Earl grey madeleines

After the last post on comparisons, I decided to try JOCs but adapted with Sally because it used normal flour but proportionately the least amount of flour and egg, and replaced with milk. It also did not use a mixer, which is good for me. Although I have a hand beater, I don't relish the washing up. I followed Sally's recipe and tips and decided to use only ½ tsp of baking powder as she did for 18 madeleines. That didn't produce the signature hump and next time I need to double the amount as I did with all the other ingredients since I have 24 madeleines. The pastry is also sweeter than I'm used to but the sugar was important for making it crispy. So the recipe below has been adjusted for  ingredient proportions and also doubled for next time because I have 2 pans (with 12 moulds each).

Sources:
1) Proportions: https://www.justonecookbook.com/cherry-blossom-madeleines/
2) Tips: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2018/01/17/madeleines/ 

Ingredients (makes 20 to 24)
114g (8 tbsp) melted butter, room temp
⅔ cup (124g) sugar
1 cup (120g) flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp earl gray leaves, crushed
1 tbsp milk, room temp
2 eggs, room temp
2 tbsp (28g) melted butter (for brushing the tin moulds)

Method
1) Bring out the eggs and milk and let them come to room temp. Melt the butter and allow to cool down to room temp. 
2) Combine the sugar and egg and whisk until pale and fluffy.
3) Sieve the flour and baking powder. 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 in the ground earl gray tea and fold in.
5) Add the milk and carefully blend.
6) Add in half of the melted butter and blend, and continue adding slowly and blending carefully.
7) Cover with cling film and put in the fridge to rest for between 30 to 60 minutes. No longer than 60 minutes otherwise the melted butter will harden.
8) While waiting for it to chill, preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Brush the moulds with plenty of melted butter. Dusting with a sifting of flour is not necessary as it can get claggy.
9) Fill each mould about ⅔ full, with 1 level tbsp of batter (using the measuring spoon) to get 20 maddys, or fill ¾ tbsp to get 24 maddys. No need to smoothen out the top as it will spread out and flatten, instead, try to create a peak.
10) 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.
11) Use a fork to release each and leave to cool on a cooking rack. Alternatively, invert the entire madeleine tin over the cooling rack.
12) 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
This recipe was a bit on the sweet side, I could probably reduce up to 20g of sugar and get away with it. I couldn't taste the tea because it hadn't been 'activated'. Not sure what I can do about this next time, it would be hard to boil tea in 1 tbsp of milk.

On day 2, the texture of madeleines reminded me of kueh bulu. That's the best description of this recipe, slightly biscuity and yet cakey. Can't really call it sponge, at most saviordi biscuits?

Madeleine recipe comparison

So excited. Finally bought a madeleine pan (2 actually) after thinking and thinking. These are cheap, heavy guage gold color but only $8 each. Probably not great quality but compared with the $22 for carbon steel ones, these probably aren't worse off. Here are 3 recipe comparisons. The technique is similar, uses melted butter and chills the batter. The difference is whether the pan is dusted with flour or not.

1. Christine's - lemon zest (she says that they're also called Palmiers but I don't think they're the same?)
https://en.christinesrecipes.com/2013/05/madeleines-recipe.html
- uses cake flour and baking powder
- uses mixer
- chill for an hour
- fill each mould ¾ full
- bake 180 deg C, 9 minutes in upper third of oven

2. JOC - Cherry blossom
https://www.justonecookbook.com/cherry-blossom-madeleines/
- based on Julia Child's recipe
- uses normal flour, baking powder, and milk
- hand whisk
- chill batter for an hour or overnight
- pour 1 tbsp of batter using measuring spoon
- recommends metal pans
- dust mould with flour
- bake 190 deg C for 11 - 13 mins
- Adjusted recipe tested here: http://simmetra.blogspot.com/2018/08/earl-grey-madeleines.html

