{5 Recipes} Assorted Handmade Bread Using Tangzhong Method

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I have never thought of one day I could write a long post base on my homemade bread because firstly I am not good in baking or handing anything with yeast especially "bread". But Sherie's homemade bread and her lovely Guest Post changed my view and doubts on bread making totally. With her easy to follow recipe, I managed to make all these Assorted Buns and 3 different flavour of Bread Loaf within a week all using TangZhong, or water roux method.

So I hope this can be a useful post for those who do not own a bread machine at home but yet interested in making some homemade bun/bread. Furthermore I also included some step-by-step photos in order to boost up your confident in trying out some of the recipes with your family during coming weekend.

CHEESE AND MAYO BUN

This is my 1st bread making session after about 3 years and I am so glad that I actually takes the courage to try out this Guest Post RECIPE by Sherie two weeks back. As you can see from the photo on the left, the texture of the cheese bun is so soft and fluffy for a handmade result. And with Sherie's detail explanation and step-by-step photos it actually simplify the process and boost up a lot of my confident.

Recipe adapted from Sherie, Maameemoomoo, 1/2 a food blog, HERE.

Ingredients: (makes 8 buns)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
6g Instant Dry Yeast
50g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:-
Japanese Mayonnaise
Smoke Slice Sandwich Cheese/Shredded Cheese

Method:-

1. Mix all the ingredients (according to your recipe) in your mixing bowl for about 3 minutes and make sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

2. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand.

3. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 5 more minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball.

4. Place the kneaded dough back into the lightly floured mixing bowl and leave it in a warm place to prove for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

5. Divide dough into 8 pieces. From the 8 pieces, further divide each dough into 3 pieces. Then roll each pieces to 15 cm long rope.

6. Place the rope side by side and start plaiting. (refer to the step-by-step photos above)

7. Continue to plait until you reach the end. Place the ends together and tuck them neatly under the bottom of the plait. Repeat for the remaining 7 pieces.

8. Place the completed plaited bread onto baking sheet that has been floured. Let doughs proof for 45 minutes or until double in size.

9. Squeeze or spread ample mayonnaise on the each of the bread doughs before topping them generously with grated cheddar cheese.

10. Bake at the preheated oven at 175c for 18 - 20 minutes until the bread is browned. Remove immediately.

MATCHA AND CHESTNUT LOAF

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Matcha and Chestnut combination is always one of my favourite when comes to baking. If you have follow this blog you will notice the "Japanese Steamed Matcha Cake" and "Matcha and Chestnut Chiffon Cake" where I have incorporate these two ingredients. So with the same concept I tried to replicate mum's favourite "Green Tea Bread" from BreadTalk. Although the colour of the bread is not as "green" as those from BreadTalk but the texture is definitely light and fluffy which we all loves.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
1 - 1.5 Tablespoons Matcha Powder
65g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Topping:-
100g Ready-to-eat Roasted Chestnut

Method:-

1. Combine all dry ingredients such as flour, milk powder, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl and mixed well.

2. Make a well in the center add in wet ingredients such as beaten egg, tangzhong and soft butter and and slowly stir the mixture till it form a sticky dough by adding the milk to it.

3. Next turn the sticky dough out on to lightly floured surface. Stretch the dough by pushing the front half away with one hand.

4. Fold the stretched part of the dough back on itself, give it a quarter turn and repeat for 5 more minutes, until the dough has been turned full circle several times and is a smooth and elastic ball.

5. Place the kneaded dough back into the lightly floured mixing bowl and leave it in a warm place to prove for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

6. Test your proofed dough by pushing your floured finger deep into the risen dough whereby it will leave an indentation that does not spring back.

7. Punch the risen dough with your fist to deflate it, re-shape the dough into oblong shape and let it rest for 5 minutes.

8. Divide the rest dough equally into TWO portion(mine was about 400g per portion), flatten one portion of the dough into a rectangle, scatter some roasted chestnuts on the dough and fold 1/3 of the top part down and follow by 1/3 of the bottom up. (refer to the step-by-step photos above)

9. Lastly tuck in both side of the flatten dough and seal the shaped dough with your finger tips.

10. Place the loaf in an oiled and lightly floured pan for second proofing of 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough rises just above the top of the tin.

