Christine's Recipes Printable Version: Snacks

Showing posts with label Snacks. Show all posts

Scallion Pancakes

Prep time: 20 mins + proofing time
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 4 serves

Ingredients:

250 gm plain flour / all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
¼ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp instant dried yeast
150 ml lukewarm water
100 gm diced scallion
1½ Tbsp oil

Method:

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Mix in sugar, salt and yeast. Drizzle the warm water evenly into the flour mixture. (Remark: Reserve about 1 tablespoon of water, add to the dough afterwards if necessary.) Gather all ingredients together. Transfer onto a clean surface and knead into a dough until the surface is not sticky, about 7 minutes.
Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a wet tea towel or a plastic wrap. Set aside for about 35 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 equal portions. With a rolling pin, roll out each portion to a rectangular sheet with a rolling pin. Season with salt, then lightly brush with oil and evenly sprinkle diced scallion.
Roll the long end of the dough up tightly, creating a snake-shaped dough disc as shown in the above picture. Repeat this step for the remaining dough.
Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Carefully transfer the pancake dough and cook until both sides are lightly brown. Serve immediately.

Notes：

Use lukwarm water, not over 40C / 105F. The yeast will die otherwise.
After rinsing the scallion, make sure to wipe dry with kitchen papers because you don’t want to make the dough damp.
Don’t over knead the dough. Just knead until the surface is not sticky.
The tighter you roll the dough up, the more layers you’ll get.
Roll the dough thinner or leave it thicker as you like. It’ll be equally delicious.

You can use roasted almonds for convenience. But raw almonds are best for this recipe, available at supermarkets.
After coating with sugar, the almonds can be burnt easily within minutes. Thus, don’t leave them unattended. The power of every oven is very different. Please adjust accordingly.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 300 grams

Ingredients:

300 gm raw almonds
100 gm caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C / 340F. Place the almonds on a lined baking tray in a single layer. After baking for about 3 minutes, stir the almonds to help bake evenly. Continue to bake for another 3 minutes, or until aromatic. Remove from the oven. Let them cool on a wire rack.
Combine the sugar and salt.
Mix the egg white with vanilla extract well. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the almonds and coat well.
Transfer the almonds onto the lined tray. Bake in the oven at 160C / 320F, about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Let the almonds stay inside the oven until almost dried. Remove the tray from oven. Let the almonds cool on a wire rack completely. They can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 weeks or so.

Homemade Dumpling Wrappers (Videos+Cookbook Signing)

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 20 pieces

Ingredients:

200 gm plain flour / all-purpose flour + a handful for dusting
60 ml hot water, about 80C /175F
120 ml water, room temperature
oil, for greasing

Method:

Sift flour into a big bowl. Drizzle the hot water evenly into the flour, in a slow, circular motion. Use chopsticks or a spatula to mix well quickly to create little flour crumbs.
Add the room-temperature water bit by bit into the flour. Use hand to knead into a dough until the surface is not sticky. Place the dough in a greased bowl, covered with a plastic film. Let it rest for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll and stretch the dough out into a long strip, about 1½ inches in thickness. Divide into 20 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball. Lightly flatten and roll out into a 7cm-sized disc with a rolling pin. Wrap a heaped teaspoon of filling in the center. Please refer to the video on youtube channel. (http://www.youtube.com/user/christinehoau).

Dumplings in Red Oil/Chilli Oil (紅油抄手)

When it comes to make these dumplings, try to get those thin, white dumpling/wonton wrappers, available at Asian grocery stores. It might need some effort to wrap the fillings, yet the texture is very smooth after boiling.

Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yield: 18 dumplings

Ingredients:

200 gm pork mince
2 Tbsp shredded wood ears (木耳), soaked until soft
80 gm shrimp, shelled and deveined
18 pieces thin white wonton wrappers
diced spring onion, for garnish

Marinade:

2 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp chicken powder / chicken bouillon
1½ Tbsp water
1 tsp corn flour / corn starch
1/2 tsp minced ginger
a pinch white pepper

Ingredients of chilli sauce:

2 Tbsp peppercorn chilli oil
2 tsp minced garlic
3 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
sesame oil, to taste

Method:

Mix the ingredients of chilli sauce well. Set aside.
Rinse prawns and pat dry with kitchen papers. Mix with a pinch of salt and white pepper, then leave it for 15 minutes. Rinse again. (Remark: This step helps make the prawns taste better.) Drain well and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Set aside.
Blanch wood ears in boiling water for about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well and set aside.
In a mixing bowl, put in pork mince, prawns, wood ears and marinade. Stir towards one direction and combine well.
Prepare a little bowl of water for sealing dumplings. Place a heaped teaspoon of fillings into the center of the dumpling wrapper. Damp the edge with water and seal it tightly. (Please refer to the video I post previously for pleating a dumpling. A different kind of wonton wrappers was used, the method was the same though.)
Carefully lower dumplings in a large pot of boiling water over high heat. Stir the water around in order to avoid the dumplings stick to the bottom. When the dumplings float to the surface, continue to cook for a further half minute. Use a slotted spoon to drain up the dumplings. Transfer them to individual serving bowls. Drizzle chilli sauce and garnish with diced spring onion. Serve immediately.

Mandarin Pancakes for Peking Duck (Chinese New Year Celebration)

Chinese New Year Day falls on the 23rd of January this year, about two weeks time to go. We all start thinking about what we should cook for the celebration. The traditional dishes, like radish cakes, coconut pudding, steamed fish and Chinese mushrooms seem to be a must on our list. I’m still searching new ideas of cooking something new to my family.

After I served the first piece of pancake for hubby, then quickly went back to fry my second piece for myself, I heard he yielded out a word, “YUMMY”. At the very moment, I knew this dish could be on my Chinese New Year menu. It’s a perfect appetizer.

The mandarin pancakes are best served when they are still warm. They are chewy and springy in texture, going so well with the crispy duck skin. One more remark, the hoisin sauce is a must because it adds more flavour into the wrappers. Traditionally, Chinese people use cucumber and the white parts of leek (京蔥). But you could replace with julienned white parts of large spring onions, or add any greens you like.

