Homemade Silver Needle Noodle aka Lou Shu Fun

I forgot which famous figure once said invention comes out of desperation or something to the tune of improvisation comes out of desperation but recently, I find that saying is true. Just the other day when I thought of something to do which will fulfill my target of "Doing Something For the First Time" (more about that some other time), I came across this blog page which I have bookmarked for ages now.

An hour and a half later, this is what happened.

Now, if you live in Asia where you can get this noodle anytime you want, you really have no purpose making this at home. I will advise you not to cos it is very time consuming and all you get out of this is a cup of the noodle. However, since I do not live in Asia anymore and I can't for the life of me find this in the Asian grocery I frequent, that will have to do.

To reward myself for all the hard work, perseverance, and that moment of adding another item to my first time list, I make myself a delicious bowl of minced meat silver thread noodle, of course. Who wouldn't? Honestly, the end result is so good that I don't think I will mind making this again in....say......next year?

Silver Needle Noodle (Adapted from Do What I Like)

Ingredients:
140g wheat starch
60g tapioca starch
pinch of salt
170ml boiling hot water
2 tsp olive oil

Method:
1. Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add in the boiling hot water and stir with a pair of chopsticks. Cover with a wet towel and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Add in the olive oil and knead till you get a smooth dough.

3. Roll into two log-shaped pieces and cut them into small pieces about 3g each. Shape dough with your hands.

4. Put some oil into a big pot of hot water and cook the noodle till transparent.

5. Once the noodle is cooked, drain and put them into a mixing bowl, add one teaspoon of olive and toss the noodle around (to prevent them from sticking to each other). The noodles turn transparent after rinsing in cold water. I'd say you should probably boil it for at least 10 minutes before draining the noodles and rinse it under cold running water. Remember to stir the noodles while boiling to avoid them from turning into a hot boiling glue in the water.
6. Chilled overnight before using.

Black Russian Rye Bread

If you have been to Outback Steakhouse, Cheesecake Factory, and/or Bugaboo Creek, then you will clearly understand the need for any home baker to emulate those tasty delicious bread they served to you with whipped butter shortly after you placed your orders. Oh, those sweetish dark brownish morsels of baked dough goodness.....and then it hit you one day, what in God's name are those breads?

I like to think of it as in bread from the pumpernickel/rye family. If only it is that simple. For some, I don't know what reason, it tastes DIFFERENT. I have tried many a recipes that claimed to be the copycats of breads baked in these establishments but no....they didn't come close at all. That's it until I found Beth Hensperger and her Bread Bible. Of course those breads are of Russian's and Eastern European's origin. Why didn't I think of that all those years ago? Bummer!

So, step 1 to identify the recipe to follow is over. I know exactly what I am looking at and the Black Russian Rye Bread came highly recommended by other food bloggers out there. Said to be the closest and even better rendition of those tasty brown morsels of bread served at the above mentioned establishments. Good!

On to the recipe, a quick scan and the first thought that came to my mind was OMG! I have never ever see a longer list of ingredients required to make a load of bread ever in my entire life. I try to convince myself that it came highly recommended and that if I really wanna free myself of the clutches from those chain restaurants (if I am honest, I really don't care too much for their food aside from the bread. Oh, the bread!), I better give it a shot.

Will I ever attempt something like this again, OH, YES! The bread came out absolutely TO DIE FOR! If you have a stand mixer or a bread machine, it should be relatively easy to make this bread with the help of those equipment. Even if you have to knead it with your hands, please try this recipe at least once. This bread is OH, SO WORTH IT!

Russian Black Bread

(Adapted from Beth Hensperger’s The Bread Bible)Makes 2 loaves


Ingredients
2 packages (1 1/2 tablespoons) active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
2 cups water
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
3 cups medium rye flour
3 cups unbleached, all-purpose or bread flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 tablespoons caraway seeds or ground caraway
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds or ground fennel
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1/4 cup cornmeal (optional)
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour (optional)
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

Directions

1. In a measuring cup, combine the 1/2 cup warm water, pinch of sugar, and active dry yeast. Stir well to mix. Let stand for 10 minutes till foamy.

2. In a pot, combine 2 cups of water, molasses, apple cider vinegar, butter, and chocolate. Heat over medium heat till butter and chocolate are melted. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine all the three flours. Whisk till they are well-mixed. Set aside.

