Tau Sar Buns (Red Bean Buns)

I bought a can of red bean paste the other day and thought of giving it a try. It's a fat free red bean paste from China, fat free because no oil was added, just water. Thus, I made red bean buns for breakfast.



This time I brushed the top with egg wash, that's why it has the golden shiny look.



Guess I'm still not very good at shaping filling inside the bun. But to my surprise, the fat free red bean paste actually tasted pretty good. Smooth and sweet, what's more, it's fat free!! So, feel a little guilt free while eating these buns. Now, I don't have to make my own red bean paste anymore. Hehe...can just buy it in Denver.

My daughter loves red bean too, she would stick her finger in to eat the red bean paste first before finish the rest of the bun. Quite messy if you ask me!

Pandan Kaya Jelly Roll

I always want to make some sort of a roll, but just never really got my hands on it. Don't know what happen today, out of the blue I just thought of making pandan kaya roll after I saw a swiss roll picture on the net. Perhaps because I have Pandan kaya ready in the refrigerator and what better way to match it but to make a pandan roll. So, here's my first Pandan Jelly Roll. :)




Verdict: Soft and Spongy! This is actually easier than making a cake, guess will make it often from now on.

Recipe adapted from the cookbook, The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking.


Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 Tbp. boiling water mixed with 1/2 tsp. Pandan paste

Kaya jam for spreading
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400'F. Grease a 12x8-inch jelly roll pan and line with parchment paper.

2. Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl. Beat with a handheld electric mixer until thick and mousselike. (When the beaters are lifted, a trail should remain on the surface of the mixture for at least 15 seconds.)

3. Carefully fold in the flour with a large metal spoon, then add the Pandan boiling water in the same way.

4. Spoon into the prepared pan, spread evenly to the edges and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cake springs back when lightly pressed.

5. Spread a sheet of waxed paper on a flat surface, sprinkle it with granulated sugar, then invert the cake on top. Peel off the parchment paper.

6. Neatly trim the edges of the cake. Make a neat cut two-thirds of the way through the cake, about 1/2 inch from the short edge nearest you.

7. Spread the cake with kaya jam and roll up quickly from the partially cut end. Hold in position for a minute, making sure the seam is underneath. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Bubur Pulut Hitam

I bought a bag of black glutinous rice months ago thinking of making it but just never got to it. Then, Lily came to visit and taught and showed me how it was done. The below was made by me since hers was finished without taking a picture.



I made mine with a little white glutinous rice (Lily's method) to cook the bubur. Then, added dried longans and Gula Melaka (like Amy Beh's recipe). Lastly, top with salted coconut cream to serve.



When stirred and ready to makan. If you want the recipe, just go to kuali.com and do a search. Amy Beh got a good recipe there.

Click here to read my latest bubur pulut hitam using a slow cooker (with recipe).

Nutella Buns

Experiment with Nutella as filling for my chocolate-coffee dough. The top was sprinkled with desiccated coconut.



What's the inside look like. Excuse the burr picture, hard to take close up.

Verdict: Not bad at all! Just like eating bun spreading with Nutella jam. Most important, my daughter who doesn't fancy bread/buns can finish the whole bread by herself, even two at one go. I asked her, "Hao zhi ma?" and she replied, "Hao zhi". Hehe...

Malay-Indian Night

Chicken Kapitan using Hup Loong premix.
Verdict: Good!


Indian Stir-fry Green Beans, my version.


Nasi Minyak (oily rice with spices).


Ready to serve!

What a good dinner! Even my hubby got a second serving of everything. :) It was my first time making all of the above, not bad for a first timer huh? :P

Click below for Stir-fry Green Beans Recipe:





















Indian Stir-fry Green Beans Recipe
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Ingredients:
2-3 cups of cut green beans (frozen works great too)
1 small onion, finely sliced
2 tsp. desiccated coconut
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. sugar/ to taste
1/2 tsp. salt/ to taste
1/4 cup milk
Few curry leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. mustard seeds
1 tsp. cumin seeds

Oil for cooking


Method:

1. Heat some oil, fry and toast mustard and cumin seeds until fragrant. Add minced garlic and curry leaves. Then, add sliced onion, saute until soften. Add desiccated coconut and turmeric powder. Saute for a while then add green beans, season with salt and sugar. Add milk, cover and cook for 5 mins until the beans are tender. (most of the milk should be evaporated)

2. Serve hot with nasi minyak or rice.


Note: Cubed tiny firm tofu can be added as well.  Variation: Used sliced cabbage instead of green beans.

