Roasted Rack of Pork

 I bought a rack of pork from Costco and basically followed the recipe on the package. The roast was tender and tasty with just simple salt and pepper.

Ingredients

8-bone Rack of Pork
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Lightly coat meat with olive oil, rub with salt and pepper.

3. Place roast in cooking tray with bones up and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Reduce to 350°F and cook 60-80 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 145°F in the thickest part of the meat. 

5. Remove from oven and let reset 3 minutes. Slice and serve. 

Steamed Taro Cake(广式芋头糕)

Ingredients

Rice flour - 1 bag(1 lb)
Cantonese style sausage - 2 sticks

Dried shrimp - 1 cup

Green onion - optional

Salt

Oil 

Steps

1. Soak dried shrimp in water for a hour until soften.

2. Dice taro, sausage and dried shrimp.

3. Add rice flour to a mixing bowl, add enough water to knead into a dough.
4. In a frying pan, add oil and brown the sausage and shrimp.

5. In a frying pan, add oil and brown the taro, add salt to taste. 

6. Add enough water to immerse all taro pieces. Cook until boiling and then remove from heat. 

7. Add more water to the rice flour dough until it becomes a sticky batter, add salt to taste.

8. Pour taro with water into the rice flour batter, stir in sausage and shrimp.

9. Grease two 6" cake molds, and split batter between them. 

10. Steam on high heat for 35-40 minutes, or until chopstick inserted can come out clean. Optionally,  sprinkle with chopped green onion. 

11. Taro cake can be served hot as is, or you can slice and pan fried it with oil.  

Japanese "Fresh" Bread (Tangzhong method)

The ”Fresh” bread loaf of NOGAMI (乃が美生食吐司) is very popular in Japan. I adapted this recipe that claims to copycat NOGAMI Toast. Since I have never had the original 乃が美生食吐司, nor do I have the pan with lid, so I am not sure how good my loaf compares. The bread is very soft and fluffy and great for toasts or sandwiches.

Ingredients

Yield: 3 large loaves

[Water roux (Tangzhong)]
Bread flour - 1/3 cup
Water - ¾ cup + 1 TBSP
[Bread]
Bread flour - 7 3/4 cup
Salt - 2 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar - 2/3 cup
Whipping cream -1/3 cup
Dry active yeast - 2 tsp
Warm water - 2 1/3 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 3 TBSP
Unsalted butter - 7 TBSP, melted
Additional water - 6 - 7 TBSP

Steps

1. In a sauce pan, whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and lump free. Put sauce pan on stove with medium heat (to reach 65°C/150°F). Continue whisking until the mixture starts to thicken up and remove immediately from the heat. Transfer the water roux to a bowl and keep covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

2. Add water, sugar, yeast in stand mixer, and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

3. Add whipping cream, sweetened condensed milk, water roux, salt, bread flour in stand mixer bowl, attach the kneading hook onto the stand mixer and combine all ingredient on low speed 1.

4. When all ingredients are combined, turn the speed up to 4 and knead the dough for 20 min, or until the dough is smooth and elastic to pass the windowpane test.

5. Add melted butter and stir at low speed 1 until well mixed

6. Add the 6-7 TBSP additional water. Stir at low speed 1 until well integrated.

7. Take dough out of mixer, cover and store in refrigerator overnight (16-18 hours).

8. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts. Knead each part into a round ball. Cover and let them rest for 30 min.

9. With a roller, flatten each piece out in one direction, roll up, and then flatten the dough in another directory, roll up. Line four rolls inside a greased loaf pan. Let the shaped breads proof in a warm and humid place, until they have doubled in size.

10. Preheat oven to 350F. Bake for 40 minutes.

11. The bread can be sliced after completely cool. 

Vegan Vanilla Cupcake

Followed this recipe for some egg-free cupcakes for a birthday. It is moist, fluffy and very sweet.

Ingredients

[Cupcakes]

All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
Granulated sugar - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 TBSP
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
Vegetable oil -1/4 cup + 1 TBSP
Apple sauce - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsp
[Vanilla Buttercream]
1/2 cup vegan butter, at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tsp. non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350º F. Line a muffin tin with 12 baking cups and spray with cooking oil. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl combine the non-dairy milk, oil, apple sauce, water, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently whisk together until the batter is evenly hydrated and fairly smooth.
3. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin so that they are 2/3rds of the way full, filling all 12 muffin molds evenly. 

