Chocolate ganache Profiteroles

I have been wanting to make this for a very long time. Based on the recipes and tips from here, essentially Natasha and Sally's whose recipe ingredients are identical, and the methods of all three Natasha, Sally, and Gemma (essential for NOT using the KitchenAid). I had made classic cream puffs with my mom during my childhood but we had always filled them with Bird's custard. Unfortunately, I have only seen it in the supermarkets here once and now can't find it when I need it. At a pinch, I used custard pouring cream but thickened with tapioca starch (because corn starch whilst used for desserts, also separates in the fridge). That proved to be a bad idea because it was gloopy and almost slimey rather than thick, creamy and luscious, and it flowed out everywhere. The texture does improve in the fridge so maybe that was the trick.

Ingredients (Makes 22 to 28 puffs, each one and a half inch wide by half inch tall cream puffs)

Cream puffs

½ C water (120ml)

½ C whole milk (120ml)

½ C (118g) butter or 8 tbsp

¼ tsp salt

1 C flour

4 large eggs, room temp, beaten

Splash of milk (for glaze)

Custard (used in this recipe but I wouldn't re-use this in the future)

300ml pouring custard from Paul's

4 tbsp tapioca starch

4 tbsp water or enough to create a slurry

Chocolate ganache

150ml double cream

150g baking chocolate bar or good quality chocolate chips (I used melting chips from Nestle)

Method

Make the Choux pastry

1. Combine the water and milk in a pot with the butter. Melt the butter and bring to a gentle simmer (very small bubbles appear at the edge of the pot).

2. Remove from the stove and add the flour. Using a whisk if preferred (I found it helped but was really difficult to wash), add all the flour at once and stir until well combined.

3. Return to the stove and press down the batter onto the bottom of the pot to cook off the raw flour taste. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes until a film forms at the bottom of the pot. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

4. Beat the eggs in a Pyrex measuring jug. While the dough has cooled slightly, drizzle the egg a bit at a time into the dough and stir well with a wooden spoon. It will start off as a curd and split but continue beating. A KitchenAid can be used at this point but I didn't bother due to the washing up. Pour on as much egg as needed to make a thick ribbon when the spoon is lifted. Leave a few teaspoons behind to glaze the puffs.

5. Spoon into a piping bag and use a ½" round tip. 

6. I pre-prepared my parchment by drawing 1½" rounds on the wrong side of the parchment and then turned it right side up and placed it on the cookie sheet. Ensure there is space between each for them to grow.

7. Using the drawn guides, pipe 1½" wide by 1" tall. Use a moistened finger to pat down the tips of any piped batter and to smoothen the tops if necessary. Sprinkle the rest of the water onto the parchment around the puffs. This will give it the steam to give the puffs a sudden lift.

8. With the leftover beaten egg, add a splash of milk and brush the tops of the puffs.

9. Bake at 200 deg C for 10 minutes, then turn down to 170 deg C and bake for a further 20 to 22 minutes until golden brown. Do not open the oven door ever or the puffs will collapse.

10. Remove from the oven and remove each puff to a cooling rack to cool completely. To test if completely cooked, break one apart and it should be dry and hollow inside, not cakey and spongey. It is better to over-bake than underbake.

Make the Custard (this can be made a day ahead and chilled)

1. Pour the pouring custard into a pot and bring to a gentle simmer (never a boil).

2. Turn off the heat and add the stir. Stir well until combined. If preferred, sieve to remove any lumpy batter.

3. Place a cling film directly onto the surface of the custard and allow to cool before eventually cooling in the fridge. It must cool in the fridge otherwise the custard is slimey and not even spoonable into the puff casings.

Updated: Using custard powder

Make the Ganache

1. While the puffs are cooling, prepare the ganache. Chop the chocolate into tiny pieces, the tinier the better. Place the chocolate pieces into a Pyrex or metal bowl (never plastic).

2. Warm up the double cream. Bring to a simmer (small bubbles at the edge of the pot). Never boil. 

3. Remove from the heat and immediately pour onto the chopped chocolate. Allow to stand for around to  2 to 5 minutes.

4. Using a metal spoon, start from the centre and stir, gently stirring outwards until well combined. It should be slightly runny. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and it should thicken up into a pouring consistency.