4. Roti and rice
https://www.justonecookbook.com/lavender-madeleines-guest-post-by-roti-n-rice/
- Same as above but no milk
- chill 30 mins
- uses mixer
- Bake 190 deg C for 12-12 mins till springs back
- Adjusted recipe tested here: http://simmetra.blogspot.com/2018/09/chocolate-chip-madeleines.html

3. Sally's Baking Addiction
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2018/01/17/madeleines/
- normal flour with baking powder
- uses mixer
- chill 30 to 60 mins only
- brushing pan with melted butter makes it most crispy compared to non-stick spray or oil + dusting with flour (claggy)
- 1 heaping tbsp using basic spoon
- max temp 177 deg C or it burns but leaves inside uncooked, for 12 mins

Tau suan

The difficulty with this recipe is getting the proportions right. After much experimentation, the ratio that works for me is: 1 rice cup of mung bean, 3 to 3.5 cups of water (depending on the beans, some 'drink' up more water), 3 heaped tablespoons of tapioca starch.

Ingredients
3 pandan leaves, knotted
1 cup of mung bean, washed and drained
3.5 cups of water
3 tbsp of tapioca starch
about 6 tbsp of water (enough to make a slurry)
2.5 cups of sugar (to taste)

Method
1) In the steaming water, add the knotted pandan leaves.
2) Steam the mung beans for 5 to 6 minutes. Note that the water should be clean (ie no mung bean - I made the mistake of using the same water that I washed the mung bean in!) otherwise it will overflow when it comes to the boil.
3) Remove the steaming basket and add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Continue boiling until the fragrance of the pandan comes out (about 10 minutes in total).
4) Add back the mung bean and cook till desired softness.
5) Turn off the heat and make the slurry. Drizzle in and stir the constantly until the desired thickness.

6) Serve with crueller.

Eaten the way it should, with 油条

Mung bean with gula melaka: https://simmetra.blogspot.com/2018/10/gula-melaka-tau-suan.html

IP Ayam pongteh (chicken in bean sauce)

This is a nonya dish but I know nonyas will probably object at its lack of authenticity. Never mind because it tastes fantastic! The fact that my IP could cook frozen chicken was even more fantastic!

Original recipe here: http://mykitchen101en.com/nyonya-chicken-pongteh-bean-paste-potatoes-chicken-stew/

I hardly adapted other than not deep frying the potatoes and replacing the palm sugar with sweet potato which gives it a natural sweetness and added sweetness when it melts into the sauce.

Ingredients
1 kg chicken pieces (I used thigh fillet which I cubed)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
8 dried shitake (rehydrated and save the soaking water)
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsbp chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp bean paste (mashed tau cheo)
3 garlic cloves, whole but smashed
1 small onion or a few shallots, sliced
1 bay leaf

Method
1) In the Instant Pot, press the saute function. Pour oil and let it warm up. Saute the the onions until translucent. Add the tau cheo and stir fry until fragrant. Add the garlic and stir fry briefly.
2) Add the potatoes and stir fry. Add the chicken pieces and briefly stir fry.
3) Add the cooking wine and deglaze the bottom of the pot.
4) Add the remaining ingredients including the mushroom soaking water. Top up with water if necessary, it should at least submerge the chicken halfway.
5) Clamp on the lid and set the Poultry function to 10 minutes. (If using frozen chicken, increase the time to 20 minutes. The chicken also has to be mostly submerged or will not cook properly). After it beeps, wait around 5 to 10 minutes and allow it to naturally release.
6) If desired, remove the chicken and use the Saute function to reduce the sauce.
7) Serve immediately with steamed rice.

Notes: This recipe can also be served with belly pork.
http://themeatmen.sg/babi-pongteh/

Rosemary cheese drop scones

Combined recipes from here and here. The difference between American biscuits and scones seem to be that the biscuits often don't contain egg or butter, and are roughly shaped compared to scones which tend to be nice rounds.

Here's the recipe for scones (i.e. no egg or oil) but I've added rosemary and buttermilk. These are best served hot from the oven and they are soft and chewy.

