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First time making taro pastry = total disaster, exploding filling and no layers whatsoever.. After retrying traditional taro pastry (just purple color and no mochi in filling) and succeeded in having the nice swirl on top, I challenged myself to make the rainbow color taro pastry with mochi! Overall process is similar, just the step of making multiple colors was time consuming and can go wrong easily if color is not expected. I have provided photo references, ingredients for both traditional taro pastry and for rainbow color taro pastry.
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The procedure to make mooncake does not seem complicated, but inverted sugar syrup preparation is need a night before; lye water also needs substitute by boiling baking soda in water. The art of mooncake, besides the filling, I think lies in making it into mold, brush with egg and bake multiple times to achieve (1) ideal color, (2) clear pattern as first started, and (3) consistent shape without puffing up, which I failed all three this time. I have included detailed “lab report” and troubleshoot discussion for next try with red bean paste!
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Wife Cake 老婆餅 is one of signature, representative Cantonese sweets. Even I do not have craving for it and have not had one for years, I still miss it’s flaky texture, sweet but not too sweet filling with a hint of coconut. The filling of Wife Cake did not unveil until I looked up YouTube videos… In my memory, it’s a mixture of solid and chew, soft ingredients. It turns out that the main ingredient is wintermelon! I never thought a “veggie” will be filling for sweets! And the solid texture comes from sesame, the soft, slightly chewiness, stickiness come from glutinous rice flour, and of course, there is some shredded coconut to add the flavors.
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QUICK TAKEAWAYS dough should be medium softness/hardness 軟硬適中 last proofing after bun forming without lid to let folds remain do not take away the lid after steaming, otherwise the bun might collapse as air cools down too fast RECIPE For 8 buns Dough Ingredients: 150g warm water at 30-40C 1.5g yeast 1-2g sugar (optional, to […]
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Experiment Report self-rising flour did make the shortbread turns yellow and saltier than expected; next time will use all-purpose flour or bread flour shortbread is a bit dryer than I though, will need to see if I need more oil or milk; or cover the baking pan from the start? baking temperature is slightly higher […]
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Banana mochi roll is childhood memory for many cantonese. It is also a street snack that is sold in less and less stores/ food booths. Missing home, missing banana mochi roll, I am sharing my 1st attempt of banana mochi roll here to pass on cantonese culture and traditional snack! Besides tips on handling sticky mochi dough mix, I also shared 2 videos I referred to and my comments on their pros and cons.
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仙豆糕 XianDou Cake is a street food originated from Beijing, China. It has 500 years of history and were served to royal family, loved by Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后). It’s brown-dotted pattern looks like tiger’s skin, so it’s also known as Tiger-skin Bobo/cake 虎皮餑餑. I tried two flavors: sweet potato with cheese (inspired by recent trend of yam cheese) and matcha red bean mochi.
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I have tried making scallion pancake 2-3 times with different recipes, but have not achieved satisfactory results yet. This accidental, unplanned scallion pancaking experiment was a surprised success. So with a dough NOT for the purpose of scallion pancake, adapting from two different recipes, I successfully made delicious, satisfactory scallion pancake! Sharing both recipe, my adaptation and future experiment plans here!
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Back home in Guangzhou, China, these egg cakes were sold in 10RMB (~$1.5) per 1lb/ 500g/ 一斤 when I was a teenager!Maybe these cakes are too cheap that they are not profitable in the states, I do not think I ever found them in any bakery here. Missing home snacks and having the luxury of time to cook & bake during quarantine, I look up recipe for these traditional egg cake. It is surprising simple and quick to make, and would like to share, record here. When these cakes were done, the smell of it expands in the house — the smell of hometown, the smell of childhood.
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In my first try of red bean steam buns, I shared tips to have puffy, soft outer layer, little secrets for red bean paste, and for sure, shared reasons why the first trial is not ideal!