11. Bake bread in preheated 175 degree oven(or as per instruction) for about 20 - 25 minutes. The bread should be well risen, golden brown and sound hollow when tapped with fingertips.

12. Remove the loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD LOAF

I used to buy Chocolate Bread loaded with chocolate chips from supermarkets which my boy loves. But now with my new hobby on bread making I able to bake my very own Chocolate Chips Loaf which is quite well-received by those who tried and it really makes me feel those kneading and proofing time is worth working on.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread, 17cm x 8cm x 6cm)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
1.5 Tablespoons Valrhona Cocoa Powder
70g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Topping:-
100g Mini Chocolate Chips

Method:-

1. Refer from the Matcha And Chestnut Loaf above. Replace the chestnut on "steps 8" to mini chocolate chips.

CHEESE AND SAUSAGE BUN

Cheese and Sausage Bun is always one of the popular pick among kids and adults. Here upon reading a related bread post from Rasa Malaysia and Food-For-Tots, I decided to try using the basic water roux dough method which I am practicing with to make some Sausage Buns for our breakfast. And on top of that, I also use the same dough to make some Cheese and Mayo Bun and Mayo and Spring Onion Bun too.

Ingredients: (makes 8 medium assorted buns)
175g Bread Flour
5g Milk Powder
3g Instant Dry Yeast
30g Sugar
1/8 Teaspoon Salt
30ml Beaten Egg
60g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
60ml Fresh Milk
15g Unsalted Butter, soften

Toppings:-
Mini Sausage
Japanese Mayonnaise
Chopped Spring Onion
Smoke Slice Sandwich Cheese

Method:-

1. Refer Steps 1 to 5 of the Cheese And Mayo Bun recipe above.

2. Divide dough into 8 equally portions (mine was about 50g per portion for this recipe).

3. For Plain Sausage Bun: Roll one portion of the small dough into oblong shape with width around the same length as the mini sausage. Place the sausage at the top part of the flatten dough, roll the dough with sausage toward your direction and place it with seal side facing down on a paper case.

4. For Plait Sausage Bun: Roll the dough into an oval shape, place the sausage in the middle and top it with half a slice of sandwich cheese, cut both side of the dough into strips. Fold the strips alternating the left and right over the sausage. (refer to the step-by-step photo above, or click HERE for more detail.)

5. For Mayonnaise and Onion Bun: Roll the dough into an oval shape about 12cm x 5cm and roll the flatten dough towards your direction starting from top down. Place the seal side facing down on a paper case. After the 2nd proofing, use a scissor to snip an line on the proofed bun and top with generous amount of Japanese Mayonnaise and sprinkle with some chopped spring onion.

6. Proof all the prepared bun for at least 45 minutes or dough double its size before baking in a preheat 175 degree oven for about 15 - 20 minutes depending on the size of the bun.

Note:-
~ You can use this plain dough recipe to make different fillings of bun according to your preference.

BLACK SESAME LOAF WITH CRANBERRY

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This was the first bread that I wanted to make when I first saw it over at Sherie's website @ Maameemoomoo (original recipe HERE). The texture, fragrant and topping of this bread look similar to one of the cranberry bun that I always buy from the bakery near my area.

And after a few attempts on making those loaf and buns shown above, finally during National Day holiday I managed to make this together Celes from Celestial Delish. And this is definitely one of our favourite homemade loaf using freshly grind black sesame powder.

