did dim sum and forgotten to take pictures of the har gow that I made. So feeling rather motivated, firstly it's a beautiful Sunday morning with perfect blue sky and thought of pampering myself with these delicious little bite size indulgence for breakfast (Reminded myself repeatedly to take nice pictures of these little delicacies) .

Har Gow (Prawn Dumpling)
Ingredients

• 125 g Wheat starch (Tung Mein Fen)
  
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
  
• 1 teaspoon lard/vegetable oil (I prefer lard as it make the skin easier to work with)
  

Filling:

• 1/2 egg white
• 1 tsp of tapioca starch
• 1 tbsp of soda bicarbonate
  
• 300g medium sized prawn
  
• Bunchful of chives-chopped finely (optional)
  
• 1/2 tsp of shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of chicken stock granules
• 1 tsp of white pepper

Earlier preparation for prawn

1. Get the freshest prawn possible, you'll not regret it. Clean and devein the prawn. Put them onto a big bowl, fill with cold water, add in ice cube to make the water really cold, then add in the soda bicarbonate onto the cold water. Massage the prawn for about 2-3 minutes. You should notice the prawn will turn slightly transparent. Drained. Then rinse the prawn in icy cold water again. Drained. Pat dry with paper towel.
2. Diced the prawn (1 prawn chopped into 3 sections) . Add the egg white and tapioca starch and leave in the refrigerator overnight. This will ensure the prawn will be crunchy and bouncy.
3. The next day, you can add in all the seasoning ingredient and let it marinade for 30minutes.
   
   How to make har gow skin
   

1. Sift the wheat starch and tapioca starch into mixing bowl, add in the lard. Pour the boiling water and stir quickly with a spatula to form a dough.
   
2. Remove on to a work surface and knead with your hand to form a soft and smooth dough. If it's to soft, add some wheat starch, if it's too dry, add some lard/oil.
   
3. Roll into long strip and divide into 36portions. Use a roller to roll each portion thinly(as thin as possible). Then use a pastry cutter to cut it into circular shape. Using your thumb and index finger press thinly the edges, this will ensure easy pleating later on.
4. Place the prawn filling+chives or just prawn filling onto the wrapper. Use the same techniques as wrapping goutie/gyoza (needs some patience and practice) :-)
5. Cut a circular shape oil paper with holes to line the bamboo steamer. Brush the paper with some vegetable oil. You can use banana leave too.
6. Place the wrapped prawn dumping onto the bamboo steamer. Steam over medium heat for 8-10 minutes. At this stage the skin whould turn transparent.
7. Served hot with some chilli oil. Eat it while it's hot as the skin may turn hard if it's cold.
8. What an enjoyment with piping hot Chinese tea.
   

Feet Fetish

As the title suggest, one might had an impression that if something kinky is going on. Not at all. But of course some of you might find it offensive or rather giving that ''yeaks'' look !!! What am I bragging about.....
I'm talking about chicken feet/claw. This is considered one of the delicacies in dim sum dish. It is known as Phoenix Claw on dim menu [just to sound a bit posh]. I personally like it very much because of it's texture, some believed it contained high level of collagen deem good for our skin [note ladies] . This dish to many is a hate or love relationship. For me is love.

Braised Chicken Feet -鳳爪
Ingredients

• 15-20 chicken feet claws
  
• 4 dry shitake mushroom-soaked
  
• 2 -3 tbsp black vinegar
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 4 tbsp light soy sauce
• 300ml water
  
• 20 gm of rock sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 3 cloves garlic
• few slices of ginger
• 2-3 star anise
• 2 tsp five spice powder
• oil for deep frying
  

Marinate

• 2 tbsp of light soya sauce
• 1 tsp of dark soya sauce

1. Marinate the claws with the marinate ingredients and leave aside for an hour or so. This will give darker color to the claws.
2. Heat the oil for deep frying the claws. Please drained off any excess liquid from the claws. Once the oil is hot, add in the claws and deep fry. Please note the oil will splash during frying. It's good to have a lid to cover the wok so that your kitchen area won't be messy with splashing oil. Fry till brown. Remove and drain.
3. Then heat a pan, add in a tbsp of oil and fry the garlic, star anise and ginger. Add in mushroom and claws and stir fry till fragant. Then add in light soya sauce, water, vinegar, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, dark soya sauce, five spice powder and rock sugar. Off the heat once it started to boil.
4. Transfer (3) to a slow cooker and let it braised for 3-4hrs till the chicken claws are soft. You can add in 2-3tbsp of water if the sauces has reduced after braising.
   

