Name: Soup Dumpling | Xiao Long Bao | 小籠包
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 2 h 15 min
Yield: 2 persons
Ingredients: For the wrap :; - 120g T55 or all-purpose flour; - 1g fine salt; - 60ml water; - 1/8 tsp vegetable oil; For the aspic :; - 160ml water; - 5g fresh ginger; - 5g green parts of a leak; - 1 tsp oyster sauce; - 8g gelatin powder dissolved in 1.5 to 2 tbsp water; - 7g Chinese chicken bouillon powder; For the filling :; - 100g pork belly - chopped roughly; - 100g ground pork (shoulder preferred) *arrange the split as you prefer; - 5~6g lard; - 3/4 tbsp grated fresh ginger; - 10g green long onion; - 1 tsp water; - 1/2 tsp sesame oil; - a dash of salt; - a dash of sugar; - 1 tsp Chinese shaoxing rice wine or cooking sake or white wine; For the dipping sauce :; - 2 tsp soy sauce; - 3 tsp rice or apple cider vinegar; - some fresh ginger - cut into julienne

November 19, 2020

Soup Dumpling | Xiao Long Bao | 小籠包

Persons

Prep Time

2 hours

Cook Time

15 minutes

Total Time

2 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the wrap :

- 120g T55 or all-purpose flour
- 1g fine salt
- 60ml water
- 1/8 tsp vegetable oil

For the aspic :

- 160ml water
- 5g fresh ginger
- 5g green parts of a leak
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 8g gelatin powder dissolved in 1.5 to 2 tbsp water
- 7g Chinese chicken bouillon powder

For the filling :

- 100g pork belly - chopped roughly
- 100g ground pork (shoulder preferred) *arrange the split as you prefer
- 5~6g lard
- 3/4 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 10g green long onion
- 1 tsp water
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- a dash of salt
- a dash of sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese shaoxing rice wine or cooking sake or white wine

For the dipping sauce :

- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 3 tsp rice or apple cider vinegar
- some fresh ginger - cut into julienne

Instructions

1. Making the dough
In a bowl add flour, salt and mix well. Add the water then knead with your hand gently. Once the dough starts to be like crumbles, add vegetable oil. Knead until the dough comes together in a ball.
2. Transfer to a working surface, and knead by hand for 3 minutes. Then cover with saran wrap and let sit for 1 hour.
3. _Making the aspic (in advance, maybe a day before?)
In a small heat-safe cup, add gelatin and water. Mix. Set it aside.
4. In a cooking pot add water, green parts of a leek, ginger and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, add chinese chicken bouillon powder, oyster sauce and mix. Remove from the heat. Strain the soup into a heat-safe plate and let it cool a little to 55~60℃.
5. Add the soaked gelatin and dissolve it completely. Let it to cool to room temperature, and then chill in the fridge until firm.
6. Making the filling
In your food processor, add pork belly and process until minced. Add the ground pork and process until combined well.
7. Add cooking sake, water, sesame oil, fresh ginger, green long onion, lard, a dash of salt and sugar. Pulse until the pork turns into a paste. Transfer the meat mixture into a bowl. Cover it and keep it in the fridge if your aspic is not ready.
8. Take out the aspic from the fridge and transfer it to the food processor. Pulse for a few seconds. Add the diced aspic to the pork mixture. Mix well. Cover and chill for now.
9. Making the wrap
Take some of the dough and feed 1 to 2 times in position 1 of the Kitchenaid Pasta Roller. Change to position 2 or 3 and feed 1 to 2 times. Change to position 5 or 6 and feed 1 or 2 times. Finally change to position 8 (thinnest) and feed 1 or 2 times.
10. Cut the dough with a ring (I used a 9cm diameter one). Transfer to a lightly floured plate (Keep the excess dough to make more wrappers at the end). 1 wrapper is about 8 to 9g, so if you don't use the pasta roller, take about 9g of dough & roll it directly into a disc shape with a rolling pin.
11. Place some filling in the middle of a wrapper. Pleats the wrapper's edge with as many folds as you can :) (Pulling the edges make them thinner).
12. Prepare the steamer: place a cloth or a parchment paper with holes. Place the dumplings. Steam for about 8 minutes.
13. Meanwhile make the dipping sauce. In a small cup, add 2 tsp soy sauce and 3 tsp rice or apple cider vinegar. Mix. Place some fresh ginger, it's nice.
14. Now it's ready! Enjoy :)

