Chocolate madeleines

Followed the same recipe and method as last time https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2019/05/cake-like-matcha-madeleines.html except I baked for 15 minutes this time (higher followed by lower temp).

Ingredients (makes 20)
113g butter, melted and brought to room temp + 2 tbsp melted butter for coating (28g)
⅔ C sugar (133g; can be reduced to 130g)
1 C flour (120g)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp milk, at room temp
2 large eggs, at room temp

Method
1) Take eggs and milk out of the fridge and let them come to room temp. Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temp. 
2) Combine the sugar and egg. Whisk until pale and fluffy.
3) Sieve the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder until well combined. Sift twice or three times if necessary. Sift into the egg mixture and fold carefully to avoid knocking out the air. I used the whisk to fold the flour in.
4) Add the milk and carefully blend.
5) Add in half of the melted butter and blend, and continue adding slowly and blending carefully.
6) Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for more than 30 but up to 60 minutes otherwise the butter hardens. 
7) While waiting for the batter to chill, preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Brush the moulds with plenty of melted butter. Dusting with sifted of flour is not necessary as it can get claggy.
8) Fill each mould about ⅔ full, with 1 level tbsp of batter (using the measuring spoon). No need to smoothen out the top as it will spread out and flatten.
9) Bake at 177 deg C (no higher as it can burn on the outside but leave the inside raw). Baking time is 13 minutes, although watch carefully in the last 2 minutes or it can burn.
10) Use a fork to release each and leave to cool on a cooking rack. Alternatively, invert the entire madeleine tin over the cooling rack.
11) Leave to cool slightly for 3 minutes and eat immediately while the edges are still crispy. It looses its crispiness after 10 minutes (!). Best eaten with 24 hours. Store the cooled remainder in an airtight box at room temp for up to 4 days.

Recipe feedback
- I accidentally let the temperature go up to 220 deg C and then had to bring it down gradually to 170 deg C after 10 minutes, so I swapped the trays and set another 5 minutes to ensure that the insides were cooked. This seems closer to the 190 deg C I've seen some recipes use. When it came out, they were perfect! Still crispy but cooked inside.
 - They looked a bit burnt but that could also be because they're chocolate so it's hard to tell. 
- The hump wasn't very high or rather, they were uneven. Those on the bottom shelf rose higher and more uniformly than those on the top shelf.
- Speaking of chocolate, the taste wasn't strong enough so I might need to put another tbsp of cocoa the next time.
- Next time going to increase the proportions by 1 egg to make a third more.
150g butter, melted and brought to room temp + 3 tbsp melted butter for coating (38g)
177g sugar
160g
1⅓ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1⅓ tbsp milk, at room temp

3 large eggs, at room temp

Chicken mu (radish pickle)

This pickle is traditionally eaten with Korean fried chicken. The first time I came across Maangchi's recipe, I had eaten the fried chicken but had never eaten the pickle that came with it. I later found out that the so-called Korean fried chicken that I had been eating was actually a Singaporean joint that was making Korean-style fried chicken. It wasn't Korean at all! Since then I've had chicken mu and I agree with Maangchi. It is delicious but oh so little and so expensive! As I had a bit of lingering daikon (can't find real mu or Korean radish here), I thought I'd give it a try.

Ingredients
1 pound radish, preferably Korean (choose something that is round and has a lot of green part, skin is shiny)
⅓ C sugar
⅓ C + 1 tbsp white vinegar
3/4C water
1 tbsp salt

Method
1. Chop the mu into 1cm cubes.
2. Mix the pickle ingredients until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Add the mu to the pickle ingredients and store in a clean sterilised container.
4. Leave to marinate for at least 12 hours.

Black sesame (goma) cheesecake

This uses the standard ingredients from the 7-egg Japanese cheesecake. Only the addition of goma to the ingredients. Main change is to test out the change in technique (dropping the cake) and verify the temperatures.

