Showing posts with label A little bit of baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A little bit of baking. Show all posts
30 Jan 2014
Bak Kwa Madness for coming Chinese New Year??
Chinese New Year is justwith my friend since the start of January.
I came across an article on New Paper - 'Behind the scenes in a bak kwa shop' which featured Lim Chee
Guan. There was even a video to give public a peek at its HQ at Pandan Loop. Obviously the secret recipe
was not included in this article.
My eyes almost popped out of my socket when I saw that 1kg of Bak Kwa was going for $50.00 at the
shop! Gosh! Those people have been queuing for hours too and they mentioned that it was worth the wait.
Is it a tradition that Chinese New Year means Bak Kwa time?
The link of the article can be found here.
Another article which I came across last Monday with the heading
HED CHEF EXTRA: How to make your own bak kwa
HED CHEF EXTRA: How to make your own bak kwa
sparked my interest.
The recipe given was:
-1kg minced pork (shoulder butt)
-220g fine sugar
-1½ tsp salt
-1 tsp light soya sauce
-1 tbsp oyster sauce
-½ tsp five spice powder
-1½ tbsp Chinese rice wine
-Pinch of red food colouring powder
I guessed many people who tried making it would be greatly disappointed as it would never turn out the
same as those commercialized outlets like Lim Chee Guan, Bee Cheng Hiang or Fragrance Bak Kwa.
The reason of me writing this post was because I was a bit pissed off. I have already tried making Bak Kwa
even before this article's recipe was published, using the oven, even with barbecuing, and the results was so off! It could be found on my previous post here. Not to mention the texture was not right too...
Notice the article's recipe above contained sugar as the main sweetening agent? My friend and I did a batch
with only sugar and no honey (the recipe I used have), the taste turned out really flat! Honey not only
sweetened the Bak Kwa but also provides flavor. (Different brand, different flower, different flavor also.)
Be careful as honey is sweeter than sugar too.
Another thing that would happen when you place the marinated meat into the oven would be the oozing out
of marination which I experienced many times before. To prevent that from happening, I suggested using the
dehydrator which I did not expect my friend to actually buy it
After that, the marinated meat is smoked with his own-made smoker, made from a 3 tier Ikea rack, covered by some board used for artwork. (Sushi bamboo racks to place the marinated meat on.) |
(Top view) An opening for smoke to escape and and thermometer to determine the temperature of the smoking. |
Just a tin with hickory wood/charcoal to produce the smoke. |
(Everything stated is based on personal opinion ; open to suggestions and advice)
4 Jan 2014
Homemade meat jerky! Bak Kwa experiment for Chinese New Year!
My very 1st post for the year 2014 and I will be blogging about my homemade meat jerky process! I still
have a couple of 2013 posts which I have yet to update but this post was the priority since Chinese New
Year is approaching! My 3rd time experimenting with the seasoning quantity before finally settling with the
one below. (Note: Adjusted based on my personal preference!)
have a couple of 2013 posts which I have yet to update but this post was the priority since Chinese New
Year is approaching! My 3rd time experimenting with the seasoning quantity before finally settling with the
one below. (Note: Adjusted based on my personal preference!)
The recipe I modified into:
Pork 300g (A bit fattier would be better)
Sugar 3 tbs
Honey 3 tbs (I think malt syrup would be better, more caramelised flavor.)
Fish Sauce 1.5 tbs
Sweet Wine 2 tbs (I used a dessert wine)
Dark Soy Sauce 1/2 tbs
Char Siew Sauce 1 tbs (Removed after 3rd batch)
Five Spice 1/2 tbs
Sesame Oil 1/2 tbs (Removed after 3rd batch)
If anyone knows of any better tried-and-tested-before recipe, care to share with me so I could try?
I knew it would not be so easy to get close to the exact taste of Bak Kwa, if not everyone would be making
their own already.
Picture of myself barbecuing the meat jerky! |
Another selfie shot with my friend's barbecue pit! Thanks Glenn for letting me use his house to barbecue! |
The texture was way too smooth to be Bak Kwa and it looked more like ham instead. |
My friend did the baking to firm up the minced meat before I barbecued them. Kept flipping and barbecuing piece by piece as his oven could only bake a piece at a time. |
Glazed with honey when the meat was about to be done with a bit of charred parts appearing. Make sure the honey dries slightly or it would end up sticky. |
Done! Pork or beef ?? |
Another shot with only 2 pieces... |
Some of the minced chicken ended up like this, all broken apart because it was too soft to flip with tongs. |
Done with all the 1.2kg of beef and pork which took about 5 hours...? |
Final conclusion:
Beef - Jerky have quite a strong beefy taste and smell which could be quite unpleasant.