November 19, 2020

Eggplant mapo

Eggplant mapo - Mapo nasu

Persons

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Ingredients

2 big eggplants (about 500g) - cut into small cubes
50 to 55ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 leek - roughly chopped
400g ground pork
3 garlic cloves - grated
1 thumb of fresh ginger - finely chopped

Ingredient A

50ml cooking sake or white wine
1 1/2 tbsp sweet bean sauce/tenmenjan or 1 1/2 tbsp white miso and 1/2 tsp white sugar
1 to 2 tbsp chili bean sauce / toban djan
2 tsp chinese chicken bouillon powder
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
200ml water
1 1/2 tbsp katakuriko/potato starch - dissolve with 3 tbsp water

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, add all ingredient A and mix. Set aside.
2. In a wok, add vegetable oil (~50ml) and 1 tbsp sesame oil. Add eggplants and cook until it softens. Then transfer the eggplants onto a plate and set aside. In the same wok, fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the ground pork and cook until the meat is no longer pink.
3. Add back the eggplants and cook together with the meat. Then add leek and cook for a few more minutes.
4. Add ingredients A (mixed) and cook for a few minutes.
5. Stir katakuriko/potato starch dissolved with water thoroughly. Thicken the sauce. Bring to a rolling boil again and turn off the heat.
6. Serve with hot steamed rice!

November 6, 2020

Pear Tart

Serving Size

18cm circle x 5cm high

Prep Time

2 hours

Cook Time

50 minutes

Total Time

2 hours, 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the tart :

180g cake flour or plain flour (T45)
130g unsalted butter
30g almond flour or hazelnut flour
100g white sugar
1 egg yolk
dash of salt

For the filling :

3 european pear (about 560g) - cut into bite sizes
1/2 to 1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
60g white bread (shokupan) - chopped

Instructions

1. Make the tart crust
Add plain flour, sugar, almond powder (or hazelnut flour) and salt in your food processor. Pulse several times to mix, then add butter and pulse until the mixture comes together. Add egg yolk and pulse again for a few seconds. Do not overmix after adding the egg yolk.
2. Transfer into a bowl and finish mixing with a spatula. Pull a sheet of saran wrap on your working surface. Transfer the dough and cover it from all sides with the wrap. Chill in the fridge until firm.
3. Take the dough out from the fridge and cut it in 2 halves. Take one of them and put the other back in the fridge for now. Place the dough on a saran wrap and cover it with a second one. Using a rolling pin, roll it out to a 3~4mm thickness.
4. Cut it out with a 18cm diameter x 5cm high ring, remove any excess dough around. Remove the ring and cover with a saran wrap. Put both aside in the fridge : the circle dough and the excess dough.
5. Butter the inside of the ring and set it aside. Take out the second half of dough from the fridge and cover it with saran wrap. Roll it out to 3 to 4mm thickness, then cut it with the same 18cm diameter ring. Remove the excess dough. Let the circle dough set in the fridge as is.
6. Put together all the excess dough and roll it out into a rectangle. We will use it to cover the sides of the mold. Before you cut it, first put it in the fridge until lightly firm : if it's too hard it will break easily. Cut a strip that fits the ring's height. Repeat until you cover all sides. If it becomes too soft, put it back in the fridge/freezer for a couple of minutes.
7. Smoothen the dough junctions with a finger wrapped in film, then let the whole thing chill until firm.
8. Meanwhile let's make the filling :
In a frying-pan, add pear, lemon juice and brown sugar (no oil). Cook for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat. I prefer not cooking them too much :)
9. Transfer the filling into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Once cooled, add cinnamon powder and mix well. Set aside.
10. Now take the dough base (from #5) out of the fridge and cut off any excess over the ring top. Prick holes with a fork. Place the the bread (about 60g) on the bottom of the pie. Add the pear filling over the bread.
11. Cover with the other dough circle from #4. Bake about 50 to 55 minutes at 180℃.
12. Remove from the oven and let it cool down on the baking tray, until it cooled.
13. Once it has cooled, transfer on a wire rack. Remove the ring.
14. Ready to serve! I love adding a scoop of ice cream or simply whipped cream on each slice :-)

Notes

You can make some cookies with the leftovers of the tart dough :)