Ingredients
250ml milk
250g cream cheese, room temp
65g butter, room temp
7 eggs, separated
58g cake flour
23g corn flour
133g sugar
1.5 tsp goma paste
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp salt

Method
1) Prepare the cake pan but buttering the sides and bottom. DO NOT BUTTER THE SIDE of the non-stick pan. Add the parchment paper to the bottom. Take a roasting tray that the pan can just fit into. Place a thin towel at the bottom so that the pan doesn't slip around. Set aside.
2) In a smaller bowl, mix the cocoa with the hot water until a smooth paste forms.3) In a saucepan on a very low fire, melt the cubed cream cheese. Add the butter and melt. Mix these together and they will look as if they've split. Pour on the milk and blend into a smooth mixture. If necessary, sieve to get rid of lumps.4) Beat the yolks with half the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the cream cheese mixture and whisk until smooth.5) Sift the flours and salt. Sift them onto the cream cheese mixture and use the whisk to fold in. Ensure no lumps.
6) Add the goma paste and combine with a whisk until no big chunks of paste remain.7) In a very clean bowl, beat the egg whites until opaque and foamy. Add the sugar in three batches and beat on low so that only small bubbles are created. Periodically scrape down the bowl. Once all the sugar has been added, add the lemon juice. Turn up to high and beat until just after soft peaks but just before stiff peaks.7) Take a third of the meringue and put it in the yolk mixture. Mix until no white remains. take the second third and this time, very gently fold in with a whisk. Pour this mixture back into the remaining third of the meringue. Very carefully fold in until no whites remain but be careful not to burst all the foam.8) Drop the pan on the table top a few times to dispel the bigger bubbles. Use a skewer to trace around to burst the bubbles but try not to mix up the colours.9) Bake at 160 deg C for 30 minutes, 140 deg C for 43 minutes, and then switch off. Leave it in the oven for 25 minutes with the door closed.

10) Take it out of the oven and remove the water bath. Drop the tin from a height. Run a spatula around the edge to dislodge so that the cake doesn't tear and crack. 

11) Put cake back in the oven without the water bath to sit with the door ajar for 25 minutes.

12) Must chill overnight, this is important if you want to cut the cake without tearing or cracking.

Recipe feedback

90% success! No cracks! No sinking! No waist finally!

The only unhappiness is that the cake didn't rise enough, only 2 inches tall. I used fresh eggs and beat to stiff peaks so maybe it's because

•  the goma paste is very thick. The next time I will use finely ground goma instead
• I was less careful with folding and using the whisk to incorporate because the stiff peaks made it harder to incorporate the meringue
• At this point I'm happy though because it tasted good (a tad on the sweet side because the paste is sweet in itself) but tastier than normal lemon flavour cheesecake
• The eggs seemed smaller than normal, even though these were 60g eggs.

Blueberry and walnut muffins

I've always been using butter in my muffins which give them a great flavour. However, after the initially crispy top comes out of the oven, it soon goes soggy as it gets cold. I came across this recipe which uses oil. I recall that oil has been a great friend to moistness in my chiffon cakes and also aids crispiness from my walnut cookies, so why not give it a try. This method from this recipe is the standard mix wet and dry but do not over-mix. However, what I like is it uses only a few bowls and involves some guess-timate (so less measuring!) which are a boon to working moms who have better things to do than standing there measuring and washing up! The original recipe uses 1 cup blueberries but I decided to sub out half a cup with walnuts.

Recipe source: https://www.inspiredtaste.net/18982/our-favorite-easy-blueberry-muffin-recipe/#itr-recipe-18982

Ingredients (Makes 10 regular or 8 ultra large muffins)
1½ C (195g) plain flour
¾ C (150g) sugar, with 1 tsp topping for each muffin (reduced from 1 tbsp in original recipe; golden caster sugar for topping works better if you have it)
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅓ C neutral tasting veg oil
1 large egg
⅓ to ½ C milk (80 to 120ml)
1½ tsp vanilla extract
3 to 4 oz Blueberries, frozen or fresh (½ C)
3 to 4 oz walnuts, chopped (½ C)