Ingredients: (makes 2 loaf of bread)
350g Bread Flour
10g Milk Powder
40g Black Sesame Seed Powder
65g Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
7g Instant Dry Yeast
1 Egg(60g), lightly beaten
120g TangZhong (refer to the tangzhong recipe below)
125ml Fresh Milk
30g Unsalted Butter, soften

Method:-

1. Refer from the Matcha And Chestnut Loaf above. Replace the chestnut on "steps 8" with 1/4 of chopped dried cranberries and repeat the same procedure on folding and adding of cranberries again before resting the dough for 2nd proofing. (in order to have more evenly spread out fillings, I did the folding and fillings steps twice)

2. Bake in pre-heated 175 degree oven for 25 minutes, remove loaf IMMEDIATELY from the pan and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

TANGZHONG / WATER-ROUX METHOD

Tangzhong, or the water-roux method(烫种法) is the best method if you are looking for some way to retain the soft and fluffy texture for homemade bread which can stay fresh for up to five days. Thus by incorporating tangzhong into your bread it will give bring a soft and fluffy bread that has fine crumbs and springy texture.

For your information, the flour-to-water ratio for tangzhong is always 1 (bread flour) : 5 (water). For instance from the recipe shown below you can make a batch of approximately 150g tangzhong.

Ingredients: (able to make 2 loaf of bread with 350g bread flour)
25g Bread Flour
125ml Water(could be replaced by milk, juice or 50/50 water and milk)

Method:-

1. Mix flour and water in a small saucepan until without any lumps.

2. Cook over medium low heat, stirring consistently with a egg whisk or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from burning while cooking.

3. The mixture will thicken up (takes about less than 2 minutes) while cooking, so once you see “lines” appear in the mixture or it starts to form a dough. It is done.

4. Transfer the cooked dough into a clean bowl and cover with a cling wrap sticking onto the surface to prevent it from drying up.

5. Cool it completely before use. (I have tried using it while lukewarm and it works well too)

TYPES OF BREAD FLOUR AND INSTANT YEAST

For the recipes above, I have tried using both "Red Man" and "Prima Flour" BREAD FLOUR which turns out equally good with price ranging from S$2.80 - S$3.00 depending on the supermarkets. Whereas for the INSTANT YEAST I have do a swap on my last two recipes from "Bake King" to "Saf instant"(comes in a box of 5 packets each weighing 11g) upon recommended by Sherie and a few baking friends.

BREAKDOWN OF TIME SPENT 
FOR MAKING THE BREAD

I am sure some of you are just like me, whenever we scan through any bread related recipes we are always hesitate to try out the recipe due to the long proofing hours. But physically what it required is about only 15 - 20 minutes of hands-on such as preparation plus kneading of the dough(for those without bread machine at home) whereas the rest of the time taken is more for proofing of the dough. Below is the breakdown for your reference:-

~ Preparing Tangzhong/Water Roux: 3 minutes

~ Preparation plus Kneading: 15 minutes

~ 1st Proofing: 45 - 60 minutes or double it's original size (you can do other household chore while waiting)

~ Shaping: 5 - 7 minutes

~ 2nd Proofing: 45 - 60 minutes or double it's original size
(Check the dough after 45 minutes by pressing it lightly with a fingertip, it is ready when the dent springs back slowly. But if the dent stays as it is, the bread is overproofed.)

~ Adding Toppings/Baking Time: 20 - 30 minutes depending on the recipe.


Lastly I hope you would like this "lengthy" bread post and if you need more inspirations on bread making you can also refer to all those wonderful Bread Entries in "Aspiring Bakers #8 Bread Seduction (June 2011)" at this link HERE.

Chocolate and Milk Pudding

This week I have invited Gertrude from My Kitchen Snippets to do a Guest Post for us on a delicious dessert which I am sure everyone would love it. I have follow her blog silently for about 2 years even though I seldom leave a note or two. From a glance at those labels you will be amazed with all the different kinds of her delicious homecook dishes/bakes which makes you drool. As for me I am always very excited whenever she post something related to "Asian Snacks" where I get to learn and see different food along the way. And if you are a dessert lover, don't forget to take a look at her "Dessert" recipes which you might find something interesting to whip up too.

So now let's welcome Gertrude and her homemade dessert which already makes me drool while drafting this post.

