Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll Round Up

祝大家捞得风生水起！

Thank you all for your support despite the busy period. I myself also have to squeeze some time to submit and manage the round up. Guess there are more to come just that everyone is busy during this CNY and may have missed the deadline to submit your wonderful post.... Pity.

Sad to hear from SSB that This is the second last AB theme and #40 mark the last AB theme.

I am honored to be the 2nd last host of AB and I would like to say a big thank you to all bloggers who bother to send in your post to support.

This theme has attracted 22 posts, can see most Popular items among the food bloggers are Bak Gwa, baked cod fish strips and traditional Nian gao.

Are you ready? This CNY , let's rock and roll!

1. 简易自制肉干 Homemade Chinese Pork Jerky (Bak Kwa) by Min of Min's Blog

2. 芋薯年糕卷（Nian Gao Spring Roll) by May Law of 厨苑食谱

3. Bak Kwa ~ Pork Jerky by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

4. Crispy Baked Cod Fish Strips by Ann Low of Anncoo Journal

5. 香脆白芝麻紫菜鳕鱼丝 Bake cod fish strips with sushi nori and sesame by Jozelyn Ng of jozelynng.blogspot.com

6. Bakkwa (Pork Jerky) by Veronica of Minty's Kitchen

7. 香烤紫菜鳕鱼丝 by Angela Ng of pretty-life-things.blogspot.com

8. 自制猪肉干 by Eileen Lee of eileenの记事本

9. Meat floss 肉丝 by Jozelyn Ng of jozelynng.blogspot.com

10. 年糕 Chinese New Year's Cake | Nian Gao by Violet Song of ~♥紫羅蘭的爱心厨房♥~ Violet's Kitchen

11. Crispy Crab Sticks by BitterSweetSpicy

12. Fried Ngaku Chips by Kimmy of Cooking Pleasure

13. Baked Nian Gao by Adeline of Lite Home Bake

14. Coconut egg roll Kuih Kapit by Corlin of Simple Delights

15. Black Pepper Bak Kwa by Passionate About Baking

16. 步步糕升 by Rachel of 简单 @ 生活

17. Baked Cod Strips by Food Playground

18. 慈菇片 by Rachel of 简单 @ 生活

19. Homemade Bak Gwa by Food Playground

20. 糖心酥 by Rachel of 简单 @ 生活

21. Yam Nian Gao芋头年糕 by food playground

22. 桂花馬蹄糕 Water Chestnut Cake with Osmanthus Flower by Violet Song of ~♥紫羅蘭的爱心厨房♥~ Violet's Kitchen

AB #39: Yam Nian Gao 芋头年糕

I add Chilli sauce on top of yam Nian gao


Recently I was watching a HK cooking programme and come across this recipe. Promised my mom will cook for her during this CNY period and I did.

This is my first time making it. Maybe I did not add enough water, it was a bit hard and abit chewy, but still acceptable I hope.

Ingredients:
45gm tapioca flour
75gm rice flour
300gm yam
A handful of dried prawn
1 Chinese sausage (I use Taiwan sausage)
1 tsp salt
A pinch of pepper
A pinch of five spice powder(the prog did not ask for it but I want to give it a try)

Method:
1. Cut yam to small cube, steam for 30 min.
2. Mash yam with fork when it's hot. Set aside.
3. Mix both sift flour with yam till form like bread crumbs.
4. Add water till it form thick smooth paste. (should have add more)
5. Add dried prawn and sausage till well mixed.
6. Add salt, pepper and five spice powder till well mixed.
7. Pour into bowl (spread with oil), steam for 45 min till skewer come out clean.
8. Cut and serve hot or pan fried.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground

AB #39: baked Cod strips

Notice during the month of Jan , this CNY snack is very popular among many food bloggers. Am curious to try this out, so on the last day of snake year, I tried baking this, with reference from Ann's recipe. I used hundreds and thousands sprinkles instead of seaweed and sesame seeds, thinking the colorful sprinkle will attract the kids, but it looks like spiders, ha!

