Tuesday 30 May 2017

Mushroom Soya Paste Pork Ribs Stew 香菇豆酱排骨



A delicious dish with tender pork ribs and mushroom, as well as sweet gravy to pour over your steamed rice ^^

Yield : 3~4 person servings

Ingredients 

500~550g pork ribs
6 shiitake mushrooms, soaked

1/2 bulb yellow onion, chopped 
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp preserved salted soya beans, mashed
1 tbsp rock sugar
Salt to taste 
2 tsp dark brown sugar
Starch water


Marinades

2 tsp rice wine
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp dark soya sauce
A few shakes of pepper powder


Directions

1. Rinse shiitake mushrooms and soak in hot water for about 20 to 30 minutes. Cover and set aside.


After the mushrooms have completely soaked, remove the mushroom stems and keep the mushroom water. Set aside



2. Rinse pork ribs and marinate with only rice wine and raw sugar for about 15 to 20 minutes.


After 15 to 20 minutes, pour in the rest of the marinades. Mix well, cover and set aside for about 30 to 60 minutes.


3. Heat up a tbsp of olive oil in a pot. Stir-fry the chopped garlic till golden. Then stir in the chopped onion. Stir fry till fragrant and onion slightly soften.


4. Add in the salted soya bean paste and continue to stir-fry till fragrant.


5. Add in the marinated pork ribs and soaked shiitakes mushrooms, stir-fry till the exterior of the ribs are cooked.




6. Pour in the shiitake mushroom water and hot water to a height of about 4/5 the ingredients' height. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer for about 20 minutes to an hour. 
The longer the simmering time, the softer will be the ingredients.










7. Towards the end of the simmering, add in rock sugar and salt. The rock sugar helps to give the dish a glossy look. 
You can replace the rock sugar by sugar.



8. Finally, add some starch water to thicken the gravy. Sprinkle some cut green scallions and chinese coriander leaves and serve with warm rice 😋







Steamed Dark Brown Sugar Cake 蒸黑糖鸡蛋糕


A soft and light cake with a subtle dark brown sugar taste. You may not appreciate this cake if you prefer strong flavour cakes 🍰 Avoid taking the cake with strong flavour beverages, like coffee or hot chocolate, which may dull your taste buds 🚫☕
 

No baking powder nor baking soda is needed, the cake raises purely based on the leavening power of the beaten egg🌻



All ingredients in room temperature
Using 55g Omega 3&6 egg

Ingredient A
55g fresh milk 鲜奶
35g dark brown sugar 黒糖*
10g rice bran/mild flavour vegatable oil 米糠/植物油

Ingredients B
60g top/cake flour 低筋面粉
10g corn starch 栗米粉

Ingredient C
2 egg whites 蛋白
Pinch of salt 盐
35g raw sugar 黄砂糖
2 egg yolks 蛋黄

* I used organic dark brown sugar.


Directions 

1. Line a 14 cm round cake tin with parchment paper.

2. Mix ingredient A together in a heat resistant bowl.and set aside.


Heat the mixture in a rice cooker using "Keep Warm" function for about 5 to 8 minutes. 

Stir to dissolve the dark brown sugar. Let the brown sugar mixture cool down slightly before using.

3. Loosen ingredient B in a bowl using a hand whisk. Set aside.


4. In a clean and dry mixing bowl, sprinkle a pinch of salt over the egg whites of Ingredient C, and beat till frothy. 

Slowly add in the raw sugar, in 3 batches. Continue to beat till the whisks can draw up a long and narrow meringue.


5. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Continue to beat till the batter can hold its shape for at least 5 seconds.



6. Fold in ingredient A and B in alternating sequence. Start with flour and end with flour.



7. Give the batter a thorough mixing using a spatula. Ensure no liquid ingredients sink at the bottom.
Do not over mix.

8. Pour the batter into the lined cake pan. 


Steam at medium heat for 5 minutes. The duration will depend on the batter temperature. This is also the duration for the centre of cake to rise from concave to plateau. 
Reduce the heat to low and continue to steam for about 12 to 15 minutes, or till an inserted cake tester drew out clean.
Keep the temperature low, so the cake will not rise too high and form a high dome top.
Do not open the lid while the cake is steaming! The cake will collapse if this happens.


