Aromatic Rosemary & Onion Focaccia

 Irresistible aroma lingerings the entire house when baking this bread,

oh I am in love with this Focaccia bread deeply infused with rosemary fragrance.

Ingredients

WET
100g Tangzhong (water roux method)
64g water

DRY

200g bread flour
20g milk powder (can be substituted by creamer) 
10g castor sugar 
4g instant dry yeast

TO BE ADDED LATER (at step 4)
20g extra virgin olive oil
3g salt

FILLINGS TO BE BLENDED INTO DOUGH (at step 5)
10g fresh rosemary costs $1.95 from Cold Storage, contains about 4-5 sprigs. Pluck the leaves and discard stem, chop the rosemary but keep 1 sprig for toppings later
1/2 red onion (chop finely)

TOPPINGS (at step 10)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil infused with rosemary leaves
Cherry tomato (optional as garnish for bread cuppies)

Methods
1. Place wet ingredients first followed by the dry ingredients. Sugar place along the sides and at the center use finger to gently dig a shallow hole (don't go all the way touching the wet ingredients) and pour yeast into the hole.

2. Choose DOUGH function on bread machine, I am using Kenwood BM250 so function 8 for dough.

3. Dough function requires 1hr30min. Start the BM and it will mix for few mins and stop.

4. After 10mins at timer indicating "1hr20mins" the BM will start to knead again, at this point add in the 20g olive oil and 3g salt.

5. Once oil has been incorporated into the dough, add chopped rosemary and onions.

6. Leave the BM alone to let it finish it's job, this includes the 1st proof. When the BM is proofing, do not open the lid.

7. After 1hr30mins, the BM will beep that job is done. On a lightly floured top and flour your hands, remove dough from BM and gently punch the dough to release air and knead a bit. Dough is very sticky but this is normal. Shape it round and cover with cling wrap, 2nd proof requires 15 mins.

8. Brush your square baking tray with olive oil. Shape the dough into square shape and place it into the baking tray and gently spread to fit the tray shape. For me I wanted to try making some bread cuppies so I used a dough cutter to trim the 2 sides. After trimming, the dough becomes a square shape that goes into the baking tray. The sides I divide into 3 parts and place them onto cupcake liners on muffin tray.

9. Cover dough with cling wrap and proof for the 3rd time, requires 50mins or double the dough size.

10. Dip your index finger into the olive oil infused with rosemary and start to poke holes on the dough. The depth is about 1/2 inch deep. Brush the dough surface with olive oil infused with rosemary and sprinkle the rosemary as topping.

11. Bake at pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for 20 mins.

Notes
1. If you are making bread cuppies, the dough should be about 1/3 of the liner height. After the 3rd proof it will raise to 2/3 height and will expand further when baking.

2. For Tangzhong (water roax) method, you could refer to Hearty Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun on how to do it (http://yukiecody.blogspot.sg/2012/10/hearty-cranberry-cream-cheese-bun.html). Amount needs to be adjusted accordingly.

3. If you do not have a BM, you can use a mixer and knead like how you did for normal bread.

4. Thanks to Jenia for sharing this wonderful recipe she found.

Herb-Infused Roast Chicken

 Hubby has been requesting to roast a chicken, so here it is herb-infused roast chicken to satisfy his craving. Verdict? Tender, juicy and irresistible aroma.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
1 russet potato
1/2 carrot
1 green pear (cut & soak with salt water to prevent oxidization)
Few slices of onions
8-10 cherry tomatoes

Seasoning
1 inch ginger (minced finely)
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Coarse black pepper
Italian dried mix herbs
Rosemary dried herbs (fresh will be better)
1/2 tsp black soy sauce (optional, if you want your roast chicken to have a darker shade)


Methods
1. Pre-heat oven to 220 degree for 20mins.
2. Wash whole chicken, discard head and neck. Pat dry with kitchen towel.
3. In a small bowl mix the seasoning.
4. Place chicken in a baking tray, stuff quarter of the seasoning into the cavity of the chicken. Rub the chicken skin generously with sea salt.
5. Use a brush to brush the chicken with the balanced seasoning. Sprinkle additional black pepper and herbs to your liking.