Ingredients:
1 pkt of cod strips
Thousands and hundreds sprinkles
Egg white

Method:
1. Take out Three cod strips tie a knot at the middle.
2. Dip into egg white before dip in thousands and hundred sprinkles, lay on baking tray (with baking paper).
3. Bake at 140C for 10-15 min. Let cool before put in air tight container.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground

AB #39: Homemade Bak Gwa

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all!

From Xmas to CNY, I have been so busy with work, spring cleaning and Baking CNY goodies that I hardly have time to update my post and even reply to some submission. Paiseh!

During this CNY , thanks to this topic and also the submission of Bak Gwa recipes, I got to know how to make Bak Gwa at home. With this, I not only save a lot of trouble queuing, save $$$, and also get to Bake our own Bak Gwa to serve guests.

I have tried recipes from Nasi Lemak lover, Sze Min and Cheah to see and taste the difference.

The first batch, I set my oven to 240C degree(according to some recipes), and ruin the whole batch, the batch turn dark and chao da(burnt), then I realized my oven is a simple oven with no grill function.

So the second time, I set 160C for 15 min then to 180C, and watch the item Closely, the second batch turned out ok. So I tried again using another recipe, and I realized I like the taste better and the result turned out well.

No offense, my liking as in the taste I like is from Cheah's recipe. The recipe asked for lesser ingredients yet the result turn out almost like the Bak Gwa we bought from outside. Thanks Cheah for the wonderful recipe(see below)

Mix all ingredients and leave overnight

Ingredients:
500 gm double minced pork
100 gm sugar (after many tries, I think half caster sugar n half brown sugar is best)
1 Tbsp light soya sauce
1/2 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 Tbsp honey
3/4  Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients, except the minced pork, stir till creamy.
2. Add in the minced pork, stir with a wooden spoon till gluey.
3. Cover with cling wrap and keep refrigerated overnight.
4. Spread the marinated meat on a parchment lined baking tray with a spatula, about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Bake in a preheated oven @ 160 deg.C for 15 to 20 mins.
6. Remove from the oven, cut into desired size, flip over and bake @180C for another 15 min.
7. As my oven no Grill function, I turn oven to top heat and bake for 5 min or less till the desired colour is attained.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground

P.S: AB #39 is the second last AB theme, and tomorrow is the last day to submit your post. 请马上行动！祝你马上成功

Aspiring Baker #39: CNY Rock & Roll

Happy 2014 everyone!
This year CNY happen to fall on 31 Jan, that's why this Jan, the AB theme is CNY related.
You may wander why the theme for Jan 2014 is CNY Rock and Roll? My initial idea for this Jan is Nian Gao (年糕), as I want to learn to make nian gao, also there are more and more nian gao varieties in stores.
A few good examples are my recent CNY food tasting at Peony Jade Restaurant. This year, they are serving 3 types of nian Gao on top of their many new auspicious dishes. The three new types of Nian Gao are Durian Nian Gao (that reminded me of durian mooncake but more meaty and shape of koi), yam paste Nian Gao(tasted like or ni dessert) and horse shape nian gao with custard and sea bird nest filling. And these innovative creation can also be your reference for this theme.

On the other hand, after some discussion with SSB, we decided to do more for this CNY, ie. to include dishes made of Nian Gao And CNY snacks in the form of rolls eg. Dried prawn rolls, pork floss rolls etc.

To elaborate and make things clearer, means this #39 AB theme there are 3 categories:
- make all kinds of Nian Gao, eg. Traditional Nian gao, white radish Nian gao, water chestnut Nian gao, etc.
- Nian Gao dishes eg. Deep fried nian gao, egg coated nian gao, fried Carrot cakes, etc.
- roll type CNY snacks eg. Hei bee roll, pork floss roll etc.
- (update!) homemade bak gwa and all types of fried CNY snacks, eg. Deep fried yam slices, lotus root slices etc.
- (update!) baked CNY snacks, eg. Baked crab stick, baked fish strips etc.