Enjoy this authentic dim sum dish :-) .

Shiu Mai-Shrimp and Pork Dumpling

Homemade Wanton skin wrapper

• 120 gm plain flour
• 1 large egg
  
• dash of salt
  
• 2-3tbsp water
• tapioca starch/cornflour for dusting
  

1. Add in egg to plain flour+salt. Knead to mix well. Add in water and continue to knead the flour dough. If it's too dry, wet your hand with water and continue to knead till smooth. If it's too wet, dust it with some flour and continue to knead till smooth.
2. Let the dough to rest for 30minutes or so, cover with a damp cloth.
3. Then use pasta machine to make thin sheet. Start rolling through at thick sheet pasta option, roll eat option 3 times to bind well. Dust on both side with starch to avoid the pasta sticking together. Then continue to roll through till it reach to thinnest sheet option.
4. If it's not thin enough, you can use a rolling pin to roll to desired thickness, then cut into square pieces of 2.5x2.5 inches.
   

Shiu Mai
Ingredients A

• 100 gm minced pork
• 75 gm minced prawn
• 3 water chestnut-finely diced
• 3 stalk of spring onion - finely chopped

Ingredients B

• 1 tbsp of shaoxing wine
• 1 tbsp of white pepper
• 2 tbsp of soya sauce
• 1 tsp of sesame oil
• 1 tsp of rice vinegar
• 2 tsp corn starch
  

1. Mix ingredients A and B. Mix well .
2. Place a tablespoon of (1) onto the middle of wanton wrapper.
3. Curl you fingers toward your thumb, this should form letter O. Then place (2) through the O and fold the edges outward like a flower blooming. You can decorate the top with crab roe but for me I decorated with spring onion and a piece of red pepper.
   
4. Prepare a steamer and steam on high heat for 15minutes till cook.

Enjoy your shiu mai.
P/S: I do not have picture of steamed shiu mai as we're so busy eating that we forgot to snap :-)

Prawn and Mango In Shredded Filo Pastry

Most of my guests gave 2 thumbs up for this little delicacies. I've tried this dim sum in Hong Kong many years ago, but I added a twist to it by adding slices of mango to enhance the overall taste of this simple snacks and added a hint of fusion food to it. Please do give it a try to impress your guests. It's versatile enough to be added in your menu as a starter.

Prawn and Mango in Shredded Filo Pastry
Ingredients ( Make 20 rolls)

• 20 big prawns [ aproximately 250gm] - de-shelled, de-veined and cleaned
• 1/2 pack of filo sheet pastry[around 150gm]-shredded thinly like vermecilli
• 1 medium sized ripe mango-slice into 4cm x 1 cm x 1cm stick
  
• 1 egg as an egg wash
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tbsp of corn flour/tapioca starch/potato starch
• Oil for deep frying
  

1. Marinate the prawn with salt, egg white and starch. This will give your prawn a crunchy texture. Marinate overnight.
2. Pick up a handful of shredded pastry and spread them about 5 x 5 cm area. Place a prawn and a mango slice on one end, brush with egg wash on the prawn and mango, then roll them.
3. Repeat step (2) until complete
4. Heat up the oil in deep fryer or wok for frying. Once the oil is hot, put in the roll and fry for till golden color, flip to the other side and fry till golden color too. Removed and drained with kitchen paper towel or oil absorbing paper.
5. Served with salad cream, mayonaise or sweet chilli sauce.

Not only they look pretty, they taste good.
PS: You can substitute mango with banana as well.