Ingredients (makes 16)
2 C flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ⅓ C milk
2 tsp acid (I used lime juice)
1 C shredded cheese

Method
1) Prepare 2 cookie sheets by lining with parchment. Add the acid to the milk to make buttermilk and set aside.
2) Combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
3) Slowly add the buttermilk and mix. Don't overwork the dough but just mix until no dry spots remain.
4) Using a ⅓ C scoop, dollop on the cookie trays.
5) Bake at 220 deg C for 14 to 15 minutes, checking after 12 minutes. I switched and turned trays halfway to get even baking.

Slow cooker Coq Au Vin

I have always wanted to cook with red wine but the few times that I've tried it with beef didn't taste so great. Eventually I found out that I had been missing a key step - I need to boil off the alcohol otherwise it leaves a bitter taste! Decided to re-try coq au vin which surprisingly, pairs chicken with red wine. I'd always been taught that red wine goes with red meats and white wine goes with white meats but I guess chicken is poultry which is 'neutral'.

Here's a great writeup of Julia Child (the doyen of American cooking) with her interpretation of the recipe and it works quite well!

https://leitesculinaria.com/5399/recipes-julia-child-coq-au-vin.html

I've tweaked it for our tastes so I cannot claim this to be either authentic Julia Childs or French. Original recipe includes tomato paste, thyme, and bacon which I didn't have on hand.

Ingredients
1.2 kg of chicken drumsticks
3 bay leaves
2 glasses of red wine
1l of chicken stock
1 tbsp onion chutney
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 large carrots, peeled and cubed

Method
1) Marinate the chicken in the red wine for at least 4 hours or best, overnight.
2) Drain the chicken. In the slow cooker pot, brown the chicken drumsticks.
3) Add the onion chutney and bay leaves. Pour back the red wine marinade. Bring to a boil so that the red wine evaporates.
4) Add in the chicken stock and ensure that the chicken is immersed. Add the potatoes and carrots.
5) Slow cook for 6 to 8 hours. Let it rest for ½ hour in the residual heat before serving. If you wish, add a tbsp of flour to thicken the sauce at the end.
6) Goes best with buttered bread or buttered brioche to mop up the juices.

Bak kwa (take 2)

I attempted to make BW couple of years ago but it just didn't taste right. Tried this time but with 1kg of minced pork. Not quite there but it will do.

Adapted from:
http://www.malaysianchinesekitchen.com/bak-kwa-chinese-pork-jerky/ (ingredients)
http://mykitchen101en.com/homemade-bak-kwa-chinese-pork-jerky/ (method)

Ingredients
1 kg of minced pork (makes about 32 big 'regular' bak kwa rectangles, which I further cut into 4)
⅔ cup sugar + 1 tbsp
2 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
½ tsp five spice powder

Method
1) Mix the ingredients. Using your hand or a stiff cooking implement (e.g. wooden spatula), mix well in 1 direction until it comes together and is slightly gluey and paler in colour.

2) Leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 4 hrs or overnight.
3) Take out a baking sheet or sheet pan (mine was 17" by 12".) Line with foil followed by parchment.
4) Place the meat and using a offset spatula, distribute it. Cover the top with cling film and using a rolling pin, press as flat as possible, at least 3mm thin or thinner if you can. My sheet pan was not large enough so I might need to transfer say 200g to another third sheet.

5) Bake at 120 deg C for 15 minutes. It would have shrunk and oozed oil. Slice up and flip over. Increase the temp to 220 deg C and bake on one side for 8 minutes before flipping and repeating.

6) Prior to serving, grill it for best effect.

Recipe feedback
Compared to the previous recipe, this one tastes ok but there's a strong piggy smell. It really helps to microwave 30s on each side before serving which makes it seem more like the caramelised taste of bak kwa and it has to be consumed hot. Texture however seems wrong, as the minced meat texture is quite obvious (lumpy) but it does make the bak kwa more tender. On balance, I think next time I'll use this recipe but the old method of baking at 150 deg C for 1 hour which dries it out better instead of having 2 sets of temperatures.