CHOCOLATE AND MILK PUDDING

I would like to thank Ellena for inviting me to do a guest post at her wonderful blog. Of course I was elated but at the same time, a little worried because so far I’ve only done one guest post for another blogger. Her blog is one of the very first Singaporean blog I visited when I first embarked into my blogging journey. I admired her skills in cooking, baking, creating Bento boxes and photography skills. Her blog is very popular and recently being nominated for Singapore Blog Award and has been features in Newspaper and magazines.

Since it is summer here and we are going through some heat waves she suggested that maybe I could prepared a cooling dessert or a quick and easy snack. I love the idea of making dessert using agar agar. Making this dessert is a bit time consuming but the end results is just beautiful. I hope you will try it out. Once again thank you Ellena for your kind invites.

Ingredients for the Chocolate Layers

7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
170gram Sugar
25gram Dark Cocoa Powder
2 Egg Yolks

Method:-

1. Combined the agar agar powder and water and mix well. Cook it over low heat until agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and cocoa powder. Cook it over medium low heat until it boils and cocoa powder dissolved.

3. Beat egg yolks and slowly add in a few tablespoon of the agar agar mixture into it (tempering) Continue to stir and add in a few more tablespoon of mixture to it. Once it is mix pour the egg mixture back into the agar agar mixture.

4. Bring it up to a boil and turn off the heat. Check the sweetness if it is to your liking. Pour it into small moulds and let it set.

5. Once it is set, take out the pudding, cut out a few segments according to the mould design. Put alternate segments of the pudding back into the mould and leave some of it empty.

Ingredients for White Layers

7gram Agar Agar Powder
500ml Milk
150ml Water
80gram Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

Method:-

1. Combined the agar agar and water and mix well. Cook over low heat until the agar agar powder completely dissolved.

2. Add in the milk, sugar and vanilla. Cook over medium heat until it boils. Remove from heat. Spoon the agar agar mixture into the empty sections of the moulds.

3. Let it cool completely in the fridge before serving.


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Once again, thanks Gertrude for her wonderful guest post on this Chocolate and Milk Pudding dessert to cool us down on warm evenings. For more recipes on Gertrude's blog, you could refer to the link HERE.

Mickey Bento Sets - From Breakfast to Dinner

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A few weeks back I received an email from Bee together with invitation to do a Bento related guest post at Rasa Malaysia. I was so surprise after reading her email because for so many years I have being one of her silent readers whom always drool over her mouthwatering photos and recipes which our family enjoys. And today I am so honor to be one of the invited guests to share my bento post with all her readers.

For this post, instead of Angry Birds I will be sharing two Mickey Bento which I have discussed with Bee. First bento set can be used for either Lunch/Dinner as it comes with soup, rice, veggie, prawn and fresh fruit. While the second set will be more suitable for breakfast, tea-snack or field trip outing.

Different Mickey shapes cutout from pumpkin, carrot, Chinese yam(huai shan) and assorted colour of capsicums for making the soup and stir-fry.

MICKEY LUNCH OR DINNER SET

Ingredients For Soup:

300g Spare Ribs
1 Medium Carrot, cut into thick chunks
200g Chinese Yam, cut into thick chunks
200g Pumpkin, cut into 3 portions
1 Sweetcorn, cut into 4 sections and halves
1.2 Litres of Water

Method:-

1. Blanched spare ribs in boiling water for 1 minute remove rinse and set aside.

2. Before cutting the root vegetables into chunk, reserve a small portion and use small assorted Mickey food cutters to cutout mickey face shaped from Chinese yam, carrot and pumpkin. (about 5 pieces from each item)

3. Bring 1.2 litres of water to boil, add in all ingredients except the reserved “Mickey” shaped cutouts.

4. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, next place the mickey cutouts on a metal soup ladler lower into the simmering soup and cook for 15 seconds. Remove and set aside in serving bowl.

5. Ladle warm soup into the bowl before serving.

Ingredients For Onigiri And Veggies:

3 Tablespoons Cooked Rice
1 Slice of Sandwich Cheese
1 Thin Slice of Carrot
Nori Sheet
1/4 Bunch of Baby Choy Sum
1 Teaspoon Wolfberries
1/4 Teaspoon Minced Garlic, optional

Method:-

1. Place a sheet of cling wrap on one hand and scoop about 2 tablespoons of cooked rice on it. Shape the rice into a ball.

