Sausage buns

Every time I walk past 'Breadtop', there is an ever-present mysterious mystical force urging me buy their yummy sausage buns as a snack for boss man and the toddler!  (that force is also known as childhood memory)  However, part of me always feel bad buying and eating them - it's the same guilty feeling as when I eat the yummy and yet "sinful" instant noodles! 

So when mum messaged me this cool recipe from her Chinese baking cookbook, I was determined to try because at least I can control the ingredients (some sausages are more sinful than the others). It was a success at first go!  So I think it's pretty forgiving for beginners. 

Now that I know what exactly goes in there, I feel more comfortable feeding this to my toddler. It is fun to make, delicious fresh out of the oven, and smells heavenly! No more 'Breadtop' buns for us!




Ingredients:

Sweet Bun Dough:

500g bread flour (High gluten flour)

1 satchet yeast (7g)

100g castor sugar

1 tsp salt

270ml water

50g butter (softened)

Filling:

20 cocktail sausages

Glazing:

1 egg lightly beaten 

sesame seeds

Method: 

1. Mix bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt in a mixing bowl. Slowly pour in water.

2. Use slow speed to knead the dough until gluten is formed- approx 10 minutes (can be pulled into thin sheet without tearing).

3. Add butter and knead till well combined.

4. Remove dough from mixing bowl, shape into a smooth ball and put into a greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth.

5. Leave aside to prove till double in bulk. To test, press with finger- the depression should rise up and back to shape.

6. Punch down and knead till smooth (approx 5-8 minutes).

7. Leave aside to rest for 15 minutes.

8. Divide into 20 equal portions. Shape each portion into a roll about 18cm long.

9. Wrap dough around sausage showing two ends.

10. Arrange sausage rolls on a baking tray. Leave to prove for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle on some sesame seeds 

11. Bake at 200°C till golden brown, about 12-15 minutes.

Tips:

1. The sweet bun dough is great for many types of fillings including chicken, sardine, red bean paste etc!

2. For sardine filling- mix 1 can of tomato sardine with 1 T of finely diced onions, and a pinch of sugar. Roll dough into flat circular round, place sardine filling in the middle, wrap up filling and form into balls.

3. Regarding Step 5: Leave dough to prove for at least 1.5 hours or as long as possible. There was once, I started the dough early in the morning, and completely forgotten about it till the end of the day... the dough got so huge and almost spilt over the bowl onto the kitchen counter. The silver lining was: it yielded the BEST and fluffiest bun ever!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

In Australia we eat approximately 470 millions chicken a year.  That's equivalent to 20 chicken per person per year.  Boss man is someone who is out there to beat that average by miles because he loves to eat chicken.  And out of all chicken dishes, this Hainanese Chicken Rice is his favourite dish.

The chicken is poached gently in water till tender and juicy, the chicken rice garlicky and buttery (optional of course), combined with fragrant special soy sauce and lemony garlic chilli sauce… every spoonful is accompanied with a satisfied: MMMMmmmmmm!!! Even the little toddler knows it’s a special day when mummy cooks this! 

The following is my version- tweaked from many fun attempts =)

Hainanese chicken rice:

Step 1- for poached chicken:

1 whole chicken (reserve 2 T of chicken fat/skin for chicken rice)

Salt

Sesame oil

Cucumber and coriander for garnish

1. Rub chicken with salt and leave for 5 minutes. Rinse.

2. Place chicken in a pot of boiling water, ensure chicken is submerged in water. Partly cover.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to medium so that water is at a rolling boil. Gently boil for 15 minutes.  Turn off heat completely, cover pot, and allow chicken to remain in hot water for 20 minutes .

