A Sweet Ending for Chinese New Year

A very belated post for this Tang Yuan dessert that I made with my girl in February.

 

My younger girl loves this sweet dessert very much. I have cooked it at home using store-bought glutinous rice ball. This year, to mark the end of Lunar New Year in February,  I made the rice balls together with her on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year. We had great fun making and eating the dessert and she has requested me to make it again soon, before the next Chinese New Year.

 

 

 

Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Ball Dessert)

Adapted from noobcook.com

 

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

 

• 1 cup glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 cup water (add gradually)
• 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
• food colourings (I used a dash of pink food coloring for pink balls and pandan paste for green balls)
• 1 litres of water
• few slices of ginger
• 2 pandan leaves, tied to a knot
• gula melaka sugar, to taste

 

Instructions

1. Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Gradually add water and knead the dough until soft, smooth, and not sticky to the fingers.
2. Divide the dough into 3 portions. Add pink food colouring to portion A, pandan paste to portion B. Knead the dough until the colour is well distributed. For portion C, I did not add any coloring.
3. Working with one portion of the dough at a time (cover the other 2 with cloth to prevent them from drying), pinch a small amount of dough and shape it into a round marble-sized ball. Repeat the same for the other 2 doughs.
4. Bring a pot of water  to boil. Add the tang yuan into the boiling water and cook until they float to the surface. Transfer them immediately to a bowl of room temperature water until cooled or ready to serve.
5. In another pot, bring 1 litres of water, ginger and pandan leave to a boil. Add gula melaka sugar and stir till sugar melted. Off the fire. Add the tang yuan into the sweet soup. The tang yuan is now ready to serve in individual bowls.

Steamed Man-Tou with Custard Filling

I made these steamed buns (or man-tou / 馒头) for tomorrow's breakfast as  hubby and younger girl need to leave home early for a community service activity.

 

 

 

When the buns first came out from the steamer, my girl quickly run over to ask for one. But when she noticed that there are filling inside the buns, she immediately protested why they are not her favourite plain white bun. I gave her a small bite to try and she immediately liked it and ask for one whole bun for herself.

 

I think the custard spread was too thin. Nonetheless, they are soft and tasty. Next time, I will increase the custard filling amount by half for a thicker filling.

 

 

 

Steamed Bun/Man-Tou with Custard Filling 

(Adapted from my Dual Color Buns recipe)

 

Ingredients:

• 300g flour (I used Hong Kong Flour but plain flour is fine too)
• 3g baking powder (about 1 tsp)
• 3g instant yeast (about 1 tsp)
• 25g caster sugar
• 160ml milk
• 15g canola oil

 

For the Custard Filling:

• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 7g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp custard powder
• 100 ml milk

 

Methods:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and make a well.
2. Pour in the milk and mix.
3. Knead the mixture into a dough and add in cooking oil. Continue to knead by hands until the dough become smooth and non-sticky.
4. Form the dough into a ball, and cover with a damp cloth. Let rest for 15 minutes before use.
5. Meanwhile, make the custard filling by mixing together all the filling ingredients in a small bowl and place it over a pot of boiling water. Keep stirring the mixture until it become thicken. Cover with cling film and set aside.
6. Roll the dough into a flat long stretch about 20 cm long. 
7. Spread the custard evenly over the surface of the dough.
8. Roll up the dough lengthwise to form a log. 
9. Seal up the seamed edge with wet finger.
10. Cut the roll into 8 equal parts and place each of them on a piece of baking paper. Let rest for about 50 minutes until each bun rise by 50% in size
11. Place the buns into a bamboo steamer and steam over medium heat for 12 minutes.

 

Serve warm.

 

This is for Yeastspotting.

Scallion Pancakes

I made Chinese pancakes with scallion fillings recently. This is a traditional snack that is well-liked by my family. They are easy to prepare and healthy too.

Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼）

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup warm water
• Canola oil, for brushing and pan-frying
• 1 bunch scallion (or Chinese leeks or spring onion as substitute), chopped thinly

 

Methods

1. Mix flour with 1 cup water until it forms a smooth dough. Knead by hand until the dough is smooth and no longer stick to your fingers. You may need to add in more flour (if too wet) / water (when too dry) in the process. Form it into a ball and put it in an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Roll them into individual balls. On a floured surface, roll out one of the balls into thin rectangle/oval sheet with a rolling pin.
3. Lightly brush the top of the flatten sheet with oil, then sprinkle it evenly with chopped scallions. (You may also sprinkle some salt for taste which I have leave it out in my version).
4. Roll the dough up from the long end by hand to form a rope with the scallion fillings stuffed inside. Coil the rope into a spiral circle.
5. Flatten the circle (coiled-side up) into a thin and round pancake with a rolling pin. Repeat the same for the remaining 5 balls.
6. Heat a non-stick frying pan and drizzle / brush with oil, pan-fry the pancakes individually on low-medium heat until golden brown and crispy on both sides. (About 2 minutes on each side).

The pancakes are best eaten warm with chili sauce for dipping. My daughters actually waited eagerly beside my stove. Each time when I dished up a piece of the pancake from my cooking pan, they took it from me immediately to savour it.

You may use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut each pancake into small bite-size wedges as pictured but somehow, it tasted better when you tear them into pieces by hand.