Paula Cooking Fingers

Monday 22 August 2016

Hokkaido Cheese Tarts

Baking kakis being nudging me to bake these dome-shape cheese tarts before my summer holiday. Finally, I put all other commitments aside and tested out the first batch this morning. Well, well.....everyone is smiling to a new dessert today, without having to stand in long queue at ION Orchard.

So delighted to see the custard perking in the case before bake. The cooking, chilling and piping of the custard are critical stages to focus on in order to avoid flat non-airy tarts.

The challenge in baking this Hokkaido cheese tart lies in how to get the a dome-shape custard after bake. Some prefer some burnt spots on surface, shall bake them closer to the top fire in second batch tomorrow.

enchanting spot

western pastries

Monday 15 August 2016

Soon Kueh 5 - Non-Teochew (starchy version)

There are two camps of soon kueh eaters hovering in my social circle. This recipe is for the non-Teochew clan.

Recipe:

100g wheat starch
40g tapioca starch
35g potato starch
25g rice flour

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 sugar
2 tbsp oil
340g boiling water

Dough and filling Preparation Directions:
Read Teochew Soon Kueh

Workshop available @ Palate Sensations Singapore

- tel 65 64789746

snacks

Soon Kueh 3 - Hakka

A friend's request for this unknown soon kueh is talk of the town lately. Many would say,"never heard of" while fried abacus seeds is a hot fave of many, even you can't utter a vowel of Hakka. Yam is used in many of their cooking. Rarely this yam dough soon kueh is purchasable, reason likely to be the high cost of yam.

Again we have another of get-together cooking session. A game of mahjong may appeal to many women as an excellent socialising activity, likewise a morning of kueh making with your buddies enrich the friendship and strengthen the bond. While waiting for the dough to rest and shredding the vegetables for filling, there is ample time for conversation and catching up with each other's busy lives around the table and occasionally roar in laughters to some silly jokes.

From some research efforts, this soon kueh dough can also be achieved by the hot water method of mixing the mashed yam with tapioca flour, but the Hakkas are more fond of pinching out a small dough and boil it till it floats . The boiled dough is then kneaded into the main dough. I enjoyed eating this interesting texture from boiling method - it's spongy and slight chewy with the aromatic smell of the yam. Florence has such a recipe to share , so check her out .

Recipe @ Florence Blog

snacks

Monday 8 August 2016

Scandinavian Chillout

A great dish for a cold summer consisting of lobster, crab, shrimps and shellfish served with three sauces; plus beautiful captivating cities in Sweden, Norway and Denmark gave us a rewarding holiday this year. Take this good advice to pack a small umbrella in your luggage or get one from the hotel before setting off for the day. The summer weather here changes so quickly from a blazing sun to cold winds with shower within minutes.

The tantalising event of the holiday was the four-hours nordic food tour guided by a delightful cookbooks author, Catherine of FoodToursStockholm. She took us to sample traditional Swedish delicacies and contemporary cuisine at a gourmet food market and a lifestyle mall, followed by smaller outlets outside of the city. Smoked moose, bear and reindeer mousse, see pics below, was the first platter presented. The meat were well seasoned and so everyone accepted the new game tastes easily and left all plates empty.

Below pic shows the Swedish comtemporary fine foods, largely cured salmon and herrings in different sauces and accompanied by a high note of very cold sharp Nowegian snaps. The fish soup with a dope of aioli and fried herring was our top fave. Swedish meatballs, cheese, ice-cream and homemade chocolate were equally enjoyed by all. Last applause of the walk, fika - Swedish tradition of serving a cup of coffee with some pastries at end of meal was highly commendable.

food gabble

Saturday 23 July 2016

Huaiyang Pastries 1 : Spiral Curry Puff

What're u eating? 在吃什么?

吃不饱的  想当SQ空姐.

Dozens boxes of Huaiyang pastries mainly with sweet fillings such as red bean paste I had devoured since the birth of a sweet tooth, however the culinary aspect of the pastry remained a mystery to me till I read Shoonyin Home Cooking. The reads educated me on the pastry's versatility and the dominance of the Huaiyang cuisine (四大菜系) in China culinary heritage. Soon the excitement send me to enroll in a scurry at the Prima Baking School where professional bakers (one excluded) are trained to prepare dim sum delicacies with this pastry. Two insanely popular snacks in Singapore: spiral curry puffs and siew baos shine through the local gastronomic sphere with the Huaiyang pastry encasing everyone's favourites - potato chicken curry, tomato lime sardines. Or prepare a sweet filling of kaya flavoured with salted yolks...a new sweet discovery.

tummy warming curry

Huaiyang pastry build on one similar fundamental with the western puff pastry; both pastries use the technique of fat lamination. From the pockets of air between the pastry sheets arise the layers of flakes in a hot oven.