Brush brush Baby

6. Cut the vegetables and fruit, line them (except onion & tomato) at the side of the baking tray. Use the oily brush to brush the vegetables and fruit.
7. Bake for 20 mins, take out the baking tray and baste the chicken and vegetables with the chicken juice using the brush. Add in the onions. Return to oven but place the other side in for a more even roasting.
8. Bake for 15 mins, baste another time.Add in the tomatoes.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 200 degree. Bake for 15 mins and check the chicken using a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean without bloody juice means it is ready. Otherwise bake for another 10 mins.

Notes
1. At any point if you notice that the top of the chicken is browning too quickly compared to other areas, here a tips for you. Cut a small piece of aluminum foil and place it on the part to prevent further browning. 

2. My vegetables were not soft enough, it will be better to cut them smaller. Half the size of the picture shown will be good. Or shared by my friend Veronica to parboil the vegetables briefing before entering the oven. Shall try her method the next round.

Shepherd Pie in Ramekin

My easy-to-make Shepherd Pie recipe. I love it with Mozzarella cheese, always enjoy to see the chewy cheese pulling out using a fork. After baking this, I couldn't wait to record this down as I have managed to keep this recipe to minimal but the result is so good.

Don't they look lovely in ramekins?

 Ingredients
1 russet potato (chop into small cubes)
Season with Salt & Butter

100g chicken pieces (I used thigh meat)
Season with Salt & Pepper

1/4 carrot (chop finely)
1 slice of yellow onion (chop finely)
50ml chicken stock
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Mozzarella cheese
Cherry tomato (optional)
Black pepper (optional)

Methods

8. Add fillings into ramekins

1. Season the chicken pieces with salt & pepper for about 15-20mins.

2. Boil the potato cubes in a pot of water until soften.

3. Drain away the water and mash the potato with a fork, season with salt and butter to taste. Set aside.

4. Heat a little oil in a pan, sauté onion till fragrant. Add in carrots and cook for a min. Next add in chicken pieces and fry till cooked.

5. Pour in the chicken stock, cover lid and simmer until vegetables soften.

6. Add the corn starch to thicken the sauce, add Worcestershire sauce.

9. Sprinkle with cheese

7. Pre-heat oven to 200 degree for 20mins.

8. Prepare 2 ramekins and split the chicken and vegetables into 2 portions.

9. Sprinkle generously with Mozzarella cheese.

10. Spread the mashed potato on top and even the surface with a spoon.

11. Decorate with cherry tomatoes (optional). Sprinkle some black pepper on top.

12. Bake for 10mins. Top with Mozzarella cheese and bake until the cheese melted and browned about 2 mins.

10. Spread mashed potato

Notes
You may add other vegetables like mushroom, celery, corn, etc. I only used carrot and onion which are what is available in my fridge ;)

Pair this Shepherd Pie with Focaccia Bread, perfect combination!

Tofu Bacon

Ingredients
1 piece tofu (suitable for frying)
6 slices of bacon
Course black pepper
Thai sweet chilli

Methods
1) Cut the tofu into 12 pieces, pat dry with kitchen towel. Choose *non-GMO tofu, Fortunate brand has it. For this dish select tofu that is suitable for frying, is stated on the packaging.
2) Cut each bacon into halve and stretch and lengthen it so that the thickness is reduced.
3) Wrap the tofu with bacon and sprinkle with course black pepper.
4) Heat pan with oil and fry the tofu bacon with the ends facing down so that when its cooked, the ends will be secured.
5) Serve with Thai sweet chilli, I used Dancing Chef Suki sauce.

* What is GMO? A genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. Organisms that have been genetically modified include micro-organisms such as bacteria and yeast, plants, fish, and mammals. GMOs are the source of genetically modified foods, and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce useful goods other than food.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism

Read more about non-GMO at http://www.nongmoproject.org/

Halloween Spooky Party Snacks

Halloween is approaching and let's party with some fun snacks. My husband commented that I was playing with my food but trust me, it's fun ;) You should try these with your kids, have fun making the snacks for the party guests.

I have done 3 types of creepy but cute snacks this time and here's the sharing.

