Hamburger Bun

Yield: 8 x 8cm diameter  buns

Ingredient

90g fresh milk 鲜奶

15g condensed milk 炼乳

1/2 tsp instant dry yeast 即发酵母粉

180g bread flour 高筋面粉

10g top/cake flour 低筋面粉

30g multigrain soya pulp 五谷豆渣*

30g fine sugar 细糖

20g beaten egg 蛋液

1/2 tsp salt 盐

30g unsalted butter 无盐奶油

Some beaten egg for glazing 蛋液

1 tsp sesame seeds 芝麻粒

* you may replace the 30g soya pulp by 30g fresh milk and 10g top/cake flour.

* 30g 五谷豆渣可由 30g 鲜奶和10g 低筋面粉取代。

Direction

1. If you are using fridge-cold milk, you can warm the whole milk and condensed milk in rice cooker for 10 minutes.

Or, you can leave them in room temperature for about 20 to 30 minutes.

如果用冷牛奶，可将牛奶和炼奶放进电饭锅保温加热10分钟。或放在室温20到30分钟。

2. Sprinkle yeast over the surface of the warm milk without stirring it. Let it stand for about 10 minutes till foamy.

The temperature of the warm milk should not exceed 38 degree Celsius.

将酵母粉撒在温牛奶上，勿需搅拌。静待10分钟直到出现汽泡。

温牛奶不能超过38度C。

3. Mix all the remaining ingredients, except yeast milk mixture and butter, in a mixing bowl. 

将其余的材料、除了牛奶混和物和奶油，放进搅拌盆中混合。

4. Slowly add in the yeast milk mixture and stir in one direction till it combine into a lump. Let it rests for 20 minutes to allow the flour to fully absorb the liquid.

慢慢将牛奶混合物倒入，以同个方向搅拌混合成团。盖上盖子，让面团休息20分钟，以吸收水分。

5. As the dough is quite sticky, wearing a CPE disposable gloves would make kneading easier. Knead the dough by slamming, pulling, and folding the dough, until the dough becomes smooth. This process takes about 10 minutes.

由于面团开始有点粘手，如果戴上手套，较容易搓面团。只需抓住面团一角，甩打在工作台上，微向后拉，再折上，再转90度抓住面团另一角，重复这些动作，直到面团成光滑状。大概需10分钟。

6. Spread out the dough and apply softened butter. Knead to incorporate butter into the dough.

摊开面团，涂上奶油 ，将奶油搓进面团里。

7. Continue to knead till you can stretch out the dough into a thin membrane. This takes about 10 minutes.

继续甩、拉、折动作，直到面团可拉出薄膜。大概需10分钟

8. Shape the dough into a ball by pulling down the sides several times, till the dough surface is stretched and smooth, and seal at the bottom. 

将面团的四周往下拉数次，直到面团表面被拉紧而呈光滑状。

9. Spray some water over the dough, cover with a lid and let it proof for about 60 minutes, or till the dough doubles in size.

将面团放入碗中，喷些水，盖上盖子，让面团发大概60分钟，或两倍大。

10. At the end of proofing, turn out the dough onto a floured surface and flatten the dough with your palm.

发酵完毕，将面团翻i倒在撒有面粉的台面。用手掌将空气排出。

11. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions, about 41g each. 

将面团分隔成8等份，各约41g。

12. Roll up the individual doughs and shape into balls by pulling down the side of the dough, and seal at the bottom.

将面团卷起，再整成圆形。

13. Coat the dough ball with flour and place on a floured non-stick baking sheet.

将面团裹上些粉后，置于撒粉的防粘烤板上。

Spray some water over the dough,

喷些水在面团上，

allow the dough to proof in a close oven for 40 to 50 minutes.

You may raise the oven temperature slightly by turning on the minimum temperature for 1 minutes.

将面团置入烤箱40～50分钟做最后发酵。

可开启烤箱最低温度一分钟，将烤箱温度略提高。

14. After the proofing, transfer the tray of dough out of the oven, and preheat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

Apply beaten egg over the surface of the dough, 

发酵结束后，将面团移出烤箱，预热烤箱至170度C。

在面团上涂上蛋液，

and sprinkle some white sesame seeds on top.

再撒些白芝麻。

15. Bake the dough for 18 to 20 minutes at 170 degree Celsius, or till the top turn golden.

以170度C烤18～20分钟，直至面包呈金黄色。

16. Allow the hamburger buns to cool down completely before slicing them.

Serve with beef patty coated with teriyaki sauce,

or with cucumber, tomato and toasted onion. Enjoy :P

Or spread some Monterey Jack Cheese over and toast :P

Pan-fried Beancurd with Spicy Peanut Sauce

This is a simple vegetarian dish which uses simple and readily available ingredients to prepare. The mee siam paste consists of the major ingredients needed, so I do not have to buy assam paste and belachan which I hardly use. The lime juice helps to compensate the tangy taste which the mee siam sauce slightly lack.