4. In the mixer bowl attached with the paddle attachment, place 2 cups of mixed flours, the wheat bran, 2 tablespoon of caraway seeds, fennel, salt, espresso, and shallots.Turn mixer on to low speed. Gradually, add in the yeast and chocolate mixture to form a smooth batter. Beat at medium speed for 3 minutes.

5. Reduce mixer's speed to low. Gradually, add in mixed flours, half a cup at a time, till dough clears the side of bowl. Dough should be sticky but firm.

6. Stop the mixer. Remove the paddle attachment from mixer. Scrape paddle clean of dough. Replace with dough hook.

7. Turn mixer speed to low. Continue to add mixed flour to dough, 1/4 cup at a time, with the machine running till dough clears the side of bowl. You will have at least 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of mixed flours left. Let dough continues to knead for the next 3 minutes on low. 

8. Once dough is done kneading, gently roll dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Use the remaining mixed flours to dust your work station. Form dough into a ball. 

9. Lightly, grease your mixer's bowl with vegetable oil. Place dough in bowl and turn it over once to grease the other side of the dough. Place a cling wrap over the bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel. 

Let rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

10. Once dough is done proofing, gently deflate dough. 

Divide dough into 2 portions on a lightly floured surface.

11. Form into rounds. Place seam side down on parchment lined baking sheet.

12. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise for 45 mins to 1 hour.

13. Preheat oven to 350F. Slash a X on top of the dough right before baking.

14. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Bread is done when you can hear a hollow sound when bread is tapped lightly with your fingers. If you have an instant read thermometer, the temperature should read between 200F and 210F. Mine takes about 60-65 minutes to bake.  

15. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Note: 

-The original recipes called for the caraway and fennel used in the recipe to be in the seeds form. However, if you are like me, and do not like to bite into seeds when eating your slice, grind the seeds into powder before adding it into your dough.

-I have made this bread using ground cumin instead of caraway. It tasted great if you are a cumin fan.

- The recipe calls for wheat bran, which essentially is the outer husk of wheat. I have substitute the wheat bran with wheat germ (the inner part of the wheat) using what I have on hand aka "I have totally forgotten to buy the wheat bran on my last grocery trip", it works just fine.
-If you like a darker color bread, closer to pumpernickel, increase the molasses from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup
- An instant read thermometer is really handy in this case. The color of the rye flour, molasses, and chocolate in the recipe makes it almost impossible to approximate if the bread is done by visual appearance.
- You can also shape them into loaves and bake in a loaf pan for 50 - 55 mins.
- If you choose to make this into petite rolls, divide dough into 16 portions. Shape into rounds. Bake for 20- 25 mins.

Cheese Sticks or Buns

Nope, if you are looking for the American Cheese Stix aka thick strips of cheese, breaded, and fried.....this is not it. The Cheese Sticks I am referring to is the bread topped with shredded cheese that you can find in most Asian bakery. Why? The better question is why not? Instead of doing PB&J for lunch, something new with a little twist should make for an interesting light lunch or snack.

Yeah, I can take the easy way out and just called it Asiago bread but there is a problem to it. First, I am not using Asiago although the appearance of these buns do look like one. And secondly, I still feel that it is somehow wrong to term the Asian style bun as bread. Bread to me is more of the European style hard crust, hearty, and kinda like steel sitting in your stomach-type of bread. The Asian's bakery style bun on the other hand has a soft and thin crust with a fluffy light interior.

So, no! I don't think they are the same at all and cannot in all my years as a baker, group this different types of baked flour yeast-ed goodness in the same category. You just have to bear with me on that one. Back to the cheese sticks, these babies are really great. It is nice and soft, with the crispy crunchy melted cheese exterior. Beats those cheese crusts in Asia's pizza hut's cheesy crusts anytime. Anyone in Asia or Middle East has, by any chance, try the latest hamburger stuffed crust pizza in Pizza Hut there yet? I am curious to know how it will taste. Intrigue? Most definitely! You can read more on it at AHT - Serious Eats.

Cheese Sticks or Buns
Ingredients
Dough
300g bread flour (King Arthur brand if you can)
30g sugar
70ml warm milk
75g water roux
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp salt
1 packet Active Dry Yeast (About 7g or 1 Tbsp)
45g butter

Toppings
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella
1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 egg, beaten
Paprika
Dried Parsley Flakes

Directions
1. In a bread machine, combine all the dough ingredients in the order as prescribed by the manufacturers.
2. Set bread machine on dough cycle and let it knead and proof the bread dough till double in size. Mine take 1 1/2 hours.
3. After dough is done proofing, divide it into 10 portions (about 50-55g each)
4. Shape it into a round. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for 10 minutes before shaping.
5. Once dough is done resting, press flatten one portion of dough with a rolling pin. Then roll it up into the shape of an oblong. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let proof for 45 to 50 mins until it doubles in size.

6. Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
7. Brush dough with egg wash.

8. Mix the shredded Mozzarella and sharp cheddar in a bowl. Generously top dough with cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan/Romano.

9. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 15 minutes, rotating the pan halfway for even browning. Once bread is out of the oven, sprinkle lightly with dried parsley and paprika. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

The best tasting soft fluffy cheesy bread you will ever taste.

Homemade NY-Style Bagel

I was never a big fan of bagel but these homemade bagels are really good. Why will someone decide to make homemade bagel, you may ask. Well, cos I have never and I want to. See, when you are really into baking, there are a few items in the book that will give you street credit. First and foremost, making homemade croissant. That is the ultimate street cred a home baker can get from everyone.

The second one, is of course, making your own bread loaf at home. Then come the choux pastry, pies, and etc, not necessary in the order but you get the idea. So, how does bagel rank when it comes to street cred? Pretty high, since people rarely make them at home. No, they are not that difficult but it can be tedious to some, considering you have to boil them first before baking them.

Yup, not only will you need the patience to knead them, let them rise, shape, let them rise again, you will also have to boil them prior to the final baking process. Plus, you can pretty much get bagels everywhere. The homemade once though are pretty specials, you can add whatever toppings you want.You can also opt to make it as chewy as you like, just add the boiling time. Enough said!

Homemade NY-Style Bagel (Adapted from Sophisticated Gourmet)
Ingredients
300g King Arthur's Bread Flour
200g King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar

Directions
1. In your bread machine, add in water and sugar. Add salt to flour. Mix well. Add the flour to the water-sugar mix. Make a well in the center and add in your yeast. Set bread machine to the dough cycle and let it go.
2. Once dough is done proofing in bread machine, turn it out onto a clean work surface. Punch down dough and let it rest for 10 minutes.
3. Divide dough into 8 equal portions.
4. Shape dough into balls by molding the dough using the palm of your hands against the work surface in circular motions.

5.Using your finger, poke a hole in the center and stretch the dough to about 6-inches in diameter.
6. Place dough on baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Cover with clean kitchen towel. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add in a tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir till dissolved. Also, preheat oven to 425F.

8. Once water comes to a rolling boil, reduce heat to medium low. Boil bagel about 2 minutes per side.
9. Place boiled bagels on baking sheets. Once all bagels are done boiling, bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes till golden brown.

10. Let cool on wire rack. Serve with cream cheese, butter or preserves.

Homemade Strawberry Preserves

Yes, it has been a while since the last I put up a post on this blog. Life has been busy in general, which is great. Strawberries are in season now and for those of you who do not know it, I am a huge strawberry fanatic. I love the look of it, the color, the shape, the smell, and most important of all, the taste. Good strawberries are hard to come by, and I am speaking of those naturally juice and sweet ones. Some of them are just so bland that I usually feed it to the dog.
But I can't possibly give her that many strawberries without risking her overactive bowel movements which will cause some gross and unhappy incidents in the house. The poor rug. Strawberry preserves seems to be the perfect solution and boy, I can kick myself in the ass for not attempting to make homemade preserve before. I found a super easy recipe, alter the sugar level to suit my taste, and voila......perfection in a container.

But before you embark on your preserve making journey, let me give you a fair warning about making preserves. A pound of berries yield only about 500ml of preserve. If strawberry is expensive where you are, forget about making your own and just buy a good brand jar. However, if you live in a place where berries are cheap, like yours truly, then go ahead and embark on a preserve discovery journey. It may not be easy but it is definitely delicious!

Homemade Strawberry Preserve
Ingredients
1lb strawberries, cleaned and stemmed
3/4 cup of sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions

1. In a heavy bottom sauce pan, mashed strawberries in batches. You can mashed it as fine as you like or leave it slightly chunky like I did.