3. Remove chicken and immerse in icy cold water for 5 minutes.

4. Drain chicken, and rub into with sesame oil.

5. Reserve all poaching liquid for chicken rice, and soup.

Step 2 - for chicken rice:

3 cups rice

1 T ginger, finely minced (1 thumbsize ginger, reserve 1/3 for chilli sauce)

2 T garlic, finely minced (peel whole head of garlic, and reserve 2 cloves for chilli sauce, mince remaining)

3 coriander roots (reserve top for garnish)

Pinch of salt

1 T butter (yummy but optional :p)

1. Heat wok, fry chicken fat with some oil until chicken fat is slightly browned and fragrant. Add garlic, ginger, butter and fry until golden.

2. Add rice, salt and stir fry for another 2 minutes.

3. Transfer all ingredients into a rice cooker. Add coriander root, pandan leave, and 3 cups of poaching liquid. Press cook.

Step 3 – for chilli sauce:

3 red long chilli

2 clove garlic

1 t ginger

1 pinch salt

1 pinch sugar

1 squeeze from ½ Lemon

1. Blend chilli, garlic, ginger, sugar, salt, lemon juice, into a smooth paste.  Add a little poaching liquid if it’s looking abit dry. Taste and adjust with sugar, salt, and lemon.

Step 4- for special soy sauce:

1.5 T oil

1.5 t sesame oil

4 T light soy sauce

1 T dark soy sauce

1.5T caster sugar

3 T water

1. Heat all ingredients in a small saucepan, until sugar dissolves.

Before serving, cut up whole chicken. Serve with warm chicken rice. Comfort food at its best! Bon appetite!   

Steamed Chicken Bun (Gai Bau)

This steamed bun project ranks pretty high up on my to do list because the boss man loves 'Dai Bau' (translation: 'Big Bun') and other Baus from Nam Loong.

I got the following bun skin recipe from a Chinese cook book.  I have altered the original recipe so that I can use the usual supply in my pantry and I don't need to buy any extra ingredient from the Asian grocery.  That is, I have used low-gluten flour instead of "Hong Kong" flour; I also have used rice bran oil instead of shortening/lard.

Ingredients for 16 buns

(A) Bun Skin
300g low gluten wheat flour
7g dry instant yeast (1 satchet=7g)
5g baking powder
70g sugar
25g light oil (I used rice bran)
120ml water

(B) Filling
500g chicken mince
Half an onion, diced finely and stir fried till soft
1/2 cup sweet corn
Seasoning (Salt, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, pepper)

1. Combine ingredients (B) for filling in a large bowl and set aside for later use.

2. Combine all ingredients (A) for bun skin in a large bowl and knead until smooth. Divide to 16 equal parts, press and roll flat, thicker in the middle and thin at sides.  To make the paper base, just cut baking paper into the size you want.

3. Place a tablespoon of filling on bun skin and wrap. Set aside for 30 minutes to let rise.

4. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes (Put a few drops of white vinegar in the water in the steamer. This will prevent the buns from turning yellow!)

This is my 1st attempt, so please pardon the lack of bun wrapping technique.  As I practice more, I hope to make the buns into rabbit-shape, pig-face-shape, or basically any shape that could entice my little boy to eat more of these buns.  The dough is really forgiving, and can be stretched and patched as you please!

For the filling, I've used minced chicken and sweet corn.  But you can use pretty much anything you like.  Here are some ideas:

- Jap Chae (Health Score= 9 out of 10)
- Red bean or sesame paste (7 out of 10),
- Curry (5 out of 10)
- Chocolate (3 out of 10)
- Peanut butter (3 out of 10)
- Braised pork belly and mushrooms (1 out of 10)
- Nothing (a.k.a. "Man Tau") (0 out of 10!!!)

Enjoy!

BBQ Honey chicken wings

OK - these are heavenly! This is probably THE dish to bossman's heart (via the tummy). He hehe! It tastes better than KFC, in fact it's so easy to make that it's easier than going out to buy KFC. The cooking time is 20 minutes, the prep time is 5 minutes. can it be easier than that?