Method
1. Dry: Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
2. Wet: In a measuring jug, measure the oil and crack in the egg. Whisk until paler. Pour in the milk and top up to the 1 cup line on the jug. Add the vanilla extract and combine well.
3. Pour the wet slowly into the dry and be careful not to over-mix. Mix until the dry patches of flour just disappear.
4. Fold in the chopped walnuts and half the blueberries.
5. Prepare the muffin tins with liners if desired or grease each muffin cup with oil. Scoop in the batter (I used my trusty cookie scoop).
6. Dot on the reserved blueberries and push them into the batter.
7. Sprinkle on 1 tsp of sugar as evenly as possible.
8. Bake at 200 deg C for 15 minutes (for regular sized; add another 2 minutes for ultra large) until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Remove from tins and leave to cool on a baking rack.
8. To store, leave uncovered at room temperature if eaten up within 1 to 2 days. You can also freeze immediately by wrapping each one tightly in plastic then foil and freezing once they get cool.

HK style walnut cookies

Source: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/chinese-walnut-cookie/

Ingredients (makes 20 to 21 cookies)
100g veg oil (I ended up needing another tsp)
1 egg + 1 for egg wash
70g sugar
230g cake flour
⅛ tsp baking soda (will omit next time, see Recipe Feedback)
½ tsp baking powder
1g salt
80g walnut, chopped
1 tbsp black sesame seeds

Method
1. In a bowl, whisk the egg, sugar, and veg oil until paler in colour.
2. Sift the flours together.
3. Add to dry to the wet gradually and fold in. (at this point, I needed another tsp of oil as there was still a lot of dry flour)
4. Add in the walnuts and fold in. This forms into a nice dough that should collect up all the loose walnut pieces. It therefore makes sense to chop the walnuts rather finely but not too fine that there isn't any bite.
5. Form balls of 25 to 30g each. Roll between the palms into a ball. Transfer each ball onto a parchment covered baking tray and leave sufficient space between them to spread slightly. There isn't a lot of spreading. I need 2 trays.
6. Flatten each biscuit with the palm of your hand. Leave the edges ragged (traditional look) or smoothen them, the choice is yours.
7. Beat the egg for egg wash and brush each biscuit.
8. Top with black sesame seeds and press them into the batter. I even used the remaining egg to really adhere the seeds to the biscuit.
9. Bake at 180 deg C for 19 to 20 minutes. I swapped the trays from the top and bottom shelves halfway.
10. Leave to rest on the tray for up to 5 minutes then dislodge with a spatula. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

Recipe feedback

• I'm not sure I will add the baking soda again because the taste was quite evident. There wasn't any acid in the recipe so I don't see how it's going to react.
• The biscuit is shatteringly crispy out of the oven! It doesn't taste exactly like the Chinese walnut cookies that I'm used to so maybe this alternative recipe that uses butter may help
• https://www.rotinrice.com/hup-toh-soh-chinese-walnut-biscuits/

Sloppy sticky raisin and walnut cinnabuns

I came across Maangchi's rollppang many years ago for dinner buns and it was great. She's now made a cinnabun version but it's terrible! It is so hard to roll and came out sloppy.

Ingredients
¼ C (melted) + ¼ C (softened) + 1 tbsp (melted) butter
1 C milk
¼ C white sugar
¼ C + ⅓ C brown sugar
⅓ C water
1 tbsp cinnamon powder
2¼ tsp yeast
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp rice syrup or corn syrup or honey
2 pinches salt
3 C + ¼ C plain flour
1 C walnuts
¼ C raisins