Mandarin Pancakes for Peking Duck (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Yield: Makes 8

Ingredients:

200 gm plain flour
150 ml hot water, at about 80C/175F
30 to 35 ml water, at room temperature
salt, to taste
sesame oil, for brushing pancakes

Method:

Use a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour. Drizzle the hot water into the flour evenly. Quickly stir with a pair of chopsticks and combine well, and create some flour crumbs. Knead it into a dough. Add the room-temperature water bit by bit at a time. (Note: Kneading more water into the dough will help prevent the pancakes from being dried after pan-frying.) Continue to knead until the surface is smooth and not sticky. Place the dough in a greased bowl, covered with a damp cloth. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface. Roll out the dough into an 1½ inch-thick tube. Cut into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball shape. Lightly press each into a small disc. Brush one side with some sesame oil. Then put two discs together with the sesame sides touching. Roll the discs again into 15cm (6 inches) in diameter. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough discs.
Heat a non-stick frying pan. Cook 1 to 2 dough discs at a time, over low heat until both sides have small light brown spots. You can easily separate the two pancakes when they bubble slightly. Cook and brown the inner sides. Serve immediately. Wrap roast duck skin, cucumber and julienned leek or white parts of spring onion. Serve with Hoisin sauce. Enjoy!

Don't forget to use the Hoisin sauce.
It makes the wrappers taste as good as those served in Chinese restaurants.

Notes:

While rolling out the dough discs, remember to cover the rest of the dough with a wet towel to keep from drying out.
This pancake is best served straight from the pan when it’s still hot. Yet, you can make the pancakes a day or a few days ahead. Keep them in a sealed plastic bag or an air-tight container and store in fridge. When you’re ready to serve, steam the pancakes in a wok/bamboo steamer to reheat them.
Add a bit of hot water to loosen the Hoisin sauce for easy spreading.
You can get a whole roast duck from any Chinese BBQ shops. Preheat oven to 150C/300F, and reheat the duck for about 15 to 20 minutes. Or ladle hot oil over the surface of roast duck for a few times, then you’ll get more crispy duck skin. Serve immediately when it’s still warm.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (五彩蔬菜蒸餃)

You might’ve noticed that my family and I are not vegan eaters. But I do love having many different vegetables served on table, sometimes enjoy a no-meat day. These dumplings have got several vegetables in five different colours for fillings, and can be a perfect light lunch, or snacks for tea time.

Steamed Vegetable Dumplings (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Pastry Ingredients:

300 gm plain flour
150 ml hot water, 80C/175F
60 ml water, at room temperature

Filling ingredients:

1 to 2 shiitake mushrooms
45 gm corn kernels
25 gm carrot, diced
50 gm chinese chives, finely chopped
34 gm vermicelli/cellophane noodles, soaked, softened and sectioned
3 water chestnuts, about 56 gm, skinned and diced
45 gm spicy tofu (picture shown above), diced
1/2 tsp minced ginger

Seasonings:

1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chicken bouillon powder
2 Tbsp water
sesame oil, to taste

Method:

Sift flour into a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the hot water evenly into the flour in a circular motion. Use a spatula or chopsticks to quickly mix well, to create little flour crumbs.
Add room-temperature water in three batches and knead into a smooth dough. Place in a greased bowl, covered with a plastic film. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
To make the fillings: Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Saute ginger over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, carrot, dried tofu, corn kernels and chives. Stir fry until aromatic. Add vermicelli and water chestnuts. Stir in the seasonings. Set aside. Let cool down.
Roll out the dough into a long tube shape. Cut into 14 to 16 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small disc with a rolling pin, each about 8cm in size. Wrap a heaped tablespoon of filling and pinch the edge. Repeat this step with the remaining pastry and fillings.
Steam the dumplings in a wok or a steamer over high heat, for about 15 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve immediately.

Notes:

The chicken bouillon powder can be replaced with shiitake mushroom powder for vegan eaters, which is available at Asian stores.
The leftover dumplings can be kept in a covered container in fridge up for 3 to 4 days. Frozen can be kept for a month.
Spicy tofu is also available at Asian stores, often placed in chilling section.
The texture of the dumpling skin is made from hot water and flour, produced a soft and springy feel. You might like to refer this video of how to wrap a dumpling. The pastry is very stretchy and tender, thus wrapping the diced fillings inside is quite a challenge for a beginner. It’s nothing wrong if seal tightly without pinching the edge at all. You'll make some beautiful rustic dumplings. Just make sure no fillings would leak out.

Dutch Pancakes (Poffertjes)

How frustrated it would be if you like eating something delicious and you have the exact recipe you want! A case in point, the Egg Waffle (雞蛋仔) is my most favourite street snack enjoyed from my childhood in Hong Kong. Although I’ve got the wonderful recipe, I can’t try it out simply because I don’t have the mould. Having said that, I can’t blame anything as life treats me good enough. On the boxing day, I came across this electric Dutch pancake pan offered at Kmart at a crazy price, 12 dollars for each. What a bargain! My hubby talked me into it and finally we grabbed one back home. How wonderful it was when tasting the first batch of homemade puffy Poffertjes (Dutch pancakes) coming out straight from the hot pan. If you don’t have the pan, don’t be frustrated. Unlike the Hong Kong egg waffles, you still can taste the goodies, by using the recipe to pan fry some if you’re craving. Make the pancakes as small as you can, the taste is still delicious.

Dutch Pancakes (Poffertjes) (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour, sifted
1¼ tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp caster sugar
salt, to taste
½ cup milk
¼ cup water
2 eggs, whisked
A few drops of vanilla extract, optional
oil, for brushing the pan

Method:

Combine flour and baking powder. Mix in sugar and salt.
Pour in milk, water. Combine with a balloon whisk. Add the eggs. Don’t over stir anyway, and avoid from producing gluten inside the batter, just combine all ingredients. Rest for 10 minutes.
Turn on the electric pancake pan according to the manufactory’s instructions. Brush a bit of oil on the pan. Pour in about one tablespoon of batter into each hole. When bubbles appear, bottoms turn lightly brown, use a skew or needle to flip over and cook the other side. They should be cooked until both sides are golden brown. Transfer onto a serving plate, served with maple syrup or honey, sprinkle icing sugar on top.

Notes:

When mixing the batter, just combine all ingredients, don’t over stir it.
The batter should be runny. The fried pancakes won't be soft otherwise. Add water if the batter is too thick.
You might like to add some fillings between two pieces of pancakes, like jam or fruits.
I tried to go with vanilla ice cream. It’s incredibly tasty.

