Oatmeal Tangyuan/健康燕麦汤圆

Pin It Now!

This year Dongzhi festival is on 22^nd December 2013. Tangyuan are eaten on Dongzhi because their roundness symbolizes family unity and harmony. Last year I made colourful tangyuan filled with chocolate. This year I am sharing oatmeal tangyuan. They might not so appealing but they are healthier. Adding oatmeal into the glutinous rice flour make these tangyuan easy to digest and increase the nutritious value too.

Prawn Dumplings (虾饺)

Pin It Now!

Prawn dumpling is best serve while it is hot. In order to finish in one go I used 1/3 of the recipe. I had some difficulty while pleating the dumplings. I would say I only manage to get nicer shape after half of the dough :p I believe practice make perfect. I definitely will make again whenever craving for these prawn dumplings.

Adapted and slightly modified from Agnes Chang Delightful snacks & dim sum cookbook
Ingredients:
~Dough
100g wheat starch
30g tapioca flour
Pinch of salt
120-140ml hot water
1 tsp vegetable oil
 
~Filling(I didn't weight)
Equal portion of minced pork and pawn
Seasoned with salt, pepper, cooking wine, cornflour and sesame oil

* Mix all till well combined and fridge till needed
 
Methods:
1. Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Pour in the hot water (reserve 10-20ml) and mix with fork. Add a bit more if the dough is too dry.
 
2. Once cool enough to handle knead with hands. The dough is done when become smooth.
 
3. Transfer some of the dough on working surface. Cover the rest with wet towel. Roll out into rectangle shape and cut with round shape cutter.
* I have difficulty in getting round by roll up individually. Tend to get thicker skin :P
 
4. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center and wrap. Place on the steamer and proceed with the rest.
 
5. Bring water to boil and steam for 5 minutes. Serve while is hot. Enjoy!
 
I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers#19- Dim Sum Affair ( May 2012 ) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker

Smilling Char Siew Pau/ Starter Dough Method(Traditional Way)

Pin It Now!

It has been a long journey for me to get these smiling char siew pau with traditional way. My family consume a lot of steamed buns for the past 2 weeks :D Too much until my elder son complaint too much for him :p The efforts are pay off after seeing all these steamed buns with big smile :)
 
First I like to thanks Lily's Wai Sek Hong for her recipe. Thanks for her efforts of showing step by step pictures tutorial on making smiling steamed buns in professional way.

Pau dough recipe adapted and slightly modified from Lily's Wai Sek Hong
Ingredients:

Char Siew Filling

* more than enough for one batch of steamed buns

~Char siew filling with homemade Chinese roasted pork (char siew)

(A)

300g char siew, dice

 

(B) Thickening sauce

120ml water

5 tbsp homemade char siew sauce(from roasted pork)

1 tbsp tapioca flour

1 tbsp corn flour

½ tbsp all-purpose flour

Mix all the thickening sauce till well combined. Bring to simmer at low heat by stirring continuously till thicken. Off the heat and add in the diced char siew. Stir till well mix. Cover and keep in fridge to set for several hours before use.

* Do not skip the thickening sauce as this will create the ‘sauce’ while having the hot char siew pau.

Or

 

You can replace with ordinary pork meat and cook as below.

~Char siew  filling with ordinary pork meat

(A)

300g pork loin(梅花肉)‏, dice

1 onion (dice)

2 tbsp oil

(B)

Seasoning: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 3 tbsp soya sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp sesame oil

Thickening sauce: ½ cup water, 2 tbsp cornflour, 1 tbsp plain flour (mix and set aside)

Heat up the wok. Add in oil and fry the onion till fragrant. Add in the diced pork and cook till turn white and cooked. Pour in the mixture of seasoning and cook till become thick sauce. Off the heat and dish out the filling. Cover and keep in fridge to set for several hours before use.

