Belgian Waffle

Woke up one morning craving waffles.

Actually, I was just lying in bed looking at my sleeping daughter, thinking we've been having the same things for breakfast for days! Time for something a little different.

Googled the recipe on my iphone. Got it off this website

www.tasteofhome.com

All purpose flour           2 cups
Sugar                             3/4 cup
Baking powder              3 1/2 teaspoon
Eggs. separated              2
Milk                              1 1/2 cup
Butter, melted                 1 cup
Vanilla extract                1 teaspoon

I halved the recipe, because I didn't want to make a huge batch for just two people.

Instructions are to combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder in one bowl. Then in another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks and add milk, butter, and vanilla extract. The wet ingredients then gets stirred into the dry ingredients until combined. The egg whites are beaten until stiff peaks form and is then folded into the batter.

To tell you the truth I've never quite succeeded in making waffles before. I've never tried making waffles from scratch.

But wow!! This was absolutely perfect!! By halving the recipe I got exactly - ONE - waffle...haha. But I was satisfied. Thanks to Taste of Home for the perfect waffle recipe!

Ham and cheese bread

One of the recipes that I've been very eager to try making.

This uses Mode 11 on the panasonic bread maker, which essentially lets me take out the dough midcycle, to manipulate as I see fit. Recipe itself is pretty easy to follow, no surprise ingredients here.

Bread flour         200g
Butter                  35g
Sugar                   17g
Milk powder        6g
Salt                      3.8g
Egg                     25g (approximately half of a medium sized egg)   
Water                  100ml
Dry yeast             3.5g

Once again I used less water than called for, about 60-70ml of iced water instead of 100ml. And I always check the consistency of the dough while it is being mixed in the machine. This way I can add more water if necessary (or add a bit of flour if dough is too wet).

 

55 minutes later...

 



Cute looking thing!
The dough is then sectioned into 12, into which goes the ham and cheese. The recipe calls for 12 x 15g for the filling. Luckily for me this worked out to be about three slices of cheddar cheese and three slices of ham in total (10x10cm slices).

 

Once the ham and cheese are wrapped in the dough, they are just placed back into the pan (with the mixing blade removed), then back into the machine for rising and baking.

 

2 hours and 15 minutes later...

 

Haha, is it me or does this look good?

Honey bread with pumpkin seeds 南瓜子蜂蜜麵包

I just cannot stop making bread!! And I keep wanting to try new recipes!

After flipping through the Panasonic recipe book, for the hundredth time, I came across a recipe for honey bread with sunflower seeds. No sunflower seeds at home, but that can easily be replaced. Everything else was available, so off I went!

Flour                 250g
Butter                15g
Sugar                 17g
Milk powder       6g
Salt                     5g
Honey                21g
Water                 180ml
Yeast                  2.8g
Sunflower seeds  20g

My modifications to the original recipe are:
140ml of water, pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds. (And I didn't measure the seeds exactly, just eyeballed it)

Using Mode No.3, without the timer, light crust.

A pretty good tasting loaf! I like the light flavour and hint of honey. The rise of the bread didn't get affected by the addition of the seeds. I still wonder why store-bought bread tastes so much sweeter (and thus more appealing) and more fragrant than homemade. Is it the yeast? Is it the flour? Is it some secret ingredient? I want to know!!

Tangzhong 湯種

What is Tangzhong?

I hope I'm not mistaken in calling it an Asian or Japanese style soft milk bread. My understanding of this method of bread making is that it yields a wonderfully soft loaf which can stay soft for days! Once I read about the possibility of making such a loaf at home, with the help of my bread maker, I just couldn't wait to try.

But everyone seems to have their own recipe for their own machine...I have yet to find online someone who happens to also be using the Panasonic 105T. Looks like some experimenting is necessary.

In order to make Tangzhong bread, a mixture of flour and water needs to be prepared ahead of time, which is subsequently added to the dough. But how much tangzhong mixture should I make?

