Chocolate Bread

 

On most mornings we have bread for breakfast as it is convenient. The type of bread depends on what I decide to bake in the morning or the night before. Usually sourdough, no knead ciabatta and focaccia breads take a longer time to prepare and bake so I have to do it a day earlier before we can enjoy them. Others require only 1 or 2 proofing and can be made on the day that we want to eat. 

Ingredients:

• 640 g bread flour
• 60 g cocoa powder
• 120 g castor sugar
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 290 ml warm milk
• 2 grade A eggs
• 75 g butter
• 100 g chocolate shavings
• Topping - chocolate chips or any nuts

Method:

• Put the bread flour, cocoa power, sugar, yeast and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Turn on low speed to mix all the ingredients.

• Add milk into the bowl.

• Add in the eggs.

• Knead the ingredients until the dough forms into a ball.

• Add butter to the dough and continue to knead.

• Knead the dough till window pane is achieved.

• Grease a clean bowl.

• Transfer the dough to the greased bowl.

• Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and let the dough proof till it doubles in size.

• Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer it to a slightly floured surface.

• Punch down the dough and knead it by hand for another 5-10 minutes.

• Shape the dough back into a dough.

• Roll out the dough into a rectangle.

• Spread the chocolate shavings onto the rectangle.

• Roll up the dough according to the length of the bread pan. (I use a 9 inch x 4 inch x 4 inch bread pan.)

• Cover the bread pan with a moist towel and let it proof a second time.

• Pre-heat the oven at 175 deg C.

• When the dough is ready to be baked, brush the top with some milk. Spread some chocolate chips or nuts on top.

• Bake at 175 degrees Centigrade for 25 minutes.

• When done, remove the pan from the oven immediately and the bread from the pan.

• Wait for the bread to be cooled down before slicing it up.

Spinach Egg Roll

Spinach Egg Roll is a very delicious dish. Stir-fried spinach by itself tastes very good and if enclosed in eggs will taste even better. It is simple to be cooked up especially when most of us would definitely have this vegetable and eggs in our refrigerator. Most of the time when I stir-fry spinach, I would remove some to be made into spinach egg roll.

Ingredients:

• 150 g spinach
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Some cooking oil

• 3 eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
• Some cooking oil

Method:

• Heat up some cooking oil in a wok.
• Sauce the garlic till fragrant.
• Add the spinach.
• Season it with salt, light soy sauce and pepper.
• Dish up when cooked.
• Let the spinach cool down.
• Drain it so that it is dry.
• Use a pair of kitchen scissors or knife to cut it into small pieces.
• Set aside.

• Separate egg white from the yolk.
• Add seasonings of salt, pepper and light soy sauce to the yolk.
• Brush some cooking oil onto a non-stick pan.
• Lightly beat the egg white and pour it into the non-stick pan.
• Swirl the pan so that the egg white covers the pan evenly.
• Wait for the egg white to cook slightly.
• Spread the cooked spinach onto one side of the egg white.
• Using a spatula, roll up the egg white to cover the spinach, pulling the egg white to the edge of the pan as you roll it up and leaving a space for the egg yolk.
• Pour the egg yolk into that space to join up with the egg white.
• Wait for the egg yolk to cook and then continue to roll it up from where we stopped.
• Remove the roll from the pan.
• Slice it up and serve.

Pandan Min Chiang Kuih with Coconut Filling

 

Traditionally Min Chiang Kuih is made from plain wheat flour or all-purpose flour with fillings of peanut, sugar and butter. However, I have modified my recipe of this kuih by using pandan juice instead of water in mixing the batter. I have used coconut flakes to replace roasted peanuts as the filling.

Ingredients (for making 2 thick pieces of 24 cm in diameter):

Fillings:

• 120 g fresh coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 25 g castor sugar

Batter:

• 250 wheat flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 50 g sugar
• 300 ml pandan juice (made from 10 pandans leaves)
• 2 eggs

Pan:

• 24 cm non-stick with cover

Method:

• Prepare the fillings.
• Steam the coconut flakes with salt.
• After steaming, set aside.

• Prepare the batter.
• Blend the pandan leaves with water to obtain 300 ml of pandan juice.
• Put the dry ingredients - flour, instant yeast, baking soda and sugar into a mixing bowl.
• Add the pandan juice to the dry ingredients.
• Whisk till the batter is smooth.
• Crack the two eggs into the batter.
• Mix until they are incorporated into the batter.
• Cover the batter with a cling wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes. (Important step for the batter to rise well during cooking.)

• Making the kuih.
• Put the non-stick pan over very low heat.
• Without greasing the pan, scoop 1/2 of the batter into the pan (to get a thick kuih).
• Swirl the pan so that the batter is spread evenly throughout.
• Cover the pan and let the batter cook for about 4-5 minutes or till holes are formed on the surface and the bottom is brown.
• Once the batter is cooked, remove the kuih onto a cutting board.
• Cut the kuih into 2.
• Sprinkle the coconut and sugar onto one half of the kuih.
• Cover it with the other half.
• Repeat the process until the other half of the batter is used up.
• Serve.

Yam Pork Rolls

My family and I love yam. I can easily buy yam during pasar tani days near my house. And most important the yam are very good; they are powdery and soft when cooked. Today I modified my Bak Kian recipe to incorporate yam into it to add a new dimension to the rolls. They are as tasty as the bak kian.

Ingredients:

• 500 g minced pork
• 300 g yam (without skin)
• 50 g finely chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 9-10 bean curd sheets cut to the size of 1/2 of an A4 paper
• A small bowl of water
• Cooking oil for frying

Method:

• Steam and mash yam. The texture depends on whether you would like to bite into the yam or not. I mash them roughly so that I can bite into tiny bits and pieces of them.