Dim Sum Lunch on a perfect September Sunday afternoon

I was enjoying much of September weather here since I came back from holidays. Cool temperature of 20C and perfect blue sky reckon for a get together for lunch with friends to catch up or could have them around to be my culinary guinea pigs. ;-)
I just invited my friends over telling them it's gonna be a simple meal. Here's my list of DIY dim sum, making almost everything from scratch. :-)

Steamed stuff

1. Char Siew Bao - Roasted pork steam bun
   
2. Shiu Mai - Pork and shrimp dumplings
   
3. Har Kau - Shrimp dumplings
4. Lo Mai Kai - Chicken Glutinous Rice
5. Chee Cheong Fun - Rice rolls
6. Fong Zhao - Braised chicken feet
   

Baked stuff

1. Char Siew Soh - Roasted pork puff
2. Portuguese Egg Tarts

Fried stuff

1. Prawn and Mango in shredded pastry
   
2. Crispy chicken wings
3. Prawn crackers
4. Guo tie- Pot sticker

Noodles

1. Wanton noodle soup
   

Desserts

1. Fresh seasonal fruits

Let me share with you Portuguese Egg Tarts recipes which I learnt from fellow food blogger, a friend of mine (so moo food) . Please give this recipes a try :-) .
It turned out really well- crispy flaky tarts with creamy soft custard fillings. YUMMY.






I wonder my friends will be in for a surprise.......a LIGHT meal versus a FEAST.

Making Pao

This weekend is rather relaxing for me. Mainly because the weather is not that promising for the great outdoor. So I stayed home to experiment recipes which I've not try before or had ''failed'' before.
I browsed through my Hong Kong cookbook for bao recipes. I've failed making bao dough before and that kept me off awhile from trying to make them again. After browsing through internet for some advice on the secret of good & white fluffy bao dough, secrets are to have bleached flour(Hong Kong flour) and baking ammonia(hmnnn....this ammonia I will opt out as some research suggested that ammonia may not be good for the health). Now I understand why the dim sum restaurant had the perfect bao skin. After researching further, there are so many different type of flour for different purposes, the ingredient to distinguish them is the high or low content of protein in the flour. One of the flour for making bao is Hong Kong flour. It is considered bleach flour and has lower content of protein if I'm correct, which gives the bao it white color. I've searched high and low (noted: even to London Chinatown) for Hong Kong flour but still couldn't find them. There is ready made bao flour but at premium prices, instead I opt for multipurpose flour with wheat starch which is more economical and still giving the same texture (except not as white). So what's for the filling......Char Siew ;-)

Char Siew Bao (14-16 , 4 inches bao)
Dough

• 300 gm plain flour
• 120 gm wheat starch
• 90 gm icing sugar
• 7 gm instant yeast
• 200ml lukewarm water
• 20ml vegetable oil

• 1 tbsp baking powder + 15ml water [ added after dough has been rested for 4-5hrs]
  

Fillings

• 300 gm char siew diced
  
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp hoi sin sauce
• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seed
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp of water
• 1 tsp of sugar
  
• 1/2tsp corn starch with 1 tbsp of water
  

1. Sieve the flour, wheat starch, icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Make a whole in the middle and add in yeast, water, oil and stir to mix well. Then use your hand to knead relentlessly until the dough is smooth and non sticky to your hand.
2. Use a damp cloth to cover the dough and let it to rest for 4-5 hours or at least double in size. Warm temperature aids in dough rising, typically around 28C. For me I let it to rise in my sunroom which is very warm.
   
3. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Heat a tbsp of cooking oil and fry the onion till fragant. Add in char siew and stir fry for a minute or two. Then add in hoi sin sauce, water amd sesame seed, stir.
4. Then add in corn starch to thicken the mixture. Heat for another minute or so. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Once the dough has double in size give a good knead, mix the baking powder with the water and stir well ( no lumpy residue of baking powder visble). Mix them into the dough and knead again for about 5minutes. Let it to rise for a further 30minutes or so.
6. Then roll the dough on a work surface duster with some flour. Divide into 14-16 portions. Roll into a ball and flatten with a roller to about 3-4 inches in diameter. Scoop a tbsp of fillings onto the dough and pleat into a bao. Lay it on a parchment paper and place it in bamboo steamer. Continue to wrap the bao until finish. Make sure you leave some space for the bao to expand dring steaming (around 1 inch gap will do) Let it to rest for further 10minutes for it to rise before steaming.
7. Meanwhile bao is resting, prepare the wok with boiling water. Once it is boiling, place the bao in the steamer and steam for 15minutes. Served while it's piping hot with Chinese tea.

Verdict: My ma says it's quite good .....


And some lovely roses from my garden in June...... Enjoy

Floribunda rose : Birthday Girl

Hybrid tea : Pink rose

Floribunda rose : Princess of Wales

English rose : St. Cecile (the perfume is fantastic)

Char Siew Soh (Chinese roast pork puff)

Been awhile since I bake, mainly because my cranky oven make a hell lot of noise when in fan mode (luckily my neighbor has yet to complaint) and secondly it requires a long time even to bake muffins. So I decided to dismantle it and clean thoroughly the fan. With a little effort and some elbow grease, I managed to get the oven working less noisy and at least there is oven heat to bake :-).

I'm making char siew puff, yes I've make them many times before but never got the chance to upload them, either the photos were not up to my standard or rather the puffs were all long gone before I've the opportunity to shoot them. You decide :-).

Char Siew Puff is really nice to go with a cup of Chinese tea, my friend tend to go it with English tea. Whichever way, it is char siew puff that matters.

Char Siew Soh ( Chinese Roast Pork Puff)
Ingredients (make about 16 puffs)

Char Siew(Roast Pork)

• 300 gm pork fillet/ pork belly (nice with some fats)
• 1 big onion-diced
• 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
  

Marinating ingredient

• 4 tbsp honey/ 3 tbsp sugar
  
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp five spice powder
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp white pepper
  
• Natural red coloring (optional)

alternatively you can buy Lee Kum Kee Char Siew Sauce (use 3 tbsp sauce to marinate 300gm of pork)

Delicious Roast Pork just out from oven

Puff

• 350gm Just Roll Pastry Puff
• some sesame seed
• 1 egg yolk for brushing
  
  
  

1. Marinate the pork with char siew marinating ingredient and leave for at least 2hrs.
2. In a oven roast the pork at 180-190C for about 25-30mins, basting the pork with the marinating juice. You can switch to grilling for the last 5mins to get that charred look on pork.
3. Removed and cooled. Diced the pork into small pieces.
4. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp cooking oil, brown the onion until fragant, add in the roast pork and stir fry for 2-3mins. Add hoisin sauce, sugar, sesame seed and water and let it simmer for 4-5mins on low heat. It should be moist but not wet. Remove and let it cool.
5. For the puff, roll it into thickness of about 1.5mm. Cut into 2.5in x 3.5in rectangular. You should get about 16 pieces.
6. Lay the pastry, scoop a tbsp of char siew and roll, press both edge flat to form a pillow. Use a fork to imprint the fork mark onto both edges. Also make fork holes on the top side of the puff. This allow the inside ingredients to breath while cooking, else the puff will expand and breaks.
7. Continue for the rest. Lay them on a baking tray that has been layered with baking sheet or tin foil. Brush with egg yoke and sprinkled with some sesame seed.
8. Bake for 20mins on 190C, or till it turn golden brown.....look like a golden pillow :-) .

Heavenly Char Siew Soh as I called it Char Siew Puff .......