So now you see what is the rock and what's the roll? And you can recreate your rock and roll!

horse shape nian gao with custard and sea bird nest filling from Peony Jade

Durian Nian GAO from Peony Jade

Yam Paste Koi shape Nian gao from Peony Jade

Dried prawn roll

往事如意，心想事成！Looking forward to this CNY feast in Jan 2014!(As CNY fall on last day of Jan, deadline for entry will extend to 7th day (初七，人日)

Who can join?
Everyone! (if you do not have a blog, just send me a photo and recipe of your bake/dish).

How to join?

Step 1 :
Make any related item in the month of Jan 2014 to 6 Feb 2014. You may submit more than 1 entry.

Step 2 :
Post it on your blog between 01 Jan 2014 and 6 Feb 2014.
Your post must include the recipe or link to the original recipe. If you are using a recipe from a book, please include the title of the book too.
Any entries that are posted outside the date range will not be accepted.
Any entries that do not include a recipe or link to the original recipe will not be accepted too.

Step 3 :
Please mention that you are submitting your post to Aspiring Bakers #39: CNY Rock and Roll! (Jan 2014) hosted by Food Playground and provide a link back to this post.
Entries will not be accepted if the above is not included.

Step 4 :
Email to Foodplayground@gmail.com in the following format:

Your name or nickname:
Your blog name: (omit this if you do not have a blog)
Name of your bake/dish:
URL of your post:
URL of your photo (one photo for each entry):
(alternatively, you can attach your photo in your email, preferably less than 500kb).

Please use "Aspiring Bakers #39" as your email subject. You may submit more than 1 entry.

The roundup will be posted on 07 Feb 2014.

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If you are interested to find out what's on the previous Aspiring Bakers #38, see the roundup .

Taiwanese street food - Gua Bao 刈包

One of my favorite Taiwanese street food is this - 刈包 Gua Bao. Although there are more and more Taiwanese street food stores and restaurants in Singapore, but not many serve this street food. Since this month AB theme is Bao, I shall recreate this bao and bring back the taste I have been craving.

Gua bao in my interpretation is 扣肉包 with 咸菜 and 花生。This combi actually add crisp, taste and texture to the normal 扣肉包, and make this Bao so irresistible and unforgettable.
I adopted this 扣肉 recipe for the pork(I used lean meat as it is healthier, in Taiwan you can also choose lean meat to go with this Bao). And used back my previous recipe for Bao. I did a short cut for the 咸菜 and grounded peanut: bought 咸菜 in a bottle and ready made ground peanut.

扣肉recipe:
Ingredients:
1 pack of lean pork meat (sliced)
1 tsp Hua Diao wine
1 tbsp ginger, onion, garlic (diced)
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp Five spice powder
2 small cube of rock sugar
Some pepper

Method:
1. Fry ginger and garlic till fragrant. Add onion and fry till golden brown.
2. Add sliced pork, fry till cooked.
3. Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, wine, five spice powder, rock sugar, pepper and stir fry.
4. Add some water. Turn to high heat and wait to boil.
5. Turn to low heat and simmer for 1 hour. Set aside.

Bao Skin Ingredients: (about 10 Bao)
175 gm bao flour sifted with 1/2 tsp double action baking powder
Mix together - 100 ml lukewarm water, 20 gm caster sugar and 1/8 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1/2 tbsp shortening

Method:
1. Add yeast to the water mixture. Let yeast rest and foam up abit before adding flour. Mix well.
2. Knead to form dough and add shortening and continue to knead till smooth and shiny.
3. Let dough rise to double the size, about 1/2 to 1 hour. Remove dough to a floured surface, punch down dough and divide into equal portions. Shape into oval shape and fold slightly into half.
4. Leave to proof for 15 - 20 minutes.
5. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes. Off heat and leave paus for a further 3 minutes before uncovering to cool on rack. This is to prevent wrinkle, rough skin.

6. Open the Bao skin, fill with cooked lean meat and top with 咸菜 and ground peanut. Ready to serve.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.

Green Tea Kaya Pau 绿茶甜包

Think I make bao make 上瘾. This time, I steam dessert包。I used the same recipe of pork bao that I made days ago, just added green tea powder(that explain the green colour skin). For the filling, I used the jar of Kaya in my fridge that is expiring soon.

