Cheesey Double Cream Buns

 

 

I have some double cream left over from my cooking. Double cream as compared to whipping cream is thick with around 48 per cent fat content (whipping cream has around 36 per cent). So I experimented with it in my bread dough. The result was supersoft and fluffy buns, more so than the buns using whipping cream. And the buns were very delicious.

Ingredients:

• 325 g bread flour
• 135 g warm milk
• 3 g yeast
• 40 g sugar
• 150 g double cream
• 7 g salt
• 50 g grated Mozzarella cheese

Method:

• Add 135 g warm milk into the bowl of a stand mixer. (If you do not have fresh milk at home, then you may mix 26 g of milk powder with hot water till you get 135 g of milk.)

• Add sugar to the bowl and stir till it dissolves into the milk.

• Let the milk cool a bit before adding the yeast. Stir.

• Wait for about 5 - 10 minutes till you see bubbles are formed.

• Add double cream to the bowl.

• Add bread flour and salt to the bowl.

• Start the machine to knead till window pane is achieved.

• Grease a clean bowl and transfer the dough to it. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to your counter top.

• Punch down the dough to degas.

• Form the dough into a ball.

• Using your bench knife cut the dough, first into 4 and then 8 and finally 16.

• Roll each of the 16 pieces of dough balls and place them onto a greased and lined 9 inch x 9 inch pan.

• Cover the pan with cling wrap and let the dough balls rise till double in size.

• Meanwhile pre-heat your oven to 175 deg C.

• Once the dough balls have double in size, sprinkle grated Mozzarella cheese on top of them.

• Bake them for 20 minutes. (Tent your pan with aluminium foil if your oven is too hot and the top of the buns are turning dark too soon.)

• When baked, remove the buns from the parchment paper and pan onto a metal rack to let them cool down.

• Enjoy.

Pan-fried Meatballs with Cabbage, Carrot and Mushroom

We can make meatballs in different variations, some plain while others with added ingredients like mash potatoes, mushroom, cabbage, carrot and others. All these ingredients will change the flavour and taste of the meatballs. No matter what we add to the minced meat, the meatballs will end up delicious. Here, for the first time, I tried adding mushrooms, cabbage and carrots and the meatballs were simply delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 pc Shiitake mushroom
• 100 g minced pork
• 50 g carrots
• 50 g cabbage
• 50 g onions
• 1 stalk green onion
• 1 stalk coriander (may add more for a more distinct taste)
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Cooking oil

Method:

• Soak Shiitake mushroom. When it has softened, dice it finely.

• Dice onions, carrot and cabbage.

• Cut green onions into small pieces and chop coriander finely.

• Heat up pan with some oil.

• When it has been heated up, add mushroom and saute them till fragrant.

• Add carrots, cabbage and onion and fry till they are soft and cooked. Let them cool down.

• Add the carrots, cabbage, onion, green onion and coriander to the minced pork.

• Add flour.

• Season with light soy sauce, pepper and salt.

• Mix them up well.

• Heat a pan with some oil.

• Spoon the mixture onto your palm and shape it into a ball. Then flatten the ball.

• Place the flattened ball onto the pan.

• Pan fry them till both sides are golden brown.

• Remove and serve.

Spicy Tofu

 Tofu is a common source of plant-based protein. Thus, it is commonly found in vegetarian dishes. There are different varieties of tofu according to its softness and texture. The softest ones are usually steamed and drizzled with garlic oil, green onions and light soy sauce to form a dish. Or, they are cut into cubes to be cooked in soup. The harder ones are usually cut or sliced and stir fried with vegetables. They can also be deep fried and cooked into a dish on its own like what I have done.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of semi-hard tofu
• 1 onion, slice into rings
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp chili paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1-1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Cooking oil for deep frying
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

Method:

• Slice the 2 pieces of tofu into 2 horizontally. Then cut them into triangles.

• Heat up a kuali with cooking oil.

• Deep fry the triangles till they are golden brown.

• Drain and remove them from the kuali into a bowl and set it aside.

• Remove the cooking oil from the kuali leaving about 1 tbsp of oil behind.

• Add onion rings to the kuali. Fry them till they are transparent. Remove and set them aside them.

• Add garlic to the kuali. Fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add chili paste and continue frying till the chili is fragrant.