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

5. In a stand-up mixer, using your paddle attachment, cream the vegan butter on high for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. Turn mixer to low and slowly add powdered sugar with motor running, again scraping down the sides as necessary. Once the powdered sugar is incorporated, turn the mixer back up to high and beat for another 3-5 minutes until thick and creamy. Turn down mixer, add non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
6. Once the cupcakes are COMPLETELY cool, pipe buttercream onto the cupcakes. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Sokupan Milk Bread (Yudane method)

Sokupan is the less sweet cousin of the Hokkaido Milk Bread. It is better used for sandwich. This Japanese Milk Bread uses Yudane method. Yudane is made by mixing bread flour and hot boiling water. It differs from the water roux starter method by the flour to water ratio. I adapted the recipe to make two large bread loaves using the 9.25"x5.25" loaf pans.

Ingredient

[Yudane]
Bread flour - 1 cup

Boiling water - 1/2 cup

[Bread]
Milk - 2 cup, warm
Sugar - 1/4 cup

Dry instant yeast - 1 TBSP
Unsalted butter - 2 TBSP, room temperature
Bread flour - 5 cups
Salt - 2.5 tsp

Steps

1. Make Yudane the night before. Place bread flour in a bowl, add boiling water and mix well. Seal and refrigerate overnight.

2. Add milk, sugar, butter and yeast in a stand mixer bowl, then add the Yudane as you tear it into small pieces.

3. Add the bread flour and salt. Attach the kneading hook onto the stand mixer and combine all ingredient on low speed 1.

4. When all ingredients are combined, turn the speed up to 5 or 6 and knead the dough for 20 min.
5. Roll the dough round and place the dough into a greased bowl. Cover and let it proof for about 45 min to 1 hour or until double the size. Use your finger, to test if the dough has risen by dusting your finger with flour and poking the dough. If the dough doesn't bounce back and the hole you poked stays there, it is ready.

6. Punch the dough down and divide the dough into eight equal parts (about 190g each) and roll them into smooth balls. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes.

7. With a roller, flatten each piece out in one direction, roll up, and then flatten the dough in another directory, roll up. Line four rolls inside a greased loaf pan. Let the shaped breads proof in a warm and humid place, until they have doubled in size, about 30 min. 

8. Preheat the oven to 365 °F(185°C).
9. Bake the dough for about 25 -30 minutes. If the bread turns dark too quickly, cover the top with a piece of aluminum foil to avoid the bread getting burned.

10. For the final glow and delicious aroma of the bread, you can brush the top of the bread with some melted butter. Remove the bread from the tin and cool it down on a rack

11. The bread can be sliced after completely cool. 

Hokkaido Milk Bread (Traditional Bread-making way)

This recipe uses the traditional bread-making way, not using water roux. It is easy to follow. It also contains a video tutorial on how to knead by hand. I picked the easier way of using the stand mixer. The end product still have incredible soft texture. 

Ingredients

Bread flour - 4 cups
Cake flour - 1/2 cup
Active dry yeast - 1 TBSP
Dried milk powder - 3.5 TBSP
Sugar - 1/3 cup
Salt - 1.5 tsp
Egg - 1
Warm milk - 1 cup (about 110F)
Whipping cream - 2/3 cup

YIELD: 2 loaves

Steps

1. Add 1 TBSP sugar, yeast to warm milk, and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

2. Put bread flour, cake flour, milk powder, rest of the sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl. Whisk together.
3. In stand mixer bowl, combine the egg and whipping cream. Add the yeast and milk mixture, mix well together.
4. Add flour mixture, start at low speed then gradually raise speed to medium. Mix for 12-15 mins until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. If dented by your finger, the dough should spring back. Be careful not to overmix, since the gluten structure might be dwindled.

5. Grease a big bowl, and transfer the dough in. Cover the bowl and let proof until the dough has doubled in size, about 40-60min.

6. Transfer the dough to worktop, quickly knead for 1-2 mins. Divide the dough evenly into 8 small pieces (about 150g each), and shape them into smooth round balls. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes. At this step, the dough is very smooth and not sticky at all (if it still feels sticky, you can add some more coating flour).

7.  With a roller, flatten each piece out in one direction, roll up, and then flatten the dough in another directory, roll up. Line four rolls inside a greased loaf pan. 

8. Let the shaped breads proof in a warm and humid place, until they have doubled in size. 

9. Preheat oven to 340°F. 
10. Bake for approximately 30 – 40 mins until the top is dark golden brown. If the bread turns dark too quickly, cover the top with a piece of aluminum foil to avoid the bread getting burned. Don’t overbake the bread because it’ll make the bread dry with thick crust.

11. For the final glow and delicious aroma of the bread, you can brush the top of the bread with some melted butter or whipping cream. Brush little by little so the butter or cream has time to be evenly absorbed.

This bread can be eaten warm, but if you wish to slice it, then you have to wait for it to completely cool, otherwise the inside of the bread can get sticky to the cut.
Store in completely sealed box/bag, in a cool place. Good to eat for about 1-2 days.