French Patisserie 1: Lime Madeleine 法国石灰水果马德莱娜...cold batter method

A Salute to Notre Dame Musical......Sunday morning is a perfect time to bake madeleines while the rest of family still in slumberland, hopefully the aroma would kick them off the beds. When the oven door was opened ( a 20 years old Belling) , the sight of these humps just brought me back to the musical play I enjoyed some years back. The long overnight wait for the batter to be well chilled in fridge is such an agony, (or least 4 hours). Nevertheless, it was a fruitful wait.

Chill batter at least 4 hours or more 

Honestly, there is no other easier way  to get this big hump.I cheated many times - skipped the chilling stage  in the past, the result was a puffy top!  Take my word and you won't be disappointed. You can't retired from baking without getting it right. In my recipe , I have reduced the amount of sugar from 120g to 80 g  and butter 100g to 60g.

Jumbo shell shape

With this sweet success, I'll on the way to purchase another pan, perphas d 24 mini ones, more to share around. This recipe yields 6 fat ones only. I can easily eat them all alone in a day.

Here are a couple of pointers: Flour the baking tins after greasing for easier removal. Pipe cold batter into tins. Remove madeleines from tins once out of oven, Using disposal piping bag is the best way to fill these shell tins without creating a mess.

Recipe: 
*90g plain flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*a pinch of salt
*2 large eggs - 65 g type
*80g sugar
*60g melted butter

*1/2 tsp vanilla extract

*1/2  lemon or lime zest

Step by Step:

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Waltzing w Yeast 2 : Singapore Char Siew Bao 老面叉燒包...less sweet

What're u eating? 在吃什么?

吃不饱的. 没钱吃饱

Harmonious conformers
Won't choke you...Everyone tell me , " Aiyoyo, just buy lah ! So many good char siew baos in Singapore, from Jurong East to Tiong Bahru to Toa Payoh to Newton to etc...etc..." I'm not disagreeing but none of them suits my palate. The amount of sugar or honey -they so said , far too excess in the sauce. I often have to scoop 2/3 of the char siew filling to the side plate and invite nasty looks or comments to my wastage. However I do love eating them with the right sweetness! So regardlesss of the toil to prepare the dough and filling, I'm not whinning at all.....

If you have no interest to roast your char siew, they are easily available in supermarkets, preferably those that have some fat on it.  The meat has to be cut into small pieces for easier wrapping and take lesser time to soften in the sauce. The first few baos may go out of shape so much you like to throw them against the wall...stop ! Wrap a few more and you 'll be smiling away. In my recipe, the addition of wan sui and water chestnut make your char siew baos the winning champ in Singapore. The one and only one !

Singapore Char Siew Bao 老面叉燒包
Recipe:
1 qty Da Bao /Tua Pau dough (watch video)

350g pork char siew
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
2 water chestnuts
1 stalk chinese parsley - wan sui
2 clove garlic / 1/2 onion
2 tsp hoi sin sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
3/4 hot water
2 tsp chinese wine - optional
salt/ sugar/ pepper to taste

9 pcs white paper - 7 cm by 7 cm

Workshop available @ Palate Sensations Singapore 

- tel 65 6589 8843

Step by Step Video:

food quote:   殺雞儆猴: "To kill the chicken to frighten the monkeys . To punish someone as a warning to others.

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

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Soup of d Day 1: Itek Tim..Kiam Chye Ark 咸菜鸭汤 ( duck soup)

你在吃什么?

Blood flow catalyst -TCM

Soup Preparation Basic Technique.....Whether nyonya or non nyonya families love cooking this soup when the whole family gather for dinner. We won't cook this soup just for 2 person...half duck is the minimum portion sold in the stall. This recipe can serve a family of six. The loveliness of this soup draws from the sourness of the salted vegetable, plum and dried assam. You would enjoy a moment of peace when everyone savouring the soup. 

For  a tastier soup, boil it for longer hours, but the duck and pork become over soft and undelectable. So scoop up some of the meat and leave the rest for long boiling. Throwing in a red chilli to boil can enhance the soup further - a personal preference.

Workshop available

HP: 9834 3081

Itek Tim..Kiam Chye Ark 咸菜鸭汤
Recipe:

• half duck (skin removed)
• 200g belly pork
• 200g salted vegetable
• 2 sour plums
• 2 pcs dried assam
• 2 cloves garlic
• 6 cups water

food quote:  吃闭门羹, chībìméngēng “ate the closed door soup”  - getting shut out or denied entrance.     

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

                                                                                            

Video Tutorial:

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SeaCatch 1: Nenas Udang 土生华人菠萝虾酸辣汤 ..Pineapple Prawns

你在吃什么?

什么都要吃

A perfect match...This dish is often presented in any family reunion. The combination of pineapple and galgangal (blue ginger) creates such a wonderful taste to this dish. The sourness from a pc of dried assam further enhance the taste. Using king prawns is a better choice as you'll get the a crunchier texture as you chew. The gravy (kuah) is the best of all!

Nenas Udang 土生华人菠萝虾酸辣汤
Recipe:

• 6 -7 large prawns
• 5 slices galangal 
• 1 small knob tumeric
• 1 pc dried assam
• 2 red chillies
• 1 1/2 tsp belachan powder
• 1/4 pineapple
• 1 1/4 cup water
• coriander or basil for garnish

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

Step by Step Video:

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Waltzing w Yeast 1: Singapore Tua Pau 新加坡老面大包 (sourdough method)

What're u bingeing? 又在吃什么?
吃不饱的. 不想吃饱.