2. Add in the sugar and lemon juice. Cook on low till sugar has fully dissolved. Stir occasionally.
3. Once sugar has fully dissolved, turn heat up to high. Continue cooking the berry mix till it comes up to a rolling boil. You are aiming for 220F on a candy thermometer. If you don't have one, cook the strawberry preserve till you can no longer see pink foam on the surface of the mix and then let it boil for another 5 minutes. Keep stirring to avoid preserve from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4. Let cool before storing in a clean glass jar. You can process the jar for canning if you plan to keep this for a while. If you are consuming it immediately, just store it in your favorite jar, let cool completely before putting it in the fridge.

I usually served them with homemade NY-style bagels. Seems like a lot of work but it is a great weekend treat. Bagels with cream cheese and homemade preserve. 

Mexican Chili Colorado

Yes, you guess right. I am on a Chili Colorado binge at this point. Don't ask! Anyways, found this great Chili Colorado recipe on this blog and decided to give it a try!Tasted pretty good, almost like the red chili colorado you can find in a Mexican restaurant. I don't know if the addition of tomato paste into the colorado makes it less authentic but the dish sure comes out tasting darn good. I also replace beef with pork for this recipe since I just made the Ecuadorian Carne Colorado not too long ago. The family approves!

Mexican Chili Colorado
(Adapted from Everday Paleo)
Ingredients
4 cups water
7 dried new Mexico chilies (I substitute with guajillo cos that is what I have)
3 dried California chilies ( I substitute with ancho, again that is what I have)
3 dried Chili de Arbol (I substitute with fried red peppers from my garden last summer)
1 yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 Tbsp oil
2 1/2lb beef stew meat or pork shoulder (cut into 2-inch piece)
2 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp dried oregano
2 cups beef stock
1 6oz can tomato paste
Black pepper and salt to taste

Methods

1. Rinse the dried peppers. Place in a pot and add 4 cups of water to it. Bring it to a boil over the stove. Turn off heat and let it steep in the hot water for 30 minutes. Once ready, removed stems and as much seeds as you can. Place in a food blender. Add 2 cups of the water to the blender. Puree till smooth. Set aside.
2. Heat a large pot on the stove over medium high heat. Add 2 Tbsp of oil to the pot.

3. Sprinkle salt and pepper over meat. Brown meat in batches.

4. Add onions to the pot and turn heat down to medium low. Saute till onions has softened, scrapping the bottom of pot to release the brown bits.

5. Add the garlic and meat back into the pot. Let cook for a minute.

6. Add in the tomato paste, beef broth, cumin, and oregano into the pot. Stir well and let mixture comes to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat to low. Add in the pureed chilies to the mix through a strainer. Use a spoon to help pass the pureed chilies through the strainer.

8. Cook stew on low heat. Let it simmer for 2 hours till meat is tender and sauce has reduced to less than 1/4.

9. Serve Chili Colorado with Mexican Rice and Re-fried Beans.

Ecuadorian Carne Colorado

When did I start having an interest in Ecuadorian cuisine? Ever since I found this blog . She is an amazing cook and all the dishes she made is really easy to execute. No, I have never tasted Ecuadorian food before but her recipes are so simple to emulate, it makes me want to try more. I have had great results making empanadas, arroz con pollo, and most recently this carne colorado recipes. They are all delicious.

Carne Colorado
(Recipe Adapted from Laylita's Recipe)
Ingredients
2lb beef (I used London Broil cos that is what I have. Chuck or top round will be perfect for this)
1 large onion
6 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground achiote or annato
1/2 Tbsp oregano
2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/2 Cup of beer
2 tsp salt or more, to taste
3 Tbsp of oil, butter or lard

Methods

1. In a blender, add in the beer, onion and garlic. Process until it turns to puree. Add in the cumin, achiote, and oregano. Process to combine.

2. Cut up the meat to large chunks and place in a ziplock bag.

3. Add in the marinade ingredients to the meat. Leave to marinade overnight or at least 3 hours.

4. In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat. I did not add any oil in mine at all. Add meat and marinade mix into pot. Let the content comes up to boil.

5. Turn heat down to simmer and let the meat braised for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You will see a lot of liquid coming out from the meat. Stir occasionally.

6. Once you see the oil emerges on the surface, the meat is close to done. Stir content more frequently at this point as the liquid will dry up really quick. It takes another 20 minutes at this point. Adjust seasoning. The recipe did not call for sugar but I added about 1 1/2 Tbsp of sugar in it as I find the stew a little sourish from the lime juice.

7. Once the liquid is all dried up, dish the beef out and serve. The meat is super tender and extremely flavorful.

8. I served my carne colorado with yellow rice, and onion-cucumber pickles.