2. Remove the cling wrap and place it on a paper cup liner while working on the two ears on the side.

3. Using the same cling wrap scoop 1 teaspoon of cooked rice on it and shaped into semi-circle. Open the cling wrap and cover the rice ball with a 4cm diameter round nori sheet to form the ear.

4. Repeat step 3 again. Next place the 1st round rice ball onto a cling wrap, using 2cm long thin spaghetti to attach the ears on the side of rice ball.

5. Shaped these three parts of the mickey features tightly using the cling wrap and your hands.

6. When done remove the wrapper and place it on the paper cup liner into the assigned box and start adding the facial expression using mickey shape cutter, cheese and carrot shown above.

7. To make the eye balls and nose, use a craft puncher on a nori sheet to get small oval shapes and paste it on the cutout cheese.

8. For the vegetables; preheat a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon of cooking oil sauté the garlic till fragrant before adding vegetable. Give a quick stir and cook for 30 second, toss in wolfberries and cook for another 5 seconds. Remove and arrange in another paper cup liner at the side of the Mickey onigiri.

Ingredients For Tomato Prawn:

1/4 Red, Yellow And Green Capsicum
5 Slices of Carrot
5 Medium Shrimps, shells removed
3/4 Tablespoon Ketchup
1/4 Teaspoon Minced Garlic, optional
1/4 Brown Onion, optional

Method:-

1. Using small assorted Mickey food cutters to cutout mickey shaped from the assorted capsicum and carrot. (about 3 cutouts from each items, remaining cut into long strips )

2. Next preheat saucepan with drizzle of oil, sauté garlic till fragrant add in assorted capsicum and onion cook for 30 seconds before adding in the shrimps.

3. Give the mixture a quick stir, add in ketchup mix well cook until prawn changed colour.

4. Turn off the heat, dish up and assemble it on bento container.

Ingredients For Fruit Platter:

3 Slices of Dragon Fruits/Melons
4 Lychee/Cherry, seeds removed

Method:-

1. Using a big Mickey food cutter, cutout mickey head shaped from the dragon fruit and set aside

2. Arrange the serving bento with mickey head dragon fruits and some seedless fresh lychee of any fruits of your choice.

MICKEY BREAKFAST SET

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Apart from the full set of Mickey Dinner Bento shown above, I have also made another Quick and Easy Mickey Breakfast Set using some of the "Bamboo Charcoal Bread" that comes in just in time to shape the face of Mickey. But if you cannot find any Black Charcoal Bread you can always replace it with chocolate bread too.

ARRAY OF MICKEY SHAPES FOOD CUTTER

These are the Mickey Shapes Food Cutter that I used used in making these two bento shown above. If you are interested to get hold of these cutters, you can either purchase them from online bento shop or for those living in Singapore, you can get it from Kai Kai Gift at level 2 of Chinatown Point. Lastly, I hope you would like these two set of Mickey Bento which perhaps could bring back some of your Disneyland trip or childhood memories.

For the FULL Recipes of these Mickey Bento, you can refer to my Guest Post @ Rasa Malaysia HERE.

{New!} Tasty Breakfast Choices @ Burger King

Recently Burger King(BK) launched a new Breakfast Platter which is specially made for those who wants a healthy start for the day. This set consists of freshly cooked omelet folded around a filling of Turkey Ham and American cheese, smoked chicken frankfurter (made with 100% chicken breast, sage and mace) together with tangy taste of freshly grilled juicy tomato. Beside those mentioned there is also fluffy croissan'wich bun and generous portion of bite-size round hash browns to make this a hearty and wholesome breakfast platter.
Meal Price: S$7.45* (includes a cup of Seattle’s Best Coffee/Tea)
*price varies at selected restaurants

