Mee Siam (Spicy Rice Vermicelli)

 

Did I ever tell you that Dear Hubby can cook?

Well, he is not to shabby in this department (just that he does not do it often). One of his signature dish would be the Mee Siam.

So, whenever the family yearns for Mee Siam, DH would be the one to dish it out.

However, this time around. I have decided to cook the Mee Siam. I have steered myself away from DH’s version which uses dried shrimps and belachan. I googled and found this version from Rasa Malaysia.

Mee Siam or “Siamese noodles” is basically spicy fried rice vermicelli with various toppings such as shrimp, chicken, fried firm tofu, and shredded omelet. This is a simple one dish meal and is popular in Malaysia and Singapore. There are 2 different version though The Singaporeans have theirs wet while the Malaysians version is dry. The one I made is Malaysian dry Mee Siam

 

    

MEE SIAM RECIPE (SPICY RICE VERMICELLI)

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz (340gm) vermicelli (I used 500gm)
12 oz (340gm) bean sprouts (I used 500gm)
12 shrimps (shelled and deveined) (I used 25)
4 oz chicken (cut into thin strips) (I omitted this)
3 pieces fried bean curd/firm tofu (cut into pieces)
3 stalks Chinese chives (chopped into 1-inch length)
1 teaspoon sugar (I omitted this)
Salt to taste
Soy sauce or fish sauce to taste
3 tablespoons oil

SPICE PASTE:

4 red chilies
5 shallots
5 garlic
2 tablespoons taucheo (fermented yellow bean sauce)

GARNISH:

2 eggs (lightly beaten, seasoned with a pinch of salt)
2 stalks scallions (chopped into 1/2-inch length)
2 limes (cut into wedges) (I used calamansi)
1 red chili (thinly sliced)

METHOD:

Soak the vermicelli in warm water for about 30 minutes or until they turn soft. Drain and set aside. Using a food processor, grind the spice paste and set aside. Heat up a wok with some oil and make the beaten eggs into an omelet. Fold and slice the omelet thinly. Set aside.

Heat up the wok and add 3 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is heated. fry the spice paste until aromatic and the oil separates. Add shrimps and chicken, stir-frying until half done, then add the fried tofu pieces.

Add the vermicelli and keep stirring until the the spice paste has spread evenly. Add sugar and salt to taste, follow by bean sprouts and chives. Continue to stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt or sugar to taste. If the noodles taste bland, add a little soy sauce / fish sauce to taste.

Transfer the Mee Siam onto a big serving bowl and garnish with the omelet strips, chopped scallions, chili and lime wedges. Serve immediately.

Verdict :  Yummy…. the family loved it. Now we have 2 versions for Mee Siam. (Mom’s or Dad’s!)

No Bake Pots de Creme

 

Yesterday I found that I had a box of good quality dark chocolate stowed away in my larder for quite awhile. In fact, it was a prize from a lucky draw by the Singapore Tourism Board when we last visited Singapore some time back. It came with a fondue set. We were supposed to use the chocolate as fondue but we have totally forgotten about it.

 

 

Since the expiry date is just a couple of months away, I will need to use it up as soon as possible. I remembered reading a post by Ju of The Little Teochew about  how she used up some chocolate chips that were nearing expiring to create a great dessert. Zeroed into her post and was immediately motivated and inspired to make it as the recipe seemed very easy. Her pictures are so pretty. (My photography skill does not do any justices to the real thing !)

I must agree with Ju that this is really fuss free and so easy to make. In fact I managed to rope my little girl to join making it.

I did not follow the original recipe and I adjusted the quantity according to what I have on hand.

 

Pots De Creme (original recipe by heights eats)

Ingredients :

- 2 cups heavy cream (**I used 1 cup**)
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder (or instant coffee)
- 115g semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, or a combination (
- 6 egg yolks (** I used 3 egg yolks **)
- 3 tbsp sugar (** I used 1.5tbsp**)
- Dash of salt (preferably sea salt)

 

Method :

• Heat the cream, espresso powder and chocolate in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a medium-large bowl. Set aside.
• When the cream mixture is almost at a simmer (ie, almost about to boil but not yet boiling), gradually pour it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking to combine as you do so. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and heat, stirring almost constantly, on medium-low until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (or reaches 175-180 degrees, if you have an instant read thermometer), about five minutes. Do not let the mixture overheat or worse, burn.
• Leave the custard in the saucepan to cool slightly before pouring into serving ware of your choice, and then place into the fridge for chilling.
• (Optional) Serve with whipped (flavoured) cream, or a drizzle of light cream, or with chocolate shavings.

