Fried Yam Puff (Woo Kok)

Ingredients
(recipe for 4 students)
600g powder yam (peeled, cut into 1cm cube & steamed)
200g wheaten starch
160ml boiling water
5g salt
25g sugar
6g five spice powder
10g sesame oil
4g pepper powder
80g shortening
1/2g ammonia
new cooking oil for frying

Directions

• scald the wheat starch with boiling water and mix well
• add hot steamed yam and stir well till all yam hard bits are mashed
• add in seasoning (sugar+salt+5spice+sesame oil+pepper)
• once the dough is cooled, sprinkle the ammonia and add in the shortening
• mix well to form dough
• divide yam dough into 40g balls and form a deep bowl
• add filling (char siew or red bean paste)
• seal by pinching 2 sides of the opening and form a sharp seal
• heat oil to 180°C and deep fry till puffy net formed and color is golden brown

Foodnote: This yam puff is very interesting especially when the net is formed. Interesting taste too... but maybe I'd like the filling to be red bean instead of char siew. Anyway... it is quite challenging to make though the effect is very satisfying to see. Hhhmm... not very sure I'd be making this at home though but still good to learn something new.

Sesame Seed Ball

Ingredients
200g glutinous rice flour
70g wheaten starch

210g water
60g sugar
60g shortening

vegetable oil for frying
lotus or red bean paste (form into 20g balls each)
white sesame seeds

optional: meat fillings like for siew mai or charsiew

Peanut filling
roasted chopped peanuts
sugar
flour (dry fry flour till brown)

Directions

• mix the glutinous rice flour and wheaten starch together and put aside
• in a saucepan, heat water, sugar and shortening till rolling boil
• turn off heat and add in the flour mixture
• using a wooden spatula, quickly stir in the ingredients till even
• transfer on a working surface and start needing to form a dough
• divide the dough into 40g portions
• press the dough into palm of hand to flatten
• fill with lotus/read bean paste and seal
• wet the ball and roll into sesame seeds
• roll into palms again to make sure that the sesame seeds will completely stick on the balls
• heat oil to 180°C and deep fry until light golden brown (if oil exceed 180°C, remove the saucepan from heat and drop in the balls to drop the temperature)
• keep stirring the balls so that it will cook evenly
• drain on sieve and transfer to kitchen towel to remove excess oil completely

Foodnote: So happy to finally able to learn to make this. We made with red bean fillings and also with charsiew. I have never made this before (the malay style) so now I am looking forward to try to make this on my own. The trick to make the sesame seed really stick to the balls, is to wet it first, and keep rubbing/rolling in our palms till we feel the sticky starch start seeping and covering the sesame seeds. To make the sesame seed balls with consistency of mochi, just remove the wheaten starch.

During our last class (exam day) we were shown the common way of making the sesame balls... adding the boiling water to the flour and mix together. After that, knead the dough with sugar and once cooled, adding the shortening and knead till dough is formed. I prefer adding the way the chef taught us (Teo Chew style) because is easier and more straightforward.

Steamed Yam Cake

Ingredients
(makes 3 portions)
600g yam cube (1cm) best to use Pahang yam
50g washed and chopped dried prawns
300g rice flour
500ml water
15g salt
13g sugar
3g 5 spice
1g pepper
800ml water
4 tbsp fragrant oil for frying prawns
100g washed, soak and chopped mushroom

Garnishings
sliced spring onions
sliced red chilles
crispy fried sliced shallots
toasted white sesame etc.

Directions

• in a bowl, mix rice flour with 500g water and put aside
• in a saucepan, mix oil and dried prawns
• turn on the heat at high and fry till prawn is crispy and fragrant
• add yam followed by other ingredients such as salt, sugar, spice, pepper and 800g of water and cook till yam is soft
• to add mushroom, sautee the mushroom first; put aside and add it later with other ingredients after dried prawns
• add rice flour mixture and keep stirring until it thickens and form a paste (wooden spoon can stand)
• transfer paste into a greased tray or metal cups
• smooth the top of the cake using a spatula
• brush fragrant oil generously on yam paste
• steam for 1 hour till set (make sure steamer is covered with kitchen towel to prevent water from dripping into yam cake
• add garnishings before servings

Steamed Carrot Cake (Lo Bak Go)