One very useful tip I found online is to add all the dry and wet ingredients of a bread recipe together, then multiply this by 0.2 (essentially taking 20% of the total weight of ingredients), and you get the net weight of tangzhong that you need for the recipe.

Then, the ratio of flour to water for tangzhong is 1:5.

For example, a recipe like the following

Bread flour            250g
Butter                       15g
Sugar                        17g
Milk powder             6g
Salt                           5g
Water                      190ml

Would require approximately 16g of flour to 80 ml of water, for the tangzhong mixture.

(Please note the above example is my own interpretation of the information I found online, so I could be completely wrong...hahaha)

This is exactly what I did for my first attempt at Tangzhong bread.

Taking 80 ml of water, I added 16g of bread or high gluten flour. The flour is dissolved in the water first before heating the mixture over the stove. It is essential to stir continuously, until a paste forms ("swirl" lines appear). Supposedly, the mixture thickens and forms a paste at a temperature of around 60 to 65 degrees Celsius. The mixture actually takes almost no time at all to thicken over heat, so it is important to keep stirring and take it off heat once the paste forms. Saran wrap is used to cover the mixture (actual contact with the mixture is necessary), so that a film does not form on top of the paste. The mixture is then refrigerated overnight, ready for use the next day.

When making the actual loaf, the weight of the tangzhong mixture is subtracted from the original recipe. So for my example, I would only use 234 g of flour (250g-16g), and 110ml of water (190ml-80ml).

In reality, I used milk instead of water, thinking it would add to the "softness" and "milkiness" of the final product. Also, I only added 70ml of milk (instead of 110ml), to compensate for the humidity. Amounts of all other ingredients stayed the same (I still added milk powder, by mistake, haha). Obviously, the tangzhong mixture is added to the dough ingredients.

I used Mode No.2 on my machine.

Hmm...I had expected more of a rise from my tangzhong...Honestly the loaf was just mediocre. Not at all the fluffy, soft, milky loaf I was expecting to see. It wasn't bad, and no one complained at home, but I was still disappointed. I think more experimenting is definitely called for.

Did the loaf stay fresh longer? I don't know, because people at home were really supportive and finished the loaf on that same day...

Brioche 布里歐麵包

I've wanted to make this ever since buying my bread maker!

The recipe calls for

High gluten (bread) flour                                170g
Low gluten (cake) flour                                  30g
Butter                                                              30g
Sugar                                                               25.5g
Milk powder                                                      6g
Salt                                                                    3.8g
Mixture of one egg, one egg yolk, and water   140g
Dry instant yeast                                               2.1g
Frozen butter                                                     40g

40g of butter has to be prepared ahead of time by freezing (at least overnight, as suggested by the recipe). They also need to be cut into 1cm cubes. These are to be added to the dough midcycle.

Anyhow, I followed the recipe as is. The egg and water mixture only came up to be about 100ml, because I actually had a little "hiccup" with the measurement. I had already cracked the eggs into the measuring cup before placing it onto my electronic scale. So technically speaking, I should have added more water to compensate for the weight of the empty measuring cup. But I decided I was too lazy to start all over and do the calculations. Plus my dough was always coming up wet, so I decided that less water wouldn't hurt.

Once again, I felt the urge to check the dough after the machine has been set in motion. For the brioche, mode No. 9 is used. No timer available for this option, because fresh ingredients such as eggs and milk might spoil if left in the breadmaker for extended periods of time.

And what do you know!! The consistency of the dough was perfect! So if I had followed the recipe EXACTLY, I would have ended up with too much water again! And here I am adding in the frozen chunks of unsalted butter.

Three and a half hours later:

Oh!!! This is by far the best loaf I've gotten out of the machine! Finally a loaf I can be proud of =) Needless to say everyone at home loved it. What a success!

Raisin bread

Now that I *think* I'm getting the hang of bread making with my Panasonic...

Let's play with some of the extra features!