I like to see how my dough become bigger and bigger when it 发. Maybe I let it prove for too long or I did not add enough shortening, this time the skin is not very soft and quite chewy and it stick to my teeth. Lesson learnt: don't prove your dough for too long? Can anyone tell me what caused the chewiness?

Bao Skin Ingredients: (I halved the quantity this time)
350 gm plain flour sifted with 1 tsp double action baking powder
Mix together - 200 ml lukewarm water, 40 gm caster sugar and 1/4 tsp vinegar
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp shortening

Filling: 1/2 jar of Kaya

Method:
1. Add yeast to the water mixture. Let yeast rest and foam up abit before adding flour. Mix well.
2. Knead to form dough and add shortening and continue to knead till smooth and shiny.
3. Let dough rise to double the size, about 1/2 hour. Remove dough to a floured surface, punch down dough and divide into equal portions. Shape into a smooth ball. Set aside to add kaya filling and shape into round shape.
4. Leave to prove for 15 - 20 minutes.
5. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes in bamboo steamer. Off heat and leave bao for a further 3 minutes before uncovering to cool on rack. This is to prevent wrinkle, rough skin.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.

Pork Bao 大包 (first attempt)

Can you believe this is my first attempt making bao? Yes, 千真万确. Why 大包(pork bao with hard boiled egg) out of so many other bao? Because I missed my mom version of pork bao and I want to recreate what she made last time.

Although this is my first attempt, and I did not use bread maker(as original recipe) to make these bao, but I am very happy with the result! I loved how my filling taste and I loved the bao skin, so tender and fragrant. As for the colour of the bao, may not be white as I do not have hk flour or bao flour that is why I choose this recipe without using the above flour. The skin colour turned out to be light yellow. Even so, I am still very proud of myself.

Some Da bao that I bought before did not have hard boiled egg(disappointed!) I loved my bao with hard boiled egg. So of course I won't miss it. Thanks to Kimmy for this recipe, I did some modification as below:

Ingredients for Meat Fillings:
250 gm minced meat
Marinate with:
1 tbsp each of soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cooking wine;
A pinch of Hao chi seasoning and pepper
2 tsp cornflour
Leave overnight

2 hard boiled eggs - quartered

Bao Skin Ingredients:
350 gm plain flour sifted with 1 tsp double action baking powder
Mix together - 200 ml lukewarm water, 40 gm caster sugar and 1/4 tsp vinegar
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp shortening

Method:
1. Add yeast to the water mixture. Let yeast rest and foam up abit before adding flour. Mix well.
2. Knead to form dough and add shortening and continue to knead till smooth and shiny.
3. Let dough rise to double the size, about 1/2 hour. Remove dough to a floured surface, punch down dough and divide into equal portions. Shape into a smooth ball. Set aside to add meat filling and hard boiled egg and shape into pleated bao.
4. Leave to prove for 15 - 20 minutes.
5. Steam over high heat for 15 minutes in bamboo steamer. Off heat and leave paus for a further 3 minutes before uncovering to cool on rack. This is to prevent wrinkle, rough skin.

I am submitting this to Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders.

AB #30 - It's Tea Time! Round Up

Wow! This is really a awesome Tea Time! It's my pleasure to host this month AB theme and Thank you so much for your contributions and support. You have made this Tea Time interesting, with a spread of 53 Beautiful items ! 掌声鼓励鼓励！:)

I am very thrilled to receive all your posts in the month of April 2013. It not only give me the opportunity to e-meeting all the food bloggers here, but also give me a chance to get to know you and your blogs(some blogs I may have missed or did not have a chance to come across) ! All your work really make me drool and inspired me to try some of the recipes. Hope you also feel the same and as excited as I do.