Assembling the profiterole

1. While the ganache is cooling, cut holes into the sides of the puffs with a small but sharp knife.

2. Pipe in the custard until the puff is full (you'll feel a bit of pressure on the piping tip). Use a butter knife to remove any excess. 

3. When all the profiteroles have been filled, invert each puff and drip the tops into the ganache. Set on the wire rack to drip off. You probably want something to catch all the drips under the wire rack, it will get VERY messy!

4. They can be eaten served with strawberries and whipped cream but are best chilled for at least 4 hours (for the custard and ganache to set) and eaten then. 

Choux pastry: Comparison recipes

 I have shortlisted several bloggers with videos and who do the entire range of pastries associated with choux pastry using slightly different methods. I've found out that the difference between profiteroles, cream puffs, and eclairs is dependent on the shape, topping, and filling. 

1. Bigger Bolder Baking cream puffs (Christmas profiterole recipe) (Easy choux pastry)

- Starts with whisk to whisk the flour in, then changes to spoon. Leaves it on the stove while beating the flour in. 

- Beats up the egg. Doesn't use KitchenAid when incorporating batter and egg.

- Uses wettened finger to smooth down the tips after piping the cream puffs

- Sprinkles water on the baking parchment around the cream puffs (to create the steam to give them a poof)

- Garnish with chocolate ganache and strawberries, filled with fresh cream, dusted with sugar

- Bake at 200 deg C for 25-30mins or at 220deg C for 20 mins then 10 mins with heat turned off.

- Store in fridge with filling, or freeze.

2. Sally's Baking Addiction cream puffs

- Eclairs are filled with custard (Americans call it pastry cream) and topped with ganache, cream puffs are filled with whipped cream and dusted with icing sugar, profiteroles are filled with ice cream and topped with ganache

- Easiest recipe. Uses 1 cup cream for ganache and 1 cup cream for cream filling

- Uses KitchenAid. Doesn't pour in all the beaten egg (only till the point it's combined) but leaves some for egg wash.

- Also paints the parchment with water

- Bake at 204 deg C for 20 mins, reduce to 177 deg C for 10-15 mins until golden brown

- Store unfilled or freeze.

- For the ganache, advises against using buttons. Use equal portions of double cream and choc by weight. Chop the choc finely, use a stove to heat up the cream just to simmering (never boiling), and pour onto the choc. Use only a glass or metal bowl (never plastic), and let it sit for 5 minutes before stirring. Stir with a metal spoon or silicon spatula (never a whisk or worst, wooden spoon) from the centre working outwards. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before using. Store unused at room temp for up to a day as the fridge will harden it into a spoonable fudge.

3. Natasha's Kitchen cream puffs (Eclairs wh includes pastry cream recipe)

- Also mentions the differences between eclairs with ganache, profiteroles, and cream puffs.

- Takes milk mixture off the stove to add in the flour and then incorporates it off the stove before putting it back on the stove to cook for a few minutes (2 to 3 minutes) until a film forms at the bottom.

- Uses Kitchenaid hand beater to beat for a while to cool it down, then adds whole eggs.

- Bake at 218 deg C for 10 mins, reduce to 162 deg C for 20 to 22 mins until golden brown.

- Store unfilled or freeze but can also store and freeze them with filling following her tips.

- For the ganache, uses chocolate buttons

Choux pastry tested here.

4. Pretty Simple Sweet - Ganache tips

- Play around with ratios to get it as a glaze or spreadable consistency or hard like truffle. Only cream and chocolate. Other additions such as butter and corn syrup for added creaminess or shine.

Airfried har jeong gai

I have tried different ways of baking har jeong gai: using panko, using tapioca flour, and my original attempt that used baking flour and baking soda but it noting worked.

This time, I finally have the airfryer and decided to re-try the method from SpiceNPans. I had tried this recipe before and it was too salty but now that I have an airfryer, the method of using baking powder and corn starch in the marinade, then coating with tapioca flour before frying and spritizing with oil. The secret is cooking at 2 temps, works really well! The recipe is based on NoobCook (who only cooks at 180deg C for 15 mins, turning halfway) and Maria's recipe for deep frying, which are a lot simpler and thus less salty.