Method
1. Prepare the walnuts by toasting them in a pan for a few minutes until fragrant. Set aside to cool and then roughly chop.
2. Melt the ¼ C butter. Create a well in the 3 C flour. Add the melted butter, 2 eggs, yeast. Add the salt away from the yeast and mix into the flour. Mix everything up. It will become very sticky. Stir until smooth, about a minute. Cover and let proof for 1 hour until it has risen to grown its size.
3. Prepare the filling. Mix the cinnamon powder, ¼ C brown sugar, pinch salt, chopped walnuts, and raisins.
4. After the hour has passed, deflate and knead till smooth. It will be very sticky. Cover and proof for 30 minutes.
5. Prepare the syrup. Pour the ⅓ C brown sugar, ⅓ C water, and 3 tbsp syrup and bring to a vigorous boil using medium heat, about 3 minutes. Turn down to a simmer for 3 minutes until shiny and sticky. Set aside to cool.
6. Pour the syrup into a 8x8 inch square pan or 9 inch round tin. Ensure that the bottom of the tin is evenly coated.
7. Use the remaining ¼ C flour to liberally dust the work surface. Pour out the dough onto the workspace. Deflate and knead until smooth. Use your hands (not a rolling pin as it will be too sloppy) to form into a 13x8 inch rectangle.
8. Distribute the filling evenly. Leave a 1 inch border at the far end of the dough.
9. Use a scraper to slowly roll up the dough. Use the flour to push it under the dough so that it isn't sticky and ease the dough over the filling.
10. Cut the rolled dough into 9 equal pieces using dental floss.
11. Arrange each cut piece, filling side up, into the prepared pan. Cover and let it proof for 1 hour.
12. Preheat the over to 175 deg C. When the proofing time is up, bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
13. Remove from oven and glaze with the 1 tbsp of melted butter. Serve either butter glazed side up, or sticky sauce side up.

Super sloppy

Recipe feedback: Omg I have never had such pillowly cinnabuns! It was a bitch to make and I don't think the sauce was sticky enough, but I was wrong. It has soaked into the buns and more sauce would have made it too sloppy. I don't know if I will make the recipe again but it sure is fantastic!

Oven baked panko drumsticks (Bonus! Corn quenelles)

I have experimented with oven baked chicken but most of it has been 50% successful and mostly har jeong gai or tonkatsu. The usual result is that the batter comes out pastey or flourey, the colour is uneven, or the chicken is tough and dry. I've often used wings so that the cooking time isn't so long to dry out the chicken. So far, my experiments have been more about method rather than looks, to find something that is easy to prepare, little clean up, and tasty although that mostly had to do with finding the authentic har jeong gai taste. This recipe focuses on the texture i.e. the batter and tenderness of the chicken.

I came across 3 recipes:
1. Chicken experiment: https://www.thereciperebel.com/great-oven-fried-chicken-experiment/
This one is an experiment in itself which tries 4 different methods for different crunch and taste but uses chicken fillet so not quite what I'm looking for, but a great reference post nonetheless.
2. Oven baked Korean fried chicken: https://girlinthelittleredkitchen.com/2015/04/oven-baked-korean-fried-chicken/
This one gave me the idea to mix different types of breading i.e. flour followed by breadcrumbs and then panko. It starts with high temp to crisp up and then turns down to cook.
3. Buffalo wings: https://www.recipetineats.com/truly-crispy-oven-baked-buffalo-wings-my-wings-cookbook/
This one uses baking powder so that the batter is more flour and less breading. The method uses low temp followed by high to crisp up. However, I have found this dries out the chicken, which might be ok if wings are used as the recipe does.

I decided to start with high temp followed by low to cook it thoroughly and this time tried potato rather tapioca, corn and normal flour where I've not had good results, that is, pastey. An idea also struck me to add shredded cheese and that improved the taste and also batter crunch!

Ingredients
1.2 kg chicken drumsticks
3 cups panko
1 cup potato flour
⅓ cup shredded cheese (parmesan or cheddar)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried sage, oregano, or thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Dry the chicken with kitchen paper before starting. Add salt and pepper to the egg wash, flour, and panko and mix well. Add oregano to the egg and mix well. Add the shredded cheese to the panko and mix well.
2. Set up the breading station. I find that using a flat slightly rimmed plate works best, and a ziplock bag for flour makes for easy clean up because otherwise the flour flies everywhere (potato, tapioca, and corn flour is very light compared to normal flour).
3. Coat the chicken in the egg wash and drain as much of the excess as much as possible. This is an important step otherwise it makes the dry ingredients claggy.
4. Coat with flour but ensure that it's well coated. Shake off the excess and ensure this is again done well to avoid turning the egg claggy.
5. Once again, dip in egg wash and coat well, even the 'drum' part of the drumstick. Drain off excess.
6. Finally, dip in the panko and pat down so that the panko really sticks on.
7. Place on a wire rack over a baking tray to catch the drippings. I don't turn in the oven because of the rack too.
8. Bake at 220 deg C for 15 minutes. Turn down to 180 and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes until cooked.