Panettone for Christmas

Tonight’s the Christmas’ Eve in Australia. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all my readers. Your encouraging, lovely words and frequent visits are the energy to keep this blog going.

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and enjoy happy holidays!

This is the last post before Christmas. I baked this Panettone, originated from Italy that is now widely spread around the world, usually baked for Christmas day. Traditionally, Panettone is baked in tins lined with baking paper, with a rustic look. After cooling down, you can keep it in an airtight container or wrapped in a plastic bag. It tastes even better after 3 days. I grabbed the ramekins that already sit in my kitchen cabinet and baked these lovely mini sized Panettone.

Amongst all my favourite homemade breads, this is an exceptional one specially made for a special occasion.

The texture of Panettone is as soft as the tangzhong breads, with lots of fruits inside, to entertain the ones who have a sweet tooth. Christmas is a good season and reason to eat more, might be more sweet treats. Yet, I don’t like to give my family a heavy dose of sugar in their diet anyway. I chose to follow Yvonne’s recipe, tweaked with less sugar and less fat. During this festive season, I’d definitely bake more than usual, but still, try to keep some Chinese dishes served on our dinner table as well.

Panettone for Christmas (Printable recipe)
Recipe adapted from 65C Bread Doctor by Yvonne C

Prepare 4 ramekins lined with baking paper, each 9.5cm x 6cm in size

Ingredients:

350 gm/2½ cup bread flour
7 gm/1 Tbsp+1 tsp milk powder
100 gm/6½ Tbsp caster sugar
4 gm/1 tsp salt
5 gm/2 tsp instant dry yeast
20 gm/1 Tbsp original yoghurt
175 gm eggs whisked egg (about 3 large eggs)
60 gm egg yolk (about 3 large egg yolks)
130 gm unsalted butter ( I used 60gm) + more to dice
dried raisins 75 gm (I used 220 gm）
3 Tbsp rum
50 gm sultana（I didn’t use.）
110 gm glazed fruits (I didn’t use.)

Method:

Mix raisins with rum. Cover and leave it at room temperature overnight, or until the rum is well absorbed. Line baking paper in ramekins, with edges higher than the rims of ramekins for about 3cm.
Use a stand mixer, add in dry ingredients (except raisins), followed by wet ingredients. Use the hook to beat until all ingredients come together and glutens formed. Add in softened butter, continue to knead until elastic.
Add raisins, decrease to slow speed, until well combine. Roll dough into ball shape. Place in a greased bowl, covered, let it proof for about 80minutes（temperature 28C, humidity 75%）.
Transfer dough onto a floured surface. Cut into 4 equal portions. Roll and shape in balls. Cover with cling film. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Roll each portion in balls again. Transfer into lined ramekins. Cover with cling film and let proof until reach the rim of ramekins. Use a pair of scissors to cut a cross shape on top. Place one dice of 1cm sized butter in each cross. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 40 minutes. (Note: The original recipe instructs to place in an oven with upper heater at 160C, lower at 180C and bake for 30 minutes. My oven doesn’t have different temperature control design. So I placed the ramekins at the lowest rack in my oven, closest to the bottom heater.) Test the breads if they are cooked, with a skewer/needle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Sprinkle icing sugar on top for garnish. Enjoy with a cup of tea/coffee!

Notes:

The dough is quite wet and sticky, it might be challenging to knead by hand. Use a stand mixer or breadmaker to make life easier.
As I use ramekins, the bottom is quite thick. I placed them at the lowest rack in my oven to help bake the bottom thoroughly. If the colour of the surface gets brown too quickly, cover with a foil to avoid burning. Or decrease the temperature and bake longer time in order to get your bread cooked through.
The cubes of butter in the cross on top will help the bread expand nicely while baking.

Braided Raisin Walnut Bread (Tangzhong Method)

Sky is the limit when experimenting with the tangzhong method. Up to now, I dare to say that I nearly bake every bread with tangzhong. Yes, I confess I’m really addicted to baking this super soft and fluffy tangzhong bread. Tangzhong is absolutely a reliable method to help me bake all kinds of Asian buns and breads. Many of my friends who are bake lovers continue to experiment it with different fillings. Raisins and walnuts are wonderfully good pairings. Why not try these two ingredients in my tangzhong bread baking? The trial was a big success. The two big raisin and walnut loafs were gone quicker than I thought.

Braided Raisin Walnut Bread (Tangzhong Method) (Printable recipe)

Ingredients of Tangzhong:

25 gm bread flour
125 ml water

Ingredients:

350 gm bread flour, sifted
55 gm sugar
5 gm salt
56 gm whisked egg
7 gm milk powder, optional
125 ml milk
120 gm tangzhong (refer to this recipe for making tangzhong)
5 to 6 gm instant dried yeast
30 gm butter, at room temperature
90 gm dried raisins, or to taste
2 to 3 Tbsp rum
90 gm walnuts

Method:

Mix raisins with rum well. Cover and place at room temperature overnight.
Place walnuts in a pre-heated oven at 180C (356F). Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until hot enough but not brown. Remove from oven. Use a clean towel or wear a pair of plastic gloves to rub off the outer skins. Roughly chop into pieces, or leave it if you want more chunky texture.
Add all ingredients (except butter) into a breadmaker, first the wet ingredients (milk, egg, tangzhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, milk powder, bread flour, yeast). (Note: I used to make a small well in the bread flour, then add the yeast into it.)
Select the “dough” mode (refer to the manual of your breadmaker to select the kneading dough programme). When all ingredients come together, add in the butter. (Note: my breadmaker has an alert function to remind me of adding fruits or nuts. If your breadmaker doesn’t have any function like this, just put in the raisins and walnuts when the butter has been absorbed well.) Knead until the dough becomes elastic. Then let the dough complete the 1st round of proofing, about 40 minutes, best temperature for proofing is 28C, humidity 75%, until double in size.
Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 6 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Roll out each portion of the dough by hand, one by one, into a long tube shape, about 24cm long.
7.Use 3 portions to braid as follows: Take the left dough to cross over the middle piece. Cross the right piece over to the middle (as picture shown). Repeat these steps until you reach the end. Pinch ends and tuck both ends underneath. Repeat the same process with the other 3 portions. Place two loafs on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with cling wrap and let proof for about 45 minutes, until double in size.
Brush whisked egg on top. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C (356F) for about 30 to 35 minutes, until the loafs are golden brown. Let the breads cool on a wire rack completely.

