Taiyaki

Most of the time if I hit down to Takashimaya, I will buy some Taiyaki from Mr. Obanyaki located at basement 2. So far I think is the best taiyaki I have try among other store having selling too but not as tasty as their. The filling is generous and the price is definitely reasonable and affordable.

I'm so curious to make my own Taiyaki too after I saw some blogger post some home make using the Taiyaki mold but sadly I can't find any in Singapore so I went to taobao and bought one. After I received my new toys, I went google and search for recipe. The only recipe I found is from this popular youtube video name cookingwithdog.
Recipe with video guide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD7JjeupVt0&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLAA05E501B9175B11

I try the recipe given and follow exactly the ingredients stated, the Taiyaki taste slightly crisp and nice when it is fresh and hot when it's done but it will turn hard and masticate when is cool off. I throw the rest into the bin because I doubt nobody in my family will help to clear.

I try the second time again and modify the recipe myself and yet I get the same result again, a tough and hard Taiyaki. After that I gave up and keep the mold for months without using it because I can't find any good Taiyaki recipe. For what I know, pancake recipe can be use for this Taiyaki too.

I happen to found a book name called 街头热卖甜点完整配方 at the Clementi National Library. In the book contain the top 5 famous street dessert - Imagawayaki (車輪餅), Eggy cake (雞蛋糕), Eggy shape waffle(雞蛋仔), Dorayaki (銅鑼燒) and Taiyaki (鯛魚燒). Without hesitate I borrow this book back home happily.

I try the taiyaki recipe and finally I manage to dish up a decent of Taiyaki. The taiyaki is so spongy, fragrant and most importantly it does not turn hard when it is cold. It still taste soft and delicious the next day. I'm so surprise with the result of this recipe. Now I have no excuse to keep the mold quietly. =p

I haven't try the other recipe as I don't have the mold. The next one I would like to try will be 雞蛋仔 after I manage to get the mold on hand first.

Is not easy to get a nice and good taiyaki shape because the mold I bought is not the electric type, is a portable mold that need to cook under the stove and controlling the fire is quite a challenging task. I was sweating away while standing in front of the stove to make sure taiyaki is not burn. I try and did my best to make the appearance look like the commercial made. Hahaha!

Recipe source from a book: 街头热卖甜点完整配方 
Can be bought online at: http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/booksfile.php?item=0010437041

Ingredients A:
- 200gm eggs
- 100gm sugar

Ingredients B:
- 100gm cake flour
- 40gm potato starch
- 4gm baking powder

Ingredients C:
- 50gm vegetable oil

Ingredients D (Filling of your choice):
- Red bean paste / Azuki bean paste
- Chocolate / Nutella
- Kaya / Jam

Method:

1. Sift all the ingredients B in a bowl.
2. Using a electric hand mixer and whisk the egg in a bowl, add the sugar gradually and whisk till batter turn pale and light colour.
3. Add in the flour mixture into step 2 and mix with a spatula. Follow by the oil.
4. Let the batter rest for 30 minute.
5. After 30 min, heat up the mold under the stove in low-medium heat. Brush a thin layer of oil and clean away the excess oil from the mold using kitchen towel paper (this is to prevent the surface of the cake will have a patch of uneven colour tone look). *It's okay to leave the oil without wipping away if you don't mind of the uneven taiyaki colour tone look.  
6. Pour the batter on the mold, put the desired filling on the batter and let it cook until small bubbles start to appear, pour another layer of batter on top of the fillings and cover the mold.
7. Flip the mold over the other side and let it cook for about 3 min. Open up the handlers and have a peek of the taiyaki to check if is cook. Cook until taiyaki turn slightly brown.
8. Remove from the mold and serve it while is still hot / warm.

Purple Sweet Potatoes Mantou - 紫番薯馒头

Isn't the potatoes colour so stunning? Not just the colour, the potatoes itself already very tasty. The best time to eat it while the potatoes is still hot out from the steamer. I think now is the purple sweet potatoes season, I got this in the wet market and I also saw it selling at the supermarket too.

I love the natural colour of the mantou, I didn't add any food colouring into it and I yield a beautiful purple colour dough. Beautiful! Usually this is call Japanese purple sweet potatoes but I not sure is it import from Japan. I bought a packet and contain about 5 potatoes in it.

I went google and search for purple potatoes and I found this mantou recipes. Since I haven't try making mantou before so I give it a try. I spread some black sasame filling in between the dough and it taste excellence. There are no potatoes taste on the mantou but the black sesame is so aromatic.

Recipe source: http://ellenaguan.blogspot.sg/2010/11/purple-sweet-potato-mantou.html
Idea source: http://vintagetrinkets.blogspot.sg/2012/12/purple-sweet-potato-mantou.html

Japanese Curry Mix

This is a simple, easy and yummy delicious dish. I love one dish meal, it help to save time and easy. For this you can choose the vegetable that you prefer and meal or seafood than cook in a pot and mix together.

I prepared with potatoes, carrot, onion, buttom mushroom, green peas and chicken meal. I bought the instant Mild level curry cube and is not spicy at all. The brand I bought is Golden Curry and it can be easily found in any supermarket.

