Japanese Condensed Milk Bread

Soft, fluffy and sweet. I adapted this recipe to use volume measurements. It is one of the family favorites now.

Ingredients

Bread flour - 1.5 cup

Sugar -1.5 TBSP
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Condensed milk - 1.5 TBSP
Warm milk (110F) - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 1.5 TBSP, softened
[CONDENSED MILK FILLING]
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 TBSP
Unsalted butter - 1/5 TBSP, softened

Steps

1. Combine warm milk, a bit of the sugar, and yeast in a mixing bowl and allow the yeast to activate. Once foamy, add in the rest of the bread ingredients in a stand mixer with dough hook and start kneading on low speed. Mix until the dough is smooth and the dough holds together when you try to shape it into a ball. Add a bit extra flour if too much dough sticking to the bottom of the mixer as it’s kneading. 

2. Coat the dough ball in some vegetable oil to prevent the dough ball from drying out. Then, cover the bowl and allow it to rise (30-50 mins depends on your proofing temperature).

3. Prepare the condensed milk filling by mixing the butter and condensed milk until it turns into a relatively smooth paste.

4. Once the dough is done rising, roll it out into a rectangle and evenly spread the filling all over the dough.

5. Cut the sheet of dough into 4 even pieces. Then, stack them on top of each other. Divide into 8 even pieces.

6. Arrange each piece in a loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise for another 30-50 minutes or until double in size.

7. Preheat the oven to 300F.
8. Bake for around 35 minutes or until it turns light golden brown.

9. When done, lightly dust with icing sugar.

Eggless Lemon Pound Cake

This eggless recipe is moist and buttery. Great for lemon lovers.

Ingredients

All purpose flour - 2 cup
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - ¼ tsp
Salt - ¼ tsp
Fresh lemon juice - ¼ cup
Milk - ¾ cup
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Unsalted butter - ½ cup, softened
Sugar - 1 cup

Lemon zest - 1 TBSP
[Lemon Sugar Glaze]
Confectioners’ sugar - 1 cup, sifted
Lemon juice - 1 TBSP
Heavy cream or milk - 1 TBSP

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease a bread loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, mix together lemon juice, milk, and vanilla extract.
4. With stand mixer, beat butter at medium speed until creamy and pale. Add the granulated sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed. Add lemon zest and beat for 1 minute. Then add lemon juice mixture; continue beating to combine about 1 minute.
5. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour. Beat just until combine. Do not overmix this batter.

6. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan. The lemon cake batter is thick so use a spatula to spread it into the pan, if necessary.

7. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center. Allow the pound cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. 

8. Whisk all of the glaze ingredients together and pour over the pound cake. The cake must be completely cool before glazing, otherwise, it will be a bit running like what I had.

Gai-Lan with Oyster Sauce(蠔油芥兰）

This is a common dish in Chinese Dim Sum, also at home. 

Ingredients

Fresh Gai-Lan - 1 bunch, trimmed and washed
Vegetable oil - 1 TBSP
Oyster sauce - 2 TBSP

Steps

1. Boil a pot of water, add oil.
2. Place the stalks in the boiling water and cook for a couple minutes, until tender but still a bit crunchy. 

3. Use a pair of chopsticks to take the veggies out of the water. Carefully shake off excess liquid and arrange the them on a plate. Once they are all on the plate, you can drain any excess water that may have pooled on the plate.

4. Drizzle oyster sauce evenly over the veggies and serve!

Fried Egg Tofu with Enoki Mushroom (家常日本豆腐)

An easy and common home dish. 

Ingredients

Egg tofu - 2 pack
Enoki Mushroom - 2 pack
Green onion - 2 stalks
Garlic - 2-4, diced
Salt - 1 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2 tsp
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Corn starch - enough for coating and thickening

Steps

1. Slice egg tofu into 1 inch thick discs, and roll in corn starch to be fully coated.

2. In a sauce pan with oil, fry each piece until golden.

3. Boiling water, add a few drop of oil and salt, cook mushroom.

4. In a frying pan, add oil, fragrant garlic and green onion. Then add tofu, mushroom, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cover to cook for 1 minute.

5. Mix 1 TBSP corn starch with 2 TBSP of water, pour in the frying pan. Cook for a minute to make sure the sauce is thicken and well mixed. Plate and serve.

Rosemary Garlic Pull Apart Bread

A buttery pull apart bread found online. 