The meat was rather firm but soft and tender.
Easy to handle while baking and barbecuing.
Easiest to dry up and discolour after a few days in the fridge
Chicken - Became watery/mushy after marination and broke apart easily.
Tasted a bit like satay / chicken steak.
Pork - Texture a bit rubbery after a few days in the fridge.
More suitable due to having more fats (although mine still not enough)
All - Unusual smell and taste, something like hoisin sauce detected.
The texture too smooth to be Bak Kwa.
Overall taste still negative to me.
5 Dec 2013
Experiment : Choux with Salted Yolk Custard
My yummy looking eclairs with salted yolk custard cream! I may want to experiment and modify the recipe next time when I have the time... |
18 Nov 2013
My Term 4 Plated Dessert Exam
Banoffee Ice cream (banana + toffee with digestive biscuits for extra crunch) coated with silky chocolate glaze, giving a gooey texture as the ice cream melted within. |
One of the criteria was to plate 4 plates of similar dessert and here's my picture of 2! |
My small choux filling was salted custard cream while my big choux was salted hazelnut ganache. |
My osmanthus Jelly which I loved so much! Beautiful yellowish transparency with the flower and petals encased within. Those mint leaves gave extra minty flavor as well as colour! |
6 Nov 2013
Baking with friends!
Our mini plain vanilla cupcakes with a coffee chocolate bean. Our alcohol had evaporated in the oven.... Opps!!! |
27 Jul 2013
My 1st Bread Showpiece 'Crash Site'
Another view of the meshing! It was really tricky to do those netting design due to the crumbly bread dough and interloping dough of about 4 mm in diameter. |
The recipe that I used:
Baking temperature about 170 degrees, Time about 1/2 hour.
400g Plain Flour
70g Rye Flour
30g Potato Starch
30g Salt
100g Soften Butter
Sugar Syrup:
80g Water
120g Sugar
Steps:
1) Mix all the ingredients together
2) Add soften butter
3) Add sugar syrup (not too hot)
4) Mix to form a smooth, firm dough (add more syrup if needed)
5) Let dough rest overnight in chiller
The next day, add some sugar syrup to soften dough, blend well and enjoy making your bread showpiece!
14 Jun 2013
Mixed Berry Bar with Sour Apple Sauce - Randomness
5 May 2013
Ladyfingers and Tiramisu!
7 Apr 2013
Custard Puffs
7 Feb 2013
Pineapple Tarts
Chinese New Year is just around the corner and nothing excites me more than collecting 'hong baos' (Red packets with notes inside)! I have seen many bombardment of pineapple tart recipes of different variation appearing in many baking blog posts and I was tempted to just follow the crowd. I am considered a baker anyway, a newbie one to be exact. I searched the web randomly and landed on a blog called foodismylifeand here is the link of the recipe which I had followed. It was my first attempt baking pineapple tarts and it was a success. The recipe as follows: 500g pineapple fillings (I used Poon Huat's) 400g plain flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 tbs corn flour 63g icing sugar 250g unsalted butter (room temperature) 2 no.s egg yolks (40g) + 1 no. egg yolk (egg wash) 1 pcs of pineapple tart has 6g filling and 11g dough Total amount of pineapple tarts I made: 67 pcs Oven temperature: 200 Degrees Duration: About 15 mins Soft, crumbly, melt-in-the-mouth, buttery, fragrant, a bit sweet, proportion just right. |
31 Dec 2012
Orange Chiffon Cake
28 Oct 2012
Vienna Cookies (Sable)
The size affected the baking timing and I tried to standardise all the sizes to be as similar as possible. About 180 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. |
The recipe that I followed:
30g egg white (1 egg)
200g unsalted butter
225g cake flour
75g icing sugar
26 Oct 2012
Challah Bread
This was after baking to a golden brown and the bread were left to continue its carry over baking process. |
White sesame seeds were normally sprinkled on Challah Bread and sometimes raisins can be added too. The photos were taken from my course mate Hinna's camera. |