Ingredients
2kg chicken wings/wingettes/drumettes
4 T oyster sauce
4 T fish sauce
dash of black pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
thumb size ginger, chopped finely
4 T honey
2 T olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and let marinade overnight.
2  Bake in 200°C preheated oven for 20 minutes until golden brown, turning once.

Nian Gao with Coconut 椰丝年糕

I am not a fan of Nian Gao, and if you are not too, you're going to be left with a pile of Nian Gao after Chinese New Year. What to do with them? I decided to prettify it to make it at least abit more appetising to the eyes. So I coat the steamed sticky sweet rice cakes in desiccated coconut for a simple dessert to go with dinner. The result was a yummy dessert which tastes alot like  'Nyonya Kuihs'. The recipe below, as you can see, is incredibly simple.

Ingredients

1 round block of 'Nian Gao', cut in to 2 cm x 2cm pieces

Some desiccated coconut + pinch of salt

1. Steam desiccated coconut for 10 minutes to rehydrate.

2. At the same time, steam Nian Gao pieces for 10 minutes as well.

2. Toss in desiccated coconut. Serve warm.

Lunar Chinese New Year 'Yee Sang' (Sashimi Salad with Plum Sauce Dressing)

Where I grew up, Lunar Chinese New Year wouldn't be complete without 'Yee Sang'. It is a salad of sashimi, various thinly julienned fresh and pickled vegetables, crunchy crackers, nuts, with plum sauce dressing. I have been planning this dish for a while as there are a lot of ingredients to shop for.  Magimix did most of the work for me. The end result is an extremely fresh, yummy, and healthy salad!

Ingredients:
(Serves 10)

Part A (Body)
500g sashimi grade salmon, thinly sliced (I got mine fresh from a local Japanese wholesaler)
5 granny smith apples (2 cups), thinly julienned
1 sweet potato (2 cups), thinly julienned
6 carrots (4 cups), thinly julienned
1 cucumber (2 cups), thinly julienned
150g of instant natural jelly fish, drained and coated with sesame oil
1 cup of pomelo

Part B (Garnish)
few stalks of coriander
sprinkles of sakura denbu powder (pink fish floss)
1 cup chinese fritters, grilled lightly and sliced thinly
Toasted and coarsely ground cashew nuts
1 T of toasted sesame seeds
1 lime halved (half juiced, half for garnish)
8 pieces of candied winter melon, finely

Part C (Dressing)
1/2 cup plum sauce
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 t ground white pepper
1/4 t five-spice powder

1. Assemble Part A on a large platter as per picture.
2. Garnish with Part B (Garnish).
3. To serve, drizzle with Part C (Dressing).

4. Gather everyone around the table, and toss the salad with chopsticks ('Lou Sang')!!! The higher you toss, the better your luck will be! Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Tips:
1. There are some preparation work that could be done a few days in advance - toasting cashew/sesame seeds etc. There's also alot of ingredients to gather, so definitely plan ahead.
2. Use a food processor for perfectly julienned veges/fruits (I used the Magimix julienne disc).
3. Leave the julienned sweet potato, carrots and cucumber to dry in fridge 1 hour before assembling.
4. To stop apples from browning, soak julienned apples in salt water for 10 minutes and squeeze the water out.
5. Experiment with different combinations. For this recipe, I substitute the traditional toasted peanut for cashews, (yummier), peanut oil for extra virgin olive oil (healthier), deep fried crunchy crackers for toasted fritters (easier). I also garnished with 'sakura denbu' to give it an extra pop of color, for the wow factor.

Part 3: Nasi Lemak - Coconut flavored rice + condiments

One of the most important components of Nasi Lemak is fluffy fragrant coconut rice. I've tweaked this recipe many times, and it is now heavenly! My preference is to use medium grain rice, and have it all cooked in an electric rice cooker (not over a stove as it burns easily).