Yum Cha at 46

I have yet to find any yum cha (Chinese tea drinking) restaurant in Cambridge that do dim sum for brunch. Being rather an international place, I sometimes find it difficult to find authentic Chinese Asian cuisine here. Of course according to one of my "Ang Moh" friend, the best for value Chinese restaurant is none other than Jin Ling which is next to Corn Exchange in Cambridge city centre. I agree on the portion but as in the quality ( just so so). Thank goodness London is just an hour away by train, which to me primarily has much greater varieties, and secondly they cater to my South East Asian tastebud at a reasonable price. I always try to avoid "eat all you can" Chinese buffet as the foods there are really crap.
Having said that, I'm not that desperate enough to head down to Chinatown in London yet. Being able to prepare some authentic dim sum myself, I'm gonna made Loh Mai Kai [Glutinous Rice with chicken] and Guo Tie [potsticker] before the Saturday morning cycle ride. As usual, my cycle buddy has been chosen to be my homemade dim sum cuisine guinea pig. Homely invitation to : Yum Cha@46

Guo Tie ( Pot Sticker)

Guo Tie (Pot Sticker)

Ingredients
(Good for making 12 pieces of guo tie, 2 persons)

Guo Tie Skin

• 50 gm of flour
• 25 ml water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cooking oil

Fillings

• 150 gm minced pork
• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine or dry sherry
• 2 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 50 gm spring onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tbsp ginger juice (optional)

1. Prepare the filling. Put the minced pork in a bowl, add soya sauce, shaoxing wine, sesame oil, ginger juice and spring onion. Use a spoon to mix well and let it to marinate for at least 2 hours.
2. Prepare the skin, in amixing bowl pour in the flour, salt, then add water and oil. Knead well for about 5 minutes until it doesn't stick to your finger. If it's too dry, wet your hand with some water and knead, if it's too wet, dust your hand with flour and knead. Let it to rest for 15mins.
3. Roll the dough into long cylinder, divide into 12 little pieces of dough. Using a rolling pin , roll each pieces to form round skin of 3 inches in diameter, not too thick and not too thin.
4. On each skin, place a tbsp of fillings. Wrap and stick the edges, if you fancy you can plait it, if you're lazy like me I chose the former.
5. On a pan, lightly grease thinly with vegetable oil(roughly abot 1/2tbsp), on medium heat. Once heated place the guo tie into the pan(depending how big your pan is, mine able to accomodate 15 pieces at one go), brown on both side by turning them over. Once browned, pour some water(about 100ml) into the pan to let it steam cook, cover with lid, and lower the fire. Cook for 5mins until the liquid is dry, using a spatula try to lighly scrape the guo tie from the pan.
   
6. Serve with black vinegar (Chinkiang vinegar) and some ginger shread.

The skin is so easy to make, no need to run down to Chinese store to get gyoza wrapper. I prefer to do everything by scratch.

Note: If you want to keep it to cook later, make sure you dust enough flour to the guo tie else it will stick to the container and the skin will break. I prefer to make it and cook it immediately.

Loh Mai Kai

Loh Mai Kai (Glutinuos Rice with chicken)

Ingredients
(Good for making 4 little bowl, for 4 persons)

• 250g glutinous rice
• 2 cups water
• 100g chicken meat
• 50g lean pork meat
• 1 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), thinly sliced
• 10g black Chinese mushrooms, soaked and cut into thin slices
• 5 shallots, sliced
  

Seasoning (A):

• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp oyster sauce(optional)
• 1 tsp ginger juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cornflour
  

Seasoning (B):

• 1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder(I tend to use 1 tbsp, more fragant)
  

Method

Wash glutinous rice, then soak it for two to three hours. Steam it for 30 minutes.

Cut chicken and pork meat into slices. Marinate with seasoning (A) for about one to two hours.

Heat oil in a wok and saute shallots till fragrant. Add mushroom slices and stir fry quickly then dish up. Add cooked glutinous rice and seasoning (B) and water. Stir fry well for five minutes.

Grease four medium-size rice bowls. Add some fried shallots and mushroom slices, a few slices of Chinese sausages and seasoned chicken and pork slices. Fill up with glutinous rice and press down with a ladle.

Steam for 30-40 minutes. Turn over the rice bowl onto a plate and serve Loh Mai Kai with chilli sauce.

P/S: This recipes I downloaded from Kuali. I tried and it's really good.

By the way, we finished everything that's served on the table..... a sign of budding chef in the making :-) .

Yummy.... please, please don't drool over the nice pictures of my food. :-)