Monthly Archives: May 2019

Easy Ma Lai Koh (马来餻)

This is a steamed cake commonly found in dim sum restaurant, and of course it has always been in my order list. According to an article I have read, real chefs in Hong Kong would use a starter dough or levin to create this. However for the convenience of most home cooks I experimented instead with an instant yeast. I will experiment on my next cake using starter dough, and compare the difference between the two. So watch out for my post.

Ingredients

  • 240g sifted plain flour
  • 6g instant yeast
  • 200 ml warm water
  • 60g custard powder
  • 190g brown sugar
  • 256g eggs (equivalent to 4 large eggs, my egg is 64g each)
  • 3g sifted baking powder
  • 3g sifted baking soda
  • 60g melted butter
oops sorry I forgot to include my butter in the picture, sign of old age …

Now, prepare an 8 inch square pan lined with baking paper, set aside. Mix in all your ingredients except the baking soda, baking powder and butter. Ensure all ingredients are incorporated with no visible lumps from flour or sugar. Set aside and let it proof for an hour.

  • After mixing
  • after proofing

See the difference of the bubbles? This is what you should see after proofing.

Scoop some batter into a separate bowl (about 100g), add in your melted butter, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Then pour it back to the batter. Ensuring all are mix well. Mix gently as you do not want all the air bubbles popped. Transfer it to your pan. Tap your pan gently on your table a few times to pop off some big air bubbles. You want your cake to have more uniform texture. Steam for 45 minutes to an hour on medium high heat or do a skewer poke test. Poke the skewer at the center of your cake, if your skewer comes out clean then it is ready. Avoid opening the cover for the first 30 minutes.

As I do not have a big cloth to use for covering my steamer to prevent steamed water going in, I just cover my square pan with an aluminium foil. It works perfectly for me.

Now the most awaiting moment!… tan tan tan tan….

  • Here it is!! It’s done!
  • See the how spongy it is!

If you like my recipe, or you made the steamed cake using my recipe, please let me know, I would love to see it. Thanks for checking on my blog!

Do follow my blog instead of bookmarking my site. So that you would be notified immediately when a new post is up.

Pistachio and Beer Sourdough

I was at the grocery the other day, as I walked by the liquor section, a sudden idea came to my mind. hmm… What would my sourdough be like if I hydrated it with beer? I find it amusing to have such idea for someone does not drink. I have gastric problem that gets aggravated by drinking liquor. But…But I would like to try how my sourdough would taste like. I am curious. So I grab one pilsner made in Singapore, look at its alcohol content. hmm it is 5.4% , I guess not too strong, which is good because I do not want my sourdough to end up very bitter. So here I am sharing my recipe. My husband and I loves the texture and taste. And it goes perfectly well with my homemade cheese pimiento.

Ingredients

  • 155g white flour
  • 100g wheat flour
  • 200g pilsner beer
  • 6g salt
  • 6g avocado oil
  • 23g honey
  • 90g starter (1:4:4)
  • handful of grinded roasted pistachio

Mix both kinds of flour together with the beer, mix well. Autolyse overnight, about 12 hours. The next day I added in the starter. Mix well and waited for 30 minutes. Add in the honey, mix well, then the oil, then the salt; ensuring everything is well incorporated. I did my first stretch and fold then mixed in my grinded pistachio. I did a total of 3 stretch and fold with an hour interval in between. Then I shaped the dough and let it proof for 4 hours at 25 degree celsius.

Preheated the oven with a cast-iron pan at 300 degrees celsius, then lowered to 250 degree celsius and baked with steam for 20 minutes followed by another 20 minutes at 220 degree celsius.

The loaf has risen nicely and tastes wonderful. It gives a subtle hint of bitterness from the beer, sourness from the lactic acid and the nutty flavour from the pistachio. Together with my homemade cheesy pimiento spread, it gives rich flavours in just one bite. Now this is a keeper. I will definitely bake this over and over again.

This looks good isn’t it?

Enjoy!

1 … 3 4 5 … 8
Blog at WordPress.com.