• Add water to the kuali. Then add the seasonings - light and dark soy sauce and salt.

• Let the sauces boil. Once the sauces start to boil, return the deep fried tofu to the kuali.

• Braise the tofu till they are softer and the sauces have reduced.

• Return the onion to the kuali and fry them till they are mixed with the tofu.

• Dish up.

• Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds on the tofu.

• Serve.

Chocolate-filled Mushroom-shaped Buns

  

 

The Chocolate-filled Mushroom-shaped Buns were a fad once upon a time. Many bakers found the shape, especially the pattern on the buns which are similar to those of the dried Shiitake mushroom so fascinating that they baked them. However, I did them a bit differently by filling the buns with chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

• For the dough:
• 325 g bread flour
• 150 g warm milk
• 30 g sugar
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 40 g butter

• Chocolate chips (2 tsp per dough ball)

• For topping
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 3 tbsp water

Method:

• Activate the yeast:
• Add warm milk to a cup.
• Add sugar to the warm milk and stir to dissolve the sugar.
• Sprinkle the yeast onto the milk and stir to mix them up.
• Let them sit for 10 minutes till bubbles have been formed.

• Add bread flour, salt and egg to the bowl of a mixer.

• Add the yeast mixture to the bowl.

• Knead till a dough ball is formed.

• Add butter and continue to knead till window pane is achieved.

• Grease a clean bowl. Transfer the dough ball into the bowl. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap.

• When the dough has doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and punch it down to degas.

• Divide the dough into smaller pieces according to the number of buns that you would like to have.

• Shape each piece into round dough balls.

• Take 1 dough ball and flatten it.

• Spoon 2 tsp of chocolate chips onto the flattened dough.

• Take the edge of the flattened dough and seal it.

• Roll till the dough is round and smooth.

• Place it into a cupcake liner.

• Place it into muffin tin.

• Repeat till all the dough balls have filled, shaped, put into cupcake liners and into the muffin tin.

• Mix cocoa powder, rice flour and water into a smooth paste. Spread the paste onto each dough ball.

• Let them proof till double in size. (When this happens, the cocoa paste will crack and form the pattern of a Shiitake mushroom.)

• Bake them in pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 25 minutes.

• Remove the buns from the muffin tin onto a metal rack.

• Let them cool down completely.

Banana Cake

Bananas are found in abundance in Malaysia. But not only that; there are many types or varieties that one can choose from. Some bananas can only be eaten raw while others can be cooked or baked into cakes and bread. One can peel, slice and coat the bananas with flours and deep-fried to form banana fritters. Or, the bananas can be mashed, mixed with flours to form banana fritter balls. Bananas can also be cooked with santan, sago and sugar to make Pisang Pengat. Bananas can be made into delicious cakes, many types of kuih and bread. I usually use Pisang Berangan for all these as they are very aromatic, very sweet and can be found everywhere.

Ingredients:

• 225 g cake flour (all-purpose flour can also be used)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 145 g sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 170 g mashed banana
• 4 eggs
• 225 g melted butter (do not add the salt if using salted butter)

Method:

• Sieve cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl.

• Add mashed bananas to flour and mix them up.

• Using a hand mixer, whisk the eggs till they are fluffly. Add the whisked eggs to the banana mixture in thirds till all eggs have been used up. Mix them up using the hand mixer.

• Add the melted butter to the banana batter and use the hand mixer to incorporate the melted butter into the batter. The batter is runny.

• Pour the batter into a greased and lined 8 inch x 4 inch loaf pan.

• Bake it in a pre-heated oven at 175 deg C for 50 minutes.

• Check to see if the cake is cooked by inserting a wooden skewer into it. The skewer should come out clean.

• Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before transferring it to a metal rack to let it cool down completely.

• Enjoy.

Lo Mai Gai (Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken)

Lo Mai Gai is a savoury dish sold in Chinese dim sum restaurants. It is steamed glutinous or sticky rice topped with chicken, Shiitake mushroom and Chinese sausage slices. It usually comes in small metal bowls which is overturned onto a plate when brought to the customers in these restaurants. Nowadays, we do not have to patronise these dim sum restaurants to savour them. We are able to buy them from stalls selling Chinese buns which are usually located outside coffee shops. While these are delicious, we find them to be too oily. By cooking them ourselves (and it is easy to make them) we are able to reduce the amount of oil and salt and add more ingredients like the chicken, Shiitake mushrooms and Chinese sausage or lap cheong to make them even more delicious. 