For the water level and curry cubes to put, I refer to the box instruction given and follow. I love my curry mix with a bowl of rice and I keep the left over for the next day lunch. ;)

Pandan Chiffon Cake 2

Recently I love going to library and borrow baking/pastry book. Before that I would just buy and buy from the book store and some of the book are not cheap. So I was chatting with my friend about books and she told me she always goes to library and borrow book too. And she told me you can go to the library website and search for book to check if the library have it, which outlet have that book, the book is available or on loan and you can even reserve that book.

That's so awesome! I didn't know at all after my friend told me and I found a lot of useful book. Some of the book I wanted so much and I get to found it in the library. So happy!

I saw some blogger mention about this book, "Chiffon Cake Is Done, 戚风蛋糕出炉了" with many praise. I was so lucky to found this book in Clementi library so I borrowed it. This book is really amazing, it feature more than 50 different kind of chiffon recipes.

I have no luck on baking chiffon, I have no idea why. The picture shown here is the second attempt, the first attempt whole chiffon falling off immediately after inverted. Not only this, I try baked other flavor chiffon always has the same problem.

I feel so annoy but I don't want to give up, so the next morning I give a try again but this time I halve the ingredients and bake again. Thanks god, I succeed for the second attempt and also finally the cake has an obvious green colour look.

The pandan chiffon didn't rose very high during baking. Cake has the fragrant pandan taste and the texture is soft. By the way I added a little bit of pandan paste and pandan essence.

Recipe source: Chiffon Cake Is Done, 戚风蛋糕出炉了

Ingredient A (Egg Yolk batter):

- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp pandan juice
- 75gm coconut milk
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
- 1/4 tsp pandan essence
- 1/4 tsp pandan paste
- 40gm castor sugar
- 70gm cake flour (Sift)

Ingredient B (Egg White foam):

- 3 egg white

- 50gm castor sugar

- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method:

1. Extract pandan juice - using a blender and blend 6 pandan leaves (cut into small strips) with some water and squeeze out the juice.
2. Separate the egg yolk and egg white into different bowl (make sure the egg white bowl do not contain any water or oil on it).
3. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg yolk with the sugar until the yolk become pale in light yellow colour. Add in the pandan juice and mix.
4. Add in the oil (add in bit by bit) and mix well till incorporated, follow by the coconut milk (add in bit by bit) and mix well till incorporated.
5. Add in the sift flour and mix until no trace of flour can be seen. Set aside.
6. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites till stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk batter and mix. Continue mix the remaining meringue and make sure there are no trace of meringue can be seen in the batter.
7. Pour batters into chiffon tin, rap tins on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.
8. Bake in the pre-heated oven at 170°C for 30-40 minutes or until insert a toothpick into the centre comes out clean. Invert the tins immediately and leave to cool completely before unmold.

麵包鬆餅 / 比利時鬆餅 - Beigian Waffles

Mostly the waffles I have eaten is pandan flavour and it is easily reach in every or almost Singapore bakery shop. But not all the shop make a decent waffles and is not easy to look for a good one.

I used to buy waffles from a bakery shop at Henderson and I think is the best waffles I have even ate but the boss sold the bakery shop to another owner. The waffles taste really awful after the new owner took over. I misssssss the fluffy, chewy, rich eggy and pandan waffles that the uncle made.

I wonder the waffles usually I bought contain any yeast in it because the texture is chewy. I like the chewy texture waffles, it taste like eating a bread.

Anyway I made some Belgian waffles. The method is the same like making bread. you will need to knead the dough and let it proof. The different is you do not need to bake but cook under the stove using the waffles mold.

It will be better if you have the electronic waffles maker. At least you do not need to worry your waffles might burn and using electronic waffles maker give a evenly brown on both side after it done.

The waffles is so delicious, chewy and it not so sweet. You can spread some desired jam on it or make it savoury and sandwich with some egg and bacon. The waffles taste better when it is still hot / warm. You can warm the waffles in the oven if the waffles turn cold.



The next day breakfast, a cup of hot green tea with waffles and a sunny egg. 

Recipe Source: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/carol-jay/article?mid=272661&prev=272709&next=272612

Ingredients:
- 120gm bread flour
- 100gm cake flour
- 1/2 tsp yeast
- 50gm castor sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- 60gm of 35°C warm milk
- 1/2 tsp rum (I omitted)
- 50gm unsalted butter (room temperature and cut into cubes)

Method:

1. Sift together the bread flour and cake flour in a bowl.
2. In another small bowl, mix the warm milk and the yeast together.
3. Put the salt and sugar into the flour mixture bowl.
4. Pour the step (2), egg and rum into step (3).
5. Mix all the ingredients together until it form a dough.
6. Add in the butter and knead the dough till smooth or using a electric hand mixer to do the job.  
7. Place in a greased bowl, cover and leave to rise in a warm place until double in bulk or about 1 & 1/2 hours). 
8. Sprinkle some cake flour on the counter top and place the dough on it and also sprinkle some flour on the surface of the dough to prevent it stick onto your hands.
9. Divide the dough into 50gm each (about 8 small dough).
10. Roll each dough into a ball shape and cover with cling wrap. Let it proof another 20 min.
11. After the second proof, warm the waffles maker. For mine I using stove (medium heat) and a waffles mold.
12. Spread some oil on the waffles mold and place the dough on it. Close the lid. Cook each side for 3 to 4 minutes. Open the lid and check. Keep observe the waffles well as it might burn if is too hot.