Incredibly scrumtrulescent

Nostalgia Pau...The popularity of a particular kopitiam in the 1960s depended on the aroma of the thick black coffee commonly roasted in the backyard. Good coffee alone was not good enough to beat their competitor few metres away. Their coffee had to be served with a delicious steaming hot Tua Pau. Steaming of the pau were done at the front of the coffee shop in big bamboo steamers, and it was the pau special aroma that drew the crowd in first before the coffee brew.

Bamboo steamer

The special wonderfully aroma came from the yeast fermentation of the sourdough used to wrap thick sliced pork filling stuffed with a big quarter of hard boiled egg. So each vendor concocted their own secret recipe to the making of sourdough. This unique aroma cannot be achieved by dough starter or instant method. The recipe I am sharing is already using the minimum time required to ferment the yeast. I believe the professional pau makers take much longer time to do so...their sourdough could be as old as the establishment ..the secret lies here! 

However it is not happening today, kopitiam paus are mainly from factory suppliers. Even those kopitiams that make their famous paus, their fillings are far cry from those days. With the rising cost of pork, they turned to using minced pork...just not the SAME!!!! Missing so much a real bite of traditional Tua Pau, I spend days in the kitchen massaging dough after dough to get the aroma/texture/freshness I longed for. 

This recipe is from Prima Flour web and I modified a little with the addition of wheat starch and vinegar instead of alkaline water. The sourdough aroma is better than any air freshness u can imagine. The other methods give the bun a raw yeast smell which can be repelling to some. The water measurement in the recipe is just a good guide, In dough making, you need to feel when to add a little more or less as you knead. Dough kneading is therapeutic...drive all your blues away FOC.

2015 Update:
If using minced pork, buy the "see no sky" cut (costs more) which is around the armpit zone...so good bite QQQ. 

Pointers: 1) Not all yeast is suitable for making steam white bao. Check with the supplier before purchase. Some yeast turn the baos brown.  2) Knead your dough very well, drizzle some water if it is dry, should be pliable soft.

Yeast for Steam bao

Recipe:

Sourdough 1: 50g hongkong flour...3/4 tsp instant yeast...30ml water

Sourdough 2: 50g hongkong flour...25g dough 1...30ml water 

Sourdough 3: 100g hongkong flour...50g dough 2...60ml water 

Final dough: 50g wheat starch...150g dough 3 30g white sugar...1 tsp baking powder...30ml water...1/8 tsp ammonia soda...1/4 tsp white vinegar...1/2 tbsp oil 

Pork filling: 250g pork...20g chinese parsley or celery...1/4 cup mushroom chopped.

Sauce: 1 tbsp oil...2 tsp light soya sauce...1/2 tsp dark soya sauce...1 tsp sesame oil...1/2 tbsp oyster sauce...1/2 tbsp sugar...1/2 tsp salt...1/8 tsp pepper to taste...cornflour to thicken. 

Workshop available @ Palate Sensations Singapore 

- tel 65 6589 8843

food quote:   心急吃不了熱豆腐：”You have to wait until the hot tofu cools down.” Haste makes waste.

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

Step by Step Video:                                  

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All in a Pot 2: Teochew Claypot Pork Rice 潮州煲仔飯 for 2

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什么都要吃

Cooking for One/Two...This is often a cumbersome task. In a wink of an eye, you'll find your bustling family disappeared during mealtimes. They are either away or working late to keep the job and there you are Alone at the dining table. Surely we can't be feeding on instant noodle to avoid the inconvenience. Using a claypot to cook an one dish meal is the best option. You can create many varieties of tastes with little effort and cleaning.

Step by Step Video:    

Recipe: 1 cup rice...1 1/4 cup water/ clam juice...6 strings longbeans...1/3 carrot...4 shallots...2 cloves garlic...150g pork..1 tsp soya sauce...1 tsp cooking wine...1/2 tsp sesame oil...cooking oil for frying (about 2 tbsps)...Salt to taste

food quote:   生米煮成熟： "The rice is already cooked"： What's done cannot be undone.

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Beverages 1: Banana Peanut Butter Rum Smoothie 香蕉花生酱冰沙

吃好喝好...吃喝玩乐

Every Singaporean Son... Ah Mat shared this recipe and so I decided to serve him his favourite before he started his 2 years of living hell in the infantry. As parent of an only son, anxiety set in...prayed to Almighty for his protection. Whatelse could I do ? Hide him ? Where on earth...some kampungs in Malaysia where fugitive Selamat thought so " U can't find me !". At the same time, I had to put up with this 20 years old guy who thought his world had come to an end for weeks. Today, he is happily undergoing the OCS training and grown many inches taller.

Recipe By Cooking Kaki: Matthew Yang @Singapore

Step by Step Video:

Forsaken

Back to smoothie, this is a best drink to make when your bunch of bananas are spotting all over andabout to crash on to the floor. Cut them into smaller pieces for easier blending. Try not to blend at high speed to minimize the smoothie being too "foamy" and you getting a "beardy" lip. Throw in some ice cubes if you like it freezing cold. Omit the rum and you can serve it as a morning energy boaster. To coat the glass edge, squeeze melted chocolate from ready to use bottles. Japanese wafer rolls are my fave. A cheer to Ah Mat n friends' National Service Enlistment in Singapore Armed Forces on 30 Oct 2012.

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

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