 

Taste absolutely heavenly. 

My children polished the cup cleaned!  

Pandan with Black Sesame Cake Bread

 

I am back to my bread making routine.

While driving my children to school this morning, I was contemplating what kind of bread or bun I should make today.  Thought of making something different today. Since I could not decide whether to bake a cake or a loaf of bread, I finally settled for a combination.

This is what I baked! It is chiffon cake on top and bread at the bottom. This is so pretty (don’t you agree?).

Remember the bread dough that I had prepared last week? The 65度C汤种面包 (65degC Tang Zhong Bread) ?? I still had a portion in the freezer. I had pull it out from the freezer this morning to defrost. This dough yields a very light and fluffy texture. So , I thought of experimenting it with a pandan chiffon cake on top. To enhance its flavour and the appearance I spread a thin layer of black sesame paste on top of the bread dough before pouring the chiffon cake batter on top.

The end result is good. The nutty aroma of the black sesame paste complements the heavenly aroma of the pandan chiffon cake!  However, I do have a slight issue. See the loaf before I slice it…. Initially the cake portion rose beautifully and the shape was a perfect rectangular loaf. However, after cooling down, the cake portion shrank and it looks distorted. Whenever I bake a chiffon cake, I would need to invert the cake while cooling it. This prevents the cake from shrinking as a result of gravitational pull. Unfortunately, when I bake it with the bread dough, I am not able to do so. (anyone has any tips on how to do it???).

 

Luckily, it did not shrink that much and the slices look great. I managed to produce 2 loaves with the ingredients I have. Gave one to Mommy dearest and the other loaf shall be our breakfast for tomorrow. 

It’s quite easy to make. Here is the recipe.

Pandan with Sesame Paste Cake Bread 

The Bread portion  (I only use half of this dough)

tang zhong (water-roux)

25g bread flour
125ml water

bread dough:

315g bread flour
85g cake flour
30g milk powder
60g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
9g instant yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten

120g water
120g tang zhong (water-roux)
35g unsalted butter

Method:

to make tang zhong (yields about 120g tang zhong):

Place 25g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 125ml water, mix till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk to prevent it from burning. Within 1 to 2 mins, the mixture will start to thicken, stop when you see traces in the mixture for every stir you make with the hand whisk.The 65degC tang zhong is ready. Immediately transfer the hot tang zhong into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap sticks onto the surface of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the surface. Leave to cool completely before using it.

to make dough:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg, water and tang zhong. Mix to form a rough dough. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. This should take about 10mins. The dough is quite wet and sticky, it helps to have a dough scraper on hand to scape up the dough as your knead.
Knead in the butter. Continue to knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 20 to 30 mins. Do the window pane test: pinch a piece of the dough, pull and stretch it. It should be elastic, and can be pulled away into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily.

Divide the dough into half and keep a portion in the freezer for later.

Proof one portion the dough for about an hour or until double in bulk.

Punch it down and divide the dough into 6 equal portions.

Let it rest for about 10 mins.

Shape the dough into 6 cylindrical shapes and place 3 each  into 2 loaf pans (lined with baking sheet/ parchment paper).

Let it proof for about 60mins or till double in size.

The Black Sesame Paste

Heat up 4 tbsp organic black sesame powder with 2 tbsp brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium fire. Keep stirring to prevent the mixture from burning. The mixture will coagulate and turn into a very thick paste. Remove it from the fire and let it cool down.

Pandan Chiffon Cake portion (prepare this portion when the bread dough has double in bulk).

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks (Grade A)
• 30 ml corn oil
• 80 gm superfine flour
• 50ml fresh coconut milk
• 2 pandan leaves blend into juice (add 1 tbsp water)
• 4 egg whiles (Grade A)
• 40gm castor sugar (add more if preferred)
• 0.5 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Method

• Combine egg yolks, oil, flour, pandan juice and coconut milk.
• Mix till well blended. Set aside.
• Whisk egg white till frothy
• Gradually add in sugar and lemon juice and whisking till soft peak is formed.
• Whisk in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk batter till well combined.
• Fold in another 1/3 of the egg white mixture followed by the balance. Do not over mix the batter

To assemble :

Once the bread dough is ready (double in bulk), spread a thin layer of the black sesame paste (if the paste is too thick, add some warm water to dilute it) over the top of the dough.

