Steamed Pork Buns

After making the Barbecue Chicken Pau last week, I got hooked on making and eating homemade steamed buns. Moreover, I wanted to have another go at pleating the buns, and so I found a few bun-wrapping videos on youtube, which I watched a few times over trying to picture it in my head when I make them later.

Barbecue Chicken Pau (Chinese Steamed Buns)

Steaming hot buns with barbecue chicken, peas and egg

I must admit that I was inspired to start this blog after seeing that my cousin Rachel had started her beautiful blog called A Little of Everything. We used to just post pictures of our cooking adventures on Facebook, but now everything just goes into our blogs. She recently attended a pau (chinese steamed bun) making class and made these tasty little barbecue chicken buns. They are like char siew buns, but using chicken instead, and I could just imagine how delicious they were.

Saucy Steamed Chicken with Bacon Strips

This dish is based on one of the recipes that my mum wrote down for me a few years ago, and I have been cooking this quite often since then. It's one of those things that goes down quickly and easily with a big bowl/plate of rice, especially doused in that delicious sweet and salty gravy. And I know the kids will be happy eating one of their staple chicken-broccoli dinners.

In this dish, the chicken is sliced and layered with strips of bacon, then steamed briefly until just cooked. A thick gravy is then poured over the dish which then coats everything with this luscious sauce that's really tasty with the broccoli too. The chicken is moist, tender and juicy, and has absorbed some of the goodness from the bacon (and you can use any bacon you like - I happened to have double-smoked bacon in the fridge!). This is an easy and delicious one-pot dish that is sure to be a hit with the family!

Saucy Steamed Chicken with Bacon Strips

Ingredients

500g chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips (you should get 16 strips altogether)

130g (about 2 pieces) of bacon, rind removed, cut into 16 strips

1 cup broccoli florets (or substitute with spinach), blanched in salted boiling water

Marinade:

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp water

Sauce:

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp chicken stock powder

3/4 cup water

Thickening:

1/2 tbsp cornflour + 1 tbsp water

Method

Combine chicken with marinade. Brush a little oil onto a round 9 inch dish. Arrange the chicken and bacon slices around the dish in alternate layers, leaving a space in the centre for the broccoli. Leave to marinade for 15 minutes, and in the meantime, prepare a wok/pot for steaming. Steam the chicken for 12-15 minutes until cooked.

To make the sauce, heat up 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil in a small pan. Add sauce ingredients, simmer, then stir in thickening solution and bring to a boil. Pour gravy over the chicken and garnish with broccoli. If using spinach, line them around the edge of the dish. Serve hot with steamed jasmine rice.

Tip: To maintain the bright green colour of the vegetables, blanch them in boiling water with some salt, sugar and oil. Then refresh them under cold running water.

Food Memory: Steamed Egg Custard with Pork and Salted Egg Yolk

It has been a while since I last had this dish. My mum used to make this for lunch at home and we would eat it together with a hot bowl of porridge (congee). Actually, I never did like it when I was little, but as I grew up, I slowly learnt to appreciate and enjoy the rich and creamy taste of of the salted egg yolks against the soft and silky egg custard. However, whenever I go back home to visit and ask my mum to cook this, she refuses to for the pure reason that it's TOO SIMPLE! :)

I decided to make this for dinner because firstly, it's easy to prepare, and secondly, I had some duck's eggs leftover from the other day when I cooked the crab. Most of the time, when I cook steamed egg, I would use one egg with 1/2 cup water, seasoned, and place it in a small bowl which I would then pop into the rice cooker on top of the rice, about 15 minutes just before the timer for the rice goes off. It will come out perfectly set and dear H will be the one who finishes the whole bowl. It's also a good way to help "moisten" the rice especially when there's no gravy or sauce in the other dishes. Well, this time, I used 3 eggs, so I had to steam it in a wok instead, but over very low heat. The water should be just simmering, otherwise the eggs will overcook and you'd end up with dry and hard "honeycombed" eggs instead.

Here is the recipe, which I have sort of conjured up based on memory:


Steamed Egg Custard with Pork and Salted Egg Yolk

Ingredients

3 tbsp minced pork
2 salted duck's eggs, boiled and yolks removed and chopped
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cup water
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
Dash of pepper
1 tbsp vegetable/peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Some chopped spring onions or frozen mixed vegetables for topping (optional)

Marinade:
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
Dash of pepper
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Method

Combine pork with marinade and leave for 20 minutes.

Fry garlic in 1 tbsp oil until garlic turns light brown and crisp. Dish out and put aside.

Combine beaten eggs with water, soy, salt, pepper and stir until well mixed. Pour into a steaming tray or glass pie dish. Take 3 tbsp of this mixture and stir it through the pork until the mince is well dispersed. Add this to the rest of the egg mixture and spread the mince evenly. Sprinkle with salted egg yolk. Steam over simmering water on low heat for 15 minutes or until egg is just set. Take care not to overcook. If frozen vegetables are used, add this to the egg just before it completely sets and continue to steam until cooked. Remove from steamer and drizzle the garlic oil over the egg. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Silken Tofu with Bonito Soy and Spring Onions

Steamed silken tofu served with bonito soy sauce, spring onions and fried
garlic in peanut oil

Bonito Soy Sauce has wonderful umami flavour

Easy Gyoza or Potstickers

Gyoza served with a soy, black vinegar, chilli and sesame oil dipping sauce

G came home from work and was happy to see that I had made gyoza for dinner. He asked what inspired me to do so (because I don't make dumplings very often) and I told him it was Rasa Malaysia, where I saw pictures of some delectable-looking gyozas and couldn't resist making them. Making dumplings are quite therapeutic, and the more you make, the more efficient you get and the nicer they look. It's like origami, just edible.