Coconut flavored rice

Ingredients:
5 cups of rice, washed
250ml thick coconut cream
2.5 cups water
3 pandan leaves, washed and tied into a knot
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
2 kaffir lime leaf
4 t salt
(Serves 10)

1. Place all ingredients in a rice cooker and cook until all liquid has evaporated.
2. Allow rice to stand for 30 minutes.
3. Fluff rice up with chopsticks before serving.

Part 2: Nasi Lemak - BBQ Turmeric Chicken Wings

Sometimes, the simplest ingredients make the best dishes. Turmeric chicken wings is my favorite go-to recipe for no fuss accompaniment to Nasi Lemak. Absolutely perfect to put on a summer barbeque.

Easy BBQ Turmeric Chicken Wings

Ingredients
1 kg chicken wingettes
1 T turmeric powder
1 t coriander powder
1 T salt
Juice of one lemon
(Serves 6)

1. Marinate chicken wings with all ingredients in a large container overnight.
2. Cook chicken wings on a BBQ until golden brown and cooked through.
3. Serve with coconut rice.

Part 1: Nasi Lemak - Sambal Udang

A Nasi Lemak Feast

We had 40 guests over last weekend for baby ε's 1st birthday, 40!!! I almost went nuts with the overwhelming task of shopping + preparing food for so many people on my own. Luckily everything went smoothly. There were quite a few components to my Nasi Lemak feast, most of them could be prepared several days in advance.

Part 1:  Sambal Udang (Prawns n Sambal Sauce) *
Part 2: BBQ Turmeric Chicken Wings
Part 3: Coconut Rice +  Condiments (Toasted Anchovies and Nuts/ Cucumber slices / Hard boil eggs)
Part 4: Curry Chicken
Part 5: BBQ Satay chicken

Watch out for Part 2 -5 in the next few weeks.

* Part 1: Sambal Udang (Prawns in Sweet Sambal Sauce)

Master Sweet Sambal Sauce

Ingredients:
(A) 1 large brown onions, chopped
(A) 2 shallot, chopped
(A) 6 cloves of garlic
(A) 4 long red chillies
(A) 1 T toasted shrimp paste (belachan)
(A) 4 small dried red chillies (seeds removed)
4 T tomato sauce
1 T tamarind puree dissolved in 1/4 cup water
6 T caster sugar
1 T salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

(The above ingredients yields approx 1 cup, I was catering for 40 people so I quadrupled the above ingredients).

1. Blend ingredients (A) using a stick blender into a rough paste (The traditional method would be to pound it using a large mortar and pestle).
2. Heat oil to medium heat, add rough paste, and reduce to low heat. Cook the paste for 15 minutes stirring regularly until the mixture is fragrant.
3.Add tomato sauce, tamarind liquid, sugar and salt, and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly until red chilli oil appears.

Tips:
(1) When frying sambal, watch it like a hawk and stir regularly. I learnt this the hard way in the past by accidentally burning batches of sambal, one too many times.
(2) I toned down the level of chilli in the recipe. If you prefer your sambal spicy, I suggest replacing the dried chillies with 6 heap tablespoons of chilli powder.
(3) You can cook this days in advance and store it in a sterilised jar in the fridge.

Super Easy Sambal Udang (Prawns in Sweet Sambal Sauce)

Ingredients:
1 brown onion
500 g prawns peeled with tail left intact, diveined
1 cup of Master Sambal Sauce
2 Kaffir lime leaves, rolled and sliced finely
2 t vegetable oil

(Serve approx 8-10. To serve 40, I quadrupled the above ingredients).

1. Heat oil, and fry prawns and onions until prawns start to cook (turn opaque).
2. Add sweet sambal sauce and toss with kaffir lime leaves, let simmer until cooked.
3. Garnish with sliced kaffir lime leaves, and serve with rice/coconut rice

Enjoy the beautiful (to me at least, pungent to some :p remember to close your kitchen doors and air your house thoroughly) south east Asian flavors wafting through your kitchen! ;)