Ingredients

1.2 kg chicken wings, separated into wings and drumlets

1 tsp sesame seed oil

2 tsp spoon sugar

1 dessert spoon prawn paste

1 tsp cooking wine

2 tsp corn flour

1 egg

½ C tapioca flour for coating

Method

1. Lay parchment (rather than alum foil because the batter sticks to foil even after coating with oil) on the airfry tray and basket. I cooked the drumlets in the lined basket but the wings on a grill mesh on top of the tray so that the oil can drain away.

2. Combine the marinade ingredients (except egg and tapioca flour). Marinade the chicken wings in the marinade ingredients for at least 4 hours or best overnight in a bag for easy clean up.

3. Prepare a tray of tapioca starch and separate bowl of beaten egg. Coat each wing and drumlet with egg followed by tapioca starch. Shake off any excess.

4. Lay the drumlets and wings flat on the tray in a single layer. Lay them meat side up. Do not crowd. I had to separate the wings into 1 tray and drumlets onto a separate tray to ensure consistent cooking times. I also cooked them separately as I couldn't stuff two trays into the oven at the same time.

5. Bake at 160 deg C fo 15 minutes. Turn the drumlets and wings to the skin side up and crank up the oven to 200 deg C. Once done preheating, return to the oven. For the drumsticks, cook for 5-6 minutes and for the wings, cook for 6-7 minutes until it turns golden brown.

Recipe feedback:

- Colour has definitely improved compared to baking! No flour spots. 

- The baking soda really makes a difference to the crunch, as does the corn flour added to the marinade. I made the mistake for forgetting to start with the meat side on the lower temp and ending with the skin side up but otherwise, it was great. 

- Have to comprise on the crispness of the batter by using foil as all my batter stuck to the foil, but for clean up, parchment is the best compromise.

Sticky cinnamon buns comparison recipes

Since this attempt by Bigger Bolder Baking where I first enjoyed success, I have been trying to find a less sweet and more foolproof recipe. BBB's recipe uses a round tin, which means the centre always comes out undercooked, and the sauce is all sucked into the buns so it becomes overly sweet and not drippy enough.

Here are newer recipes worth trying:

1. Joy of Baking

- Uses a muffin tin so that each bun is nicely formed and still saucy. Can be messy to invert.

- Makes 12 muffin-buns

2. Donna Hay

- Maple and brown sugar glaze

- Makes 12 buns in 20x30cm (8x11") tin

3. Brown Eyed Baker 

- Difference between sticky and cinnabuns

- Uses bread flour

- Pecan in corn syrup and brown sugar glaze

- Makes 12 buns in 9x13" tin

4. Bon Appetit

- Pecan, heavy cream, honey, and brown sugar glaze

- Makes 9 buns in 8x8" square tin

5. Sally's Baking Addiction

- Pecan, maple, brown sugar with milk glaze

- Makes 12 buns in 9x13" tin

Garlic dauphinois potatoes

 Basic recipe: https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dauphinoisepotatoes_90205

Ingredients

2 floury potatoes, sliced thinly with a mandolin (I simply sliced them into thin battons) 

1 packet double cream, approx 120ml

4 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

Milk (approx 50 to 75ml)

Favourite herbs

½ C hard shredded cheese e.g. mozzarella or cheddar or both

Chopped cooked bacon or shredded roast chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Chives (to serve; optional)

Method

1. Cover a baking dish with parchment. Thinly lay a single lay of potato batons onto the bottom. Sprinkle with some garlic, herbs, and chopped cooked bacon (or shredded roast chicken).

2. Pour on about a third of the double cream. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Repeat in this order: potatoes, garlic and herbs, chopped bacon, double cream, salt and pepper. Continue until all the ingredients have been used up.

4. If it looks too dry, top up with a splash of milk. You want everything about ¾ submerged so that it doesn't bubble over and overflow. 

5. Cover the entire top with shredded cheese.

6. Bake at 200deg C for 40 minutes, checking to ensure that the potatoes are cooked by piercing through and breaking up with a fork. Turn the grill on high and grill until the cheese is golden brown.