Notes:

It’s better to remove the skin of walnuts before use, otherwise you’d taste a bit of bitterness.
If you feel troublesome to remove the skin of walnuts off, here’s a great video showing a quick and easy way: How to Remove the Skin from Walnuts [chow.com]

Other tangzhong bread recipes:

Pai Bao (排包 Hong Kong Sweet Buns )

Amongst all the Asian bakery shops in Hong Kong that I tried Pai Bao, Maxim’s bakery was on the top of my favourite list. “Pai Bao” (排包) is a kind of Asian sweet buns, arranged and baked in long rows. Maxim’s Pai Bao has rich eggy and milky flavours, super soft and fluffy. I hardly find another bakery shop in Hong Kong that can beat them in making Pai Bao. Sadly, I can’t have Maxim’s Pai Bao as many as I could when I was in Hong Kong. As you might’ve known that I’m getting addicted to making tangzhong breads more and more. Then a question came up in my mind. If you crave for those lovely, soft Pai Bao, why not try to make some with tangzhong? From getting the idea to getting the wonderfully soft Pai Bao on hands, it took me quite a lot of time of refining the recipe. After two trials, not much satisfied with the taste and texture, finally I got the homemade Pai Bao that I love the most, very close to those of Maxim’s.

Up to the time of writing this post, I think this is the stickiest tangzhong dough I’ve ever made, and also the most fluffy and softest homemade bread I’ve ever enjoyed. If it’s not impossible, it would be tremendously hard to knead the dough by hands. Please take this as a kind note that this bread is very easy to make as long as you use a breadmaker. Many fans of my Chinese blog showered me with emails asking what brand of breadmaker I use. My breadmaker is the very basic model of Sunbeam. I just bought it for kneading dough because I like shaping the dough myself and bake breads in oven to have more fun and ensure the best results. You can use other brands of breadmaker though. The key is to let your dough properly be kneaded to the “elastic stage”. Why didn’t I use a stand mixer? I experimented with my stand mixer once. As this tangzhong dough, especially the one of Pai Bao is extremely sticky, the dough was stick to the hook and curled all the way up to the top. Having tried many times of scraping the dough out and get it started again, the dough couldn’t be kneaded properly after a long time. I ended up with turning the dough back to my breadmaker.

Having gone through all the trials and errors, I keep using my breadmaker to knead tangzhong dough since then. I must say that I’m really satisfied with the end results. The texture of every tangzhong bread is exactly like the kind that I’m after, very fluffy and remains soft for days.

Pai Bao (Hong Kong Sweet Buns) (Printable recipe)

Prepare two loaf tins, 12cmx22cmx6cm each
Ingredients:

370 gm bread flour
65 gm caster sugar
5 gm salt
12 gm full cream milk powder
6 gm instant dry yeast
1 egg yolk
30 gm whisked egg
125 gm milk
120 gm tangzhong (refer to this recipe for making tanzhong, use half of the amount for this recipe)
28 gm condensed milk
75ml whipping cream
35 gm unsalted butter, softened

Method:

Add all ingredients (except butter) into a breadmaker, first the wet ingredients (milk, cream, egg, tangzhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, milk powder, bread flour, yeast). (Note: I used to make a small well in the bread flour, then add the yeast into it.) Select the “dough” mode (refer to the menu of your breadmaker to select the kneading dough programme). When all ingredients come together, add butter, continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. (The time of kneading in my breadmaker is about 30 minutes.) Then let the dough complete the 1st round of proofing, about 40 minutes, best temperature for proofing is 28C, humidity 75%, until double in size.
Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 6 equal portions (see picture 1). Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape (See picture 2). Fold 1/3 from top edge to the middle and press (see picture 3). Then roll to the bottom. Pinch to seal (see picture 4). Turn seal downward. Roll and stretch to about 20cm in length (see picture 5). With seal downward, place in the loaf tin. Repeat this step with the rest of the dough. Let proof in the tins, covered with cling wrap (see picture 6). The best temperature for 2nd round proofing is 38C, humidity 85%.
When the dough rises and almost reaches to the rim of the load tins, lightly brush the surface with whisked egg. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until turns brown. Remove from the oven and transfer onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Other tangzhong bread recipes:

Hokkaido Milk Toast (Japanese style)

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 120 mins
Yield: Makes two loafs (each loaf tin size: 20.5cmx10.5cmx9.5cm)

Ingredients:

540 gm bread flour
86 gm caster sugar
8 gm salt
9 gm full cream milk power（original recipe calls for a kind of natural milk essence,
11 gm instant dried yeast
86 gm whisked egg
59 gm whipping cream
54 gm milk
184 gm tangzhong (method of making tangzhong)
49 gm unsalted butter, melted

Method (To make one loaf):

Add all ingredients (except butter) into a breadmaker, first the wet ingredients (milk, cream, egg, tangzhong), then followed by the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, milk powder, bread flour, yeast). (Note: I used to make a small well in the bread flour, then add the yeast into it.) Select the “dough” mode (refer to the menu of your breadmaker to select the kneading dough programme). When all ingredients come together, pour in the melted butter, continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. The time of kneading in the breadmaker is about 30 minutes. Then let the dough complete the 1st round of proofing, about 40 minutes, best temperature for proofing is 28C, humidity 75%, until double in size.
Transfer the dough to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide into 3 equal portions (see picture 1). Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Roll out each portion of the dough with a rolling pin into an oval shape (See picture 2). Fold 1/3 from top edge to the middle and press (see picture 3). Then fold 1/3 from bottom to the middle and press (see picture 4). Turn seal downward. Roll flat and stretch to about 30cm in length (see picture 5). With seal upward, roll into a cylinder (see picture 6). With seal facing down (see picture 7), place in the loaf tins to have the 2nd round of proofing (see picture 8), until double in size. The best temperature for 2nd round proofing is 38C, humidity 85%.
Brush whisked egg on surface. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until turns brown. Remove from the oven and transfer onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Apple Custard Buns (Tangzhong Method)

I wouldn’t know how good this tangzhong recipe is until I tasted the fluffy buns that made from it. My friend, SK told me she nearly makes fresh bread everyday for her family with the tangzhong recipe. She’s got so many good and creative ideas of making different fillings for her buns. I can tell she’s more addicted to making tangzhong bread than me, and admire her passions. She really motivates me in turn, and I feel myself have to pick up baking bread more often. The question is that what fillings I can wrap inside the fluffy buns.

