Cherry Blossom Mantou vs Steamed Sakura Chicken With Choya

My experiments with using pickled cherry blossom continues after my first recipe on Matcha Cherry Blossom Chiffon (抹茶盐渍樱花戚风蛋糕) in April. And also with the extra packets of supply that Joyce (ahpoohbear) loop back for us from her recent Osaka trip, I am able to try out more fusion recipes using pickled cherry blossom.

In this post I am sharing two recipes such as Cherry Blossom Mantou (Asian-style steamed bun with pickled cherry blossom) and Steamed Sakura Chicken With Choya (Steamed chicken mid-joint using picked cherry blossom and choya).

CHERRY BLOSSOM MANTOU
(樱花馒头)

Here I am making a two-tone colour steamed bun (mantou) using Sakura Leaf Powder for the green portion but you could always replace it with Matcha powder according to your preference. The sakura leaf powder added a distinctive taste to this steamed bun leaving it with a sweet and savoury flavour that makes you go for second helpings.

(Make: 6 pieces  | Preparation: 55 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
250g All-purpose Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon (2g) Baking Power
3g Instant Dry Yeast
110ml Lukewarm Water
10g Milk Powder
1 Teaspoon Sakura Leaf Powder
Some Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms (盐渍樱花), soaked in water
25g Caster Sugar
10g Unsalted Butter, soften

Method:-
1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 2-3 minutes till bubbles appeared.

2. In a big mixing bowl, stir in sift plain flour, milk powder and baking powder together with caster sugar till combined.

3. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand till it forms soft dough.

4. Knead soft butter into the dough till it does not stick to your hand and divide the dough into 2:1 ration size.

5. With the smaller dough, knead in Sakura Leaf Powder till combined then proof the two doughs in a warm place for 20 minutes.

6. Next, flatten the doughs to release the air in it. Place the green dough on top of the plain, roll it up into a oblong shape and proof for another 15 minutes.

7. Cut the dough into equal portion, place each portion on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below. Place some drained sakura flower on top and rest for another 15 minutes.

8. Sprinkle some water on the mantou before placing the steamer rack into the pot of boiling water and steam them over medium heat for about 10 - 12 minutes (depending on the size of the mantou). When done, removed and served hot/warm.

STEAMED SAKURA CHICKEN WITH CHOYA
(樱花梅酒鸡)

My inspiration for this Steamed Sakura Chicken with Choya (樱花梅酒鸡) comes from our all-time favourite; Steamed Rice Wine Chicken (蒸黄酒鸡) which I would prepare at least once a month. And with some pickled sakura on hand as well as Choya (plum wine) that mum bought during her recent trip, I decide to use these two special ingredients to try out this dish.

(Serves: 2-3  | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 - 8 Chicken Mid-joints
1 Teaspoon of Grated Ginger
1 Stalk Spring Onion, cut into sections
100ml Choya (Japanese plum liqueur)
Some Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms (盐渍樱花), soaked in water

Method:-
1. Lightly marinate chicken mid-joint with grated ginger, cornflour and pinch of salt.

2. With some ginger slices and spring onion below, arrange the mid-joints on top and place the drained sakura flowers that had being soaked for 5 minutes (rinse well) on it (refer to the photo above).

3. Lastly pour in choya and let it stands for 5 minutes before steaming the mid-joints over medium heat for 20 - 25 minutes till tender.

The mid-joints were infused with the combination of Choya and pickled Sakura leaving it with a refreshing and fragrance after taste. Also after steaming, the soup broth was full of flavour due to the essence from the chicken and choya. Do give this a try if you happen to have a bottle of Choya at home and don't worry about the pickled cherry blossom as you could always omit it for a new recipe.

Lastly I would be submitting this Cherry Blossom Mantou to this month Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.

Okara Mantou And Okara Omelette

Remember in the previous Homemade Organic Soymilk post we mentioned about Okara (豆渣) which is rich in dietary fiber. Instead of throwing them away after filtering the soymilk you could actually use it in your daily cooking or bakes to enhance the flavour as well as the nutritious values of the food.

To be honest, I have never taste or eaten "Okara" before I have this soymilk maker, so trying out various recipes using Okara is such an amazing experience and both my family and friends enjoy this new "taste and texture" too.