Sticking with the extra soft loaf mode (No.2), I've decided to throw in some raisins. And learning from my previous mistakes, I've decreased the water from 190ml to 170ml.

I placed 100g of raisins in the top dispenser.

 

Once again, I took a peek to make sure the consistency of the dough was correct. 170ml of water was still too much!! In went another extra 1/4 cup of flour. Next time I will try only 160ml of water. Humid, humid weather!!

 

Timer on. 8am next morning...

 

Hey, not bad at all! It probably could have used less water or just a tad more flour, because the bread appears more dense on the bottom. But all in all, very happy with the result. The manual says that with added fruit/nuts, the rise of the bread can be affected. I wonder if more yeast will help? This loaf does seem more dense than a plain loaf. I think next time I will add just a tad more yeast, and I will change the 烤色 (crust?) option from standard to light.

 

Special thanks to my family who finished the entire loaf that same morning!! I feel so accomplished.

 

Cannot wait to make another loaf!

超軟吐司 Finally!

Seriously. I spent hours pondering why my bread making has been less than successful.

Then!! After hours of searching online. A revelation!! Bless the person who finally wrote, "don't be afraid to take a peek while the machine is operating"!!!!

Yeah! Why didn't I think of that?? The operating manual doesn't say I'm not allowed to lift up the lid to take a look! And what's the worst that can happen? Just another failed loaf of bread.

Wait...I could have broken the machine! Hahaha...okay, I didn't think of that. But I figure if lifting the lid while it is operating will break the entire unit, the manufacturer will probably have huge warning signs plastered all over the machine.

 

Wow! Look! As it turned out my dough did in fact appear to be WAY too wet. This is what the dough looked like AFTER I added an extra 1/3 of a cup of flour!

 

By the way, I'm making the extra soft loaf again. The recipe calls for 250g of flour and 190ml (-10ml for hot weather) of water.

 

Look at it go!!!

 

I did not use the timer option. I wanted to see the whole thing through!

 

 

And voila! FINALLY!! Waiting up until 1am was definitely worth it! Just looking at this makes me happy =)

 

Cutting into the bread the next morning. YUM.

 

Panasonic SD-BMS105T: Attempt No. 3

Soft Loaf

This time I'm making the soft loaf, mode 3 on machine

High gluten flour     250g
Butter                       15g
Sugar                        17g
Milk powder             6g
Salt                           5g
Water                        180ml
Dry yeast                   2.8g

Once again, I used the automatic timer option, wanting to wake up to a fresh loaf.

 

Why?? Why?? Why is the top sunken AGAIN?? Okay, okay, too much water or too little flour, right? But that's what the recipe told me! I followed it EXACTLY. So is there something wrong with my scale? Is my yeast dead? Is there something wrong with the flour I am using?

 

Yeast can't be dead because I had just bought it. Okay, to be sure I will test it before making more bread.

 

As for the flour I am using..well, I bought it at Costco. I am sure it's high gluten (bread) flour. I have googled it and other people have used it to make successful bread.

 

Something wrong with my scale? Okay, I will also TEST that the next time. But really, if all these things are faulty I am never shopping at that specialty store again! (That is how hard it is to find baking-related items in Taiwan, you actually need to go to a specialty store).

  

 

On a happier note, see in the background of this photo? Yes, in the Glasslock container is the strawberry jam I made with the breadmaker! Okay, I know I could have just made jam the conventional way but jam making is like a big deal with this model of bread machine!! It's as if I paid extra so my bread machine can ALSO make jam! Obviously I have to try it.

 

Instead of using fresh strawberries as suggested in the instruction booklet, I used frozen (organic strawberries, once again purchased from Costco).

 

Frozen strawberries     400g

Sugar                           140g

Lemon juice                2.5 tablespoon

 

I set the machine on MODE 26. Cooking time was set to 150 minutes instead of the default 120 minutes.

