Mooncake : Wheat Flour Figurine (Koong Chai Paeng) 公仔饼

Mooncake : Wheat Flour Figurine (Koong Chai Paeng) 公仔饼

Recipe source :  Flavours Magazine (courtesy of Radison Hotel & Convention Centre)


I made these figurines because of nostalgia more than anything else. Seeing wheat figurines being sold around town in anticipation of the coming Mid-Autumn Festival brought back childhood memories. When my siblings and I were young, our maternal grandmother would buy for each of us,  beautiful lanterns. In addition, she would be visiting us bearing boxes of mooncakes. I was attracted more to the wheat flour figurines than the round mooncakes. I still remember some of the figurines which were in the form of piglets with accompanying tiny red plastic baskets encasing them. 

I remember all of us siblings coveted the figurines possessively to admire and to play with rather than eating them! But of course, eventually all those biscuits ended up in our tummies!

Once YS discovered that there is no filling inside this "mooncake", he did not bother to taste it! I guess one needs to acquire a taste for this to fully appreciate this old-time biscuit from a different generation. But then again, if no one passes over the baton, cultural values and tradition will be lost!

Ingredients For Crust  (makes 27 pieces)

800g Hong Kong flour
600ml syrup
200ml cooking oil

Egg wash

1 egg, beaten

 The wooden mould that I used

 The lion-shaped mooncakes just knocked out from its mould

I stuck two black beans as 'eyes' for the lions 

Brushing egg wash over the mooncakes

Instructions

1.  Mix flour, syrup and oil thoroughly. Cover with a cloth and set aside for 3 hours.
2.  Sprinkle the mould with flour. Press dough into the mould and shape it accordingly.
3.  Put in baking tray and bake about 30 minutes at 180 degree C or until slightly browned.
4.  Remove from oven and brush with egg wash.
5.  Bake for another 10 minutes.

 

I think they look cute instead of fierce-looking

I am linking this post to Cook-Your-Books #3

Organised by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours

Steamed Pau With Salted Egg Yolk Lava 流沙包

Steamed Pau With Salted Egg Yolk Lava 流沙包

Recipe source :  Flavours Magazine

My family loves "lau sar pau". YS can down several lau sar pau at one go and that is in addition to other dim sum that he had packed in!  The most memorable ones are those we had eaten while we were visiting  Foshan, Guangzhou. The dim sum there at "Dancing Ray Hotel" were fabulous!  I feel nostalgic as I looked back at the photos and the dim sum we had while we were there. I look forward to going there again, back to the same restaurant which served such scrumptious food!



I am delighted that my attempt to make lau sar pau is highly successful!. The lava was oozing from the hot steaming pau and the taste was simply wonderful!  If I may say so, this batch of lau sar pau is even better than many of the dim sum restarurant around where I stay! Many a time I came across lau sau paus from dim sum restaurants where the lava is dry and not oozing as it should be. 

See the lava is oozing from the hot steaming pau

I am definitely making these again but maybe I will have to increase the size of the pau since this batch of paus seemed too small to even fill up the paper cups. Yes, that's what I'll do the next time - the pau dough should be at least 50g each instead of 30g as what I had done today.  Then, hopefully my lau sar pau will look fat and nice to fill up the whole paper cup, like those in the dim sum restaurants. 

 

Ingredients

Filling

10 salted duck egg yolks
60g milk powder
60g custard powder
100g sugar
150g butter
200g evaporated milk

Dough 

300g Hong Kong flour
1 tsp dry yeast
70g sugar
120 ml carrot juice
10g shortening

To prepare the filling

 

1.  Steam salted egg over high heat until cooked, about 10 minutes.
2.  Set aside to cool. 
3.  In a mixing bowl, crush the egg yolks until powdery.
4.  Add in the milk powder, custard powder and sugar. Mix well.
5.  Add in the butter and evaporated milk. Mix thoroughly.
6.  Cover the bowl with cling film and store in the freezer until needed.

To prepare the dough

1.  In a large bowl, mix Hong Kong flour, yeast, sugar and carrot juice.
2.  Add in the shortening and mix well.
3.  Knead the dough on flat, lightly floured surface until smooth.
4.  Portion out the dough into small balls of 30g each.

To assemble

1.  Roll out each ball into circular shape with thickness of about 2 mm.
2.  Top each circle with 1 spoonful of filling.
3.  Gather the edges and fold over, pinching to seal the pau.
4.  Place into paper cups in a scalloped mould and allow the pau to rest for one hour to proof.
5.  Steam over high heat for 10 minutes.
6.  Serve hot. 


Note :  There will be salted egg whites left over since this recipe used only the salted egg yolks. You can use the salted egg whites to make into a soup. Read San Choy Soup With Salted Egg Whites

Fresh carrot juice. 

I grated 2 medium-sized carrots to squeeze out 120ml of carrot juice

Steamed salted egg yolks. 

I used the back of a metal spoon to crush these salted egg yolks into a powdery form.

Waiting to proof before steaming

Lau sar pau - Yummy !

Mooncake: Snowskin Mooncake 冰皮月饼

Mooncake: Snowskin Mooncake 冰皮月饼

  Snow white snowskin mooncakes

 My first attempt at making snowskin mooncakes

 Recipe Source : adapted from Flavours Magazine


Today I am sharing my first attempt at making snowskin mooncakes. It is known locally as "Ping Pei" mooncakes.  No baking is required for snowskin mooncakes.