6-Legged Spiders In the House...YUCKS!!!!!!

Freak me out with Frankenstein Pops

You Are Cordially Invited to the Mummies' Wedding

Date: 31 Oct 2012

Time: 12.00am

Venue: Cookie Cemetery

How to do Halloween Spiders? You will need...

Oreo cookies (double stub) - $1.80

Sour cola candy stick - $1.00

M&M's minis - $1.50

Fondant or gum paste or icing (as glue)

1) Cut the sour cola candy stick into 3 pieces of equal length. You will need 2 sticks to make 6 legs. Yes spider has 8 legs but these are mutant spiders, so 6 legs each..hahaha...
2) Open the orea cookie, push the 6 legs (candy sticks) in and cover the cookie back. Make sure that it is sandwiched properly without falling apart.
3) Use fondant or gum paste or icing as food glue to stick 2 M&M's minis as the eyes.
4) VIOLA! Your super easy 6-legged spiders are ready to crawl all over the place!

Check out the Spidy video on how to make these yucky 6-legged spiders.

How to make Halloween Frankenstein Pops? 

Marshmallow 

White chocolate compound

Green tea powder

Chocolate rice

Lollipop sticks

White fondant

Edible black marker

1) Use a toothpick to poke a hole in the marshmallow and insert a lollipop stick to it.

2) In a microwavable bowl, add white chocolate compound and microwave at high heat for 30 seconds. Check whether the chocolates have melted using a spoon. If no, microwave for another 20 seconds.

3) In the melted chocolates, add in green tea powder and mix well. You could adjust the shade of green by adding more powder.

4) Dip the marshmallow (with lollipop stick attached) into the bowl of chocolate and coat evenly.

5) Without delay, dip the top (Frankenstein's head) into the bowl of chocolate rice. That will be his hair.
6) Paste 2 round white fondant onto the face of Frankenstein as eyes. Bigger will be cuter.
7) Place them onto baking paper for chocolate to set.
8) Use the edible black marker to paint the pupils on the fondant.

Here's a mini video made for fun ;) FREAKY!

How to make Halloween Mummies? 

Oreo cookies (double stub)

M&M's minis

Fondant
Lollipop sticks

Edible black marker
Pink food coloring gel (optional)

1) Roll the fondant into thin sheet, use a dough cutter to cut into thin strips.
2) On the oreo cookie, insert the lollipop stick. Start to paste the strip on the cookie one by one starting from the edge.
3) After 1-2 strips, paste 2 M&M's mini chocolates as eyes onto the cookie. Use fondant to aid as glue.
4) Continue to paste the thin strips onto the cookie until you finish covering the whole cookie. You will realize that the black cookie staining the white fondant strips but it is ok, remember they are mummies. Not meant to be clean after many years underground ;)
5) Use the black marker to draw the pupil.
6)  If you wish to make the pink mummy, use pink food coloring gel to color the fondant and black marker to draw the sexy eyelashes ;) Oh my sexy babe!

Have you ever wonder how is it like when mummies fall in love? Never heard before? Well, here they are. Enjoy this short armature clip which I called it their wedding montage:

Happy Halloween Everyone! Have Fun!

虫草花鸡汤 Chicken with Cordyceps Militaris Soup

Ingredients
1/2 chicken
10g cordyceps militaris (虫草花)
1 honey date
6 red dates (seed removed)
1 dang sheng
2 ginger slices
1 tbsp wolfberries
1 tsp salt

Methods
1) Blanch chicken in boiling water for 2 mins to remove the blood. Pour away the water.
2) Bring a fresh pot of water to boil, add in chicken and all herbs except for wolfberries. Boil for 5 mins, cover lid and simmer for 3 hours over low fire.
3) 10 mins before serving, add in wolfberries and a tsp of salt.

About Cordyceps Militaris

This is how cordyceps militaries look like, I bought this bottle from Hock Hua Chinese Medical Store 福華 at $15. Cordyceps militaris is a cultivated fungus and it's medical benefits is similar to the expensive cordyceps sinensis 冬虫夏草. You do know how expensive the latter herb is, selling at few hundreds for a small quantity. It is definitely worth to give cordyceps militaries a try for the good price.