Japanese Cottony Cheese Cake

I just bought a 3 sets springform pan the other day that come with 8", 9" and 10". So, I can finally make some cheese cake from now on. The first thing I want to make is Edith's Jap. Cottony cheese cake. I did make it before (2-3 years ago) using the shallow 9" pie pan, thus my cake won't be able to rise. I remembered that cake was only 1" in height and very flat.




Not too bad huh? However, I did manage to cook some of the egg yolks while pouring in the still warm cream cheese mixture (no patient to wait til it cool), thus I have pieces of cooked egg yolks at the bottom of the cheese cake. So, for those that haven't tried this recipe and wanted to try, remember to cool your cream cheese mixture first and don't end out like me. :P




Therefore, I have to cut off the bottom layer. The bottom layer was cut from the above picture. Still look pretty high hor? Like the name said, this cheese cake is cottony soft and not very sweet.





Her recipe can be found here. Thanks Edith! :)


My adapted recipe:
(A)
1 block 225g (8oz) Philadephia cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
100ml fresh milk

(B)
1/2 cup cake flour
1/8 cup cornflour
6 egg yolks
1 Tbp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt

(C)
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar

1. Melt (A) in a double boiler, cool.

2. Fold in (B) & mix well.

3. Whisk (C) until foamy. Add sugar and whisk until soft peaks form. Fold in 1/2 of the mixture into 2, and then add the remaining egg white micture and fold to mix.

4. Pour into the tube pan (lightly grease and line the bottom and sides of the pan with greaseproof paper).

5. Bake in a water bath (hot) for 1 hr 10 mins or until set or golden brown at 320'F.

Prawn Mee

I have a bag of prawn shells reserved in the freezer to try out cwl's (a KC member) prawn mee recipe. But I ended out with my version of prawn mee instead (lack of ingredients, using my ready-made chilli paste, etc).

I think I put too much fried shallots in my stock that it over power the smell of prawn in the stock. Not really happy with my version and the ingredients I put in. Next time have to make it real authentic with just kangkong, shrimps and thin pork slices instead of spinach and added fish balls. I think too much stuff spoiled this delicate soup base.

My hubby seem to like it though since he finished the whole bowl including all the soup!! *Shocking*

Chocolate Coffee Buns

I'm using the Basic Sweet Buns recipe posted here. The changes I made was adding 2 Tbp. cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp. coffee emulco and 10ml strong instant coffee liquid. I brushed the top with milk and sprinkled with white sesame seeds before baking.



Soft and satisfying buns with a hint of coffee and chocolate flavors, very nice with my morning cup of coffee.

Pandan Kaya by Breadmaker

Yeah... I finally made the Pandan kaya using my breadmaker!! My adapted recipe can be found here. Used to make it by hand and had to stand on the stove for at least an hour +. Now, no more standing and stirring for my kaya. :)

Just follow the direction in the recipe and then sifted twice before adding it in the breadmaker and turn the menu to jam function and let it does the work.



When the kaya was done by the breadmaker.



Pour the kaya into a blender and blend until smooth.  This is an optional step, it depends on how smooth you like your kaya or prefer it to be more original.




Then, store in a glass jar and in the refrigerator. Should be able to keep in the refrigerator for up to a month. This is a good kaya recipe, yummy indeed!

Basic Pandan Buns

For Pei:



Basic Sweet Bun Dough recipe by Gina from Kitchencaper:

2 3/4 cup bread flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp. bread improver
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbp. milk powder
1 Tbp. instant yeast
1/2 cup sugar

1 egg
220ml cold water
1 tsp. pandan paste (I added)

1/3 cup butter
1 tsp. bread softener (optional)

Method (My way):

1. Add everything in according to your breadmaker manual. Turn on the dough function and let the breadmaker do the work.

2. When done, take the dough out, give it a few kneads and cut it and shape it whatever you like. For the above bun shape, roll the dough in cylinder shape, cut out individual portion, roll it into ball and place it on a square or circle baking pan lined with parchment paper.

Note: You can add any filling you like at this point as well.

3. When finished placing the balls of dough in the baking pan, leave some space in between for it to proof. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof for 45-60 mins depending on the temperature of your room (or double in size). It is faster if you let it proof under the sun.

4. When double in size, brush the top with milk or egg wash (sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like) and bake in the preheated 375'F oven for 10-12 mins. Or until golden brown on top. When warm from the oven, brush the top with some honey/maple syrup (like my picture above) to give it some shine.

5. Cool on wire rack and can be kept in the air-tight container and stay soft up to 4 days.

The variety of buns you can make from this is endless, try plain buns, green tea buns, chocolate buns, cinnamon buns, strawberry buns, mixed colors buns, etc.

Happy baking and experimenting!! :)