7. Serve immediately with a scattering of chives if available.

Airfried Teochew meat rolls (Bak tiao)

There are different versions of this meat roll depending on the Chinese dialect group they come from, and while some use pork, fish can also be used, but there are even dedicated liver rolls. The more famous version is the Hokkien version that uses pork and five spice called gor hiong 五香 but I'm not particularly keen on the taste of the spice. It also comes fried or steamed, which is more common in Dim Sum. What's common however is the use of beancurd skin. I usually buy the refrigerated beancurd skin rather than the dried one, which needs to be rehydrated but ends up a lot more fragile and prone to tearing compared to the fridged one. Other than pork mince, the ingredients are entirely personal preference. I like adding everything I can get my hands on in my store cupboard, I use it as an excuse to clear out my dried and canned goods.

Ingredients (makes 16 rolls)

1 packet of refrigerated beancurd skins (*Avoid using dried beancurd skins)

500g minced pork

2 or 3 big pieces of wooden ear, soaked

15 water chestnuts, peeled and chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

Thumb sized ginger, grated

3 spring onions, chopped

300g prawns, roughly chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled and shredded finely

2 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tbsp five spice powder

Dash of pepper

2 eggs, beaten

Oil (for brushing)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients except the water and tapioca starch, carrots, and water chestnuts. Mix well and then knead until it becomes a thick paste. Set aside in the fridge to marinade for 1 to 2 hours.

2. Prepare the beancurd skins. Cut to size (approx 25cm by 20cm). 

3. After marinading, add the water chestnuts and carrots and mix them in.

4. Prepare the starch solution by mixing the water and tapioca starch

5. Place 2 to 3 tbsp of the mixture near one of the short edges. Fashion it into a cigar shape. 

6. Apply the beaten egg to the edges of the bean curd skin. Fold the sides in over the meat and roll. Apply more egg wash as needed. Roll tightly and ensure that there are no trapped bubbles.

7. Lay flat on a steaming tray, do not stack on top of each other. 

8. Steam for 7 minutes until cooked. Remove from the steamer and let it cool down completely (e.g., stick it in the fridge overnight). They also freeze well.

9. Air fry at 220 deg C for 10 to 12 minutes, turning halfway. If airfrying from frozen, it will take 12 - 14 minutes.

Try 1: I tried airfrying without steaming and these were the results. I was told that it's because the meat and beancurd skin cook at different rates, so I cannot omit the steaming step!

*Try 2: This time, I did steam, but cheated because I used the microwave and steamed for 4 minutes. This picture shows after steaming. It's a bad idea to use rehydrated dried bean curd skins (see bottom rolls in the second picture) as they're very brittle to begin with. After briefly dunking the dried beancurd skins in hot water to rehydrate, the skins then tore and fell apart when I tried to wrap and roll!

After steaming for 4 mins in microwave: Fridged beancurd skin are the top 2 rolls and rehydrated beancurd skin are the bottom 2 rolls

After brushing with oil and airfrying for 12 mins: Bottom and left are fridged beancurd skins; cut open and the one under it are the rehydrated skin

Verdict: The fridged skins were very easy to work with and roll but after airfying, the skin became chewy rather than crispy. The dried beancurd skins were horrible to work with but perhaps I used the type meant for dessert! The texture however was correct, flakey, puffy and crispy!

Update: a good video recipe by Spice N' Pans of the Teochew prawn version with tips on how to get a qq texture and how to roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GytLQLkkAjk

Update: Improved recipe: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2020/09/airfried-taiwanese-beancurd-rolls.html

Red bean bao 豆沙包

 

I have been wanting to use proper bao flour for the longest time but never really bought it. After my investigation into the different types of flour for bao buns, I tracked down some bao flour, although the packet states 'wheat flour' (not the same as wheat starch), the picture is that of bao buns, so I think I'm in the right place. I am unsure if wheat flour is really the same as bao flour, because although the articles claim that the protein level of bao flour is about the same as cake flour, my KitchenAid had a really hard time trying to beat the flour. The dough continually climbed up the dough hook and it required far more liquid than the original recipe called for. In the end, after 10 minutes, I put my KM out of its misery and hand kneaded the dough for another 5 minutes. It certainly didn't reach the window pane stage nor was it smooth and shiny, so I think I've been undone. (Tip: Found out that to prevent the dough from climbing the hook, alternate wet with dry in 3 batches, instead of dumping everything (wet and dry) into the bowl at once. Source)

Recipe adapted from China Sichuan to upsize to 500g, which is the size of my wheat flour packet. I don't want leftover flour and then I have no idea what to do with it next!