Benefits of Cordyceps Militaries
Anti-aging, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects
Improved respiratory and liver functions
Reduced blood and urine sugars, reduced blood pressure
Reduced risk of heart diseases
Immunostimulating and immunomodulating activities.
Improved sexual function and stamina


Source from  http://drpinna.com/shop/cordyceps-militaris-mushrooms

Shabu Rice Burger

Instead of rushing to MOS burger for their rice burgers, how about making it a home and add in as much meat filling as you like ;) Surprisingly easy recipe and I have adjust the seasoning to suit my taste bud, I don't like my stuffs to be too salty.

Ingredients
2 portions of cooked rice
100g pork shabu or sukiyaki (I used pork belly)
1/2 small onion (cut into thin slices)
Sesame seeds
Lettuces
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/4 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce

Methods
1. Marinate the pork shabu with light soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine and cornflour.
2.  Divide the cooked rice into 4 potions, use a cling wrap to make 1 portion into a firm ball and flatten it like a patty. Set aside and repeat the same for the remaining 3 portions.
3. Lightly brush the rice patties with teriyaki sauce on 1 side. Pan fried with little oil using low fire until the side with sauce browned. Brush the other side with teriyaki sauce and flip over. Dish out.
4. Using the same pan, fry the marinated pork shabu until cooked. Pour in the balanced teriyaki sauce and sprinkle some sesame seeds.Give a few stirs and its ready.
5. To assemble the burger, use a waxed wrapper and place a rice patty, lettuce, followed by pork shabu and lastly another rice patty.
6. Viola! Your own easy and yummy rice burger!!!

Notes
1. 100g pork shabu is equivalent to 8 pieces. I suggest to cut the long strips of shabu into half, easier to eat with rice patties.
2. It is not necessary to marinate the pork shabu for long, just do it before you got busy with the rice patties. As the shabu are very thin slices they absorb the marinade very quickly.
3. Waxed wrapper is from Daiso, it comes in very handy for burger.

Leek and Potato Soup

I have always wanted to try making western creamy soup but the plan was delayed due to the lack of a blender. Many recipes require blender to make creamy soup such as mushroom, pumpkin, broccoli soup. Lucky me discovered a potato soup recipe online that doesn't require blender, by tapping on the method I came up with this leek and potato soup. I am so glad that I have found an easy method to cook creamy soup and it tastes very yummy, texture is like baby food :)

Ingredients
1/2 tbsp butter
1 Russet potato
1/2 onion
1 leek stalk
1 cup vegetable/ chicken stock
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh milk
Salt & black pepper to taste
Dried mixed herbs (optional)

Methods
1. Melt butter inside saucepan and saute chopped onions until fragrant.
2. Peel potato and cut into small cubes, cut leek into slices and add both into the pan. Stir for a min and pour in the stock, I used chicken stock. The stock shouldn't cover the vegetables. Let it boil and simmer with lid.
3. When the water almost dry up, the vegetables should be soften by now. In the pan, use a masher to mash up the potato into smaller cubes but not into fine whip potato form as we want to retain the small bites of potatoes.
4. Add in the cup of water and bring to boil. Add in fresh milk, you could adjust the quantity according to how thick you like your soup to be.
5. Add in salt & pepper.
6. Serve and garnish with a little cream/ milk and sprinkle some dried mixed herbs.

With this "ring"... I marry you?

With this ring, I marry you. Oh hahahaha, with yam ring??? Why not? Isn't there a common saying 想得到男人的心，先征服他的胃? Let's captivate his heart in the kitchen!

Ok I cheated, I didn't prepare this yam ring from scratch. I couldn't afford the time to prepare this for a weekday dinner as the preparation will take long. The yam ring was purchased from Kwong Cheong Thye, it is also available in supermarkets. Instead of the usual yam ring filling, I made mango prawn salad rice as the filling. The fruit and lime juice creates an appetizing fruity and citrus taste, very different from the traditional yam ring and this is a one-dish meal.