Chinese bakers took a step further to laminate the divided dough individually and through this laborious method creates more ways of rolling the smaller doughs and shaping them differently. And also through using different flours and fat proportions in both the water and oil doughs, a spectacular spread of bings饼 and baos包 are delicatedly crafted in different provinces of China: lao por bing老婆餅, tau sar piah, siew bao, char siew soh, tai yang bing 太陽餅, beh teh soh, phong piah, radish puff, mooncakes and the list goes on and on....a dynasty 朝代 that stills exists.

Many home-bakers have a nagging interest in this pastry - often cumbersome being the main reason. But what they're ignorant of is that this technique brings a magical diversification of the final piece.

oil dough in water dough

Shoon Yin had penned down the dough preparation in details . It would be a waste of time and boring for me uploading similar information. While at my training stinct, some important do's and don'ts were highlighted and would be useful for those who are passionate over this pastry. A primary importance is not to wrap the water and oil doughs tightly, allows some gaps for the flakies to rise during baking. Another area to note down is allow the dough to rest at least 15 mins after lamination and the swiss rolling. Cover the doughs with plastic sheet to prevent dryness on the surface. I even rolled them in my lightly oiled palms before placing them under the plastic sheet. Lastly, pinch off the excess dough after closing up the edges otherwise the base of the bing is thick and not fine craftmanship.

Use fork to combine flours and shortening till crumbs-like. Add in the water to form soft dough. Do same for the oil dough except no water to be added.

In this curry puff recipe , I prefer not using any cake flour in the oil dough and use some bread flour in the water dough. I like the flakes to be sturdy and distinct. The fat proportion to flour that I'm recommending for this spiral dough is 30% and 50% for the water and oil dough respectively.

Allows water and oil doughs to rest at least 1/2 hour.

Divide each dough into 4/6 portions and rolled them into balls.

Place oil dough in centre of water dough and seal loosely. Cover them and rest for 15 mins.

Roll the rested doughs into long rectangle and roll up like a swiss roll twice. Let the rolled up dough rest again 15 mins before the second roll. Rest another 15 mins after second roll in cool area or fridge. It's hard to roll into shape when the fat is melting, may even lose the flakes.

Rest another 15 mins covered before cutting it into two pieces.

close embrace

manipulation by sinister

Come discover me

Final stage is to get them deepfry in hot oil. To get nice flakes, scoop them up after 30 seconds in the hot oil and cool for another 30 seconds. Repeat this dunking process three times . Continue the frying over low fire till light golden. Increase the fire just before lifting them from the oil. Drain them well.

Ingredients List:

Water dough :

50g bread flour

50g top flour

1/8 tsp salt

½ tsp sugar

30g shortening

45g water

Oil dough:

60g top flour

30g shortening

Quick Potato Chicken filling:

150g diced boiled potato

75g diced chicken breast

30g rough chopped onions

2 sprigs curry leaves shredded

50g instant chicken curry paste

3 tablespoons coconut milk

1 tsp soya sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

Filling Directions:

Stir fry the onion and curry leaves till fragant.

Add in the curry paste and fry for 1 min.

Then add in the chicken pieces, soya sauce, salt and sugar.

Cook for about 3 mins.

Pour in the coconut milk and cook till lightly dry

Cool thoroughly for use.

Food Quote: 一毛不拔鐵公鶏：”You can’t get a feather from iron cock.” Somebody very stingy and never give; or miser

Cook as to how you like to eat it, join me if we share the same taste. PaulaCookingFingers

Workshop available @ Palate Sensations Singapore
- tel 65 64789746

snacks

Coconut Cream Corn Butter Cake

好吃快快吃

Another delicious recipe for new-hands in cake making and using ingredients close to home. Coconut cream and cream corn are inexpensive and the two of them just hit off like a hurricrane.

The butter creaming method is one the basic being taught at Home Economic class. Once this method is fully understood, you can bake any buttercakes. Importantly, bring out the butter hours ahead of baking time so that it would be very soft ready for use. I put it in the mixing bowl before bedtime and start baking the next morning.