Chestnut and Pumpkin Bread Rolls 栗子南瓜麵包捲



In order to clear the leftover pumpkin and a pack of roast peeled chestnut that have been sitting there for too long and going to expire, so I bake this chestnut and pumpkin bread rolls the other day. After did quite a number of breads recipe, I am able to use the basic bread ingredients to come out my own bread recipe. I noticed that recently it is so fast to proof bread dough (about 30-45mins), due to recent hot and warm weather.

 

Nowadays it is easy to get this type of roast peeled chestnut in our local supermarket here. I plan to use this store-bought chestnut to make Bar Chang (rice dumpling) next time, no more hard time to prepare chestnut at home.

 

I bought this small piece of handmade lace dolly from a market at Firenze Italy , very expensive after converted, so was able to buy a small piece like this..

 

Making the rolls...

 

This bread rolls still maintained soft till the next day due to addition of pumpkin. But it just turned a bit dry due to no addition of sponge dough. Nowadays I like to make bread using direct method, lazy to make sponge dough or overnight sponge dough method. Also because we have to consume homemade bread very fast as no preservative is added.

 



Chestnut and Pumpkin Bread Rolls 栗子南瓜麵包捲

(recipe source: inspired from the cookbook Home Baking with my own twist )
*makes 9 buns using a non-stick square pan 24x24cm

Ingredients

250g high protein flour or bread flour
50g mashed pumpkin
1tsp + 1/4tsp instant yeast
1/2tsp salt
50g egg (medium size egg)
50g sugar
60g milk or adjust accordingly
20g unsalted butter, room temperature

120g roast peeled chestnut (store-bought), chopped

10g unsalted butter, for brushing
Egg wash

Method

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl except milk and unsalted butter.
2. Using a stand mixer, slowly pour in milk (don’t pour all at one go, adjust accordingly) and knead till smooth. Add in butter, continue to knead till elastic and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap or cloth and set aside to proof until double size (for me this took about 45mins).
3. Punch down the dough and set aside for 5mins.
4. Using a roll pin, roll dough into 24x24cm, using a silicone brush, brush butter on top of the dough.
5. Sprinkle chopped chestnut on top, roll it up like a swiss roll, divide it into 9 pcs.Place them on the prepared baking pan. Set aside to proof until puffy (for me this took about 15mins).
6. Apply egg wash on the dough, bake at pre-heated oven at 180C for 20mins or until golden brown. Cool briefly before serve.

Hee Pan (Pumpkin steamed buns) 南瓜喜板

I have been seeing many Chinese bloggers attempted this Hee Pan, a kind of steamed buns that made with glutinous rice flour, resulted soft and chewy texture. Actually Hokkien people like me called this as Ki Ka Ku. I have made the typical pink Hee Pan and also pandan Hee Pan before, this time I tried with pumpkin version.

Making Hee Pan just like making bread, prepare the dough, roll to ball shape (it is easy to roll on countertop) , flatten, proof and steam.

Anyway Hee Pan doesn't need to have first proof like making bread.



Can't really detect the pumpkin taste, but adding pumpkin makes the texture really soft..



I still use my mom's recipe but modify to pumpkin version.

Hee Pan (Pumpkin steamed buns) 南瓜喜板

(recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)
** makes about 20pcs

250 glutinous rice flour

300g plain flour
180g mashed pumpkin (steamed, mashed and sifted)
150g caster sugar
100g corn oil
1 and 1/2tsp instant yeast
120g water

Banana leaves (soften in hot water, cut into round shape)

Method

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead until soft and smooth.
2. Divide dough to equal portion (60g), shape into small round ball. Grease banana leaf with corn oil, place a dough ball on the banana leaf, and flatten the dough by pressing your palm on the dough ball.
3. Cover with cloth and proof it for 30-45mins.
4. Steam over hot boiling water over high medium heat for 15mins (make sure water is already boiling before steaming). When ready, remove the lid as fast as possible as to prevent water from dripping over the buns unless you use a bamboo steamer. If not able to consume all buns at same day, keep it in container and re-steam for better texture the next day.

A reader asked me whether I have tasted Korean mochi bread bun before. She said the bun has chewy texture and very nice. So I keep one  Hee Pan dough and tried to bake in oven. This is what I got, slight chewy texture bread bun, taste quite good! Maybe next time I make a big batch to see.. 