But if you prefer something light and flavorful for breakfast, perhaps you can consider any of these bite size BK SHOTS Egg Benny or Tomato Benny. These breakfast sets come with either slices of ripe red tomato and buttery egg omelet or a delightful combination of Turkey ham and fluffy egg omelet patty both nestled in the soft seedless bun with premium creamy Hollandaise sauce.
Meal Price: S$3.50 (includes a cup of Seattle’s Best Coffee/Tea)

Or you still prefer this all-time classic in BK’s breakfast menu which is made with buttery fluffy CROISSAN’WICH bun, American Cheese, slices of thinly shaved Turkey Ham together with soft and buttery egg omelet.
Meal Price: S$5.45* (includes a cup of Seattle’s Best Coffee/Tea)
*price varies at selected restaurants

For your information, these 4 sets of breakfast treat are complemented by a cup of piping hot Seattle's Best Coffee to brighten up your day. You can read more about these Seattle's Best Coffee in another post HERE.

Crystal Jade Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Culinary Carnival

In celebration of Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts Holding's 20th Anniversary, the home-grown restaurant chain is holding it's very first 3 Days Culinary Carnival at the atrium of NEX shopping mall. This carnival starts from 05 - 07 August 2011 and will feature a wide range of Crystal Jade dishes, cooking demonstrations, quizzes and competitions. Most importantly the profits will be donated to World Vision, an international aid organization.

As part of Crystal Jade's focus on corporate social responsibility, the restaurant chain will donate the event's profits to World Vision whereby 80% of the anticipated 100,000 dollars raised will go to the One Life Fund bursary scheme while the rest will go to World Vision development projects in rural Vietnam.

The Carnival coupon is available for sales at all Crystal Jade outlets, Carnival Hotline @ 6512 0800 and Ticket Booths located at atrium of NEX shopping mall at a value of S$30.00 per booklet including 1 FREE bottle of 500ml Sunbeam Oil while stock last.  Please note coupons purchased are for one "specified" day only and you will get another Extra S$5.00 coupon by using Citibank Credit Card to make payment for the S$30.00 coupon booklets too. More details of the Culinary Carnival, please refer to Crystal Jade website HERE.

The Carnival will have 12 food booths offering a wide range of cuisines, each representing a different Crystal Jade concept. This is also the first time members of the public will be able to sample such a wide range of Crystal Jade dishes all in one location - with selections from its fine-dining outlets to its casual and family restaurants and bakeries.

La Mian Demonstration by Crystal Jade Chef on 3 different types of La Mian, including the fine Dragon Beard Noodles(longxu mian)that can thread those needle. After some impressive demonstration by chef, there is also a La Mian Competition whereby audiences would get a chance to hands-on.

So remember to hop down to the Crystal Jade Culinary Carnival from today onwards till 07 August 2011 to savour a spread of Crystal Jade favourites, and as well contribute your share to the society by purchasing some carnival coupons and be part of the profits given to World Vision to help those who are in needs.

Savory Steamed Tofu with Unsweetened Soy Milk

Weekend is approaching and for those who is on leave next Monday, you will get to enjoy a long weekend due to Singapore National Day on Tuesday, 09 August 2011. So if you thinking of what to cook for the family during this weekend perhaps you could read up more on today's homemade "Savory Steamed Tofu with unsweetened Soy Milk", guest post by HL(Tigerfish), writer of "Teczcape - An Escape To Food" food blog and author of "The Everything Rice Cooker Cookbook". (sample of the recipes can be found HERE)

I love to read up HL's blog posts where she always shared quick and easy recipes which most of us could easily follow and whipped up a hearty meal within a short time frame. And most important she always try to create healthy dishes that are nutritious and healthy for her family. So now let's welcome HL and her homemade Savory Tofu dish.

Savory Steamed Tofu with Unsweetened Soy Milk

I have been following Cuisine Paradise by Ellena for some time. Ellena is one super creative cook, baker and food blogger; consistently churning out homey delicious recipes that inspire. It is indeed my privilege to guest post at her award-winning blog. Thank you for your kind invite, Ellena.

Savory steamed tofu pudding/savory steamed tofu custard is a dish that I have cooked many times because it is extremely easy to prepare (no more than 15 minutes including prep. and cooking time!), nutritious, and within minutes, a comforting flavorsome dish.