November 1, 2020

Warabi Mochi – Mochi Recipe わらび餅

Warabi Mochi / Mochi Recipe

Persons

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

For the mochi :

60g tapioca flour/powder/starch
35g white sugar
350ml water

For the powder coating :

20g kinako (soy bean flour)
1 to 2 tbsp sugar

For the Kuromitsu syrup (optional) :

20g brown sugar
20ml water

Instructions

1. Making "Kuromitsu syrup" In a small cooking pot, add brown sugar and water. Heat over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil. Once boiled, simmer for about 1 minute. Set it aside in the fridge.
2. Making"Mochi"
In a bowl, add tapioca powder (flour), sugar and water. Mix well. Transfer into a cooking pot.
3. Start cooking over medium-high heat, stir constantly until transparent and smooth (about 3 to 5 minutes).
4. Prepare a tray moistened with water. Transfer the mochi dough onto the tray. Flatten and smoothen it on the top. Let it to cool to room temperature. Then cover and chill in the fridge until firm enough to cut.
5. Take out the dough from the fridge, transfer to a cutting board. Cut it into bite sizes. Set aside.
6. In a plate or bowl, add kinako (soy bean flour) and sugar. Mix. Take a mochi piece and powder it with the kinako mix. Chill until you serve.
7. Serve with "kuromitsu syrup" if you like :)

September 23, 2020

Saba Shioyaki – Recipe for 1 – Japanese Salt Grilled Mackerel

Saba Shioyaki - Recipe for 1 - Japanese Salt Grilled Mackerel

Persons

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Total Time

20 minutes

Saba Shioyaki - Recipe for 1 - Japanese Salt Grilled Mackerel

Ingredients

a half fillet of mackerel
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Instructions

1. Remove fish bones, if you see any. Wash under cold water.
2. Spread the salt well on both sides. Leave for about 10 minutes.
3. Dry it up with a kitchen towel.
4. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil and wipe any excess oil.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat, then flip and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.
6. Enjoy with hot steamed rice :)

September 4, 2020

Japanese Castella Cake

Serving Size

18cm x 18cm x 6cm(H) square mold

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

4 eggs
120g white sugar
20g brown sugar
50g honey
20g glucose syrup liquid
1 tbsp boiled water
110g bread flour (T65) -sifted

Instructions

1. Cut parchment paper to fit the baking pan (18cm x 18cm x H6cm here). Scatter the sugar crystals over the base of the mold. Set aside.
2. In a small cup, combine honey, glucose syrup and boiling water until smooth. Set aside.
3. Lightly beat the eggs and sugar (white and brown) in a heat-safe bowl, then set over a water bath, beat with an electric hand mixer (at medium speed, not high) until the egg mixture reaches 30°C on a thermometer.
4. Remove from the hot water bath, and continue beating for about 2 minutes at lowest speed.
5. Pour honey mixture from #2 and continue mixing until well combined at lowest speed.
6. Pre-heat the oven to 170℃.
7. Add sifted flour in 3 times. Beat well (at lowest speed) at each addition. Pour the cake batter over the crystal sugar in the prepared mold. Run a spatula through the mixture to remove any air bubbles, and smoothen the surface of the batter with a pastry scraper.
8. Bake the castella for 2 minutes at 170℃, remove from the heat and run a spatula through the mixture to remove any air bubbles. Put it back to the oven and repeat this process 2 more time.
9. Now bake the castella for 10 minutes at 170℃. Then reduce the heat to 150℃, and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes (in doubt insert a thin skewer in the cake, it should come out clean).
10. Remove from the oven and drop down the castella cake (with the mold) over your worktop from about 15cm high. Remove from the cake mold.
11. Place saran wrap over the top of castella tightly and flip the castella cake. Cover the cake with saran wrap completely (all sides) and let it sit wrapped overnight, keeping the top side facing down. This is at room temperature.
12. Unwrap the castella, gently peel off parchment paper. Slice off the sides of the castella with a sharp bread knife and cut castella into 2 halves. Then cut in (approx) 3cm thick slices.

Notes

About the edges of the castella, leftover from the slicing at the end : don't throw them away, you can make delicious rusks with :)
1. Place the edge of castella onto a baking sheet, and bake them for 10 minutes at 160℃ (pre-heated).
2. Turn off the oven (but do not open the door yet), leave for 8 to 10 minutes. Finally remove from the oven and spread on a rack until they cool down. It will be so crispy!