Ingredients
1 yam ring
1/2 pk of dong fen (optional for garnishing)

2 bowls cooked rice
10-12 prawns
Salt, pepper and garlic powder
1 Japanese cucumber (peel to make ribbons, leave the skin on)
1 lime (squeeze out the juice)
1 ripe mango (cut into cubes)
1 tsp chopped coriander leaves
2 tsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

Methods
1. Preheat oven to 200 degree. Line baking tray with aluminum foil and brush the yam ring with cooking oil. Bake for 15-20mins or until it turns golden brown.
2. Heat oil inside a wok/ pan, add in small amount of dong fen at a time. The dong fen will expand almost immediately, dish out and drain on kitchen towel.
3. Remove shells and devein the prawns. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pan fry till cooked and dish out into a big bowl.
4. Add the mango cubes, cucumber ribbons, lime juice, coriander leaves into the bowl of prawns and mix well.
5. Mix in the cooked rice.
6. On a big plate, place the baked yam ring at the center. Scoop half of the mixed rice into the well of the yam ring and drizzle chilli sauce on top. Surround the yam ring with fried dong fen. Remaining portion of the mixed rice can be served on a plate.

Notes
1. Instead of deep-frying the yam ring I chose to bake it. It is not as fragrant as deep-fried but its healthier.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to achieve the long cucumber ribbons.

Call me a farmer

Stir fry garlic butter mushrooms

 

Yes! Call me a farmer, although I do not have green fingers. Most plants don't thrive under my care but looks like I am having brown fingers as my mushrooms are growing pretty well. This is the third harvest and it yields a healthy 80g of brown oyster mushrooms. The amount is not a lot but it does give me a sense of satisfaction and achievement to reap what I have sowed. There's a difference in the taste of my own mushrooms from those I purchased from market/ supermarket. I do not know what was added to the purchased pack, maybe preservative to make them last longer. They contain something that has a slightly unpleasant smell/ taste to it whereby you will not have that if you grow your own mushrooms.

Almost ready, able to harvest after work.

Look at the speed they grow, this was taken on the same day after 10 hours.

Weighing the harvested mushrooms

What do I do with the harvested mushrooms? Of course is to cook them right after they were freshly plucked from the log. Here's an easy and tasty recipe to cook your brown oyster mushrooms.

Ingredients
Mushrooms
A knob of butter
3 garlic cloves (minced)
Dash of salt, black pepper, dried mixed herbs

Methods
1. Melt butter in pan, saute the minced garlic till fragrant and stir fry the mushrooms.
2. Sprinkle with dash of salt, black pepper and dried mixed herbs.
3. DONE!

Isn't it easy?

A bowl of goodness - Chicken Soup

It is almost impossible to cook Cantonese soup after work as it requires 3 hours to brew. But if you have a thermal pot, it will ease you from that issue. Thermal pot's technique involved bringing food up to temperature on the fire as usual, but rather than allowing it to cook over the flame for long hours, the hot pot was placed in an insulating material and covered. The heat in the pot was conserved for a considerable length of time, and the food inside would cook slowly, without the need for supervision. Gas or electricity were saved in this way, it is good for food that needed long slow cooking like soup and stew. 

What I did was preparing my soup the night before, boil for half an hour and transfer to thermal pot. The next day after work, reheat the soup for another 20 mins and viola! You can enjoy flavorful Cantonese soup even on weekdays.

If you are like me who doesn't know what type of herbs to add in for chicken soup, you could purchase premix packs from supermarkets or provision shops. Each pack will cost around $3-4. But I have a better suggestion here, go to Chinese Medical Hall and ask them to pack a $4-5 herbs. Just tell them you will be using it to make chicken soup and they will pack the fresh herbs into a bag like the photo shown here. In this way you will get fresher herbs for your soup.