So, please enjoy this sumptuous Tea Break and "lim teh"! 一起来品茶吧！ Let's start from the first entry onwards. (do let me know if I missed out any)

1. Green Tea Chiffon in Cuppies by Genie of Honeybee916food

2. Glutinous Rice cake With jasmine Tea & Lotus Seeds by Choo Doris of Sumptuous Flavours

3. 日式绿茶蒸蛋糕 Green Tea Steamed Cake (Mushi Pan) by Min of Min's Blog

4. Green Tea Soya Pudding by Food Playground

5. Earl Grey Pound Cake by DG of Tested and Tasted

6. Pandan Peppermint Tea Cupcakes by Cindy of Willow's Wonders

7. Earl Grey Milk Tea Cake by pengskitchen.blogspot.com

8. Matcha Cheesecake Tart by Happy Homebaker of Happy Home Baking

9. Earl Grey Sponge Cupcake by Baking Science

10. Matcha cake sushi rolls by Baking into the Ether (http://bakingintotheether.wordpress.com/)

11. Green Tea Ice Cream by Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

12. 枸杞桂花糕 by Jozelyn Ng of jozelynng.blogspot.com

13. Matcha Sponge Cupcake by Baking Science

14. 樱花蒸糕 Sakura Steamed Cake by Hippomamalai of 怡。然自得 Hippomama's Kitchen

15. Dilmah Tea Loaf by
Cheah of No-Frills Recipes

16. Earl Grey Chiffon Cupcakes by Li Ying of Happy Flour 

17. 日式绿茶蒸蛋糕 Mushi Pan by Angelic Heart of 启动生命的旋律

18. Matcha Chiffon Cake 烫面抹茶戚风蛋糕 by Jessie of Jessie-CookingMoments

19. Green Tea Crepes by pengskitchen.blogspot.com

20. Earl grey chiffon cake by CC of Dumpling Love

21. Matcha Chiffon Cake by SSB of Small Small Baker

22. Milktea Chiffon Cake by SSB of Small Small Baker

23. Matcha Cream Cheese Muffins by Happy Homebaker of Happy Home Baking

24. Banana Milk Tea Buns by pengskitchen.blogspot.com

25. 红糖奶茶戚风 by Joceline of Butter, Flour & Me

26. Lemon Tea 相思蛋糕 by Foodplayground

27. Green Tea Cheesecake bites by Baking Tray

28. Green Tea and white chocolate cookies by Baking Tray

29. Japanese Green Tea Cheesecake by Foodplayground

30. Earl Grey Tea Cake by Anncoo of Anncoo Journal

31. Orange Tea Butter Cake by Genie of Honeybee916food

32. 奶茶马芬·Milk Tea Muffins by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com

33. Matcha chiffon cake by CC of Dumpling Love

34. Teh Si puff cakes by Noelle Chua of: Pinchofglamor

35. Earl Grey Tea Cookies by Foodplayground

36. 绿茶长崎蛋糕 by Joceline of Butter, Flour & Me

37. 蜂蜜绿茶面包（直接法）by Joceline of Butter, Flour & Me

38. Almond and rose tea butterfly cakes by The Land of Bakerie

39. Green Tea Swiss Roll by Esther Lau of Copycake Kitchen

40. 绿茶相思蛋糕by Joceline of Butter, Flour & Me

41. Milk Tea Cake·奶茶蛋糕 by Pet猫猫 of petsleepingpig.blogspot.com

42. Black Tea-Lemon Cornmeal Cupcakes by Jasline of Food Is My Life

43. Afternoon Tea with Chateau Rouge's Vanilla Rooibos by The Charmed Cupcake

44. Green Tea Cheesecake by
Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House

45. Yuan Yang Chiffon CakeBy Foodplayground

46. Eggless Matcha Red Bean Tiramisu by Vivian Pang of Vivian Pang Kitchen

47. 红茶相思蛋糕 by 茄子of 袅袅烘焙香

48. Earl Grey Macarons with Ganache by Alicia Lim, recipe adapted from Here

49. Matcha Cream Cheese Marble Chiffon Cake by Wendy Han / Wen of Wen’s Delight

50. Chamomile Chiffon Cake by Grace of Life can be Simple

51. Matcha adzuki layer cake by CC of Dumpling Love

52. Earl Grey Tea Butter Cake by:Keiko of dequeenkitchen.blogspot.sg

53. Black Tea Ogura Cake by Doreen/mui of my little favourite DIY


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What's next? To participate in Aspiring Bakers #31 - Bao Ho-Chiak 包好吃 (May 2013), hosted by Miss B of EEWIF, can refer Here.