600g shredded turnip (white carrot)

remove 5 spice

reduce water in 2nd part to 700ml

Steamed Pumpkin Cake

600g cubed pumpkin (1cm)

remove 5 spice

reduce water in 2nd part to 700ml

• only use pumpkin raw ie. cook the rest of the ingredients first and once cooked, add in the pumpkin, stir and proceed to steaming

Foodnote: I love this yam cake. Love the savoury taste and the fragrant oil added to the cake. This can also be steamed in a cake tin and fried the next day. I love it just like it is with lots of yummy garnishings. One of the chef in the school make homemade Lao Gan Mo to eat with the yam cake. It is very yummy nom nom nom

Steamed Sponge Cake

Ingredients
(makes 2 portions)
160g cake flour
40g instant custard
4g baking soda
8g baking powder
200g brown sugar
4 eggs
16g gel (ovalette)
100g melted butter

200g lotus or red bean paste
4 salted egg yolk
chopped parsley as garnishing

Directions

• sieve together cake flour, instant custard, baking soda and baking powder
• add brown sugar to sifted mixture and combine well
• add eggs and gel... whisk or use mixer to beat till batter turns pale
• fold in melted butter until well mixed
• place flatten ball of lotus paste or red bean paste (10g each) at the bottom of paper cup
• add batter about 3/4 full and topped with chopped salted egg yolks and parsley (optional)
• steam for approximately 12min until steamer produces a nice steam cake smell

Foodnote: I love steam cake. This steam cake is yummy but I might omit the lotus/red bean paste. We also didn't add salted egg yolk and parsley during our lesson hhhmmm. I think it will be a bit savory with those toppings? Perhaps I should try some and see how it is like when I practice to make this at home. I can't stop eating the steam cake... very sweet though

Siew Mai & Phoenix's Eye Dumpling (Fong Ngan Har Gow)

Ingredients
Wonton Skin (refer here)
200g plain flour (100%)
2g salt (1%)
1g alkali water (0.5%)
70g water (35%-40%)

Filling
300g minced chicken
300g fish paste
6g salt
18g caster sugar
20g sesame oil
other ingredients
30g chopped mushrooms
100g water chestnut
3g ground white pepper
30ml fragrant oil (refer to here)
can also add chopped spring onion, chillies etc.
Basic for fillings: 100g meat + 1g salt + 3g sugar + 1-3g sesame oil)

Siew Mai additions
10g shredded carrots
20g crab roe

Phoenix's Eye additions
5g chopped spring onions
30g green peas


Directions
fillings

• mix all ingredients together but put the oil LAST!
• the final paste should be a sticky bouncy consistency
• place fillings in a tray and spread about 1cm thickness
• cover in clingwrap and best to keep it in the chiller overnight before use

preparation

• place fillings on wonton skin
• wrap the skin to form a basket for siew mai or pinch both ends of wonton skin to form phoenix's eye like the picture above
• decorate siew mai with shredded carrot and crab roe
• decorate phoenix's eye with spring onion and green peas
• arrange siew mai on a greased tray and steam on high heat for about 6-10min till fragrant
• once out of the steamer, quickly brush the steamed siew mai with fragrant oil generously
• garnish with anything of fancy such as crispy garlic+shallots+ginger, sliced onions, chillies, chopped spring onions etc.

Foodnote: Finally started the Intermediate Dim Sum class and we started off with making siew mai. Wished the school have crab roe ggrrrr so that my siew mai don't look so bland. Lucky got garnishes lah. Always looking forward to class and learning new kills and tips on making food yummy. 

Wonton Skin & Noodles

Ingredients
Wonton Skin & Asian Noodles
100% plain flour
1% salt
0.5% alkaline water
35-40% water
few drops of yellow coloring (optional but will give it a yellow noodle coloring)

Ramen
100% plain flour
2% salt
35% water

Pang Mian
100% cake flour
2% salt
35% water

Udon/Soba
90% or 80% cake flour
10% or 20% rye flour/buckwheat flour
2% salt
35% water

Spaghetti
100g semolina flour
1 large egg
a pinch of salt

Directions
(wonton skin & asian noodles)

• put flour in a mixer
• mix water, alkali water, water and coloring together in a jug
• using a hook attachment, start on low speed and very slowly, pour water into mixing bowl
• mix till dough becomes crumbly
• take a handful of dough and clump together to form a ball
• roll to about 4mm
• using a pasta/noodle machine starting from level 6, roll the dough down one level each time till level 1
• let dough through level 1 again
• to make wonton skin, using a round cutter and flour each slice of wonton skin so that it won't stick to each other (to use wonton skin another day, flour each wonton skin with corn flour)
• cover the cut wonton skin so that it won't get dry
• to form noodles, use the noodles/pasta cutter of the machine

Foodnote: One of the best part of this cooking/baking class is to learn to make things from scratch. Finally I am confident and inspired to one day (ehem ehem) make my own noodles. Just need to get the noodle machine first. Saw it selling cheap on shopee... so will definitely get one soon.