I recalled the first moment I tried the apple custard scrolls from Bakers Delight a few years ago, I immediately fell in love with their creamy custard mingled with fragrant diced apple inside. Here I experimented to whip up the filling for baking more tangzhong buns.

Apple Custard Buns (Printable recipe)

Ingredients of buns:

350gm/2 1/2 cups bread flour
55gm/3 tbsp+2 tsp caster sugar
5gm/1 tsp salt
56gm egg (equals to 1 large egg)
7gm/1 tbsp+1 tsp milk powder (to increase fragrance, optional)
125 ml/1/2 cup milk
120gm tangzhong (refer to this recipe for making tanzhong, use half of the amount for this recipe)
5 to 6gm/2 tsp instant yeast
30gm/3 tbsp butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)
a handful of flaked almond, for topping
extra whisked egg for brushing

Ingredients of custard filling:

200ml/4/5 cup milk
3 egg yolks
50gm/3 tbsp caster sugar
20gm/2 tbsp+1 tsp cake flour
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp butter

Ingredients of apple filling:

2 apples, peeled and core removed
60gm sugar (I used raw sugar. Caster sugar is fine too. Amount depends on how sweet the apples are.)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

Method of making fillings:

Place egg yolks with half of the sugar (25 grams) in a bowl. Beat until it becomes thick and pale in colour.
Sift in flour and combine well until smooth.
Use a small saucepan to heat milk and butter over low heat. Add the remaining sugar (25 grams) and cook until completely dissolved. Let cool for a while until it’s lukewarm.
Pour milk over the egg and flour mixture. Add vanilla essence and combine well. Drain through a sift and pour into the small saucepan. Cook over low heat with constant stirring until it thickens. Transfer to a bowl, and cover by film wrap that touches the surface to prevent from drying up (as picture shown). Let cool completely. Set aside

Method of making buns:

Please refer to the previous recipe to make dough with tangzhong (step 1 to 3). After completing the 1st round of proofing, double in size, transfer dough to a clean floured surface.
Deflate and divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes (as picture shown).
Meanwhile, to prepare apple filling: cut the apples into small cubes. Mix with the sugar and cinnamon powder.
Roll out each part with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape. Place custard filling evenly onto the surface of dough. Sprinkle diced apples on top. Roll from top to bottom to enclose the filling. Cut into four equal portions. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper. (Note: I placed three of them in an aluminum baking tray as picture shown.) Repeat this step for the remaining dough balls and fillings. Cover with cling wrap or a wet towel. Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 45 to 60 minutes, until double in size.
Brush whisked egg on surface of buns. Sprinkle almond on top. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely a wire rack.

Notes:

I found making dough with tangzhong method is best carried out by a breadmaker as the dough is pretty wet, so kneading by hands would take more effort and time.
Many readers from US sent emails and asked me how to convert the measurement of grams to cups. Unfortunately, there’s no one formula to do this job. So I weighted every ingredient first, then measured one by one with metric cup/teaspoon afterwards. Hope it helps you all who are interested in making the tangzhong bread.
Kindly note that if you can buy an electric kitchen weight, it’s worth saving you from any errors in doing the conversion. Best of all, there’s no limitation for you to try all recipes you like that found on the internet. Happy baking!

Other tangzhong bread recipes:

Fried Wontons - International Dumpling Incident

Another International Incident comes again. In May, we’re throwing a dumplings party. I think this is my last post before I go to Melbourne and Adelaide for holidays. It’s been a long time I haven’t traveled to Melbourne and enjoyed yummy foods there. I’d catch up with all of you whenever I get access on internet.

(Photo credits to gowalkabouttravel.com)

In this International Dumplings Incident, we also celebrate the birthdays of all May babies. Congratulations on Mardi, turning 40 on this special day, Divina Pe, moving to take up a job offer as well Shirley, Pam and Evelyne. All the best wishes to all of them.

My post of this International Dumpling Incident focuses on sharing how to make a popular, famous Chinese snack, deep-fried wontons (jinlu yuntun 錦鹵雲吞), a kind of Cantonese dumplings. Originally, this snack was supposed to use any leftovers you got to cook the sweet and sour sauce. Traditionally, people would add squid/calamari and pork liver, yet I omitted them this time. This traditional snack can hardly be found in Chinese restaurants nowadays. Some old-styled Chinese restaurants might have 錦鹵雲吞 on their menu anyway.

When it comes to cooking 錦鹵雲吞, don’t twist the wonton wrappers to seal the fillings as a parcel, but keep the wonton wrappers as flat as you can. The highlight is the deep-fried, crispy wonton wrapper dipped in the well-balanced sweet and sour sauce, not the filling. So, the fillings are kept to the minimum.

This post seems to be a bit long. But don’t be threatened by its length. The wontons are easy to make and often turned to be kids’ favourite.

Fried Wontons with Sweet & Sour Sauce (錦鹵雲吞) (Printable recipe)

Ingredients:

1 packet (about 40 pieces) wonton wrappers (yellow in colour), available at Asian stores
130 gm pork mince
170 gm prawn/shrimp meat
water, for wrapping wontons

Marinade for minced pork:

1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cornflour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp water

Marinade for prawns:

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cornflour
pepper, to taste

Ingredients of sweet and sour sauce:

1 onion, cut into small pieces
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp minced shallot
1/2 green capsicum, cut into small pieces
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
3 slices pineapple (fresh or canned), cut into small pieces
3 to 4 whole prawns/shrimps, with tails intacted
4 slices char siu (Chinese BBQ pork)

Thickening:

2 tsp cornflour
2 Tbsp water

Method of wrapping wontons:

Peel and devein prawns, rinse and wipe dry with kitchen papers. Make prawns meat about 170 grams. Cut each into 3 sections if it’s too big. Mix with marinade well.
Put marinade into pork and mix well. Add prawn meat and combine. Chill in fridge for 20 minutes, covered with film wrap.
When you’re ready for wrapping wontons, prepare some water in a little bowl. Remove the filling from fridge. Use chopsticks or a teaspoon to place one teaspoon of minced pork and prawn filling in the center of each wonton wrapper. Damp the sides of wonton wrappers with water. Fold diagonally and make a triangle shape. (Note: The triangle wontons are quickest and easiest to make, good for deep-frying as well.)