Hot water dumpling dough

I have been making bao dough and also dumpling dough but never thought twice about using cold versus boiling or hot water, until I read omnivorescookbook. https://omnivorescookbook.com/steamed-dumplings/

She's given a very compelling reason about the temperature of water and the effect on the different types of dough, so I thought I'd give it a try. And it really does work! My dough as so stretchy and easy to work with. I could roll it super transparent thin at the edges and it crimped beautifully and still didn't break!

Ingredients (for about 700g of meat with 300g of veg filling - I used only 2.5 cups which allows for about 500g meat + 200g veg filling.)
3 cups of flour
1 cup boiling water
¼ cup room temp water
1 tsbp of oil

Method
1) Create a well in the flour. Using chopsticks, stir to incorporate the flour from the sides of the well as your pour the boiling water into the centre of the well. Gather as much dough as possible.
2) Pour in the oil and continue to mix (she didn't do this but I find that oil really helps the elasticity and workability of the dough)
2) Pour the room temp water slowly along the sides of the bowl until the dough comes together in a shaggy mess. You may not need to use all the water or you might need more. The aim is to get all the dry bits of flour moistened and the dough should leave the bowl clean.
3) Invert onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour and give it a good kneading for 10 to 15 minutes until smooth. Form a ball.

Steamed

4) Oil the bowl and place the dough inside to rest. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth or cling film and leave to rest for 30 to 60 mins while you dice the vegs and combine with the marinated meat filling.

Pan fried with crispy bottoms

5) Roll out with thinner edges and for 4" discs, use about 1.5 tbsp filling; 3" discs need about slightly under 1 tbsp of filling. Crimp.
6) Follow the recipe as you would when making steamed or gyoza dumplings.

The leftover dough was rolled into spring onion pancake which uses the same hot water dough

Leftover dough becomes spring onion pancake

Oven 'fried' har cheong gai

Try 2
Decided to try a different recipe.
Recipe adapted from here: https://spicenpans.com/prawn-paste-wings/
- Key thing about this method is the use of corn flour and baking powder in the marinade.
- Coated in flour and left there to rest for 15 minutes.
- Air fry on a wire rack 15 minutes at 160 deg C to cook then flip and air fry further 5 minutes at 200 deg C.

Seeing some of my observations from Try 1, I decided to coat with tapioca starch. This recipe is also different to the DWG recipe which I tried here which used baking power and soda in the coating rather than the chicken marinade. I must say that it made no difference to the crunch factor whether it's used in the coating or in the marinade as the main differentiator was the tapioca flour.

Still pastey looking because of the dry flour but very tasty!

Ingredients (for 1.2 kg chicken wings, jointed)
2 tbsp prawn paste
0.5 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp cooking wine
2.5 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
2.5 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup tapioca starch

Method
1) Marinade with all the ingredients except the tapioca starch. Marinate for minute 20 minutes but best overnight.
2) Meanwhile, prepare the cookie sheet by lining with alum foil. Generously coat with oil.
3) Coat lightly with tapioca starch and place bone side up on the lined cookie sheet.
4) Leave to rest for 15 minutes. Spritz with oil.
5) Bake at 160 deg C for 15 minutes. Turn over to skin side and spritz chicken with oil. Turn up to 200 deg C and bake for a further 5 minutes.
6) Dislodge from alum foil and serve immediately.

Recipe feedback
- The original recipe was for 1 kg but I used 1.2kg of chicken and it was still a bit on the salty side! I wouldn't reduce anything though because the proportions are just right.
- This recipe has everything: rice wine, oyster sauce, sugar, and sesame seed oil and it tastes the best amongst all the recipes.
- 1 future try might be corn instead of tapioca flour with the baking powder and baking soda inside.