Corns and Pumpkin Savory Pancakes 玉米南瓜煎饼



The other day I made this simple and tasty savoury pancake for lunch..Basically I just modified from the earlier Japanese savoury pancake Okonomiyaki recipe.



Corns and Pumpkin Savory Pancakes

(recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)

150g cabbage, finely shredded

1 red chili, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
150g pumpkin, finely shredded
1 corn on the cob, use knife to slice the sweet corns
1 slice of Ham, chopped
2 eggs
1 and ½ cup plain flour
1tsp salt or to taste
1tsp chicken stock powder
Pepper
50ml water

Method

1. Combine cabbage, chili, onion, spring onion, pumpkin, sweet corns and ham in a mixing bowl.
2. Add in seasonings, eggs and flour, slowly add in water and mix till a mixture.
3. Pan-fry a spoonful of the mixture in a well-greased moderately warm frying pan till golden on both sides.
4. Serve hot with sweet chili dipping sauce.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Zoe (Bake for Happy Kids) and Mui Mui (My Little Favourite DIY) and hosted by Esther (Copycake Kitchen).

Steamed Pumpkin buns with Lotus paste filling 南瓜小包子

The other day my blogger friend Simple Menu (Yan) forwarded a link to me and asked me : you do you do, you can do this, hahaha..

She always asked me to try out new recipe when she found any interesting recipes. Since i still have half pumpkin sitting in the fridge, why not try this cute pumpkin bun which look like pumpkin shape.

When i see this white lotus paste selling in the bakery ingredients shop and realized that Mooncake festival is approaching. I quickly buy this paste first before they sold out very fast..So i use this lotus paste to make the filling for this bun.

Use a butter knife to make the pumpkin pattern

Before steam

   

Steamed Pumpkin buns with Lotus paste filling 南瓜小包子
(recipe source: visually inspired by here, recipe by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)
*makes 13 buns


Ingredients
150g mashed pumpkin ( steam or microwave to soften)
225 all purpose flour
1tbsp sugar
1/3tsp salt


To make yeast water (set aside for 5mins to bloom)
1tbsp lukewarm water
1tsp sugar
1tsp instant yeast


Filling- lotus paste ( you can replaced with red bean paste, peanut or etc)
Pumkin skin- cut into small piece to make as pumpkin’s stem


Method
1. Add in all ingredients and yeast water in a mixing bowl and knead till smooth dough.
2. Cover with damp cloth and rest for 60mins.
3. Knock down dough to expel some air, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a while.
4. Weigh out 30 gm of dough and roughly shape into a ball and rest for 10mins.
5. Weight lotus paste 15g and lightly shape into ball.
6. Fatten and roll out the dough into a circle. Place lotus filling onto the center, wrap and pleat up the sides and seal.
7. Use a butter knife, mark from top and lightly press down towards bottom, keep a small gap in between, repeat this step till whole dough ball finished. Place a small piece of pumpkin skin at the middle and lightly press down.
8. Place the pumpkin buns (pleat area face down) onto a piece of greaseproof paper, on the rack for steaming. Cover with a piece of damp cloth and let rise for another 10-15 mins.
9. Lightly mark bun with butter knife again (to sharpen the pattern), steam the buns under rapidly boiling water on high heat for about 15mins.
10. Wait for 2mins then only open the lid and remove from the steamer.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake

This morning, i just realized that i have a small piece of pumpkin (only cost me RM 1) still sitting inside the fridge and I think already there for more than a week. Sometime i just buy things and planning to make something, but the end i was attracted by other recipes and totally forgot about it, hehehe..Since i have quite long did not bake a chiffon, so i added this pumpkin in this chiffon and resulted a very moist and soft chiffon, also like the natural golden colour..In fact, this small piece of pumpkin can turn into 3 chiffons...

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake
(recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)
**makes a 20cm chiffon

Ingredients
4 egg yolks

20g sugar

50g corn oil
10g water
70g self raising flour
75g pumpkin puree( steamed pumpkin and process till fine)


4 egg whites
70g sugar


10g pumpkin seeds


Method
1. Hand whisk egg yolks and sugar till pale.