Flaky Yam Moon Cake

Ingredients
Outer Pastry
200g plain flour (medium protein)
20g castor sugar
50g butter
2g salt
130ml water
few drops of coloring (purple for yam)

Inner Pastry
180g cake flour (low protein)
80g shortening

Yam Filling
1kg yam (skin peeled and diced small)
280g castor sugar
55g wheaten starch
100g shallots sliced
170ml oil

Other Fillings
800g red bean or lotus paste

Directions
outer dough

• mix flour, sugar, butter and salt with finger tips till crumbly and add water (with colorings)
• knead until soft dough and rest for 20min
• divide into 6 portions

outer dough

• mix flour and shortening together to form a dough and divide into 6 portions

yam filling

• steam yam till soft for about 30min
• fry shallots in half portion of the oil till crispy and frangrant
• using a mixer with paddle attachment, blend yam, sugar and wheaten starch (chunky or fine is up to you)
• keep in fridge to cool
• the excess oil is for consistency adjustment only

final assembly

• flour working space generously with flour
• flatten the outer pastry and wrap around the inner pastry
• flatten lengthwise and roll it up like a swiss roll
• flatten it again lengthwise and cut into 2 equal pieces
• brush the esposed side with water and put the 2 pieces on top of each other
• roll from the cut edges (like a swiss roll... make sure the roll form nice spiral pattern)... and cut into 2 again
• roll and flatten each dough with the cut side facing downwards
• wrap up the filling (40g or a full tablespoon) and form a round shape (can also form other shapes as desired)
• deep fry in oil (put a rack in wok) at 160°C for about 7min
• after frying, put in a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 180°C for about 10min or till light golden brown
• the mooncake can also be fried for 12min and served directly. Baking step is to crisp it up further and let the paper absorb excess oil

Foodnote: The yam paste is really nice. I can make it and keep it to fill breads too. Need more practice to form a nice layered pastry. Definitely will make this at home one day.

Flaky Pastry Egg Custard

Ingredients
Outer dough
160g medium protein flour (plain flour)
12g milk powder
13g sugar
40g butter
25g egg
80g water

Inner dough
150g low protein flour (cake flour)
150g shortening
80g butter

Custard filling
33g water
45g evaporated milk
13g sugar
240g egg
5g vanilla essence
few drops of colorings (optional)

Directions
Dough

• prepare outer and inner dough same as here
• place inner dough and outer dough separately into clingwrap, shape into squares
• keep inner dough into freezer till stiff and outer door in chiller section
• once ready, roll outer dough to be bigger than inner dough (guide by placing inner dough 45° angle onto outer dough
• fold the edges of the outer dough to wrap the inner dough making sure that it is fully covered
• clingwrap again and chill for another 20mins
• roll out combined dough to 1.5mm thick and fold 1/3 of it on top towards the centre and another 1/3 to overlap (single turn)
• repeat procese centres 2 times and refrigerate each time for 20min
• roll out dough into rectangle, this time fold 1/4 of both sides towards the centre (book fold)
• chill for another 30min and while waiting, prepare the egg custard

Egg custard

• mix all ingredients together into a pot and heat the mixture till just rolling boil to make sure all sugar have dissolved
• strain the mixture to remove lumps and transfer into a pouring container

Assembly

• roll dough out about 3-4mm thick sheet (make sure the working surface and rolling pin is floured well... only turn once after roll and roll firmly and evenly to prevent dough to become elastic)
• cut with a round cutter (size should be double size of tart cases)
• place dough into tart cases and press the dough into circular motion to bring the edges slightly above tart cases (DO NOT press the edges/top of dough edge so that it can show flaky layers once baked)
• only when ready to bake, fill the egg tart dough until approximately 80% full
• bake for 18min in a pre-heated oven at 200°C until egg set (can see the egg rises but not burnt... it means it is ready to remove from oven)

Foodnote: This is very yummy. The custard is not very sweet. Portion need to adjust as in class we get 8 tarts but the egg custard is good for 4 portions. Also there are still some dough leftovers. Best to not squash the leftovers. Slowly, stacked onto each layers and try to roll out again to make more tarts or for storage to make on other days.

