Sunday, January 31, 2010

Peanut Sticky Rice (Xoi Dau Phong)

I have not eat this for a while and was craving for it. It is very easy to make. Make sure you cook the peanuts well.



Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice
1 cup raw peanuts

Garnish:

8 oz shredded coconut
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Soak glutinous rice for 4 hours or over night.
2. Soak peanuts for 3 hrs and boil it for 40 minutes. Drain. (You actually don't need to soak the peanuts, but just cook longer.)
3. Drain glutinous rice and mix with peanuts. Steam the peanut glutinous rice for 20-30 minutes.
4. Steam the frozen shredded coconut for 15 minutes and let cool.
5. Roast sesame by frying in a pan until golden. Stir constantly when frying to prevent burning.
6. Mix the roasted sesame, sugar, and salt together. Pound the sesame for a little so it's more fragrance.
7. Serve the sticky rice with some shredded coconut and sugar mix.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Ensaymada Bread

Thanks to Manang I can finally make my own ensaymada. I think this is a Philippines bread. The Korean store sell these breads and it cost like $2 for one. The one at the store is pretty good but kind of hard. It is always better to make your own. So hot off the oven and so soft when it's still warm. You can also add your own fillings. I made a mung bean filling for mine. I will try to make the super soft ensaymada with potato for the extra soft texture. I will try to add coconut and yam as fillings next time. Mmmm......

If you look at my recipe and method you can see I'm being lazy compared to Manang. I cut out a lot of steps since I was lazy....hehehe



Here is the similar recipe from Manang which I used my bread maker to knead the dough for me. This recipe makes 12 ensaymada. So if you think you can not finish this in one or two days then cut the recipe in half.

6 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar + 1 tbsp
2 envelopes FLEISCHMANN'S Instant Yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk ( I added couple tbsp of milk powder)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 large egg
3 egg yolks


Topping:
Softened butter at room temperature
Granulated sugar
grated white cheese (optional)

Method:

1. Heat the milk, water, and butter until warm and butter melted. Add in the sugar and stir well. Pour this warm but not hot liquid to the bread maker.
2. Add in the eggs to the bread maker. Then add in the flour and salt. Now close the bread maker and select for dough which it will only help you knead and prove the dough.
3. After the bread maker finish kneading the dough, take the dough out and cover it and let it prove for couple hours (4 hrs) or overnight until the dough double.
4. Now you can make your own fillings. The bread is still good without a filling.
5. When the dough is ready, divide it into 12. Using your hands, try to roll the dough out (see pic below) and add in your filling. Use some flour for dusting to prevent sticking to hands.
6. Dust your baking pan with some flour. Make the coil and then let the dough rest on the baking pan for another 20-30 minutes. Cover the dough when letting it rest (see pic below).
7. Heat the oven 350 F. Bake the dough for 15-20 minutes until golden. Remove from heat and let it cool on a rack to prevent bottom from sweating.
8. When the bread is just warm you can now spread it with butter. You will notice if the bread is too hot then the butter will melt away. So only spread when it's warm. After spreading with butter then dip the bread in the sugar. Or you can sprinkle the sugar all over the bread.
9. Serve warm or on the same day if you want that soft texture. The bread will be harder the next day or two but still good. I put the left over in individual sandwich bag to store for the next day.




Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hollow Breads (Banh Tieu)

Here is one of my favorite snack! Banh Tieu is a Vietnamese snack. It should be round, slightly sweet and crunchy with a hollow center. I call this a hollow bread since I used bread flour to make this. And it does taste like fried bread...lol. I like mine sweeter so I added more sugar to my recipe. Sweeter does taste better...hehehe. I can eat this for a couple days. I usually just put the left over in the oven to heat up and it'll be crunchy again. Yum Yum...




Ingredients:

290 g bread flour (2 cups)
150 ml water
100 g sugar (about 1/2 cup, add another tbsp for sweeter)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp baking powder
Sesame seeds

1. Take 50 ml water and microwave for 20 seconds or until the water is warm. Add in 1 tbsp sugar and the instant yeast. Let the yeast double or bubble up. Should just be a couple minutes.
2. Mix the left over sugar with 100 ml and stir until the sugar dissolve.
3. Mix the baking powder with the flour and salt. Then mix in the sugar water and then yeast water. Knead into a soft dough. If it's too dry then add in just a little bit more water.
4. Cover and let the dough rest for at least couple hours (3-4 hrs) or overnight until the dough double or triple in size. If you want it to prove faster, put it in the oven with the oven light on. Remember you must cover the dough.
5. Take the dough out and knead for one minute. Then divide the dough into 10 balls. The balls should be a little larger than a extra large egg. (Cover those that is not being used.)
6. Dip the ball in the sesame seeds on both sides. Then coat with some extra flour and roll the balls into flat circles. The flatness should be less than 1/2 inch. If your circles are thicker then you'll have a thicker filling. If it's too thin then you'll have nothing in the middle.
7. Heat a frying pan with enough oil to fry. Slide the flat dough into the oil and it will start to float. Gently try to push it with your chopstick and it should puff up. After it puff up then flip to fry the other side. Fry until golden. Frying should be quick so don't leave it alone or it'll be black!

Note: The longer you prove the dough the easier it will puff. Try to wiggle the flat dough when frying in hot oil. This will helps it puff.


Friday, January 15, 2010

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Wonder why I've not been posting lately? Well, it took me a week to finish the left over after our New Year party. Even though friends took some food home I still had so much food left! It was a great party with mostly Vietnamese food and desserts. Too bad I didn't get to take a picture of everything.

Hope every is having a great start for 2010.