Pour the chiffon cake batter on top of the bread dough (divide them equally for the 2 loaf pans).
Gently tap the loaf pan a couple of time ( to release the trapped air bubbles in the cake batter) .

Bake them in a preheated over at 180C for about 30mins.

Remove form the loaf pan onto a cooling rack immediately (once baked).

Mini Spring Onion Buns

Last week my little girl commented that it’s been awhile since I last baked Breads and Buns. I totally agreed with her that I have slacked in this area as I have been so pre-occupied with my other commitment ie my online business venture. Since bread making is quite a lengthy process, I have resorted to baking chiffon cakes instead.

Feeling wee bit guilty, I made it a point to find time to bake some buns yesterday. Instead of the normal Hokkaido Milk Bread dough that I often make, I tried 65度C汤种面包 (65degC Tang Zhong Bread). This water-roux method has been a rave is blogsphere. I have done it before and the results as often been superb.

With the dough, used half to make mini Spring Onion Buns and the balance is stashed in my freezer for another bake in a couple of days!!

I made mini ones as I think they are cuter and easier to carry along (to school)

.

Spring onions buns are fragrant and a favourite of the family.

The buns are soft soft and the the texture is great.

Everyone is HAPPY!!!!!

Do give it a try. It’s easy to make and great to eat!!!!

Mini Spring Onion Buns

Ingredients

tang zhong (water-roux)

25g bread flour
125ml water

bread dough:

315g bread flour
85g cake flour
30g milk powder
60g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
9g instant yeast
1 egg, lightly beaten

120g water
120g tang zhong (water-roux)* …
35g unsalted butter

Topping

1 sprig spring onion – finely chopped
1 tbsp mayonnaise

roasted sesame seeds

Method:

to make tang zhong (yields about 120g tang zhong):

Place 25g bread flour in a saucepan. Add 125ml water, mix till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk to prevent it from burning. Within 1 to 2 mins, the mixture will start to thicken, stop when you see traces in the mixture for every stir you make with the hand whisk.The 65degC tang zhong is ready. Immediately transfer the hot tang zhong into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap sticks onto the surface of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the surface. Leave to cool completely before using it.

to make dough:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add in the egg, water and tang zhong. Mix to form a rough dough. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. This should take about 10mins. The dough is quite wet and sticky, it helps to have a dough scraper on hand to scape up the dough as your knead.
Knead in the butter. Continue to knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 20 to 30 mins. Do the window pane test: pinch a piece of the dough, pull and stretch it. It should be elastic, and can be pulled away into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily.

Proof the dough for about an hour or until double in bulk.

Punch down the dough and divide it into pieces of 30gms.

Rest the dough for about 10 mins. Shape the dough into oblongs and arrange them in a baking tray.Proof for another hour till it double in size. Cut a slit on the buns with a sharp knife and brush the top with egg wash. Spread some toppings (chopped spring onion mixed with mayonnaise) over the slit. Sprinkle some sesame seed on top.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 12-15 mins or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and transfer to rack to cool.

I ♥ Bazaar

Come this Sunday, 8th August 2010, I will be participating in I ♥ Bazaar @ Subang Parade, Subang Jaya, Selangor.

This is my second time participating in a Bazaar Sale and the first time with I ♥ Bazaar , Compared to the previous event, I am only doing it for 1 day. (instead of 4 days @ Jaya 33). Had wanted to participate for the whole weekend …but .. could only secure space of Sunday. Anyway, do hope the crowd and business would be good.

It is going to be quite interesting as the organizer has planned a Lucky Draw to encourage more shoppers to shop here. (BitsofPink is sponsoring some prizes, too!!!)

Spend a minimum of RM30 in a single purchase and be entitled for a Lucky Draw!
Many exiting prizes to be won!

If you are in KL…do drop in to visit us @ Booth 36 (Near the Lucky Draw Counter).

See you there!!!