The filling is made from pork mince, chinese cabbage, spring onions, ginger and garlic, seasoned with soy (I used Bonito soy sauce that I found at the Asian grocery), sake, sugar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. For the dipping sauce, I used soy sauce, Chinkiang black vinegar, sesame oil and chilli oil. The dumplings are super easy to make (using ready-made gow gee wrappers of course), and they are pan-fried, steamed with a little water, and then browned again once the water evaporates. They have a lovely chewy and crisp texture, and the pleats/folds in the skin are perfect for catching the tangy dipping sauce.

I made extra, so I popped the rest in the freezer for a rainy day. So much better than buying frozen ones from the supermarket, and they are so easy to prepare! I will definitely be making many more of these in future!

Love the crisp caramelized bottoms of the gyozas

Extra (uncooked) gyozas are great for storing in the freezer for another day

Home-made Chee Cheong Fun

Steamed rice rolls with hoisin, peanut butter, prawn paste (hae kor) and Sriracha chilli sauce, garnished with
crispy shallots, dried shrimp and toasted sesame seeds

Well, I just couldn't get enough of chee cheong fun last night, so I decided to make my own rice rolls today. I also made the sauce a little thicker and added some peanut butter to the hoisin mixture.  And these steamed rice rolls taste even better than the store-bought ones I used yesterday. Soft, fresh and free of preservatives. Absolute yum and totally addictive!

Here is the recipe for the rice rolls, adapted from Amy Beh:

Chee Cheong Fun Recipe

Ingredients

580ml water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp oil

Combine:
110g rice flour
15g corn flour
1 1/2 tbsp tang meen fun or wheat starch flour

Method

Put combined flour into a mixing bowl. Add water gradually to mix into a smooth batter. Mix in salt and oil then leave aside for one hour.

Lightly grease a square pan/tin that will fit in your wok. Spoon a thin layer of the mixture into the pan and steam over rapid boiling water for 5 minutes until cooked. While still hot, use a scraper to lift and roll the sheets up immediately. Repeat with remaining batter.

Sauce

To make the sauce, refer to the previous post on Penang-style Chee Cheong Fun.

Freshly made rice rolls

One nicely packed for my sister to take-away

Penang-style Chee Cheong Fun

What's the next best thing to eating instant noodles for a quick lunch at home? I have to say, it's Chee Cheong Fun ("CCF"). I just made two rolls for lunch yesterday, and saved the other two for G's dinner. It was super easy to make, and not having eaten this in a long time, it tasted pretty good. Of course, I just bought the ready-made rice rolls as they were far more convenient than making your own (which I have never attempted before). Update: I subsequently made steamed rice rolls from scratch! Click here for recipe.

This style of CCF uses hae kor (prawn paste used in chinese rojak) and a sweet sauce, which goes really well together along with the fried shallots and dried shrimp over the rice rolls. The texture of the rolls is pretty decent, although it's nothing compared to the ones you get in Ipoh. But still, it satisfied my craving and I will definitely be making this again soon.


Penang-style Chee Cheong Fun Recipe

3 fresh rice rolls, steamed for a few minutes

Sauce:
Sriracha chilli sauce (about 1/2 tbsp or to taste)
1 tbsp hae kor (prawn paste - CKC brand) mixed with 1 tbsp hot water
1 tbsp LKK hoisin sauce + 1 tsp creamy peanut butter (optional) mixed with 1-2 tbsp hot water

Garnish:
1 tbsp fried shallots in oil
1 tbsp dried shrimp, ground finely and fried in oil till crisp
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

Arrange steamed rice rolls on a plate (cut them into bite-sized pieces), drizzle the chilli, hae kor and sweet sauces over the rolls, then garnish with fried shallots (and oil), dried shrimp and sesame seeds. And it's ready to serve! :)

Purple Yam Talam (Sweet Coconut Rice Cake)

Beautful purple tinge from the yam

I had some frozen purple yam in the freezer and I had already used one for making yam chiffon a few weeks ago. Not wanting to attempt that again so soon (still getting over it), I decided to make yam talam instead. I found a recipe by Amy Beh and gave it a go. At first, I was a little hesitant about the ingredients used for the top white layer as it called for tapioca starch, which is not used in the usual pandan kuih talam recipe. Good thing I decided to stick to the recipe, because although the top layer was slightly chewy as a result of the tapioca starch, it was a wonderful contrast against the texture of the bottom layer, which predominantly comprised of mashed yam, rice flour and coconut milk. And I love the saltiness of the top coconut layer which balances nicely against the mellow sweetness of the yam. Kuih talam is always so addictive, and I think it's the salty coconut layer that makes it so! Not good for the waistline and heart, but a little bit (or a little more once in a long while) wouldn't hurt! :)



The top coconut layer is chewy and springy, which contrasts well against the bottom layer
made from mashed yam, rice flour and coconut milk



All mashed up - Love the vibrant purple hue of the yam