Savory Plantain Pancakes/Fritters

We can’t get good bananas here for frying like our goreng pisang back home. I tried using the regular Dole kind but they were not good for frying. They became so soft and watery once it hits the hot oil and it will start spattering all over. I tried it once and never attempt frying it again. Once awhile I will use plantain. Plantain is like our pisang tanduk and I usually slice it up and pan fried it with a bit of butter. This time I mashed it up and made it into pancakes like. Man, were they good. The pancakes were sweet and savory at the same time. Since plantain is pretty starchy you don’t need to add to much flour to it. I used only 3 tbsp of it.

Laced Rice Crepes/Appam

When I saw my friend posted an Appam making video of Cooking with Thas on FB I know I have to try it out. Ingredients are relatively easy. All I have to do and just blend it together and let it ferment overnight. Since I don’t have the appam making pan I just used my non-stick pan cooking it. Well, as you can see it is rather flat but taste wise it is pretty good. I remember eating it at one of the Indian restaurant and it has a sourish taste to it. I guess I have to try out another recipe that uses yeast since this recipe doesn’t.

So what is Appam? Appam is a very popular and traditional breakfast of State of Kerala. The Appam or Palappam is also a specialty in Sri Lanka where it is known as the Appa. Appams are soft and spongy in the center and has a lacy border. It is very good for health as it does not require much oil and it is gluten free too. It can be served with the potato/chicken stew, any type of curries curry.

Cream Buns (Not oven bake)

What do you think of these custard buns? They look good isn’t it? Well, I didn’t bake these in the oven. I bake/pan fried it on a frying pan. I found this recipe on YouTube and was intrigued by it. I have some leftover custard cream from my fruit tarts and decided to use it up to by making these. The buns were really soft and good and I will definitely make this again. So if you don’t have an oven you can still make this bread. No excuses :)

Chee Cheong Fun/Steamed Rice Rolls

One breakfast that I miss a lot from home is Chee Cheong Fun. Oh we can readymade CCF from the Asian supermarket but taste and texture is somehow not right. I like the one served at the dim sum place but it came with fillings which I like but sometimes I like it just plain and serve it with some sweet sauce.

I’ve tried making it before but not too happy with the results. So after tweaking and trying it out a few times I think I almost got it right. It is very close to the results that I wanted. It has a much softer, thinner, smoother and right texture. I also added a bit of spring onions to it for some color and flavor.

Blueberry Sweet Rolls with Mascarpone Lemon Glaze

I’ve been slacking a lot in updating my blog lately. I hope there are still people dropping by my blog. A lot of things happened for the past 2-3 months and it kind of took priority of my time. I too cut down a lot on my baking and cooking so hopefully I can get my blogging mojo back and continue to share my recipes here regularly. Anyway, I baked these rolls a few months ago and finally get to sit down to type out the recipe today.

I still have a lot of frozen blueberry in my freezer so I am trying to finish them up so I can get some fresh ones during this summer so decided to use some to make some rolls. These decadent buns turns out soft, fluffy, bursting with juicy blueberries and covered in sweet mascarpone lemon glaze. It was so great to have it for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

Soon Kueh/Bangkwan Kueh/Jicama Dumplings

Soon Kueh/bangkwan kueh is a very popular snack in Malaysian and Singapore. Tradionally the filling is made out of bamboo shoots but nowadays you can usually get the make from Jicama/bangkwan which I prefer. Added to is mushrooms, carrots or dried shrimps.

I grew up eating this savory kueh as my grandma, aunt and mom will made it over the weekend to feed our big family. My family made a lot of yummy kueh when we were growing up but I don’t think anyone ever write down any recipes. Everything ingredients are just an estimation or agak agak so this is not our family recipe. I try out this recipe from Rose Kitchen and it turn out pretty good.

Pork and Shrimp Shumai

Non - halal

Shumai is a type of Chinese dumpling, often associated with Cantonese cuisine. The half wrapped dumpling is filled with pork and shrimp and then steamed. You can find it serve at all dim sum restaurants.

I miss the Shumai from Malaysia which if full flavor and juicy when you bite into it. The shumai here is not very good. They were way too huge and don’t taste very good. I find some of it was too dry which I suspect they were being steam over and over again before serving it to the customers. That is why I hardly order it when I have dim sum. I’ve eaten a very good one though but it was in New York. So the best thing to do is make it myself. It was pretty good and the taste of this will do for me until my next trip home.

