Beef Bak Kwa

A tasty and spicy delicacy which is usually served during Chinese New Year.  Bak Kwa can be bought in any Chinatown all year round and is slightly similar to beef jerky.  Normally, these are made of minced pork and grilled.  But, I used minced beef and baked them in the oven.  The taste and texture are up to my hubby's satisfaction (mine too) as I can see the quantity diminishing by the minute.  Next time, I will add more chilli powder to make it more spicy.

Ingredients:
1 kg minced beef
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp chilli or paprika powder (add 2 tbsp if you want it spicy)
1/2 tsp five-spice powder
1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
a small pinch food colouring powder (red)
240 g fine sugar (I added slightly less), you may use maple syrup if you prefer
2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or non-alcoholic white wine
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)

Method:
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together.  Leave in fridge overnight.

Line baking tray with baking paper.  You will need 5 pieces of baking paper if using a normal baking tray.  Note that I am using a larger baking tray with a measurement of 40 cm x 34 cm.  Normally, I will get about 1300 g of meat mixture and divide it into 4 portions i.e. 4 baking trays.

Place a portion of meat mixture onto a piece of baking paper and cover with cling wrap.  Ensure that the cling wrap covers the whole of baking paper.  I used two cling wraps slightly on top of each other due to the size of my baking tray.

By using a rolling pin, thinly roll meat mixture to the size of the baking paper as shown.  I suggest that you prepare the other minced meat portions as well and set them aside.

Transfer baking paper to baking tray and remove cling wrap as shown below.

Bake in a preheated fan oven at a temperature of 130° C on the middle rack for 15 minutes.  Do note that the size will shrink!  Once done, remove from oven and cut into your preferred bite sizes. Transfer to another baking tray which is lined with baking paper.  Repeat procedure with the other portions.

Increase the temperature of the fan oven to 180° C.  Once the required temperature is reached, bake the cut-up bak kwa pieces for about 10 minutes.  Then, remove baking tray from oven and turn over each bak kwa piece.  Return to oven and bake for another 2 minutes.  It is very important that you do not over-bake them or else, the bak kwas will become very hard and crispy. You need to watch the baking process carefully as the temperature of your oven might be different from mine. Please adjust the oven temperature accordingly.

My hubby likes them crispy!  What I did was to turn over the bak kwas again and bake for another 2 minutes.  So, I had two portions crispy and 2 portions normal!

If you prefer to grill them, skip this step and grill until done!

Once done, remove to a rack and leave to cool down completely before storing in an airtight container.

Bon Appetit!

Chwee Kueh

One of Singapore's most popular breakfast dish.  These rice cakes are made of rice flour, tapioca starch & water and steamed in small saucers.  They are topped with diced preserved radish - I added minced beef to the radish for an extra twist - and served with chilli sauce.

Batter Ingredients (yields 21 pieces):
180 g rice flour
2 tbsp tapioca flour
250 ml water

2 tbsp sunflower or maize oil
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
450 ml water

Filling Ingredients:
1 pkt chai poh (diced preserved radish)
100 g minced beef
4 pips garlic, to be peeled and finely minced
2 tsp sugar or to taste
ground white pepper to taste
1 - 2 tsp sweet soy sauce
4 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Add chai poh to a sieve and rinse under running water twice to get rid of the salty taste. Drain well over a bowl.  In a saucepan, heat cooking oil over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and stir-fry until slightly yellow in colour.  Add minced beef and stir-fry until it changes colour.  Then, add chai poh, sweet soy sauce and season to taste.  Cook until mixture is dry.  Leave aside to cool down completely.

In a bowl, mix rice flour, tapioca flour and 250 ml water together.  In a saucepan, add 450 ml water, salt, oil and bring to boil.  Add immediately to bowl and mix well until there are no lumps.

Prepare steamer.  Steam the chwee kueh moulds without batter for about 5 minutes. Remove from steamer and fill batter to the brim of each mould.  Steam for 10 minutes.

Leave to cool down a little before removing them from the moulds by using a toothpick.

Before serving, add a teaspoon of filling as topping and serve with chilli sauce.

Bon Appetit!

Chicken Bao

Bao originates from China and is a steamed bun which is filled with either meat i.e. chicken, pork, etc. or vegetables or even red beans.  It is similar to the traditional chinese mantou.  We have been experimenting several bao recipes over a period of time until we finally compiled the following recipe to suit our taste.  This recipe yields 12 - 14 baos.

Bun Ingredients:
280 g low-protein flour i.e. hongkong flour (Lotus Brand), if possible OR cake flour

80 g icing sugar
50 g corn starch

30 g vegetable or cooking oil

8 g instant dry yeast

160 ml lukewarm water

1/2 tsp white vinegar (optional) - I tried both with & without vinegar before and the results are almost identical although others say that there is a difference

10 g baking powder (please do NOT use baking soda because it is a totally different thing)  

10 ml cold water
Note:  Again, it is optional to use this baking powder/cold water mixture!  I have tried both ways and found that by using this mixture, my baos are more fluffy.  If one is using this mixture, please ensure that the baking powder is completely dissolved or else there will be tiny "yellow dots" on the baos once they are done!

Method:

Sift both flours and icing sugar together into a bowl.  Make a well in the middle and add lukewarm water, vinegar  and yeast.

Knead mixture slowly and add oil gradually until a soft dough is formed. This should take about 10 minutes and the surface of the dough should be smooth.

Cover dough with a cloth and let it rise until it is doubled in size.  It will take about one or two hours.  
Be patient if you want your bao to be fluffy! 

Optional Step:  Dissolve baking powder in cold water, sprinkle over dough and knead until well combined.

Divide dough into 12 to 14 equal portions and flatten each portion with a rolling pin to make a round circle.  Place about 2 tsp filling on it and wrap & pleat dough to seal.  Place on a round parchment paper or muffins cases with the sealed side facing upwards.

Arrange buns in a steamer, leaving gaps in between buns.  Spray water over buns and steam in a preheated steamer on high heat for 12 minutes.  Remove buns from steamer and cool on rack to prevent soggy bottom.

Chicken Filling Ingredients:

400 g chicken meat, to be skinned and chopped into bite pieces

2 or 3 shallots, to be finely chopped

2 tbsp plum sauce

Marinade:

2 tbsp sweet black soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp dark black soy sauce (thick & sweet)

a dash of sesame oil

lots of ground white pepper

1 flat dsp brown sugar

Method:

Mix chicken and marinade well and leave aside.

Heat a bit of oil in a pan and fry shallots until fragrant.  Add chicken and its marinade. Cook over high heat until the mixture crystalizes.  Finally, add plum sauce and simmer until the sauce thickens.

Bon Appetit!