Char Siew Puff

Ingredients for pastry here.

Fillings
Bbq Chicken
3kg chicken meat (breast)
7 tbsp soya sauce
7 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp honey
7 tbsp oyster sauce
7 tbsp water
1 tbsp five spice
1 tbsp white pepper
7 tsp dark sauce
7 tsp vinegar

Char siew sauce
900g water
80g sugar
30g soya sauce
30g dark sauce
10g white pepper
16g sesame oil
100g oil
90g modified starch
16g sesame oil
100g oil

Directions to cook char siew chicken here.

Assembly

• roll the pastry dough into squarish shape
• fill about a tablespoon of char siew chicken
• fold parallel sides edges to cover the fillings
• fold the side edges inwards to seal then turn it over 
• press down the short edges with fork and arrange on a baking tray
• right before baking, brush the top with egg yolk lightly especially the forked edges
• sprinkle white sesame and bake at 200°C for about 20min or till golden brown

Foodnote: This is another baked dim sum that I like. So savoury and nice. 

Soon Kueh

Ingredients
Soon Kueh Skin
100g wheat starch
25g tapioca starch
150g water (100°C)
15g oil
1g salt

Fillings
TBA

Garnishes
crispy fried shallots
chopped spring onion
chopped coriander leaves or spring onion
sambal
sweet soya sauce

Directions
Filling

• TBA

Dumplings

• put both flour together in a bowl
• combine water, oil and salt in a pan and cover the top with stainless steel bowl (to prevent evaporation) and bring to a boil
• once the water get into rolling boil, add the flour and quickly keep stirring using a wooden spatula till all floor absorbed the water evenly
• remove the dough to a working surface and keep kneading till dough is even, smooth and springy
• put the dough under a covered bowl to prevent drying
• prepare a plate and glaze it with oil (preferably onion+garlic+ginger oil)
• take a small piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll thin
• use a round cutter (I just use a small bowl) to cut round shape, fill with fillings, fold over and pinch the edges together to form half circle
• place on the prepared plate and steam for 10-12min ... you should be able to smell the fragrant of the dumpling when it is ready (do not open the steamer cover too early to check)
• immediately after removed from the steamer, glaze each soon kueh with oil
• add garnishes and eat with sambal and dark sweet sauce... yummm

Foodnote: Actually this recipe is similar to the dumpling but with slightly more oil. Texture is nice, soft and chewy. It is quite easy to make so will definitely be making this again from time to time.

To freeze: keep raw soon kueh uncovered in the fridge on a tray for 1-2hr. Transfer to a covered container. When it is ready to be consumed, steam from frozen.

Hong Kong Style Crystal Dumpling / Har Gow

Ingredients
Dumpling Skin
100g wheat starch
25g tapioca starch
150g water (100°C)
5g oil
1g salt

Meat Fillings
600g meat (chicken + prawn or fish paste)
3-6g salt (3g for sweet, 6g for savory)
18g sugar
1-2g white pepper powder
10g sesame oil
optional ingredients: chopped waterchestnut (soaked in sugar water for 10min), shallot, garlic, mushrooms, spring onion or mushroom seasoning (MSG)

Garnishes
chopped shallots
sliced garlic + light soya sauce
crispy fried shallots
fried peanut and crispy anchovies
chopped spring onion
chopped coriander leaves
potato chips (yes... potato chips)
chopped red chillies (to add last so that the color will stands out

Green Tea Skin: add 5g matcha powder to the flour
Charcoal Skin: add 2g charcoal powder to the flour
Other colors: add the liquid colourings to the boiling water
Soon Kueh: the skin can also be used for soon kueh. Increase the oil to 15g

Directions
Meat Filling

• chop meat into very small pieces
• add all other ingredients together (best to use a mixer), spread on a tray and keep in the fridge until ready to use
• proportions of ingredients can be adjusted to taste (yes taste the raw ingredients... won't die one)

