Seeded Crackers 双麻饼

Seeded Crackers 双麻饼

Recipe source :  Adapted from Williams-Sonama's Essentials Of Baking

I love to eat crackers and they were always store-bought ones. I have never eaten homemade ones until today. This is the first time I am making crackers and also the first time I am participating in this Bake-Along event. The theme for Bake-Along #45 is Seeded Crackers. I made only half of the original amount as I was not certain of the outcome of my first attempt at making crackers.

I omitted a few ingredients and made a few adaptation to the original recipe. I used yoghurt instead of heavy cream. 

I am glad my first attempt turned out nicely. The crackers are very crispy.  Oh yes, they are very addictive! I made 30 pieces of seeded crackers today.  I am looking forward to baking the next batch of crackers with a different flavour.

Ingredients

1 cup of all purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp black sesame seeds
1/2 tsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp cold butter
1/4 cup yoghurt 

Instructions

1.  I mixed the dough by hand since I was making such a small portion.
2.  Then wrapped it up using cling film and rested it overnight in the refrigerator. 
3.  The next day when I took it out from the refrigerator, I allowed it to warm up a little, about 45 minutes before rolling out the dough and cutting it into pieces.
4.  Bake at 170 degree C for about 12 minutes.

 

I rolled out the dough in small batches then cut them into rectangular pieces

I am linking this post to Bake Along Event #45

 

 

Bake Along by Lena of Frozen Wings, 

Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and 

Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids

Stewed Radish & Chinese Cabbage 萝卜斋

Stewed Radish & Chinese Cabbage 萝卜斋

I first tasted this vegetarian dish at a Buddhist religious gathering organised by a feng shui master cum temple caretaker. The radish and Chinese cabbage were stewed until tender. Both the radish and Chinese cabbage were infused with the aroma of spices from the star anise and cinnamon. We seldom eat at vegetarian restaurants and we found this dish of stewed radish and Chinese cabbage a very refreshing change from the more common deep-fried bean curd fare.

Ingredients

700g radish
650g Chinese cabbage
3 star anise
1 piece cinnamon bark ( 2cm x 3cm)
1 tsp Sichuan peppercorn
1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cooking oil
1.5 litres water
1/4 MSG ( optional )

Instructions

1.  Remove the skin of the radish and cut into thick slices
2.  Wash Chinese cabbage and cut it length-wise into 4 quarters
3.  In a large pot, bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil
4.  Add in all the spices and boil until aromatic
5.  Add the radish and Chinese cabbage and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender
6.  Add salt, sugar, MSG and cooking oil.
7.  Stir well to mix.
8.  Dish up and cut the Chinese cabbage into sections of about 4 cm.

 Radishes

 Chinese cabbage

Top left : Cinnamon bark. Bottom left : star anise.

Right : Sichuan peppercorn

Purple Sweet Potato Dumpling With Red Bean Paste 紫红豆沙粿

Purple Sweet Potato Dumpling With Red Bean Paste 紫红豆沙粿

Recipe source :  Adapted from - Authentic Chinese Dumpling cookbook


Again, I was in a bind while making this purple dumpling, the recipe calls for a turtle-shaped mould which I do not have but since I have others I resorted to improvise and used a square one instead. As a result I have to make changes to the Chinese name as well.

 

Ingredients for dough

250g glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp wheat starch
1 tbsp castor sugar
3 tbsp cooking oil
300g purple sweet potato
150 ml boiling water                  
80 ml water                                

Filling 

300g  red bean paste

 

Red bean paste

Instructions to make the dumpling

1.  Peel the sweet potato and cut into pieces, steam over boiling water until the sweet potatoes are soft. Dish up and mash them into a smooth paste.
2.  In a mixer, add the glutinous rice flour, sweet potato paste, sugar, cooking oil. Remember to add in boiling water and the extra water at room temperature.
3.  Knead until a soft dough is formed.
4.  Divide the purple dough into small portions, depending on the size of your mould. Cover them with  a wet cloth.
5.  Divide the red bean paste into same equal number of portions as the dough. Roll the red bean paste into small round balls. Set aside for later use.
6.  Roll out a portion of the purple dough and flatten to make a small circle. Wrap a ball of red bean paste. Seal the edges. 
7.  Press the small dumpling into a mould which has been sprinkled with flour.
8.  Press gently to make the impression and then knock out the imprinted dumpling.
9.  Place onto a greased steaming tray.
10.  Repeat process until all dough and red bean paste are used up.
11.  Steam over high heat for about 7 minutes.
12.  Brush with oil immediately upon removing from the steamer.