Pau Dough

* yield about 8 pieces of steamed buns (about 38g each)
~Starter dough (yield about 350g;only used 150g for this recipe;keep the rest for other batch)
250g pau flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
130-150ml water
 
~Main dough
(A)
150g starter dough
50g castor sugar
 
(B)
1 tsp double action baking powder
1/2 tsp Ammonium bicarbonate
A tiny drop of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution a.k.a. Kan Sui (<1/8tsp)
3 tsp water
 
(C)
5 tbsp pau flour
4 tbsp wheat starch
 
1 tbsp lard/shortening
 
 
Methods:
~ Starter dough
Knead all till form into dough. Put inside a container and flatten the dough. Cover with wet cloth. Leave to rest overnight at room temperature.

* As you can see the dough has double in size. I left mine about 12 hours.
* Inside turns foamy and yeasty.

~ Main dough
1. Weigh 150g of starter dough and add in the sugar.  Mix until the sugar has dissolved. 
* I mix with scraper as the mixture is sticky to handle.
 

2. In a small plate, add 1/2 tsp double action baking powder, 1/2 tsp ammonium bicarbonate and a drop of kan sui with 2 teaspoons water.  Stir to dissolve. Add into starter dough mixture.  Mix well to combine.
 

3. Add in the pau flour and wheat starch. Mixing with scraper till most of the flour form into lumps. Transfer to working surface and knead with hand to soft dough.  (a little more water might be needed as it depends on how wet the starter dough is).
* I added about 2-3 teaspoons. One teaspoon at a time.
 

4. Add in 1 tablespoon lard/shortening and knead well.
*At first it might seems very oily. Don't worry as the dough will absorb as you knead.
 

5. Flatten dough and spread it out. In a small plate, dissolve the remain 1/2 teaspoon double action baking powder with 1 teaspoon water. Rub/spread all over the dough. Fold the dough in and knead well, so that all the baking powder is well spread.  Dough is ready to be shaped.
 

6. Divided into 8 portions (about 38g each). Shape all into balls.
 
7. Flatten one portion and put the Char Siew filling.  Pick up the edges and wrap up the filling. Place the bun on parchment paper. Repeat till all finish.
* Do refer Christine and dim sum chef video on how to pleat steamed buns.

8. Bring the water in a steamer to rapid boil. Steam the buns for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat (stove) to lowest and steam further 1 minute. Off the heat and leave the buns inside for few minutes before open the lid.
* This process is to avoid sudden decrease pressure inside steamer which can cause shrinking.
* If the ammonia smell is too strong do steam 2nd time for few minutes. This will get rid of the unpleasant smell.

I'm sharing this post via Muhibbah Malaysian Monday.

Dumplings (水饺) in Two Ways!

Pin It Now!

I want to make this dumpling for quite sometimes. Since one Wednesday my hubby was not working I decided not to wait any longer. Early morning he went to market bought the minced meat and shrimps. I knead the dough and leave it to rest. Then get ready the dumpling filling. He is in-charge for the dumpling wrapper. Actually I dislike working with pasta maker. For me rolling the dough with the pasta maker is hard work :p So let my hubby does the fun Ha...ha...
 
This recipe seems yield quite a lot of dumpling. However it doesn't matter as I can keep in freezer after wrap with the filling. Make sure you arrange the dumpling separately on a pan and keep in freezer until set. Once freeze (harden) remove from pan and keep in container or bag. Cook the dumpling (directly from freezer) in hot boiling water whenever you like.

 

Why having dumpling in 2 ways? At first I want to get round shape from the pasta sheet. However some of the dough came out too small for the round wrapper. So it ends up square dumplings :D By looking at this square dumplings make me think of Italian filled pasta, ravioli. So I have them with creamy mushroom soup. Definitely delicious!

Ingredients:
~ Dumpling wrapper
300g all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
130ml water
 
~ Filling
300g minced pork
150g minced prawn
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp shao xin wine
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
50g garlic chives (韭菜)
* mix all and keep in fridge 30 minutes in advance.  

