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.

Assorted Sweet Potato Huat Kueh

Get to know this delicious "Huat Kueh" from my boss wife Veron. When I first taste it, I knew that I am going to do a batch of this. The texture is so moist and soft which is very different from those traditional huat kueh that we used to eat. Even if it is left in room temperature for a day or in the fridge it still taste soft and moist. This huat kueh doesn't required any yeast or baking powder and yet, but it can yet achieve the soft and fluffy texture.


For my version, I added assorted Sweet Potato instead of one type. I love vibrant colours for my food and since I am able to find 3 different types of sweet potato at the stall, I might as well give it a try. As you know the purple sweet potato had a very nice colour and it's rather kind of saltish taste which balance off the sweetness of the huat kueh and the orange sweet potato.

I also add in the yellowish Japanese Sweet Potato which is fragrant and great in texture. Besides starch, sweet potatoes are RICH in dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin B6. Despite the name "sweet", it is actually a good food for diabetics, as preliminary studies on animals have revealed that it helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and to lower insulin resistance. For those who loves sweet potatoes you might want to give this recipe a try. It's very easy, just mix, stir, pour and steam.

Ingredients: (make about 7 - 9 cups 100ml size disposal cups)
250g Self Raising Flour
250ml Coconut Milk
1 Medium/Large Egg
1 Big Pieces Of Gula Malaka(Palm Sugar)
50 ml water
3-4 Small Sweet Potato(about 300g)

Methods:
1. Wash and steam the sweet potatoes until soft, peel off the skin and use a fork or finger to roughly break into pieces then set aside to cool.
2. While steaming the sweet potato, place the 50ml of water and gula malaka(if possible break it into pieces so that it will melt easily) in a small saucepan and simmer over low heat until the gula malaka is completely dissolved into sugar syrup.
3. Set aside for it to cool before using.
4. Pour the self-raising flour into a big mixing bowl, then make a well in the center and pour in the coconut milk and use a balloon whisk to whisk a few times before adding in the egg.
5. Kept on whisk until the egg is incorporate into the batter then pour in the gula malaka syrup and whisk well.
6. The mixture will be sort of like a pancake batter, lastly add in the sweet potato pieces(reserve some for the topping) and use a spatula to stir till combined.
7. Spoon the mixture into a aluminium cup(100ml) then top with some extra sweet potatoes and steam over medium/high(depending on the steamer that you use, I steam mine over medium heat on stove) heat for about 20 minutes.

Notes:
a) You must wait for the water to BOIL 1st before placing the cup mixtures into the steam, and do not open the cover of the steam in between the steaming time or else the Huat Kueh will not have the "Open Mouth" effect.
b) You can find fresh coconut milk in 250ml packet from most of the supermarket at the noodles/doufu sections.
c) You can use either one type of sweet potato or assorted depend on your preference.
d) The weight of the Gula Malaka is about 150g - 200g depending on the size that you purchased.(if is possible, strained the liquid after boiling to remove any big particulars or lumps in it)

Steam Egg White Rainbow Cake

Got this recipe from one of the mum's Zur (click on link for her recipe) from the M4M website. It's a very interesting cake with colourful layers that definitely caught everyone's attention. The cake itself is very soft with a fluffy and good texture for steamed cake. Other than the colours this can be consider as s health cake since the main ingredients are Egg Whites instead of whole egg plus only small amount of sugar is used.

Overall it took about 1/2 hrs to prepare the cake and 30 minutes to steam.