When I put all the ingredients together, it gives me a very appetizing and light dish to enjoy :)

Yield: 4 adult servings

Peanut sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1~2 tsp Mee Siam or sambal chilli paste

50g peanut, crushed coarsely

1/2 tsp sweet soy sauce

30g palm sugar

60~80g water

Juice from 1~2 limes

1/2 tsp coriander leaf, chopped

Directions

1. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a medium hot pot. When the oil is hot, add in onion and garlic, stir-fry till frangrant.

2. Add in palm sugar and Mee Siam or sambal chili paste. Stir-fry till palm sugar melted.

3. Add in crushed peanut, sweet soya sauce, and water. Heat over low flame, stir regularly, till thickens.

4. Squeeze in lime juice and stir in chopped coriander leaf. 

5. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Ingredients

2 medium size soya beancurd 

50g bean sprout, blanched

50g japanese cucumber, julienned

10g carrot, julienned 

Direction

1. Trim the edge of the beancurd and cut into halves. Soak in salt water for 15 minutes.

Trimmed away the uneven sides of the beancurd allows the beancurd to stand upright in the pot while pan-frying.

2. Drain away the water and let the beancurd sits on a pile of  paper kitchen towels to dry.

3. Heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil in a medium hot pot or pan. Pan-fry all the sides of the beancurd to golden. Set aside.

Cover the pot with paper kitchen towel to "catch" the splattering oil.

4. Transfer the golden beancurd to a plate and garnish with bean sprout, cucumber and carrot. Pour the peanut sauce over and serve :)

Tips for pan-frying beancurd to golden:

1. The pot and the oil must be hot. After pouring oil into the hot pot, wait for 1 to 2 minutes for the oil to rise in temperature.

2. The very first face of the beancurd will take the longest time to fry to golden, as the beancurd needs time to raise the overall temperature. Try not to flip it before it turns golden, as it will stick hard to the pot, and you may risk breaking the beancurd  while forcing it to flip. When the face turns golden, it will allow you to flip it over at ease.

3. A non-stick pot or pan will do a better job.

Peanut sauce recipe adapted from 

http://rasamalaysia.com/malaysian-sataynow-with-peanut-sauce/2

Rice Cooker Chicken Vegetable Stew

The new generation rice cooker is able to do more than rice cooking. With good temperature control and timer, it can work like a pressure cooker to cook food to soft, yet retaining its form and moisture. The Philips Avance rice cooker has a thick base inner pot which works like a couldron, good in retaining heat and keeping temperature constant.

By utilizing the soup functions of the rice cooker, it can help to free up your stove by taking care of slow-cooking dishes :)

Yield: 3 adult servings

Ingredients 

3 chicken thighs

5 button mushrooms

1 russet potato

1 carrot, peeled & cut into chunks

2 large size tomatoes

16cm celery stalk , peeled & sliced

1 yellow onion, peeled, cut into strips 

1 slice ginger 

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tsp raw sugar

1 tsp light soya sauce, low salt

Condiments

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp dark brown sugar

Salt

Pepper

Seasoning powder

Garnishing 

A few twigs of coriander leaves

Direction

1. Peel and cut potato into 2cm-cubes. Rinse and soak with salt water for about 15 minutes.

2. Roast button mushroom in oven toaster at 150 degree Celsius for 10 minutes to bring out the aroma of the mushroom.

3. Peel and cut tomato into chunks.

4. Rinse and pat dry chicken thighs. Coat with a little salt and black pepper.

5. In a medium hot pot, pour in about 1  tsp olive oil. Wait for the oil to become hot, add in ginger and garlic to fry till frangrant. Then add in the onion to fry till soften.

6. Add in raw sugar, follow by light soya sauce, and wait for them to bubble.

7. Add in the thighs and let them cook till the meat turn slightly whitish., 

8. Drain away the salt water, and add the potato chunks into the pot. Let the ingredients cook for about 2 minutes.

9. Add in the roasted button mushrooms celery slice, and tomato chunks. Stir-fry for about 2 ~ 3 minutes at medium heat. 

10. Pour hot water to cover about 1/2 of the height of the ingredients in the pot. Cover with a lid and wait for the ingredients to boil.

11. When the water starts to boil, off the heat and transfer the hot content to a rice cooker. Select "soup function" and 1-hour cooking time. Close the lid and start the slow-cooking process.

Or, 

You can continue to let the ingredients simmer at low heat in the pot for 1 hour.

12. When the rice cooker "beep" indicating the completion of the cooking process, open the lid and add in the tomato paste, dark brown sugar, salt, black pepper powder and seasoning powder according to your prefer taste. 

Close the lid and let the content simmer for 30 to 60 minutes using the remnant heat of the rice cooker.

After 1 hour of simmering ...

10. Transfer the stew out into another pot, and garnish it with coriander leaves. 

Serve with warm rice. Enjoy :)