OKARA CHARCOAL MANTOU

豆渣馒头

This Okara Mantou is inspired by one of my boy classmates' mum who makes soft and delicious mantou using homemake soymilk and okara. So with my leftover black soybean okara and soymilk I decided to make this "black" Okara Charcoal Mantou.

(Serves: 10 - 12 pieces   | Preparation: 90 minutes  | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

• 280g Plain Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Charcoal Powder (竹碳粉)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 20g Tablespoon Caster Sugar
• Pinch of Salt
• 100g Okara (豆渣), drain well
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 Teaspoon of Dry Yeast
• 40ml Lukewarm Water

Method:-

1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared.

2. Sift plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl with the caster sugar and salt till combined.

3. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand follow by okara till it forms soft dough.

4. Add in oil and give the dough a quick knead till well combine or dough does not stick to your hand.

5. Set dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl, covered with cling wrap and let it proof for about 30 minutes or until dough became double the size.

6. Knead proof dough on a lightly floured work surface for about 5 minutes, flatten and roll into a rectangular shape, roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape.

7. Repeat the process once or twice depends on your preference.

8. Roll the final dough into oblong shape, cut them into equal portions, place each shaped mantou on steamer rack with greaseproof paper below.

9. Spray some water on the mantou before steaming them over medium heat for about 13 - 15 minutes. (depending on the size of the mantou)

10. When done, removed and served hot/warm. You can keep cool mantou in the freezer for a week or so. Reheat by steaming it for 5 minutes before eating.

Note:

~ Lukewarm is about 36 - 37 degree Celsius

This is the Black Soybean Okara which is being filtered from the soymilk. It can be kept in the fridge for about 2 - 3 days.

OKARA OMELETTE

(豆渣煎蛋)

Other than steamed bun, I have also in cooperate Okara into our daily dishes by add it into omelette. This dish could be consider as half vegetarian dish if egg is allowed. We love this omelette dish a lot as it taste quiet similar to the usual "Minced Meat Omelette (肉碎煎蛋)" and when eaten you can't even tell Okara is added to it. The omelette has a very fragrant and slight sweet taste (read more here on how to filter the okara) which makes it different from the usual fried omelette dish.

(Serves: 2  | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 5 minutes)

Ingredients:
2 Eggs (55g each)
2 - 3 Tablespoons Okara (豆渣)
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries
1 Tablespoon Chopped Spring Onion
Pinch of Salt

Method:-

1. Add all the ingredients into a bowl, whisk till combined.

2. Preheat 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan, pour in egg mixture, swirl and spread it evenly around the pan.

3. Fry the omelette for about 2 minutes on medium low heat till slight golden brown in colour, carefully flip it over using a spatula. Cook for another minute or two.

4. Dish up and serve.

Other than the above two recipes on using Okara, do stay tune for the my "Black Butter Cake" which I have give it a twist on adding okara into the normal butter cake recipe. Stay tune!

Purple Sweet Potato Mantou - 紫番薯馒头

Mantou(馒头) often referred to as Chinese steamed bun or bread is a kind of traditional steamed bun origin from China. It is normally made with wheat flour, water and leavening agents that leaves it with soft and fluffy texture. But in modern days now, there are a lot of ready-made frozen mantou that comes in different varieties and flavours which you can purchase from the supermarkets.

But for us, we still prefer to make our own mantou using fresh ingredients and consume it straight from the steamer rack while it is still hot. We love the taste of the freshly homemade mantou where we could add in more ingredients such as pumpkin, dried fruits, sweet potato and etc to make it more tasty and vibrant in colour to enhance the taste and at the same time attracts kids’ attention too.

For this recipe, I am using some mashed Purple Sweet Potato to make this mantou which gives it a very lovely natural Pinkish-purple colour which you can see from the photos. Purple Sweet Potatoes are richly nutritious as they are fat-free and low in calories, high in fiber and great for people who are carbohydrate sensitive and most importantly it is loaded with antioxidants.