Sukiyaki

I have tried Sukiyaki from few Japanese restaurants and they are always very salty. I wonder why they like to make it so salty? After a few tries I stopped ordering this dish at the restaurants. Not too long ago, I chanced upon this online recipe and thought I could give it a try since I am able to adjust the level of saltiness to my liking. Surprise me! It is very delicious and not salty, definitely a keeper! This is why I like home-cooked food, my kind of less-salty Sukiyaki ;)

Ingredients
1/3 packet of sukiyaki or shabu shabu frozen pork
1/4 tbsp oyster sauce
Pepper
1/2 yellow onion or 1 red onion (sliced)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1/2 carrot (thick slices)
1 potato (wedges)
1 pack enoki mushroom (aka golden mushroom)
Spring onion
Cornflour

Sauce
2 cups water
1 pk of dashi powder
1/4 tbsp oyster sauce
1/4 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp mirin
Dash of sesame oil
Dash of chinese cooking wine
Dash of pepper

Methods
1. Season the pork with oyster sauce and dash of pepper.
2. Prepare the vegetables.
3. Heat pan or pot with little oil and saute onion and garlic til fragrant.
4. Add in the pork, carrot and potato and fry till pork is slightly browned.
5. Prepare the sauce by adding all the seasoning into the cup and pour into the pan.
6. Bring the sauce to boil, cover with lid and lower the fire.
7. When the carrot and potato turn soft, add in the mushrooms.
8. Taste the sauce and add more seasoning according to your preference.
9. Thicken the sauce with cornflour and garnish with spring onions.

Notes
1. Frozen pork sukiyaki or shabu shabu are available in the supermarket, I will usually choose the pork belly part of the meat. A packet costs between $7.50-$7.90. It is actually inexpensive since I only use 1/3 packet for 2 person's share.
2. Recipe is modified from  http://munchministry.com/recipe/japanese-soy-sukiyaki-pork-stew/

Hearty Cranberry Cream Cheese Bun

Ingredients for Dough
WET
1/2 beaten egg
35g condensed milk
83g tangzhong
60ml water

DRY
200g bread flour
50g cake flour
50g castor sugar
7g yeast

1/2 tsp salt
10g shortening
10g unsalted butter

Ingredients for Tangzhong
30g bread flour
150g water

Ingredients for Filling
188g cream cheese
60g icing sugar
1.5 tbsp lemon juice
Cranberries

Methods
1. Cream icing sugar and cream cheese, add in lemon juice and beat well. Leave inside fridge to harden so that it will be easier to wrap into dough at later stage.

2. To yield about 83g of tangzhong, you will need to mix 30g bread flour with 150g water (1:5 ratio). Use low fire to heat the mixture and constantly stir with a whisk until lines appear. Off fire immediately and transfer tangzhong into a bowl. Cover tangzhong with cling wrap to prevent the surface from drying. Leave it till room temperature before using.

3. To prepare the dough in a bread machine, add all the wet ingredients first. Followed by the dry ingredients like bread flour and cake flour to cover the liquid. Add sugar along the side. Use middle finger (haha, ok index finger also can) to make a well at the center of the flour and pour in the yeast. Careful don't allow the yeast to touch the liquid. Press the "Dough" feature on the bread machine to start the mixing. This feature requires 1.5 hour incorporating proofing (I am using Kenwood bread machine).

4. The machine will mix the mixture and stop after 1 or 2 mins, at this moment add in the shortening, butter and salt. The machine will start again to knead the dough.

AFTER 1.5 HOURS...

5. Bread machine will beep indicating dough is ready. On a floured counter top, punch your dough to release the trapped air. Floured your hands and knead the dough a bit, the dough is sticky but do not over knead. Weigh the dough and divide into doughs of 60g. Add cranberries and make round doughs. I added about 5-6 cranberries per dough. This recipe yields about 9 doughs.

6. Leave expandable gap between each dough and allow them to rest for 15mins covered with cling wrap.

AFTER 15 MINS...

7. Flatten each dough with rolling pin, use 2 spoons to assist in adding the cream cheese onto the center of each dough. Wrap the dough and seal it up using finger tips to pinch and close the gaps. Round into balls and transfer to a baking tray line with baking paper. Use your palm to lightly flatten the balls. Set aside the remaining cream cheese for piping (optional).

8. Cut out a heart shape on each cranberry with scissors and place it at the center of the ball.

9. Proof doughs for an hour.

10. Pre-heat oven 20mins before baking, use 160 degree with bottom heat plus fan feature.

AFTER 1 HOUR OF PROOFING...