 Raw purple sweet potato

 The skin remained soft and tasty even after several hours 

Purple Sweet Potato Dumpling 菜香寿粿

Purple Sweet Potato Dumpling 菜香寿粿

Recipe source :  Adapted from Authentic Chinese Dumpling cookbook

I was caught in a fix when I tried out this recipe to make the purple skin dough. The flour could not bind. All the ingredients were supposed to mix together to form a soft dough but that did not happen. I must have missed out an ingredient or misread the instructions.

I must find a way to make the dough. I could not afford to throw away all the ingredients already spread out on the table. So, I just took a calculated risk and added 150 ml of boiling water to the flour mix and kept my fingers crossed! There was much improvement. The flour started to bind. Feeling encouraged, I added 80 ml more water and started kneading until I got a soft dough. Viola! I finally got myself a purple dough ! I did not follow the filling as per the recipe and on top of that I did not have the proper mould as shown in the cookbook and I resorted to do it my own way.

Ingredients for dough

250g glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp wheat starch
1 tbsp castor sugar
3 tbsp cooking oil
300g purple sweet potato
150 ml boiling water                  
80 ml water                                 

Ingredients for filling

450g radish ( shredded )
150g minced pork
3 shitake mushrooms ( diced )
30g dried scallops ( soaked and shredded )
20g black fungus ( soaked and shredded )
2 shallots ( chopped )
2 tbsp cooking oil
200 ml water

Seasonings

1 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2  tsp pepper

Instructions to cook the filling

1. Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil until hot. Saute the chopped shallots.

2. Add in the diced mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add in the minced pork and shredded black fungus. Mix everything evenly.

3. Toss in the shredded radish and dried scallops. Mix well.

4. Add in seasoning and water and cook until the radish are tender and quite dry.

5. Dish up and leave to cool.

Instructions to make the dumpling

1.  Peel the sweet potato and cut into pieces, steam over boiling water until the sweet potatoes are soft. Dish up and mash them into a smooth paste.
2.  In a mixer, add the glutinous rice flour, sweet potato paste, sugar, cooking oil. Remember to add in boiling water and the extra water at room temperature.
3.  Knead until a soft dough is formed.
4.  Divide the dough into small portions and roll out into round circles.
5.  Spoon a tablespoon of filling into the dough and wrap up and seal the edges.
6.  Adjust the semicircle and make it "sit" on its base with the edges pointing upwards.
7.  Place it on a greased steaming tray.
8.  Repeat the process until the rest are completed.
9.  Steam over high heat for about 8 minutes.
10. Brush with oil immediately after steaming.

Purple sweet potato

 

Ready for steaming

Brush with oil immediately after steaming

Long Bean & Orange Sweet Potato Dumpling 豆角番薯粿

Long Bean & Orange Sweet Potato Dumpling 豆角番薯粿

 Recipe source : Adapted from Authentic Chinese Dumpling cookbook


The colour is all natural from the orange sweet potatoes. The skin dough is soft and spongy while the long beans and minced pork give a crunchy texture to the filling. SK and I both find it delicious. But we have adapted the recipe to suit our taste. All in all we are very happy with this orange-hued dumpling. My mind is already working overtime, thinking of the possibilities of what filling to make next. 

Ingredients for the dough

110g orange sweet potato
100g glutinous flour
150g tapioca flour
250g boiling water ( use less water, about 150g is enough, otherwise the dough becomes very sticky ) 
1 tbsp cooking oil

Ingredients for the filling

120g minced pork
200g long beans ( diced )
20g carrot ( diced )
1 tbsp garlic ( chopped )
100 ml water
2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasonings

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
dash of pepper
1 tsp cornflour

 Top : long beans
Middle :  a section of carrot
Bottom : orange sweet potatoes

 The prepared filling ready for wrapping

Instructions to cook the filling

1.  Heat 2 tbsp of cooking oil until hot. Saute the chopped garlic until fragrant.

2.   Add in minced pork. Stir-fry briskly over medium heat for about 3 minutes.

3.  Add long beans and carrots. Toss well to mix evenly.

4.  Add water and seasoning and bring to the boil over high heat.

5.  Keep stirring until the water is almost dried up.

6.  Remove from heat and leave to cool. 

Instructions to make the dumpling

1.  Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into small pieces.