Additionally, it is a dish that easily encourages you to play up your creativity with flavors and textures. Go little extra miles each time e.g. extra umami by adding mushrooms and tomatoes, extra "soy" by adding (unsweetened) soy milk or extra flavor depth by adding miso.

Super easy to make, super delicious and super healthy too!

See that? They belong to the same world. A soy milk "bath" for tofu (soy beancurd): Savory Steamed Tofu with Unsweetened Soy Milk. Here are some details and tips to make your very own.

Savory Steamed Tofu in Unsweetened Soymilk
(1) Soy Milk "Bath: Add unsweetened soy milk to about half the brim of tofu (tofu already laid out and gently mashed in a serving bowl). More soymilk if you like - about 3/4 brim of the tofu. Of course, you can also substitute soy milk with water or any broth you like. Whole milk also works.

(2) Tofu: Use soft or silken for smooth velvety texture. If you have medium-firm tofu - you could gently mash it down further with a spoon or if you have both varieties on hand - use a mixture (half soft, silken + half medium-firm). Play with textures if you wish. It can be as smooth as silky as you want.

(3) Ingredients: Add diced tomatoes and fresh mushrooms (Note: beech/bunashimeiji mushrooms or any delicate-textured mushrooms work better as the entire dish would just be gently steamed and within that short time of 5-8 minutes of steaming, the mushrooms can be easily cooked through). You can also add sweet corn kernels, shelled edamame beans, or sweet green peas.

(4) Garnishes: Generously garnish with finely chopped cilantro, fried shallots and nori seaweed, add 2-3 drops of sesame oil and dashes of white pepper over the dish before steaming. All these garnishing add flavor, depth and aroma!

(5) Finishing Touches: Set wok to do steaming and turn down the heat to medium to reduce the boil for steaming. Steam for about 5 minutes. After steaming, just another 1-2 drops of sesame oil to bring out the aroma. Salt and more pepper to taste.

Enjoy, and create your own tomorrow!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Once again, thanks HL(Tigerfish) for her wonderful guest post on this Savory Steamed Tofu With Unsweetened Soy Milk dish. For more recipes on HL's blog, you could refer to the link HERE.

{Featured @ inSing.com} Happy Birthday Singapore - Part 2, "National Day Bento"

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This year 09 August 2011, Singapore will be celebrating her 46th Birthday together with all citizens of Singapore as well as spectators and National Day performers at the Marina Bay floating stage. But even if you can't get hold of any National Day Parade tickets, you can still join in the celebration with friends and family members to enjoy some special holiday buffet, shop around at flea market, viewing fireworks and etc to enjoy a fun-filled National Day. (more details HERE).

Here upon the request of my boy, I have made a National Day Bento for him which I used his favourite Chicken Rice to make a rice parcel that is wrapped using red and white egg sheets to resemble the National flag. The concept of this bento is made to represent the different races and food cultures in Singapore. Example:- Chicken Rice is a well-known Chinese cuisine whereas Putu Mayam is one of the old-times Indian breakfast treat. In this way, at least my boy get to know and try the different kinds of food eaten by the different races in Singapore. If you are interested you can also take a look at our National Day Icing Cookies done by WaiFong at this link HERE.

Lastly for more details and recipe of this National Day Bento, please refer to the article at inSing.com HERE.

Once again!!! We would like to wish everyone a Happy National Day and Happy Birthday Singapore!!!!

Spooky Bento Featured @ inSing.com

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A few weeks back I was approached by Javan from inSing.com on whether I could do a bento base for their 7th Month, "Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival" theme. Upon reading his email I was actually stunned for a few minutes and I even "text" a few friends for their opinions and most of us feel this is quite a sensitive month and topic to handle.