When the top of the batter starts to flatten from concave, it is time to lower the heat.
When the batter rises, it will starts to rise from the side, and gradually move towards the centre. So the centre of the cake is the last to be inflated.

End of steaming. Test the cake with a cake tester while the cake is still in the pot. 


Drop the hot cake with the pan 3 times from a height of about 10cm. This is to prevent the cake from over shrinking.

9. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, before transferring out.
Let the cake cools down completely on a wire rack.



10. After the cake has completely cooled down, slice the cake and enjoy it 😋







Monday 29 May 2017

Sweet Melon Milk Bun 蜜瓜甜面包


An unique bread which carries a faint melon flavour - not noticeable, but you know it is there 🍈 Therefore, try not to dull your taste bud with strong flavour beverages like coffee, before tasting this mild melon flavour bread 🤗❌☕


The Meiji melon flavoured low-fat milk and natural yeasts are the two key ingredients in this bread recipe.

While the Hokkaido cheddar cheese is the key ingredient in giving the bread a rich milk taste filling 🍶



Yield: 9 mini buns in one 20cm square pan
Bread weight: 512g
Raw dough weight: 462g
Appliances
Mayer MMBM12 breadmaker 面包机

Ingredients

110g cold melon flavoured milk 冷蜜瓜味牛奶
35g raw sugar 黄砂糖
20g beaten egg 蛋液
1/4 tsp salt 盐

185g unbleached bread flour 无漂白高筋面粉
20g  Superfine Wholegrain flour 超幼全麦/中筋面粉
8g milk powder 奶粉
1/4 tsp instant dry yeast 即发酵母粉
50g natural yeast (100%hydration) 天然酵母∆

To be added at the 10th minute
30g cold unsalted butter 冷无盐奶油

Filling
60g Hokkaido grated cheddar cheese

Toppings
Some bread flour & matcha for sprinkling 面粉做表面装饰

∆ 50g natural yeast can be replaced by 25g each of bread flour and water, together with 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast.

Directions:

1. Line a 20cm square pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. Pour all the bread dough ingredients, except the butter, into the bread pan following the sequence listed. Transfer the bread pan to the bread maker.
I prefer to mix the flours and milk powder together before adding to the bread pan.


Select "C-11" Ferment Dough function; and press "Start". The mixing, kneading and first fermentation will take 1 hour 30 minutes. As the dough would be performing​ overnight cold fermentation, the program would be terminated manually.

3. When the countdown timer reads "1:20", add in the cold unsalted butter.

4. When the countdown timer reads "0:45", the kneading blade will rotate about 7 revolutions. Give the "Stop" button a long press to terminate the program manually.

Remove the dough from the bread pan, and transfer to a plastic bag lightly coated with oil. Tie a loose knot at the end.

Wrap with a second plastic bag, and keep in a mixing bowl covered with a lid. Squeeze out most of the air from both bags.

Keep in the fridge for overnight cold fermentation.


5. In the next day, take out the dough from the fridge 1 hour prior to shaping.  Remove the outer plastic bag, invert the dough, and let it thaw for about 1 hour.

6. Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Flatten it with your palm to release the trapped air.
 Divide the dough into 9 portions, about 53g each.


7. Roll up the individual dough and shape into ball by pulling down the side of the dough, and seal at the bottom.

Cover and rest for about 15 minutes.

8. Take a dough and roll out flat using a rolling pin.

Flip over and place about 6g of grated cheese in the centre.

Wrap up the dough and pinch to seal.

Cup your hand and let the dough roll within to shape.


9. Place into the lined baking pan.

Spray some water and let the dough proof in a closed oven for about 40 to 50 minutes, or when the dough almost double in size.



10. Remove the baking pan from the oven. Start to preheat the oven to 180° Celsius.

11.Sprinkle some bread flour on the surface of the dough.

Snip some pattern using a pair of scissors. This step is optional.


12. When the dough is in the oven, reduce the temperature from 180 degree Celsius to 160 degree Celsius, at the lowest rack, for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 150 degree Celsius, and bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or till the top slightly brown.
  

End of baking.


13. Remove the bread from the oven, and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

 You can sprinkle some matcha powder over the crust. This step is optional too.


14. Lift the bread out of the baking pan after about 5 minutes, and onto a cooling rack .


Enjoy :)