These are the dry ingredients and steps on how to make the mantou dough using mashed sweet potato:-

Ingredients: (make 8 3cm wide medium mantou)
120g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2 1/2 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
140g Purple Sweet Potato, cooked & mashed
1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1/2 Teaspoon of Dry Yeast
40ml Lukewarm Water
2 Tablespoon Roasted Black Sesame Seeds, optional


Here are the steps on rolling and dividing the sweet potato dough:-

Method:
1. Add dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir, set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared.
2. Sift plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl with the caster sugar till combined.
3. Next slowly add in yeast water into the flour mixture and stir using a metal spoon or clean hand and follow by the mashed sweet potato till it forms soft dough.
4. Add in oil and give the dough a quick knead till well combine or till dough does not stick to your hand.
5. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl, covered with cling wrap and let it proof for about 20 minutes till the dough became slightly bigger.
6. Knead proof dough on a lightly floured work surface for a few second, flatten and roll into a rectangular shape, sprinkle some black sesame seeds on it, roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape.
7. Repeat the process once or twice depends on your preference.
8. Roll the final dough into oblong shape, cut them into equal portions and coat the top of each slice of mantou with some extra black sesame seeds.
9. Place each shaped mantou on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below and rest for another 10 minutes.
10. Sprinkle some water on the mantou before placing the steamer rack into the pot of boiling water and steam them over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes. (depending on the size of the mantou)
11. When done, removed and served hot/warm.

Note:

~ Lukewarm is about 36 - 37 degree Celsius

~ Rinse and cut the sweet potato into chunks, steam it over medium heat till soft (about 10 - 15 minutes), removed from heat and mashed it into paste form while hot and set aside for later use.

Indeed homemade Mantou is something quite quick and easy if you could get the hand out of it. Moreover you could also mix and match with different ingredients according to your own preference and this can be consider as a healthy snacks for both the adults and kids too. Sometime I would also make a bigger portion and keep some of it in the freezer so that I could re-heat/re-steam them for a quick snack anytime we feel like having our favourite mantou.

Sweet Potato Mantou

During my recent trip to Taiwan, almost every morning we can find some freshly made Mantou in our breakfast menu. In Taiwan, most of their breakfast dishes are Mantou, Porridge with preserved vegetables like caixin, bamboo shoot, salted egg and etc. And other than Mantou, you can also find their famous Baked Golden Sweet Potato in some shops or street market.

So for last weekend, I decided to combine some orange flesh sweet potato with the Japanese sweet potato that can be easily found in any supermarket. This Mantou will give you two different textures, as I have shredded the orange flesh sweet potato as filling and combined the mashed Japanese Sweet Potato together with the flour ingredients.

Ingredients: (makes about 6)
125g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
20ml Lukewarm Water
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2.5 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
100 - 120g Japanese Sweet Potato, skin removed
50g Orange Flesh Sweet Potato, shredded
1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
20ml Water

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl together with the caster sugar till combined.
2. Remove the outer skin of the Japanese sweet potato, cut into small cubes (about 1cm) then rinse it with water and place in a microwave safe bowl together with 20ml of water and cook on High heat together with a cup of water for about 4 minutes. (Stop 1 minutes in between and give it a stir so that it will cook evenly)
3. Use a fork or food masher to mash the sweet potato cubes to form a paste, set aside for later use.
4. Add the dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir then set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared(refer to the picture above).
5. Next slowly stir in the yeast water into the flour mixture and using a pair of chopstick then follow by the mashed pumpkin till it form a soft dough.
6. Rub some oil on your hand then give the dough a quick knead till well combine.
7. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl and let it proof for about 20 - 30 minutes so that the dough will raise slightly bigger.
8. Knead proof dough on a lightly floured work surface for a few second, flatten and roll into a rectangular shape shown in the above photo, sprinkle some shredded orange flesh sweet potato on it, roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape.
9. Repeat the process once or twice till the shredded sweet potato finished.
10. Roll the final dough into oblong shape, cut them into equal portion.
11. Place each shaped mantou on the steamer rack with greaseproof paper below it sprinkle the mantou with some water.
12. Place the steamer rack in the boiling water and steam the mantou over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes. (depending on the size)
13. When done, removed and served hot/warm.

Note:
a) Lukewarm is about 36 - 37 degree Celsius
b) If the sweet potato dough is too dry, you can add about extra 5 - 10ml of water to knead the dough.
c) You might need to cook the sweet potato for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.


This is an interesting Mantou with dual sweet potato texture. So if you like sweet potato, do give this a try. I am sure you and your family will loves this healthy snack for a chance during tea-time or breakfast.