Ingredients For the Snowskin 

( makes 5 mooncakes only )

100g Hong Kong flour
70g glutinous rice flour ( Kao Fen )
125 ml iced pre-boiled water
110g icing sugar
1 1/2 tbsp corn oil
food colouring of choice ( optional )

Ingredients For The Lotus Seed Paste or Lin Yoong In Cantonese

 

250g lotus seed ( buy the type with red skin )
3/4 tbsp lye water ( Kan Sui )
170 ml peanut oil
200g sugar
1/2 tbsp maltose ( optional )

Instructions To Make Lotus Seed Paste 

 

1.  Add lye water to the lotus seeds. Mix well. Leave aside for 20 minutes
2.  After 20 minutes, pour in boiling water and cover the lotus seed for 20 to 30 minutes
3.  Strain and wash lotus seeds to remove the red skins and the greenish embryos inside the seeds
4.  Add water to the cleaned lotus seeds to 5 cm above the lotus seeds
5.  Boil until soft and the liquid has almost dried up
6.  Blend the lotus seeds together with the liquid.
7.  Heat wok with 1/4 of the peanut oil and 1/4 of the sugar, stir until golden brown
8.  Add in the blended lotus paste and cook until well blended
9.  Add in the rest of the remaining ingredients and cook for about 30 minutes or until the lotus paste no longer sticks to the side of the wok
10. Cool completely and divide the lotus seed paste into 5 balls of equal portions

Instructions To Make the Snowskin 

1.  Spread the Hong Kong flour in a dish and steam over boiling water for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely and remove any wet lumps, then sift the flour.
2.  Sift icing sugar and the glutinous rice flour separately
3.  Put the iced cold preboiled water into a mixing bowl.
4.  Pour in the corn oil and mix thoroughly using a wire whisk
5.  Add in the sifted icing sugar, closely followed by the Hong Kong flour, bit by bit until evenly mixed
6.  Then add in the glutinous rice flour, stirring all the time. A dough will be formed
7.  Knead it lightly on a surface until smooth. Do not overwork the dough
8.  Divide the dough into 5 equal portions

Assembling the Snowskin Mooncake

1.  Dust a mooncake mould with glutinous rice flour
2.  Use your palms to shape one portion of the snowskin dough into a round flat disk
3.  Place one portion of the lotus seed paste filling onto the flatten disk and wrap it up
4.  Shape the mooncake into a mooncake mould and knock out the mooncake onto a plate
5.  The snowskin mooncake can be eaten at once. No baking is required
6.  However, the snowskin mooncakes are rather delicate when fresh
7.  It is best left in the refrigerator to firm up for one to two days before consuming.

  Mid-Autumn Festival is just round the corner, you still have time to make it!

Mooncake: Durian Paste Mooncake 榴莲月饼

Mooncake: Durian Paste Mooncake  榴莲月饼

 The result of my effort

 Recipe Source :  Flavours Magazine

I have been very busy of late, trying out all the mooncake recipes which I had collected over the years. Now is a good time to try out my recipes collection on mooncake making as the Mid-Autumn Festival is drawing near. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 30th of September 2012 and it is on a Sunday, which means many people working or studying outstation can go back home to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival for the year 2012.

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Mid-Autumn Festival !

Ingredients For The Crust

( makes 10 pieces )

500g Hong Kong flour
200ml syrup
80 ml cooking oil
1/2 tbsp lye water ( Kan sui )

Durian Filling

50g lotus seed paste or lin yoong in Cantonese
300g durian flesh

Note : You can refer to my post on how to make lotus seed paste, read here

Egg Wash

1 egg yolk beaten with 1/2 egg white

Method

1.  Pour oil and syrup into a mixing bowl followed by lye water. Stir thoroughly to mix with a spatula, blending well until the oil is well distributed
2.  Sift the Hong Kong flour and add to the mixing bowl in stages, stirring as you go along until you get a soft, pliable dough
3.  Knead the dough on a surface already dusted with Hong Kong flour. Use only light movements and do not overwork the dough. Stop when the dough is smooth.
4.  Cover with a piece of cling film and leave to rest for half an hour
5.  Mash the durian flesh and cook in a non-stick pan for 10 minutes over a medium fire. Allow to cool completely. Then mix well with the lotus seed paste. Divide the mixture into 10 equal portions.
6.  Back to the dough, divide the dough into 10 balls of equal portions
7.  Press each ball down using the palm of one hand on a floured surface to get a palm-sized disk
8.  Place a portion of the durian filling on each disk of dough and pressing gently stretch and spread it evenly to cover the entire paste filling
9.  Dust  mooncake mould with Hong Kong flour. Shape the dough into the mooncake mould and press down evenly, then knock out the moon cake. The mooncake should fall out easily
10. Place the mooncakes on a greased baking tray and bake the mooncakes in a preheated oven at 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes.
11. Take them out from the oven and brush with egg wash
12. Bake again for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown
13. The mooncakes should be kept for 2 days for the flavour to develop and the oil in the lotus seed paste to enrich the pastry before they are eaten
 

The durian paste filling is very fragrant and combines well with the pastry