Method of deep-frying wontons:

Heat oil to 180C (350F) in a wok or a large saucepan, or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds.
Carefully place wontons in batches and deep-fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Lightly press the wontons down, once you place them in the oil, because the wontons float on the surface of oil and won’t be cooked evenly. Stir occasionally, and cook until golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

Method of cooking sweet and sour sauce for deep-fried wontons:

Mix ketchup, white vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, salt in water.
Heat oil in a wok (or frypan). Pan fry the prawns with tails intacted until colour changed. Set aside.
Add more oil and sauté the onion over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and shallot until aromatic. Toss in the capsicum and stir-fry until softened. Pour in ketchup mixture. Bring it to a boil. Add pineapples and BBQ pork lastly. You might like to adjust the taste by adding more sugar or water bit by bit to your liking. Season with salt. Add thickening and cook to your preferred consistency. Transfer into a serving bowl. Arrange prawns on top. Served hot with deep-fried wontons.

Notes:

Wonton wrappers (雲吞皮) look similar to the dumpling wrappers (餃子皮). The colour of wontons is yellow, whereas dumplings white. Try to buy those good quality wonton wrappers that are made by eggs.
If you’d like to have wontons in soup, please refer to previous Cantonese wonton soup and cook the soup.

You might like to wrap the wontons following the method that I shared previously, or adapt this new method of wrapping wontons here. Take a look at this new video of demonstration:

Spicy Hawaiian Pizza

What I like making homemade pizzas is the unique toppings that I can create. I can add any of my favourite ingredients on top, and as many as I like. This spicy Hawaiian pizza was baked on the same day when I made the BBQ chicken pizza. One dough, two variations. I just topped the pizza with a few slices of salami, my daughter’s favourite, then turned the traditional Hawaiian pizza into a spicy one, adding a kick in flavour and going really well with pineapples.

Spicy Hawaiian Pizza (Printable recipe)

Ingredients of pizza sauce:

1 can (400 gm) Italian peeled tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, crushed
25 gm unsalted butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp brown sugar
black pepper, to taste
preserved olive, to taste

Method of making sauce:

Heat butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft and fragrant. Be sure not to burn the ingredients. It tastes bitter otherwise.
Add tomatoes and increase heat to high. Bring it to a boil. Add tomato paste, sugar, salt, pepper, oregano, basil. Mix well and continue to cook until it boils again. Reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Let cool a bit and ready for use.

Ingredients of assembling pizza (makes one 25.5cm/10inches pizza):

1 to 2 slices pineapple (canned or fresh, wiped dry)
6 slices hot or mild hot salami
1 to 2 slices ham, diced
Mozzarella cheese, to taste
olive oil, for drizzling

Method of assembling pizza:

Preheat oven to 200C (395F).
Prepare pizza dough (Please refer to this recipe for making dough.) Roll out the dough out into a round disc, about 0.5cm in thickness. Transfer onto a slightly larger greased pizza pan (sheet pan). Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the dough surface and spread evenly to avoid your dough from being soggy. Spoon couples of tablespoons of homemade tomato sauce and spread evenly on the dough. Add some cheese, then ham, pineapple, salami. Sprinkle the rest of cheese on top.
Bake in preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the base is golden brown, cheese melts, and toppings are bubbly. Serve hot.

Notes:

Oregano is commonly used in making pizza sauce. It’s also known as “pizza herb”. I find the dried ones are good enough to make pizzas. Keep a bottle of this pizza herb in my pantry, always ready for use at any time.
Brown sugar is a good partner with tomatoes. You can use white sugar instead.
I used the canned, peeled and deseeded tomatoes for connivance. If you like to use fresh tomatoes, just put 500 grams of tomatoes in hot water. Then you can easily peel off their skins. Deseed and cut into dices. Follow above steps to cook the sauce. You have to adjust the amount of seasoning and cooking time as fresh tomatoes contain more liquid.

BBQ Chicken Pizza (International Pizza-pie Incident)

Pizzas are one of the popular snacks in a party, especially those are straight from the oven. I’m not throwing any parties at home anyway. This is the post for joining an online pizza-pie party, that follows our first gnocchi party. It’s been a while that my family hasn’t eaten any pizzas. So it’s a good incentive to get myself motivated and bake some pizzas again. After a few email exchanges, the crews of our online party finally decided to name it as “International Pizza-pie Incident”. It’s so much fun that all the participants post their own recipes on the same day, as well as feel surprised to find out what kinds of pizzas others would have made.

Guess what pizza I baked......

For this pizza-pie incident falls on the same day of Penny’s birthday. Penny has put a lot of efforts and time to organize our party. I’d like to take this opportunity to say thank-you and wish her a “Happy Birthday”.

I made two different pizzas actually. The first one is our family’s favourite, BBQ chicken pizza, with thin and crispy base. To make the pizza special for celebrating Penny’s birthday, I stuffed extra Mozzarella cheese in the edge, adding richer cheese flavour, with a curl up edge that makes more rooms in the middle for more toppings. If any of our crews’ birthday in April that I don’t know before, this pizza is made for you as well.

The pizza dough is big enough for making two 10 inches pizzas. Apart from making a barbeque chicken pizza with cheese stuffed crust, I also baked a spicy Hawaiian pizza with homemade sauce. Considering this post is quite lengthy, I’d post another recipe in the next post.