Ingredients (makes 10 big or 14 small baos)

500g bao flour (wheat flour)

60g sugar

2½ tbp yeast

pinch of salt

250 - 280ml milk, warmed to the touch

2 tbsp oil

400g red bean paste

Method

1. Pour all the bao ingredients into a KitchenAid and with the dough hook incorporate at Speed 2.

2. Continue to beat for about 8 to 10 minutes, watching like a hawk to ensure that the dough doesn't climb up the hook and into the motor.

3. Check using the window pane for gluten development. If the dough is not yet shiny and smooth, hand knead for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

4. Form into a ball and put in a oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and allow to proof for 25 (in a 30 to 35 deg C room) to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature of the room.

5. While proofing, prepare the parchment papers, measure out the red bean paste. Use an ice cream scoop and put on a tray to freeze for a few minutes, and also the steamer. Wrap the cover of the steamer in a cloth so that the condensation doesn't drip on the buns.

6. Divide into 14 pieces. Cover half and put in the fridge to prevent them for proofing. Flatten each piece of dough, and using a rolling pin, roll the edges but leave the centre slightly thicker. 

7. Put approx 1 tbsp or the pre-measured red bean paste in the centre, gather and pinch the edges together. Gently reshape the ball and put the bun down on the parchment, seal side down.

8. Allow buns to re-proof for 15 to 20 minutes, while bring the steamer to a rolling boil. 

9. Steam for 12 to 15 minutes, and then turn off the flame and rest for 5 minutes before opening.

10. Serve hot or re-heat in a steamer to serve.

Recipe feedback

- Texture is finally correct!

- Despite using bao flour, it hasn't come out white. Maybe that's HK flour which is supposed to be bleached

- Dough was very easy to work with however, a bit dry. I have increased the oil by ½ tbsp to make it more pliable. I used the char siu bao pleating to properly seal the bao filling and turned it upside down to obtain the round face. However, the dough's dryness meant that the pleats stayed distinct (you can see the 'butt cracks' on the underside) instead of the rounder shape. It also made sealing the bun difficult, and there were a lot of wrinkles where I had gathered the dough.

- I learnt a little tip! Using a bit of leftover flour mixed with milk or water, I 'painted' the creases or holes and this helped to give it a smoother 'face'!

- How to wrap round bao buns: Use Maangchi's method to create rounder buns where the filling is centered in the middle.

Taiwanese Castella and Japanese Kasutera comparison recipes

I've learnt that there are two main styles of Castella, the original or Japanese Kastera カステラ, and the colonised adaptation which is Taiwanese Castella. Both are unique in their own way. Japanese Kasutera usually uses honey as the main flavour. The focus is on the moistness yet bounce achieved from bread flour through the use of an insulated or wooden container. It needs to rest overnight wrapped in plastic. Taiwanese Castella uses cake flour and focuses on bouncy sponginess. It is like making a chiffon and baked in a water bath. There is also a Korean version but it's mostly based off the Japanese version, so I'm going to ignore that. Tips and uniqueness of each recipe highlighted:

Japanese kastutera

1. Bake for Happy Kids (In her other recipes, she references recipes from Roti and Rice and Just One Cookbook)

- Loaf tin (20 by 10 cm); Lining tin with aluminium foil and parchment

- 3 eggs, separated

- Cook milk, oil, and honey before adding yolk and flour.