11. Using a piping bag or simply a clean plastic bag, scoop the remaining cream cheese in and cut a tiny hole at the tip. Pipe swirl design on the dough or any other design as preferred. This is optional.

12. Bake for 10mins, take it out and flip over. Use a spatula to press lightly and bake the other side for another 7 mins.

Notes
1. Egg wash is not required for this recipe.
2. If you don't have a bread machine, use a mixer and knead & proof like how you did for normal bread making.
3. This dough is sticky type but yield a soft texture.
4. Thanks Molly for the modified version of MM recipe (http://munchministry.com/recipe/raisin-cream-chesse-bread/)

 Enjoy your buns with a cup of tea on a lazy afternoon, that's my ideal afternoon tea break ;)

Korean BBQ Pork with Ssamjang

Another popular Korean dish that I would called it my favorite is this BBQ pork wrapped with crispy lettuce and ssamjang. Ssamjang means wrapping sauce and is usually eaten with BBQ meat. Typically the Korean will put meat, vegetable, rice, ssamjang onto a leaf of lettuce and roll it into bite-size.

Ingredients

200g pork belly or pork collar
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
Dash of pepper
1 garlic clove - minced
Crispy lettuces
Cooked rice
1/2 Japanese cucumber

Ssamjang Ingredients
1.5 tbsp soybean paste
*1 tbsp gochujang (hot chilli paste)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove - minced
Sesame seeds

Methods
1. Slice the pork belly or collar thinly, marinate with soya sauce, sesame oil, wine and pepper for 15 mins or longer.
2. Heat the pan with cooking oil and saute the garlic till fragrant, add in the pork slices and grill till cooked and browned.
3. Make the ssamjang sauce and serve in a sauce bowl, adjust the sugar level to your preference. I am using Chinese version of soybean paste so the level of saltiness may vary from Korean soybean paste. Hence it is important to try your sauce while mixing.
4. Slice the cucumber thinly and set aside.
5. Wash the lettuces, serve together with cooked rice, ssamjang and bbq pork.
6. To enjoy this dish, hold a leaf of lettuce and scoop some rice onto it, add a slice of bbq pork, a little ssamjang and a slice of cucumber. Wrap the fillings with the lettuce into bite size and pop it into your mouth ;) Boss, one can of beer please! Hehehehe...

Notes
1. This dish is especially great if you can do it using a hot grill pan and grill your meat while dining. Otherwise using happycall pan like what I did is fine as well.
*2. You can refer to my previous post on Bibimbap for photo of gochujang

Bibimbap 비빔밥

Bibimbap 비빔밥 is a signature dish in Korea. Bibimbap means "mixed rice" served with toppings like vegetables, meat and gochujang (chili pepper paste). The rice and toppings are stirred together thoroughly before eating.

Ingredients
2 bowls of cooked rice
80g minced beef
2 eggs
3 shitake or Chinese dried mushrooms (latter needs to pre-soaked)
1/2 carrot - cut into thin strips
1/2 Japanese cucumber - cut into thin strips
2 handful of bean sprouts
Spinach
3 garlic cloves - minced
Gochujang paste
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp light soya sauce
pepper
salt


Methods
1. Bring a pot of water to boil, add 1/2 tbsp salt.  Add bean sprouts and boil for about 15 mins. Drain off extra water and season with 1/4 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp light soya sauce, some minced garlic and pepper. Set aside.
2. Boil the mushrooms for about 2 mins, drain off excess water and does the same as bean sprouts.
3. Boil carrot and cucumber separately for a min each, drain and set aside. No need seasoning.
4. Boil spinach and 3mins or until it turns soft, set aside.
5. In a pan heat up the cooking oil and saute balanced minced garlic, add in 1/2 tbsp of gochujang paste till fragrant. Add in the minced beef and stir fry till cooked.
6. Cook 2 sunny side up.
7. In a bowl, fill in with rice first followed by the egg before you arrange the vegetables and beef. Lastly add in a scoop of gochugang paste. I used 1/2 tbsp of the paste but if you prefer to have it more spicy you could add more.
8. Stir before eating. Enjoy ;)

Notes
Gochujang paste could be purchased from supermarket, this is how the tubof Gochujang paste looks like.