So after much considerations and drafting we decided to settle with something more kid's friendly that resemble "Halloween" theme just for some fun and spooky chill on this Chinese 7th month. But before this, initially I have a few design such as using charcoal bread/squid ink pasta to form a black coffin or well with "pool" of tomato pasta sauce to create a bloody effect with accompany ghostly images or broken hands and etc. And Javan even suggest that whether I could do a "paper talisman" sort of design but I find it rather "Spooky" to use for bento especially in this Hungry Ghost Month.

For more details and recipe please refer to the article at inSing.com HERE.

Cheese And Mayo Bun

I have being following "Maameemoomoo, a 1/2 food blog" since 2010 because I was attracted to Sherie's mouthwatering dishes and bakes. I still remembered vividly it was her Grilled Saba Fish and Black Sticky Rice, 3 ways which makes me among one of her die-heart readers. And furthermore, she had again captured our hearts earlier this year with our all-time favourite "Orh Nee" that she fusion into a wonderful "Orh Nee Cheesecake " which was featured in The Straits Times.

Today I am so happy to invite Sherie to guest post one of her family's all-time favourite "Cheese And Mayo Bun" recipe for us. I am sure with this quick and easy recipe we can all enjoy learning baking homemade bread in no time. Although this recipe is made using bread machine to knead and proof the dough, but no worries you can still make this bread by reading the tips shared by Sherie HERE on "How to make bread without bread machine".

CHEESE AND MAYO BUN

Bread is a daily staple in my household.

These days, i don't do 3 loaves anymore. Apart from experimenting with multigrain breads, one of my weekly must-bake would be Cheese & Mayo Bun. Everyone loves it to bits and pieces. From baby to old man (u-know-who), from me to the helper, we simply cannot resist this irresistible bun, especially now with the water roux method... Darcy is so ditching his favourite bakery. Heee!

When i was approached by the talented Ellena of Cuisine Paradise to guest post for her, i knew she would request a post on bread from me. Grin. Why? Because Ellena loves bread and buns! According to the ever so creative lady, it seems that bread doesn't like her all that much. Hence, she has never quite succeeded in making them. But you know what? Methinks that isn't at all true, because if you know Ellena, you will know that it's rather difficult not to like this oh so sweet lady! *wink*

To be honest, i didn't just thought of the toppings for this bun myself. I made this purely because of Darcy who fancies certain bakery's cheese and mayo bun. If not for Darcy, i wouldn't have thought of marrying the cheese with mayonnaise myself due to its not-so-ideal-for-the-waistline-ingredients.

But whaddaya know.... we are all now addicted to it.

Screw the not-so-idea-for-the-waistline-ingredients! HAHA!

Ingredients: (makes 8 buns)
125ml milk
56g egg
50g caster sugar
5g salt
30g butter
120g tangzhong
350g bread flour
7g milk powder
6g instant yeast

For the topping
grated cheddar cheese
mayonnaise

Method:

1. Place all ingredients in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start.

2. Once the machine beeps (after 1 and half hour + 1 proofing), remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead before proceeding to chaffing and letting the dough rest for 5mins.

3. Divide dough into 8 pieces.

4. From the 8 pieces, further divide each dough into 3 pieces. Then roll each pieces to 15 cm long rope.

5. Place the rope side by side and start plaiting.

6. Continue to plait until you reach the end. Place the ends together and tuck them neatly under the bottom of the plait. Repeat for the remaining 7 pieces.

7. Place the completed plaits onto baking sheet that has been floured. Let doughs proof for 45 minutes or until double in size.

8. Squeeze or spread ample mayonnaise on the each of the bread doughs before topping them generously with grated cheddar cheese.

9. Bake at the preheated oven at 175c for 10 minutes until the bread is browned. Remove immediately.

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Warning : Never bake this when you have little children or adults or .. wait, hmm.. actually, the word anyone would be more befitting *grin*, so yeah, never bake this when there's anyone around because the buns will fly off the cooling rack in a blink of an eye, unless that is your intention in the first place! :D

Once again, thanks Sherie for her wonderful post. And I think after this I shall not have any excuse on not trying to start my bread baking session :p Cross fingers and hope I could bake something decent from her recipe. For more bread recipes on Sherie's blog, you can refer to the list HERE.