 

Ingredients 

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp

Granulated sugar - 1 TBSP

Whole milk - 3/4 cup

Unsalted butter - 3 TBSP, softened to room temperature

Large egg - 1 (substitute with 1/4 cup yogurt or apple sauce)

All purpose flour - 2 and 1/3 cups

Salt - 1 tsp 

Garlic powder - 1 tsp

Finely chopped fresh rosemary - 1 TBSP (or 2 tsp dried) 

Filling 

Unsalted butter - 5 TBSP, extra soft

Finely chopped fresh rosemary - 1 TBSP (or 2 tsp dried) 

Finely chopped fresh parsley - 1 TBSP (or 2 tsp dried) 

Garlic cloves - 2, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Shredded cheese - 3/4 cup, parmesan, mozzarella, or white cheddar cheese

Optional Topping 

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 

flaky/coarse sea salt for sprinkling 

Steps

1. Place the yeast and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook or paddle attachment. Add warm milk (about 110°F) on top of yeast/sugar. Whisk gently to combine, and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. 

2. Add the butter, egg, flour, salt, garlic powder, and rosemary. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes. Dough will be soft. Transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Using lightly floured hands, knead it for 1 minute. If the dough is too sticky to handle, add 1-3 more Tablespoons of flour, but you want a very soft dough. Shape into a ball. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a slightly warm environment to rise until doubled in size, around 60-90 minutes. 

3. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan. 

4. In a medium bowl, mix the soft butter, rosemary, parsley, garlic, and salt together for filling. Cover tightly and set aside until ready to use. 

5. Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide it into 12 equal pieces. Using lightly floured hands, flatten each into a circle that’s about 4 inches in diameter. The circle doesn’t have to be perfectly round. Spread 1-2 teaspoons of filling mixture onto each. Sprinkle each with 1 Tablespoon of cheese. Fold circles in half and line in prepared baking pan, round side up. 

6. Cover loaf pan with plastic wrap and allow to rise once again in a slightly warm environment until puffy, about 45 minutes. 

7. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position then preheat oven to 350°F. Bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes. If you find the top of the loaf is browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil. 

If desired, brush with melted butter for topping and sprinkle with sea salt. 

8. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove from the pan and serve warm.  

Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Reheat in a 300°F oven for 10-15 minutes until interior is soft again or warm in the microwave.

Sour Cabbage Stew (东北酸菜粉丝汆白肉)

A traditional Northern China winter dish. 

Ingredients

[PREPARE THE PORK BELLY]
Water - 4 cups
Pork belly - 1 lb 
Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine) - 2 TBSP
Ginger - 4 slices
Green onion - 2 stalks
Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum 花椒) - 1 tsp
Star anise - 1
Salt - 1/2 tsp
[THE DIPPING SAUCE]
Garlic - 3 cloves (finely minced)
Light soy sauce - 2 TBSP
Sugar - 1/4 tsp
Chili oil (optional, to taste)

[FOR THE REST OF THE DISH]
Pickled Chinese cabbage - 1 lb
Vegetable oil - 2 TBSP
Ginger - 3 slices (julienned)
Green onions - 2 stalks (white part julienned, green parts chopped)
Oyster sauce - 1 TBSP
Chicken stock - 1 cup

Dried sweet potato starch noodles - 3 oz (soaked in water until soft)
White pepper - 1/4 tsp

Salt (to taste)

Steps

1. In a medium pot, add the water, whole pork belly, Shaoxing wine, ginger, green onions, Sichuan pepper, star anise, and salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer for 15 minutes.

2.  Remove pork belly from the pot to let it cool, and save the stock. 

3. Make the dipping sauce by combining the minced garlic, light soy sauce, sugar, and chili oil (if using) in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. Slice the sour cabbage about ¼" thick, transfer to a large metal bowl, and fill with fresh water. Agitate the vegetables in the water with your hands a bit, drain, and thoroughly squeeze out any remaining water from the cabbage. Set aside.

5. Once the pork belly is warm to the touch, slice it into 1/4" slices. Set aside.
6. In a thick-bottomed, relatively shallow pot (a clay pot, stone pot, or cast iron Dutch oven is ideal for retaining heat while eating), heat the vegetable oil, and add the ginger, scallion whites, and the sour cabbage. Stir-fry for 5-7 minutes, until any liquid has evaporated.

7. Strain the liquid used to boil the pork into the pot. Stir in the oyster sauce and chicken stock, and then add the sliced pork belly. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes over medium low heat.

8. Add the glass noodles, stir, and cover again. Cook for 2-3 more minutes.
9. Finally, stir in the white pepper and salt to taste. Top with the chopped green parts of the scallions, and serve immediately with the dipping sauce for the pork and the steamed rice.