It’s been two weeks since I enrolled in the Pastry class at LCB. I’m loving it. I’m not sure where it’s going to take me but right now I’m going to do as Hubby says: just learn and have fun.
Mun toh puek (มันต่อเผือก) or purple sweet potato is a variety of the, well, sweet potato in Thailand. Mun is the Thai word for potatoes and puek for taro. So, my non-sophisticated translation for the term is potatoes for taros. Cute name. I quite like it. It’s also very apt since this spud tastes like a cross between sweet potatoes and taros. With the added advantage of a having a kaleidoscopic flower pattern when cut across. Lovely. Cute. Have I said that before? It really is. Allow me to say it again. Cute.
And the color doesn’t fade after being baked.
Cute.
Sorry. Couldn’t help saying that again. The color just tickles me.
Purple sweet potatoes are usually eaten boiled or sliced mandolin thin, fried, and candied. I love the latter the most. But then I saw this cute (oopsie. Did I just say that again?) picture of potato focaccia in one of my cookbooks. I went ahead and did a test batch. Verdict: the recipe was a waste of 4 hours of my life. It called for so much olive oil that my bread came out fried from the oven. So, I had to turn to Peter Reinhart. His book. Of course. I had put off baking anything from the Bread Baker’s Apprentice because, well, Peter’s (as in Reinhart) instructions are long and daunting. But the cute (oh dear. I can’t stop saying this word) potato focaccia picture stuck and I had mun toh puek in the fridge. Let’s do the math:
Mun toh puek in fridge + cute potato focaccia picture = Purple Sweet Potato, Thyme and Rosemary Focaccia.
Now that was easy. Wish high school math was that easy.
Cute. Cute. Cute. Cute. Cute. Saying it five times to get it out of my system.
Does not work.
Cute.
The recipe did not come from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. It was adapted. Heh. But it’s a great book with many cute pictures. There I said it again. So what. Cute.
Purple Sweet Potato Focaccia (Adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Poolish Focaccia)
Poolish
319 grams Unbleached bread flour
340 grams Water, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Instant yeast
Stir together the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl until all the flour is hydrated. The dough should be soft and sticky and look like very thick pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 3-4 hours, or until the sponge becomes bubbly and foamy. Immediately refrigerate it. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Purple Sweet Potato Focaccia
250 grams Baked and smashed purple sweet potato
284 grams Poolish
170 grams Unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
1 teaspoon Sea salt
3/4 teaspoon Instant yeast
3 tablespoons Olive oil
1 tablespoon Sea salt
1 tablespoon Chopped rosemary
1/2 tablespoon Chopped Thyme
85 grams Lukewarm water (37°C)
Extra (about 1/4 – 1/2 cup) Olive oil
1. Remove the poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough to take off the chill.
2. Stir together the flour, salt, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the oil, poolish, and water and mix until the ingredients form a wet, sticky ball. (I used an electric mixer with a dough hook. Took me a good 8 minutes and an extra 1/2 cup of bread flour. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl but stick to the bottom of the bowl. If mixing by hand, repeatedly dip hands or a metal spoon in cold water and use it like a dough hook to work the dough vigorously into a smooth mass while rotating the bowl in a circular motion with the other hand.) At this point add in the mashed purple sweet potato and give it a few more turns in the mixer. Just enough to incorporate the potato.
3. sprinkle enough flour on the counter to make a bed about 6 inches square. Using a scraper or spatula dipped in water, transfer the sticky dough to the bed of flour and dust liberally with flour, patting the dough into a rectangle. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
4. Coat hands with flour and stretch dough from each end to twice its size and fold it letter style, over itself to return it to a rectangular shape. Mist top of dough with olive oil and dust with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes.
5. Stretch and fold dough again as above and let rest 30 minutes.
6. Stretch and fold dough again as above and this time let rest 1 hour.
7. Line a 17 x 12 inch sheet pan with baking parchment. Drizzle 1/4 cup olive oil over the paper, and spread it with a brush or hands to cover the surface. Lightly oil hands and using a pastry scraper, lift the dough off the counter and transfer it to the sheet pan, maintaining the rectangular shape as much as possible. Rub some more olive oil over the dough and sprinkle with chopped rosemary and thyme……ok, I just sprinkled it lightly with dry rosemary and thyme from a bottle. Or use the herb oil as suggested by Reinhart. Buy his book to get the recipe. Please. It’s a keeper.