2. Add in corn oil, water, and pumpkin puree, mix well.

3. Add in flour and combine well, set aside.

4. Beat egg whites over high speed till foamy (1min for KA mixer at speed 8).

5. Slowly add in sugar, beat till soft peak form (2mins for KA mixer at speed 6).

6. Take 1/3 portion of egg white mixture and use hand whisk to mix with egg yolk mixture till light.

7. Fold the balance of egg white mixture into egg yolk mixture, combine well.

8. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on the bottom of cake pan. Pour cake mixture into baking pan and bake at pre-heated oven at 160c for 40min or adjust to your oven as every oven is difference. Inverted the cake pan and remove cake once it is cool completely.

Earlier i told you i bought a cheap cake stand from Bangkok, i only use it once and it has broken into two pieces, and further the big plate also broken into pieces, only left with the stand..sob sob ..

Anyway, I save the stand and turn it into another new cake stand as I just bought a cheap plate from Tesco and stick it together, look not bad right this new cake stand, hahaha..



*** Happy Labour Day and Happy Holiday ***

Vegetarian pumpkin dumplings (素煎餃/ 鍋貼)

Last Saturday, my sister brought me to a vegetarian food party which organized by Tzu Chi Malaysia 慈濟 (Tzu Chi Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 1966 by Dharma Master Cheng Yen in the impoverished east coast of Taiwan. The Foundation has been contributing to better social and community services, medical care, education and humanism in Taiwan for nearly forty years). My sister is now one of the volunteer in this center. I was truly enjoyed all the yummy vegetarian foods prepared by their members. Also I learnt this vegetarian dumplings from them..

All yummy vegetarian foods served in this party...素食也可以很好吃！

They also talk about the benefit of eating vegetarian foods and encourage us to eat less meat and oily foods (cheese, butter and etc) to have a better and healthy life..I was inspired by this talk and I will start to cook at least one vegetarian meal once in a week..

They also do recycle activities in this center..

This Taiwan lady taught us how to make dumplings from the scratch..(taken by phone, sorry for the poor quality)

One tip from her, make this flour water to get a cripsy bottom of dumplings..

Adding the flour water, you can see a thin layer of cripsy cooked flour at the bottom..

This is the filling, they suggested to use the mushroom stem (not to waste by throwing away and the stem actually has nice texture)..

Nice dipping sauce-light soy sauce, water, sesame oil and Basil

To make round dumpling wrapper, use the end of the rolling pin and roll by turning the dough in circle..Since this is homemade, do not force yourself to get a perfect round wrapper..Even is uneven, after wrapped, you will still see nice dumpling shape..

Too bad, I'm not able to take the video to show you how i wrap the dumplings. Let me show you the pictures as per below, the steps actually start from pull, fold, press and seal the wrapper..

Pan fry the dumplings...

Vegetarian Pumpkin dumplings (素煎餃/ 鍋貼)
(recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)
*makes around 80 mini dumplings

Dumpling wrapper
300g plain flour
150g pumpkin puree with water, mix 100g pumpkin puree (after steamed) and water

Filling
250g cabbage, chopped finely
50g carrot, chopped finely
20g Chinese chives, chopped finely
100g cooked Chinese Shiitake mushroom stems, chopped finely (you may replace with just mushroom but not the mushroom stem)
Seasonings
1tbsp light soy sauce
1/2tsp salt
1tsp sesame oil
A dash of pepper

Cooking dumplings
Flour water – add 1 cup water with 1tbsp plain flour

Method
1. Soak dried Shiitake mushroom stems for overnight. Braise with water (season with light soy sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce) for 1-2 hours (I use pressure cook to cook for 20mins).
2. To prepare dumpling wrapper, mix flour with pumpkin water, knead till smooth dough, set aside to rest for 1hour.
3. To prepare the filling, squeeze as much of water from cabbage, mix with carrot, chives and mushroom. Add in seasonings, mix till combine well.
4. Dust worktop with flour, divide dough into small pieces, use rolling pin to roll dough into round and thin. Place a small spoonful of filing on the dumpling skin, fold it accordingly.
5. Add little cooking oil in a non-stick frying pan, fry dumplings over medium heat.
6. Once dumplings bottom turned golden brown, add some flour water and cover with lid immediately, cook over high heat.
7. Cook for about 2-3 minutes till water has evaporated.
8. Dish out and serve with dipping sauce (Light soy sauce, sesame oil, water and basil).