2.   Steam over high heat over boiling water until soft and tender.

3.  Mash into a smooth paste while still very hot. Set aside.

4.  In a mixer, add glutinous flour, tapioca flour and sweet potatoes.

5.  Add boiling water and cooking oil. Mix until a dough is formed. Knead until smooth.

6.  Flatten dough with a rolling pin and use a Chinese rice bowl to cut circles from the rolled out dough. Cover the dough with a wet cloth.

7.  Spoon 1 tbsp of filling onto the cut-out circle of dough and wrap into a semi-circle. Seal the edges.

8.  Bring both ends of the semi-circle together and pinched the tips to form a pouch-shaped.

9.  Place onto a greased steaming tray and steam over boiling water at high heat for about 8 minutes. 

10. Brush oil over the steamed dumplings immediately upon removing from the steamer. 
11.  Ready to serve.

 Pretty little dumplings

Bamboo Dumpling 竹叶粿

Bamboo Dumpling  竹叶粿

 

Recipe source :  Adapted from Authentic Chinese Dumpling cookbook 

Ingredients for the dough

30g wheat starch
200g glutinous rice flour
200g rice flour
2 1/2 tbsp castor sugar
50 ml boiling water
250 ml water
65ml cooking oil  

Ingredients for filling

450g radish ( shredded )
150g minced pork
3 shitake mushrooms ( diced )
30g dried scallops ( soaked and shredded )
20g black fungus ( soaked and shredded )
2 shallots ( chopped )
2 tbsp cooking oil
200 ml water

 Other ingredients 

24 pieces bamboo leaves ( cut into oval shape )
24  toothpicks

Seasoning

1 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp pepper

Radish

 Shredded radish

Top left : shredded dried scallops. Top right :  diced mushrooms 

Bottom : shredded black fungus

Instructions to cook the filling

1. Heat 2 tbsp cooking oil until hot. Saute the chopped shallots.

2. Add in the diced mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add in the minced pork and shredded black fungus. Mix everything evenly.

3. Toss in the shredded radish and dried scallops. Mix well.

4. Add in seasoning and water and cook until the radish are tender and quite dry.

5. Dish up and leave to cool.

Instructions to make the dumpling

1.  Mix wheat starch with boiling water. Mix well to form a dough.
2.  Add in glutinous rice flour, rice flour, sugar, water and cooking oil. Knead well to form a smooth dough.
3.  Cover with a wet cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
4.  Divide equally into small balls. Cover with wet cloth.
5.  Flatten the balls and spoon in filling. Wrap it up and seal the edges.
6.  Brush the bamboo leaves with oil.
7.  Wrap the filled-up dough with a piece of bamboo leave and secure the edges with toothpick.
8.  Repeat the process for the remaining dough and filling.
9.  Place them in a steamer and steam for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Steamed Tung Choi Pork 冬菜蒸猪肉

Steamed Tung Choi Pork 冬菜蒸猪肉

I had a packet of minced pork which was originally intended for making dumplings but I was feeling too lazy and could not summon up the energy nor the enthusiasm to make dumplings today. I did not feel inclined to do much cooking either. So I dug into the refrigerator to see what's suitable to be cooked with the minced pork and which must be easy to prepare as well.

I decided to steam the minced pork with tung choi (冬菜), which is a type of preserved garlicky vegetable, usually added into soups or porridge for the extra zing. 

Mind you, the tung choi is salty. So do not add too much.

 

Ingredients

250g minced pork
3 tsp tung choi
1 tsp cornflour
6 tsp water
1/2 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp sugar
dash of sesame oil

Instructions

1.  Chop the tung choi and mix evenly with the minced pork.
2.  Dissolve the cornflour with the water and add to the minced pork mixture.
3.  Add in the rest of the seasoning and mix well.
4.  Place into a shallow heat-proof plate or bowl and steam over boiling water for about 12 to 15 minutes.

 Tung choi in the earthen container and tung choi in a small dish

 Minced pork

Yummy ! Goes very well with both rice and porridge