Dumplings

• put both flour together in a bowl
• combine water, oil and salt in a pan and cover the top with stainless steel bowl (to prevent evaporation) and bring to a boil
• once the water get into rolling boil, add the flour and quickly keep stirring using a wooden spatula till all floor absorbed the water evenly
• remove the dough to a working surface and keep kneading till dough is even, smooth and springy
• put the dough under a covered bowl to prevent drying
• prepare a plate and glaze it with oil (preferably onion+garlic+ginger oil)
• take a small piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll thin
• use a round cutter (I use a small bowl) to cut round shape, fill with meat fillings and pinch the edges together to form hargow dumpling (refer to here @ 6.5min on how to pinch the edges of the har gow)
• place on the prepared plate and steam for 10-12min ... you should be able to smell the fragrant of the dumpling when it is ready (do not open the steamer cover too early to check)
• immediately after removed from the steamer, glaze each dumpling with oil
• add garnishes for presentation and to enhance the taste

Foodnote: I love dim sum and am glad to have the opportunity to learn how to make this myself. The taste is really awesome and the garnishes together with the dim sum really makes the taste super awesome. Looking forward to the next baked dim sum class (Basic). Hopefully after Hari Raya, I will definitely want to continue with the intermediate class and learn more dim sum dishes.

To freeze: keep raw dumplings uncovered in the fridge on a tray for 1-2hr. Transfer to a covered container. When it is ready to be consumed, steam from frozen.

Mantou Bun & Basic Pao

Ingredients
Sponge (starter)
230g medium protein flour (Prima blue plain flour)
5g high sugar yeast (Bruggeman brown packet)
130ml cold water (5°C)

Pao Dough
fermented starter dough
150g medium protein flour
10g baking powder (Rumford brand)
80g sugar
10g shortening (put in flour dusted small bowl for easy transfer)
40ml cold water (5°C)
1g yeast (optional but can add to speed up proofing)

Directions

• prepare the starter dough by mixing yeast to the flour
• in a mixer with K-beater attachment, add water to yeast and flour mixture and knead on low speed for 4min
• cover the bowl with the starter with cloth and let it rest for 30min
• separately, prepare ingredients for pao dough
• in a bowl mix flour with baking powder and set aside shortening and sugar separately
• after 30min of resting the starter, weigh in the ice cold water and add in to the starter followed by sugar and shortening (add optional 1g yeast here)
• knead on low speed for 2min and after that add in half of the flour to knead for about 30s and pour the rest and continue kneading for 4-5min till dough is soft and smooth
• weigh and divide into 2 portions of dough
• shape the dough (mantou or with filling), place in cupcake paper and let it proof for about 40min
• steam under high pressure for 12min or till you get a whiff of sweet smelling buns

Mantou

• roll out the dough (1st roll must be as thin as possible to remove air bubbles) about 4mm (longish rectangular shape) and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6-8 pieces, proof and steam
• can also deep fry

Longevity Bun (with red bean filling)

• measure 20g of red bean paste, round into balls and put aside
• roll each dough out about 4mm and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6 pieces
• round the dough with a rolling pin flatten it
• wrap the red bean paste in the dough and using both palms, shape it with a pointed top
• using a scraper, create a line vertically
• take some flour, add water and green coloring to form a dough
• roll flat and cut to create 2 long leaves
• use water to stick leaves to the dough
• using a air brush (can also use spray bottle) spray to add red coloring
• proof and steam 

Brown Sugar Pao

• replace the sugar with brown sugar for the pao dough

Green Tea Pao

• add 10g of matcha powder to the flour of pao dough

Charcoal Pao

• add 3g of baking charcoal powder to the flour of pao dough
• add additional 10g water

Pandan or Coffee Pao

• add 10g of essence (paste) and reduce the water to 30g instead of 40g

Tao Sar Pao

• fill the dough with red bean paste (25g)

Char Siew Roast Chicken

• fill the dough with char siew chicken (25g). See here for recipe.

Foodnote: I have always wanted to learn to make steamed pao and finally had the opportunity to learn to make it myself. The best part is this recipe does not use any chemical and the buns are so nice and soft. The actual recipe when we tried in school is using Prima Ivory White flour but that can only be bought in big 25kg. Advice from the chef is that the best alternative is Prima plain flour in blue packaging. The yeast and baking powder... also must use the recommended ones eerr ok ok.

Anyway we made 3 types of pao: plain mantou, longevity bun and brown sugar pao. Shaping the longevity bun is quite challenging and the final shape just look like butt ahahaha. The brown sugar pao was made by just replacing the sugar. 1g of yeast was added to speed up proofing. It tasted... ok lah. Can't really taste the brown sugar hhmmm... 

Okie dokie... can't wait to practice it myself and make varieties of fillings like red bean or curry potato or dry sambal ikan bilis yum yum.