Tuna Buns

I like making this kind of buns with savory filling as this is something that Carlos will eat. I usually baked a big batch as this way he can warm it up and eat it whenever he wants. It can be for his lunch or snacks. I gave a few to Nini’s and she likes it too. I used the same dough recipe as the Spam buns as I find the dough is very easy to work with and also the buns stays soft even the next day. With this basic dough you can put any filling in it. It can be sweet like red bean paste or kaya.

Ingredients for the dough:

3 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp dried yeast
1 cup milk
80 gram butter
1 egg

Persimmon and Banana Muffins

I am a big fan of persimmon and the last season my backyard persimmon tree gave me quite a few fruits compare to the previous year. Carlos is not a fan of it and I’ve been eating it a lot and giving some away too. The persimmon is the Fuyu kind which is round and crisp and I like eating it as it is but there were a few sitting on the kitchen counter and they were getting soft and over-ripe. I decided to dice them up and used it in the muffins and since I have a couple of blacken bananas I decided to add them into the mix as well. By the way, persimmons are wonderfully good for you. They are full of fiber, vitamins A, C, antioxidants and iron. So next time if you see these nice orange fruits at the farmers market or supermarket do pick up a few.

Spam Buns

I always have a can or two of Spam in my pantry for emergency. Emergency like I ran out of protein in my freezer but people who knew me know that will never happen ha ha I always have access of protein in my freezer. Anyway, the two cans I have are very near to the expiration date and I decided to use one of it for the filling of these sweet buns. I gave half of the buns away and the rest we just devour it in 2 days. I know is unhealthy but who doesn't like Spam :) It was that good. For the buns, I just used my regular sweet bread dough and this dough is really good as it stays soft even the second days. In fact I used this same dough recipe to make some tuna buns a few days later.

Steamed Savory Yam (Taro) Cake/Orr Kueh

I am a big fan of yam but I don’t buy it too often it can be quite costly at time. Usually it is around $1.79 - $1.99 a pound and if you buy the vacuum pack peel kind it is about $3.59 a pound. It happen it went on sale a few weeks ago and it was selling at $0.99 a pound so a bought a huge tuber. I used some to cook bubur cha cha and Taro Puffs (recipe coming soon) the rest for this yam kueh. The yams sold here are all good as I have yet to find a bad one. It has a powdery texture and it is really good to make yam kueh. I like a lot of yam in it so I added a bit more to it. Please be cautious when handling yam. I would advise you to wear gloves as it might cause some skin irritation.

English Muffin Loaf

Carlos love having English muffin for breakfast. He enjoyed his toasted, slathered with butter and has it with a banana. I always wanted to make some but never get to do it. So happen I saw American Test Kitchen on TV making it into a loaf and I quickly took down the recipe. There were no kneading involve. All you have to do is just mixing all the ingredients together, cover it and let the yeast do the job. Not more than an hour. Simple!

This bread is unbelievably easy to make and the result is a loaf of bread that’s very reminiscent of English Muffins with its signature holey, airy, honeycomb kind of texture. In fact this is the second time I bake this. The first time I halve the original recipe but the dough didn’t fill up the loaf pan and they don’t look very good. So this time I alter the recipe a little bit in order to fit nicely into the loaf pan. I think this bread will be a good try for anyone who wanted to start making bread because of its simplicity.

Coconut Buns/Cocktail Buns

This is by far my most favorite soft buns to buy from the Chinese Bakery. I will always get a few to last me for a week. I am a fan of coconut and anything with coconut in it I will eat it. The coconut bun or cocktail buns (gai mei pau) is very popular in Hong Kong. It is a soft sweet bun and with rich buttery coconut filling in it. You can read the history of the cocktail bun here .

I did it slightly different. Instead of having the coconut filling on the inside I like the filling to be exposed on the outside. I just love the look of the tiny sparkles of coconut after baking it. They look so pretty. As for the dough it is just regular sweet bread dough and it is not as soft the next day like the tangzhong method dough but you can just warm it up in the microwave for 15 seconds and they will be soft again and taste just like freshly baked right out of the oven.