 

It's not bad, the jam. I think the advantage is that it saves you the effort of stirring the jam yourself. But 150 minutes for making jam?? I think that's A LONG TIME for making jam. I don't think I need to be stirring for 150 minutes if I were making this on a stove...maybe I'm mistaken. Any jam experts out there?

 

 

Panasonic SD-BMS105T: Second Attempt

A few days after my first attempt at bread making...

Couldn't wait to make my second loaf!!

This time I followed the recipe for "Extra Soft Loaf" (Mode 2). The recipe calls for

High gluten flour   250g
Butter                     15g
Sugar                      17g
Milk powder           6g
Salt                          5
Water                      190ml  (Chilled, decrease by 10ml if room temperature over 25)
Dry yeast                 1.4g

To be honest, I was really concerned with the amount of dry yeast that was to be added. 1.4g only? Really?

Well, the operating manual is my only guide, so in goes all the ingredients, as stated in the recipe. As usual, I decreased the amount of water to 180ml.

Set the timer for 8:30am the next morning...

What???  What happened?!?!  My bread didn't rise at all!!

 

The yeast didn't fall in completely!

 

In retrospect I think this is because I had just used the machine to make jam (strawberry jam! photos in next post), and there was some steam and moisture on the top lid of the unit, as well as in the yeast dispenser. I tried to wipe down the dispenser with a moist cloth, but maybe I didn't give it enough time to dry completely. As a result, the yeast clung to the walls and didn't fall in completely.





Oh, what a shame...This was not at all edible. Such a disappointment.

New bread maker. Panasonic SD-BMS105T

I bought a bread maker.

I know, I know, it's one of those top 10 items one should never purchase because it will inevitable end up in the attic or storage, collecting dust.

Why did I buy one?

It wasn't because of some fancy ad. It wasn't because I wanted to make preservative-free bread for my child. It wasn't even because I wanted the smell of freshly baked bread in the morning!

Why, then? I don't know. It was the devil at work.

I don't have an oven at home. Like most Taiwanese families my kitchen is tiny, and all I have is a toaster oven. Maybe this was partly why I wanted a bread machine. I thought instead of a conventional oven which wouldn't fit into my kitchen, I could make good use of a bread machine.

And of course, a friend just bought one and started to tell me how wonderful her bread maker was.

So this will be interesting, seeing how long I can keep using this machine!

Here's the whole story...

Recalling that my mother-in-law has an old bread machine lying in storage (hey! this should have clued me in! But it didn't...), I asked her if I could take a look at it to see if we can use it. She was very eager and helpful, telling me stories of how she used to make fresh bread for her children (Hint No.2!! Last time she used that machine was when husband was a CHILD, wow).

It's a nice looking machine! (Hint No. 3! Looks almost brand new!) Perfectly capable of making bread. I was confident I could bring the machine back to life (and use)! But, wait... where is the manual for this machine? I'm no cook, and definitely not AT ALL familiar with making bread. I need the operating manual for the machine! Of course the manual is nowhere to be found.

Google!

After 3 days of searching and internet surfing, and joining strange memberships to sites that promise locating operating manuals for all machinery -- NO LUCK!  How can this be?  How old is this machine?

On the third day I tracked down the company that imports and sells this brand of bread machines in Taiwan. Gave them a call to find out if they would have the manual by some miracle. What I found was, of course, that the bread maker I have is so old that they've now stopped manufacturing it, and that they do not have a copy of the operating manual.

<BTW, this is the MK Seiko HB-520 bread and dough maker. If anyone has the manual, please give me a copy!>

The people at Seiko suggested that I could consider trading in my old machine for their newest model!  Obviously I would have to pay the difference, after they have evaluated the current value of my old machine. Hey! Not a bad idea at all, I thought.

So there I was, researching bread makers. The MK seiko HB-150 (their newest model) is truly splendid. But so is its price! Even with the trade in, I figure I would be paying more for this machine than the best models of other brands.

More googling, more online reading....Basically every waking moment not spent with my child or working, I was looking at bread makers.