Recipe feedback
I was pretty impressed. The chicken was tender and moist! The batter was crunchy. The potato flour really made a difference. The batter is more crunchy than crispy but definitely a much better texture than whatever I've done so far.

Bonus recipe
I had flour, egg wash, and panko left over so added a can of creamed corn in and mixed it up. I formed corn quenelles and baked them off. I put them in after turning down the temp to 180 deg C so baked for 30 to 35 minutes. They weren't really brown so next time, I might save a bit of the panko and coat the quenelles with that.

Tau suan with water chestnut

Idea from MyKitchen101 https://mykitchen101en.com/water-chestnut-lek-tau-suan-split-mung-bean-dessert-with-youtiao/

I have previously experimented with normal Tau suan and also with Gula melaka tau suan but this was the recipe that started it all.

Mostly the same recipe but slight improvement in method.

Ingredients
500g mung bean
1 small can of water chestnut, chopped
250g rock sugar (more or less depending on taste)
10 cups of water
7 pandan leaves, knotted
10 tbsp water + 5 tbsp tapioca or sweet potato starch or potato starch

Method
1. Rinse the mung bean until the water runs clear. Leave to dry in a colander.
2. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil. (I used my rice cooker). Throw in the knotted pandan leaves. Pour the mung bean onto a steamer basket and steam for 3 minutes. Switch off and leave to to steam in the residual heat for 5 minutes.
3. Take out the steam basket and set aside. Remove the pandan leaves. Top up the water to 10 cups and the sugar. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the mung bean and cook for about 3 minutes or more (to your liking). I like the beans to be whole and still have a bit of bite. Stir in the chopped water chestnut.
5. Mix up the starch slurry and while the water is simmering, dribble in the slurry. Stir quickly as it comes back up to a boil and turn off once it has come to a boil.
6. Serve with cruellers.

Finally the right timing, my beans are still whole!

Recipe feedback
I used potato starch and the next day after refrigeration, it clumped together and was no longer flowy. A few days after that, it exuded water. I now understand why people use sweet potato starch which keeps it flowy.

No-bake Chocolate mousse gradient cheesecake

From the first attempt which was the no-bake choc mousse ripple cheesecake, I decided to perfect my technique. I found the proportions in this first version excessive (e.g. 520g of double cream) which is what happens when you use maths. I decided to go with my gut feel and also what's available in the supermarket (e.g., I can buy a 250ml double cream bottle but would have to buy a large 500ml double cream and add 20g from a new packet). The measuring was also too fiddly and while I'm a perfectionist, I can live with less than equi-distant circles.



Ingredients (8 inch round tin)
15 ginger snap biscuits or similar sweet biscuit
2*250g blocks of Philly cream cheese, softened + 4 tbsp powered sugar
75g butter, softened
250ml double cream + 3 tbsp powdered sugar
cold 350ml milk + 4 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp gelatine powder
5 tbsp cocoa powder

Method
1. In a food processor, process the biscuits until a fine crumb forms. Add the butter and chop till it forms the texture of wet sand.
2. To make the cheesecake base, line the bottom of a 8 inch springform tin with parchment. Oil the sides of the tin with butter. Pour in the sandy crumbs and press down with a spatula or the bottom of a glass. Press it in until the layer is flat. Leave in the fridge to firm up.
3. Sprinkle the gelatine powder onto the surface of the cold milk and leave it to bloom.
4. After about 5 minutes, microwave the milk for a minute (until warm to the touch) and whisk in the gelatine until no lumps remain.
5. In a clean food processor bowl, beat the philly with the powdered sugar until smooth. Pour in the milk and pulse until smooth. Pour into a big mixing bowl.
6. In the food processor bowl, beat the double cream with the powdered sugar until textured but not yet stiff. Pour into the cheese mixture and fold in. Set aside.
7. In a smaller mixing bowl, add a few tbsp of the batter and 3 tbsp of cocoa powder. Whisk until smooth and pour in more batter (total should be less than ⅓ of the total batter) until you attain a dark chocolate colour.
8. In a medium mixing bowl, repeat the method with the 2 tbsp of cocoa powder. Pour in the batter, this should be about half of the remaining batter. You would be left with the remaining half of the batter that has no cocoa (i.e. cream colour) in the big bowl. Store the big and medium bowls in the fridge for about 5 minutes to firm up slightly, otherwise the batter is too runny and the pattern will not be distinct.
9. Take the cheesecake base out from the fridge. Pour in the batter from the big bowl onto the base. Return to the fridge to chill for 5 minutes.