• Add minced pork to a large bowl.

• Add all the other ingredients to it and mix till they are well incorporated.

• Apportion these meat fillings into 9 or 10 portions as we do not want any leftover or insufficient fillings at the end. (Nine portions for a thicker roll and ten for a thinner one.)

• Get ready a small bowl of water for sealing the roll.

• Take a piece of the bean curd sheet and put 1 portion of the filling on top of it.

• Bring each shorter sides in.

• Then roll up the bean curd sheet with meat fillings from one end of the longer side to the other.

• Or, you can just roll up the longer side to the other end and just tuck the ends under the roll. (But I think you will get a neater roll with the earlier method.)

• Heat up a pan with cooking oil.

• When the oil is hot, put the rolls side by side.

• When the bottom has turned brown, flip the roll to the other side.

• Once this side has also turned brown, dish it out onto a plate lined with kitchen towel to soak up excess oil.

• Serve.

Cheesey Sweet Milk Buns

 

I love eating milk buns as they are rich, soft and fluffy. Sometimes I add fillings such as grated coconut cooked with gula Melaka to my milk buns to make them into Coconut Buns. At other times I add chocolate chips, garlic butter, sausages, chicken cocktails or cheese slices to my milk buns. Shaping of the buns depend on the fillings.

This round I added more sugar and topped the buns with lots of Mozzarella cheese to make them into Cheesey Sweet Milk Buns.

Ingredients:

• 550 g bread flour
• 40 g milk powder
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 100 g sugar
• 120 g warm water
• 130 g whipping cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 50 g butter
• 100 g Mozzarella cheese or more

Instructions:

• Activate the yeast:
• Add warm water to a bowl.
• Add about half of the sugar to the bowl.
• Add instant yeast to the bowl.
• Stir and wait for 5-10 minutes for bubbles to be formed.

• Add bread flour, remaining sugar and salt to the bowl.

• Add yeast mixture, whipping cream and eggs to the bowl.

• Knead till a dough ball is formed.

• Add butter to the dough ball.

• Continue 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.

• Divide your dough ball into smaller dough balls. (My small dough ball weighs 30 g each.)

• Roll each dough ball and place them onto a greased and lined 15 inch x 11 inch pan. (This is my Swiss roll 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.

Chicken Potato Nuggets

     

Today I decided to create something new for my son. He must have been bored with fried chicken, curry chicken and steamed chicken. Although he has eaten chicken nuggets he has never eaten chicken potato nuggets. Neither have I. Looking around I saw many potatoes in my kitchen. If I were to leave them for another week I think I would have to bin them. So I thought "how about making chicken potato nuggets"? Using my imagination I just thought about the logical processes of making these nuggets using the tools that I have in my kitchen. Besides the potatoes I have my favourite coriander which would definitely add flavour to the nuggets, onions, eggs, cornflour and all the seasonings which I think would make my nuggets flavourful. So, after 1.5 hours my nuggets are ready. Of course the next make would be easier and take less time.

Ingredients:

•  250 g chicken breast
• 140 g potatoes
• 50 g onions
• 10 g coriander
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 1 egg

Method:

• Cube the chicken breast.

• Cube the potatoes and boil them till they are soft. Let them cool down.

• Add chicken breast, potatoes and onions into the grinder/blender/food processor.

• Grind all the ingredients till they form a paste.

• Transfer the paste to a mixing bowl.

• Wash and chop up the coriander.

• Add the chopped coriander to the paste.

• Add child flakes, black pepper, salt, cornflour and egg to the mixing bowl.

• Mix all the ingredients till they are evenly incorporated.

• Oil a steaming plate.

• Transfer the paste to the steaming plate. Level the top of the paste with a spatula.

• Prepare a steamer.

• Once the water in the steamer has boiled, put the steaming plate of paste in.

• Steam the paste for 20 minutes or till cooked.

• Remove the plate from the steamer and let the cooked paste cool down.

• Invert the cooked paste onto a cutting board.

• Cut it into rectangular shape.

• You may pan fry, deep fry or air fry them. (You may keep them in the fridge and pan fry, deep fry or air fry them the next day.)

• Your nuggets are ready to be served.

Brinjal in Garlicky Sweet Spicy Vinegar

 

I usually like to deep fry my brinjal as I find it most tasty when done. The same goes to all other deep fried foods like banana, cempedak and sweet potato fritters, vegetable fritters, fish, etc. However, these deep fried foods may not be so healthy. Steaming our food would be a better option at times. So, today I had steamed my brinjal and then drizzled it with garlicky sweet spicy vinegar. This dish can really whet our appetite.

Ingredients:

• 1 brinjal
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3 chili padi
• 75-100 ml rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Method:

• Wash and cut the brinjal into 4 width wise. Then cut each piece into 4 quarters lengthwise.

• Steam the brinjal till they are very soft.

• Use two forks to break up the brinjal into strips. This is to ensure that the brinjal can get the sauce later. Set aside.

• Chop the garlic.

• Chop the chili padi.

• Heat up the cooking oil in a wok.

• When the oil is hot, add the chopped garlic to the wok. Saute it till fragrant but not brown.

• Add the chili padi.

• Add the rice vinegar. When the sauce boils, turn off the fire.

• Add sugar to the vinegar. Stir till it dissolves.

• Add the salt. Stir to mix.

• Pour the sauce over the brinjal.

• Serve with white rice.