Wholemeal Pumpkin Mantou

This is a busy weekend for me as I suddenly have the urge to conquer a few recipes in my to-do-list. While waiting for my son to finish his Saturday enrichment class, I managed to stomp upon this Organic Wholemeal Flour from one of the local supermarket. It has a finer and right texture compare to another brand that I used to buy so I decided to get a packet to test out my new Steam Pumpkin Mantou recipe which I modify from the previous recipe that I made.

I modify the recipe a bit which made this rather simple and easy compare to previous one. And this Steam Mantou is full of texture when biting because of the use of the Wholemeal flour, Sesame seeds, Raisin and Wolfberries.

Ingredients:
230g Pumpkin, skin removed
250g Wholemeal Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds
2 Tablespoons Wolfberries, cut into halves
2 Tablespoons Golden Raisin, chopped
20 - 40ml water
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes, rinse it with water then place them into a microwave safe bowl and cook in Microwave High for about 5 - 6 minutes with a cup of water.(Stop 2 minutes in between to give a stir to the cubes to cook them evenly)
2. When the cubes became soft, mashed them using a fork and set side to cool to lukewarm temperature before adding to the flour to form a dough.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and yeast together then add in the sugar and stir till combine.
4. Next slowly add in the mashed pumpkin and stir using a pair of chopstick till combine, you might need to add some water in order to form a dough.
5. Moist your hand with some oil and give the dough a few knead to combine it then set it aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl to proof for about 20 - 30 minutes until double it size.
6. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions then on a lightly floured work surface, flatten each portion into a rectangular shape shown like that picture shown above, sprinkle some chopped wolfberries, golden raisin and sesame seeds then roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape then cut them into equal portion.
7. Place each shaped portion on a piece of greaseproof paper, top with some extra wolfberries and sesame seeds then arrange on the steamer rack and steam over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on the size.
8. Repeat for the rest of the portion of dough and steam accordingly. (I made about 12 Mantou with the size of about 2.5" before steaming)

Notes:
a) You might need to cook the pumpkin for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.
b) You can also replace the brown sugar with caster sugar instead.
c) This is best to serve within the same day, if not you can keep in the freezer for a few weeks, and reheat it before serving.

Steam Pumpkin Mantou - 金瓜馒头

Mantou(馒头) often referred to as "humbao" or Chinese steamed bun which is originating in China. It is made with wheat flour, water and leavening agents, they are similar in nutrition and eating qualities to the white bread of the West.

Recently, my mum has being into Mantou making with one of my son's kiddy's friend mummy. They will gather together at least once in a week to experiment with their Mantou making. So after tasting their delicious homemade Mantou, I am also interested in joining the fun of making it. For mine, I added some extra wolfberries to enhance the taste as well as a the texture.

Ingredients: (makes about 10)
250g Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
40ml Lukewarm Water
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
200g Pumpkin, skin removed
2 Tablespoon Wolfberries, cut into halves
1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl, then stir in the caster sugar till combined.
2. Remove the outer skin of the pumpkin, cut into small cubes then rinse it with water and place in a microwave safe bowl and cook on High heat together with a cup of water for about 5 minutes. (Stop 2 minutes in between and give it a stir so that it will cook evenly)
3. Use a fork or food masher to mash the pumpkin cubes into paste form then set aside for later use.
4. Add the dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir then set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared(refer to the picutre above).
5. Next slowly add in the yeast water into the flour mixture and sitr using a pair of chopstick, then follow by the mashed pumpkin and stir till they form a soft dough.
6. Rub some oil on your hand then give the dough a quick knead till well combine.
7. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl and let it proof for about 20 - 30 minutes until it double in size.
8. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions then on a lightly floured work surface, flatten each portion into a rectangular shape shown like that picture below, sprinkle some chopped wolfberries then roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape then cut them into equal portion.
9. Place each shaped portion on a piece of greaseproof paper, top with some extra wolfberries, then arrange on the steamer rack and steam over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on the size.
10. Repeat for the rest of the portion of dough and steam accordingly. ( I made about 10 Mantou with the size of about 3" before steaming)

Note:
a) Lukewarm is about 40 degree Celsius
b) The pumpkin dough will be very stick when handling, so do not worry. You can wet your hand some oil before handling the dough for easy kneading.
c) You might need to cook the pumpkin for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.

This is my homemade Steam Pumpkin & Wolfberries Mantou which is freshly out from the steamer. It really taste great and different for a chance in the usual Pandan or Plain Mantou that is sold in the supermarket.