- Sugar at the bottom as optional

- All her attempts (adding extra yolk, omit oil, etc)

2. Just One Cookbook

- Possibly one of the original recipes

- 2 loaf tins (22 by 11cm), lined with parchment

- 6 eggs

- Beat eggs until ribbon stage and add flour

- Focuses on correct beating of eggs and variation of baking time to prevent cracks and sinking

3. Cooking with Dog

- Square tin (19 by 19cm). Very hard core, baked in a square cardboard box lined with alum foil and parchment, then sprinkle bottom with sugar

- 6 eggs

- Beat eggs and sugar in water bath until ribbon stage

4. Roti and Rice

- Loaf tin (19*9cm), lined with al foil and parchment

- 2 eggs, separated. Beat whites until meringue then add yolks and flour.

5. Not quite Nigella

- Loaf tin (26.5*7.5 cm), lined with parchment

- 3 eggs

- Whisk eggs and caster sugar on water bath

- Mixing meringue and flour layers well and quickly

- Most wrinkly looking cake

6. Taste Asian

- details differences between Taiwanese and Japanese version

- Lists common mistakes (use slow mixer speed for meringue, sifted flour for smooth batter, collapsed cake)

- Square (20 by 20 cm) tin, lined with corrugated cardboard with al foil or square tin with old newspapers.

- 7 eggs, separated

- Compares cakes that separate vs beat eggs together. Meringue method has finer texture and smoother.

- After separating eggs, beat whites on low speed on bain marie at 40 deg C until meringue forms. Add egg yolks manually, followed by honey and bread flour, and lastly, milk.

Taiwanese castella

Using butter

1. Emojoie Cuisine - Attempted here.

- Square tin (various sizes listed including 20cm), lined with non-stick parchment. Sounds super bouncy and moist

- 7 eggs separated for 20cm square tin 

- Melt butter and milk to 50 deg C, add flour and yolks

- Very detailed recipe: beat the meringe at the end with hand whisk to stabilise meringue. Use hand whisk to incorporate first followed by spatula for final blending

2. Princess Bamboo

- 6" tin

- Uses flour and corn starch

- Uses butter but doesn't state the temperature to heat to

3. Gracious Treatz (very similar to Emojoie)

- 7" square tin, lined with parchment

- 6 eggs, separated

- Melt butter and milk to add to dough and yolks

- Re-usable non-stick parchment means no wrinkles

Using oil

4. Laura Kitchen

- 8" square tin, lined with parchment

- 5 eggs, separated

- Warm oil to between 70 to 85 deg C. Add flour, milk, eggs.

- Looks like very soft sponge that leaves fingerprints.

5. Mrs P's Kitchen

- 8" square tin, lined with parchment

- 6 eggs, separated

- Warm oil to 65 deg C. Add flour, egg yolks, and milk.

- Looks like a standard sponge and not super fluffy or bouncy

6. Kat Kwa

- 8" square tin

- 7 eggs separated

- Warm oil for 1 minute to 60 deg C.  Add flour and cornstarch followed by milk.

- Looks like standard sponge and not super fluffy or bouncy

Korean chocolate castella

1. Apron Chocolate castella Attempted here.

- Loaf tin 29x7x10cm

- 6 eggs, separated

- Warm oil to between 60 to 70 deg C. Add flour, yolks, followed by milk. 

- Looks like standard sponge and not super fluffy or bouncy

2. Korean Table Diary choc castella

- 16.5x16.5cm square tin

- 5 eggs, separated

- Heat oil for 1 minute on low (no temp given). Add flour, milk, yolks.

- Looks like a very bouncy soft sponge.

Banana, walnut, raisin, and blueberry loaf

I've had this time and tested recipe for banana bread since the longest time. However, ever since I bought a bigger loaf tin (13x24cm or 5x9.5"), I've been wanting to find a recipe to suit the bigger tin. I found one by Rasa Malaysia but it uses yoghurt, which I don't normally have sitting around in my fridge. So I decided to go back to the old recipe and upsize it.

Ingredients

2C flour

1½ tsp baking soda

¾ C packed brown sugar

pinch salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 mashed bananas

¼ C raisins

¼ C frozen blueberries

¼ C walnuts, chopped; with or 5 4 whole walnuts for decorating

1 tsp cinnamon powder

Method

1. In a big bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon powder.

2. Add the frozen blueberries and raisins and toss in the flour to coat so that they don't sink.

3. Add the packed brown sugar and ensure that everything is well incorporated and no big chunks of brown sugar. Set aside.