Ingredients:

• For the rice: (5 pax)
• 2 cups glutinous rice, soaked for at least 4 hours
• 5 shallots (or more), chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp dried prawns (small size), soaked
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

• For the ingredients:
• 10 slices of chicken, either thigh or breast meat
• 2 pcs Shiitake mushroom, soaked and cut into 5 big or 10 smaller pieces
• 2-inch ginger, chopped and squeezed for the juice)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 pc Chinese sausage, soak, remove casing and cut into 10 slices
• 1/2 cup water

• Garnishing
• 1 stalk green onion, cut into small pcs

Method:

• Wash and soak the glutinous rice for a minimum of 4 hours. (However, I prefer to soak them overnight so that it takes a shorter period to cook.)

• Marinate the chicken and mushroom with ginger juice, salt, 5-spice powder, sesame oil, light and dark soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine for at least 2 hours.

• Add cooking oil to a kuali. (I use only 3 tbsp but add more if you want a more oil Lo Mai Gai.)

• Fry the dried prawns till they are fragrant. Remove them and set aside.

• Saute the shallots and garlic till they are fragrant.

• Add the dried prawns back to the kuali.

• Add the glutinous rice and fry them.

• Add light and dark soy sauce, salt, 5-spice powder and pepper and continue to fry them till all are well-mixed. (You may add more dark soy sauce if you wish for the rice to be darker.)

• Stir-fry the rice for a few minutes till the rice is fragrant.

• Add 1/2 cup of water to the rice and continue to fry the rice till the water is absorbed.

• Meanwhile, fill a steamer with water and boil the water.

• Transfer the rice to a metal plate. Put the plate into the steamer to steam the rice till partially cooked, approximately 15 minutes.

• Taste the rice when done. Add more light soy sauce if you like it to be more salty.

• While the rice is being steamed, use the same kuali to fry the Chinese sausage slices till oil comes out. Remove the sausage slices without the oil and set them aside.

• Use the sausage oil to fry the chicken and mushroom slices. Add 1/2 cup of water to the kuali and fry them till they are cooked.

• To assemble, place 2 pieces of marinated chicken, 1-2 mushroom pieces (depending how you cut them (black part facing downward) and 2 pieces Chinese sausages on the base of the bowl. (My bowl measures 10.5 cm in diameter.)

• Scoop the glutinous rice into the bowl covering the ingredients.

• Spoon the remainder sauce from the chicken to the rice.

• Cover the bowl with aluminium foil to prevent water from getting into the rice during steaming. Take care not to let the foil touch the rice.

• Steam the rice for 30 minutes till it is fully cooked. Add more time if the rice is not fully cooked or you prefer a softer rice texture.

• It can be served hot or cold.

• Garnish with green onions before serving.

• Note: It can be frozen if you cannot finish them. Just take them out from the freezer and place on the table to return them to room temperature. Steam for a short period before serving them.

Spicy Stir-fried Pineapple

 

 

Spicy Stir-fried Pineapple reminds me of my late mother. She loved it and cooked it often. Like her, I also love this dish which is easy to dish out. I usually use Morris pineapple as it is slightly sour compared to other species.

Ingredients:

• 450 g cut pineapple
• 2-3 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 chili padi, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp sugar (or more for a sweeter taste)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp corn flour + 3 tbsp water

Method:

• Peel, remove the eyes and core pineapple. Cut the pineapple into bite sizes.

• Add 2-3 tbsp cooking oil to the wok.

• Saute the garlic till fragrant but not brown.

• Add chili padi to the wok. This is to ensure a very spicy dish. If you do not wish for the dish to be too spicy, then add the chili padi when you are frying the pineapple.

• Add the pineapple to the wok and stir-fry it.

• Add water to the wok. Simmer the pineapple till it is soft.

• Add sugar to the wok. Add more if you want a sweeter dish.

• Add salt (can add more or to taste) to the pineapple. Stir-fry till it is dissolves.

• Add corn flour mixture and stir-fry till the pineapple looks glossy.

• It is ready to be served.