Try 1
I have tried tweaking this recipe and the oven baked chicken technique several times in the past: panko version which worked but course isn't traditional enough, and the original recipe which was modified from air frying technique. In terms of taste, neither recipe tasted authentic enough for my liking. I didn't know if it was the oyster sauce or the cooking wine or the proportions of either which were wrong.

After experimenting several different techniques and recipes and doing a side-by-side test, I think this recipe works the best. The key elements are:
1) Use egg wash to coat. I used to omit this step as I didn't bother blotting the chicken so I thought it would be wet enough but it turns out that the egg's protein is needed to set the starch and 'glue' it onto the chicken.
2) Must coat with tapioca starch and nothing else. Flour is too dense and produces a dense uncooked batter.
3) The wire rack doesn't help. It helps with even baking and airflow but because the oil drains away, it doesn't 'fry' in its own oil. It become air dried rather than 'fried'.
4) Cooking in a metal cookie sheet or flat pan and not a deeper dish or pyrex.
5) Lining with aluminium foil and lots of oil rather than non-stick baking paper. This affects the heat transfer and causes the heat to reflect back onto the chicken to fry it. I didn't even have to turn the chicken halfway!
6) Spritzing the surface of the chicken with oil.
7) 2 different oven temperatures: one for searing and one for cooking.

Ingredients
1.2 kg chicken wings, jointed
1 tbsp level prawn paste
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
dash of pepper
3 eggs
1 cup tapioca starch

Method
1) Marinate the chicken for at least and hour or even overnight.
2) Prepare a sheet pan by lining with aluminium oil. Spray generously with oil. If you can, send this into the oven as it is preheating.
3) Beat the eggs and dump the chicken (drain away as much marinade as possible) into the egg. Coat well.
4) In a ziplock bag, empty half the tapioca starch. Working with 2 to 3 chicken pieces at a time, shake the bag and dredge them to ensure even coating. Place on the oven tray (if the oil was heated, be very careful as it might splatter!). Repeat with the leftover starch until you run out of chicken pieces.
5) Carefully spray the surface of the chicken with oil. Try to ensure that all the areas are coated or you end up with baked flour that is white! Edible but not pretty.
6) Bake at 220 deg C for 10 minutes to cook, crisp and set the batter. Turn down to 180 deg C to cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes until done. You can turn the tray (not the chicken pieces) if you want to ensure more even browning but I didn't bother.
7) Serve immediately. At least dislodge the chicken while the fat is still hot otherwise the batter will stick to the foil and you end up bald chicken and sad bits of crispy batter and skin on the foil that are wasted.

Buttermilk banana hotcakes

I have tried so many different pancake, crepe, hotcake recipes. Sometimes they come out undercooked because they're too thick, or overcooked and rubbery. This is the best happy medium that's fluffy enough without being rubbery but doesn't take an age to cook which means that outside gets burnt in the mean time.

Banana makes the hotcake darker than the the sans banana version would be

Source: http://www.joyofbaking.com/breakfast/ButtermilkPancakes.html
This recipe was first tried almost a year ago but this present post includes the addition of banana.

Ingredients (makes 8)
1 cup flour
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup (240ml) buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tsp acid e.g. lemon juice or white vinegar)
3 tbsp (40g) melted butter

Method
1) Mix the wet ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
2) Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Slowly incorporate the dry into the wet with a whisk. Whisk until just incorporated but do not over beat. Note that the batter must be cooked almost immediately after mixing, do not allow to rest. The baking soda will react immediately with the acid to produce the 'lift' that makes the batter fluffy.
3) Warm up a non-stick pan and pour in a bit of oil. Wipe off excess with kitchen paper.
4)  Using a scoop, pour on the batter from a height of 10cm above the pan. This creates a nice round shape.
5) Flip in one swift stroke when you see bubbles on around ¾ of the surface. Do not press down. Cook on the second side for another 30s to 1 minute and check for doneness. The banana may make the surface appear more golden brown than the non-banana version. This is normal due to the sugars in the banana. However, it has to be quite brown in order to ensure that it's cooked through.