4. In a smaller bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.

5. Add in the melted butter, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. 

6. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and gently fold in. Fold until the flour is just mixed in, there might still be some dry bits. Do not over mix. The batter will be quite thick and chunky.

7. Butter a loaf tin and line it with an overhanging piece of parchment to facilitate easy removal.

8. Pour in the batter and push it into the corners the the tin. Smooth out the top. Decorate with whole walnuts.

9. Bake at 175 deg C for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. At the 45 minute mark, I had to tent it to prevent the walnuts from burning.

10. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes to cool slightly, then remove and continue cooling on a wire rack. Serve slightly warm with butter or jam.

Recipe feedback: The bread had a nice rise but I could taste the baking soda. I wonder if reducing to ½ tsp baking soda would help. It also wasn't as moist as the original recipe but that could be because I had one less banana. Generally I'm happy with the outcome because and additional banana would have increased the baking time.

Bao buns: comparison recipes and tips

I have always made bao with filling but have never really bothered too much with the bread portion of the bao. There are many types of bao bun out there - mantou or the Chinese kong bak baos. The bao process itself is a lot more involved than I expected, such as over-proofing (which makes them dense), wrinkly or pock-marked skins, yellow-ness, and collapsing. These two sources discuss the problems and solutions in detail:

1. Red House Spice: https://redhousespice.com/steamed-bao-buns/

- Type of flour influences more fluffy and less chewy. Bao flour and cake flour have similar protein levels except bao flour is bleached.

- Extended kneading leads to a white colour and good kneading skills mean a smoother skin (ideally, 5 mins in mixer and rest by hand)

- proofing: double in size - timing depends on ambient temp so it can be anything from 40 to 90 mins. The second proofing should only take about 15 minutes.

- removing air, this affects the smooth skin: Beat down to remove the air and shape the dough. 

- Dough collapsing (has never happened to me). Apparently, turning the fire off and waiting, adding sugar or vinegar to the boiling water don't help. What does help is not rolling the dough too thin and having a drier filling (so the moisture doesn't seep into the dough). She even recommends starting from cold water, which I have never ever heard of before! All the blogs I've read all talk about steaming from water on a rolling boil as that gives the instant lift.

2. What to cook today (mantou): https://whattocooktoday.com/soft-fluffy-asian-steamed-buns-every-time.html Additional notes not covered in the previous link are:

- Sugar helps yeast but too much sugar can inhibit yeast growth

- If using KitchenAid, mix for 5 minutes after the dough comes together. Add salt and mix again until smooth. Rest for only 15 mins before shaping the dough. This is resting to make it easier to work with, not proofing as it shouldn't rise.

- Use room temp or cold milk so that the buns don't start proofing while being shaped. If they do, store the proofed buns in the fridge until everyone is ready.

- After the usual tucking of seams underneath and cup shaping with palms (to make the buns tall instead of spreading out after steaming), an additional step for mantou is to roll the dough balls on the table until you get a smooth ball. Dab the surface of each bao with milk to make I make it smooth. The surface is probably less important for me if I'm making bao

- Proofing after the shaping, allow to proof to about 50% of original size, approx 10 to 15 mins. Dough sld feel light and airy and not dense. Finger test: push gently and it should stay indented for a while but must spring back. If it springs back immediately, it's not proofed enough; if it doesn't, it's over proofed. Beat in and reshape and re-proof again. Steaming over-proofed dough will make them collapse and come out dense.

- Wrap the cover of the steam with a cloth

- For smooth surface of the buns, steam at low-medium heat and allow the steam to escape

- After steaming, turn off the flame and let the buns rest for 5 minutes (so buns don't wrinkle or collapse)

- Over-proofing can also cause the buns to collapse. So will too much filling inside.

- After shaping, skins hv to be smooth otherwise they will come out wrinkly.

Update: Tried out the bao skin tips here in the red bean bao.