Looking much neater than my first attemp. Note how thick the batter in the centre is

10. Carefully pour the batter from the medium bowl from a height (5cm) onto the centre of the colour. This allows the batter to spread and fill slowly.
11. Pour in the final darkest colour in the small bowl. This batter is slightly thicker due to the high concentration of cocoa powder, so ladle it to fill the centre but do so slowly and carefully. Carefully use a palette knife to smoothen the top.
12. Drop the cake tin from a height of 5 cm to dispel big bubbles. If desired, swirl the colours with a palette knife.

After swirling

13. Return to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours until firm. To unmould, run a knife around the edge of the tin to loosen from the side. (I forgot and the cake tore trying trying to dislodge itself from the tin!) To serve, use a cold knife and wipe the blade with a damp cloth after each cut.

Sik hye 식혜

Sources
1. https://mykoreankitchen.com/sikhye/ : Most comprehensive recipe, describes using the course malt barley, the powder, and the teabag
2. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sikhye: I mostly used this method but it also describes making it a slushie

Generally, the recipes are pretty aligned. The difference between these two and other recipes is whether they use the course malt barley or the powdered type. While Maangchi uses the powder, Korean Kitchen thinks that the powdered type doesn't help the rice grains to float to the surface. However, I used the powder and didn't have a problem so I think it's because Korean Kitchen left the powder in a cheesecloth.

Ingredients
1 cup malted barley
18 cups of water
1 cup of cooked rice (short grain or glutinous rice)
1 cup sugar
pine nuts and red dates for garnishing (optional)

Method
1. Add the water to the malted barley and stir well. Soak the malted barley 2 to 3 hours in a large bowl and let the sediment settle. The clear water should have separated to the top.
2. Meanwhile, cook the rice with slightly less water so that it's a bit undercooked.
3. Once the rice is cooked, carefully strain the malted barley water with the help of a cheesecloth, into the rice. The sediment should have settled at the bottom. Be careful not to stir up the sediment at the bottom.
4. With the sediment, pour in the remaining 4 cups of water and leave to steep.
5. Leave to ferment in the rice cooker using the Keep Warm function at between 55 to 60 deg C. After 4 hours, check to see if a dozen or so rice grains have floated to the top. If they have, sik hye is ready. It only took me 3 hours. If grains haven't, leave it to ferment for another hour.
6. Once the grains has floated, again carefully pour the malted barley water into the pot, once again, with the help of the cheesecloth. Throw away the sediment.
7. Bring the sik hye to a boil and add the 1 cup of sugar to dissolve. Skim off the foam and boil for 10 minutes.
8. Once finished boiling, leave to cool. Strain off the rice grains and wash it in cold water to wash off the starch. Keep the rice grains in a separate air tight container with some cold water. If the grains are left in the sik hye, the whole liquid turns grey.
10. Strain off the sik hye into a glass bottle.
11. Serve hot or chilled in a bowl, topped with red date and pine nuts if using, and about two tablespoons of rice grains.
12. Keep the rice grains and sik hye refrigerated for up to a week. Once it goes sour, it's time to throw it away.

Malted barley soaking

Floating rice grains!

Sik hye with rice grains and topped with red date

Recipe feedback
The grains delighted me because they felt so light on the tongue. I was expecting porridge-type of stodgey rice but the grains here were light and fluffy!