I finally decided on the Panasonic SD-BMS105T bread maker. It is currently the newest model of Panasonic bread makers sold in Taiwan, and it is often compared with the MK seiko. Price of the Panasonic was also much more acceptable to me. (Considering this machine could possible go into storage by the end of the month, bwahahaha)

After another day of purchasing and acquiring the necessary ingredients for making my first loaf of bread, I was more than eager to begin!

And LOOK! An owner's manual complete with recipes! I decided to try my hands on the most basic bread.

Recipe called for

250g   Bread flour or high gluten flour
15 g    Butter
17 g    Sugar
6g       Whole milk powder
5 g      Salt
190ml Water
2.8g    Dry yeast

The manual also suggested that chilled water be used and decreasing the amount of water by 10ml if the machine is being operated in warm weather (room temp over 25C).

This looked pretty good. Not as nice as some of the breads made by other bloggers, but for my first attempt, I was satisfied.

But hey!!! What happened?? I sliced the bread and found a huge air pocket! That's not what other people got!

The bread tasted okay. But I was still puzzled over the huge air pocket.

More bread making to come!!!

Cold noodles - Part 1

It's that time of the year again. Cold noodles!! When the weather starts to get warm, I crave cold noodles. I don't know the origins of the dish, but I assume the Taiwanese version is an adaptation from somewhere.

The interesting thing about cold noodles is that every vendor has a different take on the taste. As a result, almost everyone has their own favourite place for cold noodles. Of course, I have mine, but it's always so much fun to try other people's favourites.

And once in a while, I'm tempted to try new places.

Today is one of those days. It always feels like taking a huge leap of faith trying new cold noodles, because I already know what I like, what I want. But there's always the faintest hope of finding a new favourite place!!

I walked past this vendor last week, but at the time I was afraid of disappointment. Today my craving won over.

 

From the appearance, I was not expecting much. Granted, most cold noodles are sold this way. It's the scarcity of cucumbers that disappoints me. Carrots are also not an "essential" element of cold noodles, in my opinion. The sauce, well, I couldn't tell much from the appearance alone.

 

This is just my habit, mixing the noodles and cucumbers/carrots before adding the sauce. Just breaking up the noodles and loosening everything makes the mixing later much easier. Plus I think the noodles are better at "absorbing" and "carrying" the sauce this way.

In goes the sauce. Notice how there's no clump of sesame paste on top. This is a good sign. I don't like it when the sesame paste separates from the rest of the sauce. Or worse, when the sesame paste is served separately!

Even coating of the noodles!! Sometimes this is not possible, if the sauce is too thick, or if there is a disproportionate amount of sauce to noodle. Also, this doesn't appear to be too oily. This is a dish for summer, so the lighter the better!

Now for the actual taste!

Surprisingly good! Yes, I was pleasantly surprised! All the flavours were nicely balanced. Not too salty, not too sweet, and just the right amount of sesame paste! The consistency of the sauce was good too. Once again, just thick enough to coat everything, and not too thick that you feel you are ingesting a mouthful of ground sesame.

Definitely returnable. I find myself wanting more. It's not my new favorite, but it is at least within my top 20s list.

Mitsui Taipei

When: Sunday, April 21, 2013. 6pm.

Where: No.30, Nong-an Street, Taipei City

Who: My parents + YT

Why: Mom's birthday

http://www.mitsuitaipei.com.tw/

Not surprising that this is one of the top rated restaurants in Taipei on TripAdvisor. There are several locations and branches throughout Taipei, but we chose to reserve at the "Original Mitsui". Hey, it's called Original for a reason. I've dined at the Dun-hua branch, but the Nong-an location just has that extra-something.

Did a little homework and internet searching before going. I wanted to be fully prepared. We usually order the set menu and this time was no different. Why do research if it's a set menu, you ask? If you look on their website you will see that "the supervisor will meticulously prepare multiple-choice dishes". Multiple-choice! Here's where the prep work comes in handy.