Sweet Blueberry Focaccia

When I was in Vancouver I tried out blueberry focaccia from one of the famous bakery and they were really good. They made it into small individual serving size but they were not cheap though. A piece with tax cost around $4.00. This bakery is also famous for their grape focaccia. Since it is summer and there are plenty of blueberries around I thought tried to replica this at home. Can you imagine the smell in the house when I was baking this?

Man, it turns out so good if I should say so myself. The focaccia was soft on the inside and with the crunchy sweet sugary topping, I was hooked. I gave a few away and my friends love it too. I am planning to bake this again but it will be with grapes. I think this would be perfect to serve for brunch, cocktail party with some cheese and wine or like me enjoyed it for breakfast with my morning coffee.

Oven Baked Jelly Donuts

This is by far one of the best baked donuts I ever made. They came out so light and fluffy. I know some of you might not believe me but just look at the last pictures. That’s the look of the texture inside the donut. They were light and airy. This dough is a bit stickier which is what makes them so light and also I let it proof the second time for over 2 hours. I shape, cover them and went for my zumba and baked them only when I got home. I tweak this recipe from the previous recipe and I like this better. I understand these may not be for everyone but it is perfect just for me to get over my donut craving. I filled the donuts with homemade jam but you can fill it with lemon curd, custard or even melted chocolate.

Chinese Glutinous Rice Rolls/Fan Tuan

This is a Taiwanese breakfast rice rolls. You can find some street vendors selling at near the bus stations or along the busy road side. In Chinese it is called ‘Fan Tuan’ it is compacted roll of glutinous rice that’s filled with eggs, fried dough (Chinese culler) meat and etc… It looks like a Mexican Burrito. The rice roll is roll up in a plastic wrap so you can eat it on the go. The first time I tried this was at a Taiwanese restaurant at Foster City. There were pretty good. This restaurant only serves this kind of breakfast on weekends. It is eaten with warm soy bean milk.

Anyway I am trying to replica it at home. I am doing the version that I’ve eaten before but I understand in Taiwan they do serve different kind of fillings so I guess you can basically put anything you want in it.

Steamed Pan Fried Buns

The first time I tried this type of bun was in New Zealand. My good friend Shereen took me to a tiny Asian restaurant and they serve this type of buns and they were really good. I tried making it at home and they turn out pretty well. The filling of the buns are raw and you have to pan fried and steam cook them at the same time. It is very much like dumplings or gyoza. The dough of these buns is slightly different from the normal steamed buns. It has thinner and chewy dough. I like it a lot as the fried bun has a crispy golden brown bottom and serve with Chinese black vinegar dip but I just like it as it is. I am surprise Carlos like this too as normally he is not very adventurous enough to try out new food. I made some with sesame bottom but you can make it plain if you like.

Blueberry Streusel Scones

I always have a soft spot for scones. It reminds me of home Malaysia where I baked them so often when my two sisters come over to my apartment and we will have English high tea together. I will prepare a few types of finger sandwiches, cakes and scones. They love having English high tea especially Angela. The last time we had high tea together was in Ontario Canada. I miss them a lot.

Now I baked them to share it with very special friend Bonnie. She just loves scones. What special about these scones is the streusel topping. The cinnamon crunchy topping compliments the mild-sweetness from blueberries and it is so hard to resist over eating it. If you have no self control with bake goods, then I have a perfect solution for you. Send some to your family or friends like I did. They will love you for it.

Rose Shape Steamed Buns

I love making home-made buns and usually make a large batch of it and freeze them up. The filling can be savory or sweet and it all depends on what I have in hand or sometimes just some plain ones like these to eat it with some stew pork. I am not too comfortable eating store bought buns or mantau as I know they put ammonia and other additives to it in order to keep them soft. No doubt these buns do harden a bit when it cools down but you can always steam them up again before you eat it. They are as good as new. These soft and fluffy steamed buns can be eaten plain, with your favorite spread or with any gravy. They are best served hot, straight out from the steamer.

Hot Cross Buns with Cranberry

Easter is just around the corner and as usual I will bake this traditional bread for the Holy Week. Each year it will be a bit different. I will add a little bit of this and a little bit of that to the recipe. I like adding some dried fruits of any kind to it. I don’t really like spices in my sweet bread so I just added some orange and lemon zest to it.

This year I glaze it with some syrup and pipe the cross on with some sugar icing. I just love these buns; they are soft, sweet and go really well with your morning tea or coffee.