BBQ Chicken Pizza (Printable Recipe)

Ingredients of pizza base (enough to make 2 pizzas, each about 25.5cm/10 inches):

2 cups bread flour
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp instant yeast or active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp milk powder, optional

Method of making pizza base:

Add sugar into 3/4 cup warm water and mix until dissolved. Sprinkle yeast over it and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until it foams and bubbles.
I used a bread maker to mix all ingredients until dough is foam. If you knead the dough by hands, sieve the flour, milk powder and salt onto a clean surface. Make a well in the middle. Pour yeast mixture and oil into the well. Start from the middle to mix the flour into the liquid. Knead with clean hands until you get a smooth and springy dough.
Form the dough into a ball. You can get your dough fermented in any one of the following ways: (Method A) If you want a soft-bread-like pizza base, cover the dough with a damp cloth and put in a warm room for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size. (Method B) If you like a crispy pizza crust. Place in a greased bowl and coat with a bit of olive oil on top. Cover the bowl tightly with a cling wrap and store in the fridge at least 24 hours, until the size is double. Then it’s ready for you to make pizza. (Note: I placed the dough in the fridge over 1 day. It can keep for a few days.)

Ingredients of BBQ chicken pizza (enough for 1 pizza, 25.5cm/10inches in size):

1 skinless chicken breast, about 160 gm
1/2 cups Barbecue sauce, or to taste
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
3 to 4 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
100 gm Mozzarella cheese, for making edge, cut into 1-cm-thick sticks
250 gm shredded Mozzarella cheese, for sprinkling
olive oil, for drizzling
chopped sweet basil, to taste
baby spinach or coriander/cilantro, to taste
salt, to taste

Method of making BBQ chicken pizza:

Season chicken breast with salt on both sides. Place in a bowl, then coat chicken with 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce, and marinate for about 30 minutes. Heat oil in a frying pan, cook chicken breast over medium heat, until cooked through. Let cool and cut into small cubes. Coat with 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce.
Preheat oven to 200C (395F). Remove the dough from fridge (if you use method A, in step 3 above). If you use method B, the dough is ready to be used when it’s doubled in size.
Punch the dough down with your hands and deflates the air out. Divide the dough into two parts (or as many little balls you like, if you’d like to make mini pizzas). Shape each part into a ball shape. Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for 15 minutes. (Note: if you don’t prepare to use the dough to make pizza right away, you can wrap it in a cling film and put in the fridge until you need it.)
Roll the dough out into a round disc, about 0.5cm in thickness. Place them on a slightly larger pizza pan (sheet pan), drizzled with olive oil. Place Mozzarella cheese sticks around the edge. Along the inner side of cheese sticks, damp the dough with some water, fold the outer edge inside as picture shown. (Note: be sure not to let any oil touch the surface of dough at this stage, the edge can't be sealed easily otherwise.) Prick the surface of dough with a fork.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the dough surface and spread evenly to avoid your dough from being soggy.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the dough and spread it evenly. Sprinkle on 1/3 of cheese, then diced chicken, red onion, mushrooms. Sprinkle the rest of cheese on top.
Bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the base is golden brown, cheese melts, and toppings are bubbly.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle as many baby spinach or coriander as you like. Cut into wedges and serve hot immediately.

Some thoughts of fermenting experiments:

I tested two batches of pizza dough, that made with exactly the same ingredients and methods, except using different fermentation methods. For the batch of fermented dough in a warm spot after 1 hour, the base turned out very soft and spongy after baking.
For the other batch that fermented in fridge over 1 day, it’s much easier to stretch thin and didn’t shrink back easily when I tried to roll out and stretch it. The base turned out to be a very crispy crust. I love both ways. Just pick either way which you like or seems convenient to you.
You can use plain flour(all-purpose flour). If you like soft texture, highly recommend bread flour or Italian Tipo '00' flour. Try to roll out the base as thin as you can, then bake in oven for longer time to get crispy base if you like. Gluten-free flour can be used instead if you like.
Gluten-free flour can be used instead if you like without doubt.

Do head over and check out other crews’ pizza recipes:

Serpent pie with pizza sauce from Penny's Addictive & Consuming (host of International Pizza-Pie Incident)
Breakfast Pizza from Divina's Sense & Serendipity
Asparagus Pesto & Chicken Pizza from Mardi's Eat, Live, Travel, Write
Lángos from Trix's Tasty Trix
Poached Pear Pizza Pie from Conor's Hold the Beef
Wholemeal Spiced Veg Pizza from Shirley's Enriching your kid
Wild Little Plum Pizza Pie from Natasha's Five Star Foodie
Ozoz's Kitchen Butterfly
Pizza Pie, Pie Pizza and Pizza Cupcakes from Anges' Off the spork
Mushroom & Taleggio and Signore Lupo Pizzas from Joanne 's Second Helping
Pizza Pie with Lasagne Filling from Celeste's Berry Travels
One dough, four ways from Stephanie's Momofuku for 2
Shao's Fried Wontons for You
Chicken and Kimchi Pizza from Ahn's A food Lover’s Journey
Pizza Pie & Pie Pizza from Cherry's Sweet Cherry Pie
Tweet Inspiration: Irish Pan Pizza from Tracey's Tangled Noodle
Foie Gras a la Evelyne de Cochon and Pear & Fig Coconut Custard Pizza Pies From Evelyne's Cheap Ethnic Eatz
Roasted Vegetable and Goat Cheese Pizza from Jessica's Yum-O-Rama
Dessert Pizza: Strawberry Galette with White Chocolate and Basil Cream from Emma's Cake Mistress
Breakfast Calzone from Mark's Cafe Campana
Fast Fusion Pizza from Cool Lassi(e)'s Pan Gravy Kadai Curry

Hong Kong Style Sausage Rolls

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 120 mins
Yield: Makes 4 to 6

Ingredients

4 to 6 sausages, any kind to your liking
350 gm bread flour
55 gm caster sugar
5 gm salt
56 gm egg
7 gm milk powder (to increase fragrance, optional)
125 ml milk
120 gm tangzhong (refer to this recipe for making tanzhong)
5 to 6 gm instant yeast
30 gm butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature)

Method:

Combine all dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl. Make a well in the center. Whisk and combine all wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, then add into the well of the dry ingredients. Knead until you get a dough shape and gluten has developed, then knead in the butter. Mind you, it’d be quite messy at this stage (That's why I used a bread maker). Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic. (Tip: you might like to test if the dough is ready. Stretch the dough with two hands. If it forms a thin “membrane” that’s very elastic in texture. Use a finger to poke a hole. If the hole is a circle, not an irregular tear-off (see picture 1). That means you have successfully kneaded the dough to a perfect stage. Yet, don’t over-knead the dough. Otherwise all the tissues inside would be broken apart.) The time of kneading all depends on how hard and fast you knead. (Note: I use bread maker to do this hardest part and messy job for me. I added the wet ingredients into my bread maker first, then followed by the dry ingredients. The yeast is the last to add.)
Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel or cling wrap. Let it proof till it's doubled in size, about 40 minutes (Note: the time will vary and depends on the weather. The best temperature for proofing is 28C. I still used my bread maker in this stage. And my bread maker has a heater.)
Transfer to a clean floured surface. Deflate and divide the dough into four to six equal portions. Knead into ball shapes. Cover with cling wrap, let rest for 15 minutes (see picture 2).
Knead each part into a long tube, about 41cm in length (it depends on how long your sausage). Roll to enclose the sausage, with seals facing down (see picture 3). Place rolls on a tray lined with baking paper, covered with cling wrap or a wet towel. Leave it for the 2nd round of proofing, about 45 to 60 minutes, until double in size.
Brush whisked egg on surface of rolls. Bake in a pre-heated 180C (356F) oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

Notes:

This bread can be made with or without a bread maker.
Testing your dough before proofing is quite important to make sure you’ll enjoy soft and fluffy bread after baking.
The time of proofing has to be long enough, yet not to over-do, in order to get the best result.

Pork and Chive Dumplings (韭菜餃子 video)

If you really like to try any Chinese snacks, these pan-fried dumplings (jiaozi 餃子) must be on the top of your list.

The thin and soft dumpling pastry is filled with mince pork and Chinese chives. The bottom of each dumpling is fried to be brown and crispy. They are best served with black vinegar dipping sauce, and/or chili paste with soy sauce.

Kids in many Chinese families, especially those who are living in northern provinces of China would learn how to wrap dumplings at home from a very early age. It’s quite amusing to watch kids wrapping dumplings. They would first pick those dumplings they wrapped, eating with a great satisfaction.

There are many different ways of wrapping dumplings. Some are practical, some really artistic. I posted a video below showing how to wrap a dumpling easily and beautifully. I learned this method of wrapping dumplings from one of my Peking friends.

Basically, you can just seal the edges of dumplings and make sure not to let any fillings leak out when cooking. That’s it. When it comes to eating dumplings, flavours and taste always come before the looking.

Why not make some for your family or with your family if you haven’t tried before? Wrapping dumplings is fun.

Makes 24

Ingredients:

1 packet dumpling pastry, about 24 pieces (available at Asian store)
220g mince pork
135g Chinese chives（韭菜）

Seasonings:

1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cornflour
1/2 tsp chicken powder (chicken bouillon powder)
1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine (or sherry)
a dash of sesame oil
a pinch of white pepper

Method:

Rinse chives and pat dry with kitchen papers. Chop into small pieces. Mix mince pork with seasonings well and combine with chives thoroughly. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Prepare a little bowl of water for sealing dumplings. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling into the center of the dumpling pastry. Damp the edge with water and seal it tightly. (View the video below to see how to pleat a dumpling.)
Heat up a bit of oil in a non-stick frying-pan. Place dumplings in a single layer without touching with each other. Fry them in batches until the bottom is light brown. Add 1/4 cup of boiling water, cover with a lid and cook until the water dries up. Dish up and serve with soy sauce, chili sauce or vinegar.

How to wrap a dumpling (video)
(If you can’t view the video, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.)

Note:

Previously I posted the recipe of Chives and Minced Pork Buns. The buns are like these pan-fried dumplings except their skins are a bit thicker. The taste of them is very delicious.

Cantonese Wonton Soup Recipe (廣東雲吞)

This wonton soup is a comfort food. The wontons are silky, slippery, the stock is aromatic. These Cantonese wontons are very popular in Hong Kong. The fillings of Cantonese wontons are mainly prawns (shrimps) mixed with minced pork. Yellow chives seem to be a must to be added. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to find any yellow chives throughout the year in Australia. So I just used spring onion (shallot), adding a fresh green flavour though. The flavours of the soup are rich and the texture of wontons is very tender.

Makes 30

Ingredients:

150g minced pork (or called ground pork)
175g medium green prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined
30 fresh wonton wrappers (1 packet, available at Asian store)
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 bunch Chinese vegetable (Choi Sum or baby pak choy)
yellow chives (or chopped spring onion) for garnish
A dash of sesame oil

Seasoning for pork:

1 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornflour
a pinch of white pepper

Seasoning for prawns (shrimps):

1/2 tsp chicken powder (chicken bouillon powder)
1 Tbsp egg white
a pinch of salt
pepper, to taste

Method:

Marinate minced pork for at least 20 minutes. Put pealed and deveined prawn under cold running tap water for 5 to 10 minutes. This step will make the prawn meat crunchy. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels. Dice prawn meat into 1.5cm cubes to make about 175g. Blend the prawn well with the seasoning. Cover and chill them for 15 minutes.
Stir chilled prawn meat in minced pork. Prepare 4 tablespoons of water in a little bowl for wrapping wontons. Place one rounded teaspoon of prawn and minced pork filling in center of wonton wrapper. Dip a finger in the little bowl of water and run along bottom edges of wrapper to moisten. Gather the corners of the wrapper, lightly twist to enclose filling. Repeat with the remaining filling and wonton wrappers. Set aside.
Heat chicken stock in a large saucepan on high and bring to a boil. Cook Choi Sum or baby pak choy in the stock. Usually I place the hard stems in the stock first, then followed by the leaves. Cook until softened. Add salt, white pepper and sesame oil to taste. Set aside.
Use another wok or saucepan to cook wontons with boiling water. Carefully place wontons in the boiling water, stir immediately and don’t let them stick to the bottom or stick together. When the wontons float to the surface, that means they are cooked. Transfer the cooked wontons out with a strainer and divide them between bowls. Ladle over chicken stock and serve with vegetables. Sprinkle spring onion or yellow chives if desired.

Note:

You can just buy minced pork from any supermarket. Usually I use pork neck and mince it with a food process by myself. Jut rinse pork and pat dry with kitchen papers. Cut into chunks and mince the pork meat in a mini food process.
The water will become cloudy after cooking wontons. And that’s why we used another saucepan to cook wontons. Hong Kong people like clear soup going with wontons.