We all ordered the seasonal set (NT 2200/set; approx. $75). In the past we have tried ordering different price sets for each person, but we found that this just creates unnecessary confusion for the "supervisor" and for ourselves! Because it's hard to look at other people's dishes without thinking, "hmm..maybe I should have gotten that!"

That is not to say everyone has to have the same dishes if you order the same set. It's all tailored to YOUR preferences.

(I'm not a food photographer, this was just taken with my iPhone)
Sashimi - A must. We didn't bother specifying what we wanted or what we didn't want, but one can definitely custom order each and every piece of sashimi that is to appear on your plate (or so I'm told, I've never specified). The supervisor will kindly ask when ordering if everyone is comfortable with raw food. Not sure what will be the substitute for the assorted sashimi.

Ebi, tuna, yellow tail, scallop...And MYSTERY fish! Apologies because I just can't remember what they were! BUT! Everything tasted great! Especially the scallop! Oh, that sweet sweet scallop...
(The ebi heads were sent back for frying, picture to appear later!)

 

Uni, served on a bed of shredded Chinese yam. I'm not a big fan of uni (yes, call me crazy), but this was delightful.

 

 

Instead of the Uni, my father ordered oyster. Our server explained that this was imported from France. Didn't get to taste this since there was only ONE.

 

 

Abalone salad, served with a citrus (pomelo?) soy dressing. The substitutes that we were presented with for abalone were prawns or king crab. We all went for the abalone. My favorite item in the salad has got to be the corn! It's so sweet it's almost a fruit!

 

 

Here comes the deep fried ebi heads! Crunchy and full of flavor. Not a piece went to waste.

 

Monkfish liver, pan-fried. Served with oyster mushroom and...what is that white thing?? We couldn't figure it out. It wasn't potato, it wasn't yam, it wasn't taro. But it's some sort of starchy root vegetable. The dressing? Kind of like a reduced vinegrette, but in the consistency of teriyaki sauce. Personally the sauce was all wrong for me. It wasn't bad, but just a bit too thick. I would have liked a lighter jus to go with the already powerful liver. The liver itself was melt-in-the-mouth goodness.

 Ta-da!! Instead of the King Crab that the supervisor kept pitching to us, we ordered the hairy crab! This, of course, is NOT the Yangcheng lake hairy crab (which probably needs a blog post all on its own). We ordered this mainly because we've had the king crab several times in the past (and honestly speaking, not very impressive, as the quality can vary), and simply because hairy crab tastes good! This was served with a ginger vinegrette, which is just perfect for crabs! I'm usually very lazy when it comes to eating crabs, but the meat of this hairy crab practically just fell off the shells with the tiniest effort! And to show that Mitsui is meticulous down to the very last detail, each and every piece of crab has had its shell cut open in a way that one can get to the flesh without force. Marvelous!

 

USDA beef. 'nuff said. (Picture taken when it was still medium rare, just thought it looked better. But one can decide the doneness)

 

Hirame belly (halibut/sole) nigiri. Rich, almost fatty. How can you not love it?

What? There's more? What's this? It's deep fried durian!! Yes, DURIAN. Wrapped in shredded taro (look how thin they shredded them!!) and fried. The seaweed strip on my piece had some sort of accident, but it's supposed to go all the way around the piece of durian. No matter, the seaweed is purely decorative. And look how big the pieces are!! Bigger than two pieces of nigiri put together! My mom asked for this specifically. I don't know how to describe how good this tastes. One just has to experience this for oneself. Better than any tempura I've ever had. There is a genius out there who thought of deep frying durian with taro. Really. A genius.

 Assorted seafood hot pot. Clear kelp broth. We were so full by the time this was ready. My parents ended up packing the whole thing up! But we all had a bowl of soup with some vegetables. A perfect ending to a delicious meal.

 Come on. A meal is not really complete without dessert! Seasonal fruit with either green tea ice cream or red bean soup.

 

I think I've learned my lesson. I shouldn't blog before lunch. I'm so hungry now.