Methods:
~ Wrapper
1. Mix the salt and flour in a mixing bowl. Add in the water. Mixing by running a fork around the flour. Try to combine every bit of water with the flour.
 
2. Once all combine get in your hand and gather all lumps together become dough. Slightly knead the dough. The dough might seem a bit dry and hard to get smooth. Don't worry as it meant to be. So it won't stick and the texture will smooth once working with the pasta maker. Cover and leave aside to rest for 30 minutes.
 
3. Divide into manageable portions. Set the roller to the thickest setting (with lowest number). Roll the dough over the pasta maker. Fold and roll over again. Repeat till smooth and even surface has achieved. Keep aside and is ready for next step. Repeat the same for the rest portions.
 
4. Adjust to smaller feed. Roll in the smooth pasta. Keep reducing the thickness of the feeder until get the right thickness of pasta sheet.

* Do refer to Homemade Wonton Wrapper for steps shown.

5. Once get the desire thickness cut out round with round cutter (glass can do the trick). The wrappers are ready for filling! If the sheet is not big enough for 'round' keep it for square dumpling.

 
~ Making dumpling
(A) Round wrapper-Half moon shape
Arrange the cut out round wrapper on working station. Spoon a teaspoon of the filling in the center. Fold to cover.

(B) Long sheet-Square dumpling
Arrange the sheet on the working station. Spoon a teaspoon of filling along the sheet by leaving 1-2cm apart. Cover the filling with another sheet. Cut into individual dumpling. Seal the edges.
* apply some water at the edges if too dry
 

~ Cooking

1. Bring a pot of water to boil. Gently drop the dumplings into the water. Make sure stir continuously to prevent dumplings stick to each other or bottom of the pot.

2. Once all the dumplings float at the surface (means cooked), add in ½ cup of cold water and bring the water to boil again. Once boiled dish them out and ready to serve.

I'm sharing this post via Muhibbah Malaysian Monday.

Dumplings (Shanghai Jiaozi-饺子)

Pin It Now! 

Dumplings with pork filling

I had been bookmarked this recipe for quite sometimes. At last I manage to make these dumplings as our lunch. I reduced the dough portion into half. I hardly shape into 10g each like Sonia and end ups 15g each. As a result, I try to wrap as much as filling that I can handle. These dumplings skins are chewy and not like ordinary dumplings that we ate in the restaurant. Overall we like it!  

Dumpling with chives. Serve with ginger in black vinegar

Adapted and slightly modified from Sonia aka, Nasi Lemak Lover

Ingredients: yield about 15g x 30 pcs dumplings
~ Filling
(A) Pork
150g minced pork
100g minced prawn
1 tbsp Chinese wine
2 tbsp green onion
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
 
(B) Chives
A bunch of chives (chopped)
1 egg (slightly beaten)
3 shallots (sliced)
Seasoned with salt and pepper
Some oil
 

 

~ Dumpling dough

200g plain flour
100g high protein flour
170ml water
 

Methods:

~ Filling

(A) Pork

1. Mix all ingredients together with a pair of chopsticks till sticky. Keep in fridge 30 minutes before used.

(B) Chives

1. Heat oil in a pan, fry the beaten egg till golden brown. Cut into small pieces. Remove and set aside.

2. Heat oil in pan, fry the shallots till fragrant. Off the heat, add in chopped chives, pieces of fried egg and seasoning. Mix well, remove and set aside to cool.

~ Dumpling

1. Mix all together and knead to form smooth dough. Set aside to rest for 1 hour.

2. Divide the dough into 15g each. Shape into round with rolling pin.

3. Wrap in spoonful of filling, seal tight and shape into dumpling. Repeat the same for the rest of the dough.

4. Bring a pot of water to boil. Gently drop the dumplings into the water. Make sure stir continuously to prevent dumplings stick to each other or bottom of the pot.

5. Once all the dumplings float at the surface (means cooked), add in ½ cup of cold water and bring the water to boil again. Once boiled dish them out and ready to serve.