IP Cantonese scallop and chicken porridge

Method taken from Burning Kitchen's pork ball porridge. The main trick here is in putting oil and salt into the rice and freezing it for a few hours. This makes the porridge really silk as the rice grains break down very easily. The capacity of the IP is really small. I used to cook the chicken and rice together and it either took forever, or the porridge came out really stogy as I couldn't add that much water. So now I cook them separately and it works well because the chicken will not be over-cooked.

Ingredients

2 tbsp of dried scallops

7 - 8 chicken drumsticks or thighs

1 tbsp salted radish, washed and drained 3x to get rid of excess salt

1 thumb sized piece of ginger, sliced

1 cup rice

¼ tsp salt

2 tsp oil

2 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp sesame seed oil

Salt and pepper to taste

3.5l water or chicken broth

2 chopped spring onions, optional

Eggs (room temperature), optional

Method

1. Prepare the rice by washing it. Add the oil and salt and stir through. Leave in the freezer for several hours before the start of cooking. Soak the scallop in hot water for at least 10 minutes.

2. Add the chicken pieces, scallop and scallop soaking water to the IP pot. Add the water and ginger slices. Lock and seal and cook using the Soup function for 20 minutes. 

3. Allow to depressurise for 5 minutes. It will squirt everywhere with an oil residue so you may want to put a dish cloth on top of the spout before depressurising.

4. Remove the chicken pieces and set aside. 

5. Add the frozen rice to the broth. Lock and seal and cook using the Porridge function for 20 minutes.

6. Once cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Marinade with the 1 tsp of soya sauce and 1 tsp of sesame seed oil.

6. Allow the porridge to depressurize for 10 to 20 minutes. It will squirt porridge everywhere because the rice grains swell, so best to throw a dish cloth on top of the spout before depressurising. Stir very well to break up the grains.

7. Add the salted radish and stir through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. In each serving bowl, crack the egg at the bottom. Top up with the hot porridge and then top up with shredded chicken. Garnish with spring onions if using.

Updated:

1. Here is a stove top recipe for Chicken Congee which uses a similar method of marinading the rice with oil and salt for 2 hours, except no freezing is involved. The chicken is poached.

http://annieliciousfood.blogspot.com/2014/01/famous-shatin-chicken-congee-aff-hk.html

2. Here is a IP recipe for Pork and Century Egg congee: https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/chinese-century-egg-pork-congee-in-pressure-cooker/

- 3/4C rice, 1lb pork shank, 1lb pork bones, and 6.5C water all go into the pot together for 35 mins and 20mins natural release. Pork shank is shredded and then returned with century egg on saute function with constant stirring until the grains break down.

Creamy chicken, corn, and noodle soup

This is not a healthy soup. I had leftover roasted chicken and so badly wanted corn chowder. However, corn chowder required potatoes, which I inexplicably and inconveniently did not have in my cupboard (I usually do!). However, I did have double cream and was willing to make a roux (I ain't normally so hardworking!). This is a very quick soup but if you have time, you could boil the roasted chicken bones in the chicken stock for about 15 minutes to fully extract the flavour. This is a one pot meal - my favourite style of cooking!

Ingredients

3 to 4 chicken drumsticks or chicken thighs, meat removed and shredded

1 can of corn (creamed corn is ok too)

130ml double cream

250ml chicken broth

500ml water

3 tbsp butter (I used chicken fat which I scraped from my roast chicken gravy)

4 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

½ large onion, chopped

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

200g (or half a pack) pasta (I used macaroni but use anything you like)

Method

1. In a deep pot, add the chicken fat and sweat the onion and garlic.

2. Add the chicken and briefly fry to warm up. Push the chicken and aromatics to the sides of the pot.

3. Sprinkle over the flour and quickly fry to remove the raw floury taste. This should take less than a minute before the flour starts to stick to the bottom.

4. Add the chicken broth and carefully scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to remove frond. Fill the empty can/broth packet with water and pour that in. Stir well to ensure that the flour has dissolved.

5. Add the can of corn, liquid and all (check to ensure that the liquid is not too salty).

6. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover and turn down the flame and simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Add the pasta and cook as directed, about 9 to 10 minutes.

8. Add the double cream and stir in. Season to taste. 

9. Serve with crusty bread if desired