Next, (it’s all about long but detailed instructions here) dimple dough with finger tips and spread it to fill the pan simultaneously. If the dough becomes too springy, let it rest for 15 minutes and then continue dimpling. Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t fill the pan 100%. As it relaxes and proofs, it will spread out naturally. Trust Reinhart on this one. I confirm it’s true. Use more herb or olive oil as needed to ensure that the entire surface is coated.
8. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap. Proof at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until the dough fills the pain. I actually leave it in the fridge overnight and let rise again in room temperature the next day. The flavour was awesome.
Ok. I lied. But I plan to refrigerate it overnight the next time I make it. The flavour will be awesome.
9. About 15 minutes before baking, drizzle more olive oil, and dimple it in. Sprinkle coarse sea salt on the top. The dough should be 1/2 inch thick and fill the pan completely. If not, you’re screwed. Just kidding. It will fill the pan as Reinhart claims. If not, so what. It’ll still taste good. Right?
Let the dough relax for 15-30 minutes (it actually took me 40 minutes and I live in the tropics!) before baking to allow the gas to build back up. It will rise to almost 1 inch in thickness. Oh wait. I know what’s the problem. I halved the amount but didn’t use a smaller sheet pan. Heh.
10. Preheat oven to 250°C with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Place the pan in the oven and lower the oven setting to 220°C. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate pan 180 degrees and continure baking for 10 minutes or until the dough turns a light golden brown.
11. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately transfer focaccia out of pan onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least 20 mintues.
Lastly, another picture of the cute bread. The dough wasn’t refrigerated overnight but it was awesome. Uh-oh. Another word just tickled me.
The funny thing about moving back to Thailand is that I don’t crave for the espresso or any coffee in Europe. Ok. Maybe once in a while. Instead my regular morning caffeine is Thai iced coffee or o-liang in Thai (โอเลี้ยง). It’s a strong harsh drink, if you ask me. But very addictive. I guess that says a lot about my character. Ha.
It’s a simple drink to make at home. I’ve even made it with Lavazza. I find that it’s best when brown sugar is added for a caramel-ly taste. O-liang is made without milk or cream. And it’s best this way since milk or cream interferes with the strong robust coffee taste in my opinion. And sometimes just for kicks, I add cinnamon or cardamon.
For the past holiday, I have been feasting and feasting and feasting so much that I have sworn not to eat anything again. Until Chinese New Year that is. But I always wake up craving for a strong brew with lots of ice……..
Start by putting 2 tablespoons of Thai coffee (I love Samarn Karn Kaa brand สมานการค้า.) into a glass. Add brown sugar. I use 2-4 teaspoons depending on the day. Add 1 cup hot water (not boiling hot. About 80°C.) and stir to dissolve sugar.
Another nifty kitchen equipment to own is what is affectionately called the coffee sock or Thai coffee strainer. It’s a white cloth strainer as seen in the picture. Pour the glass of coffee through it into a large glass of ice. If you do not own one string an old sock through a wire just pour it through a couple layers of cheesecloth laid over a strainer. Add more ice as some will have melted. Enjoy!
Pan-fried buns is one of those things that I associate most with Taiwan. It is a fluffy not-so-flat-bread-like bun. It has a texture that is a cross between bread and Chinese buns but a bit moister and a better chew. Truth is this is one of the wheat products introduced by the people from Shangdong in Taiwan. I have never been to Shangdong but I often wonder what the version there would be like. These are not those small little buns but large as in Pizza-size large and sold by the slice. (That’s why it’s called “big buns” 大餅). But like many things in Taiwan, it has evolved. Smaller versions are made, though still large at 18-20 cm in size. It also comes in different kinds of fillings and flavors – bamboo charcoal, cheese, taro…. My favorite is plain without any filling.
I guess from the title, one would think I grew up eating this. Well, another truth is, I’ve only had it twice in my life. But that is how impressive they are – soft and fluffy but with a satisfactory chew that I love. I first had it in high school. I know. I still blame my relatives for keeping me in the dark for that long. So it’s not really my childhood bun but more my mother’s. She grew up seeing people peddling pan-fried buns at the back of those large black ancient bicycles for sale. It’s a rare sight today. Besides there are very very few shops selling these buns left. Hence, the name: My Childhood Pan-fried Bun or 小時後的大餅 in Chinese. Although it is called by a different name if filled with scallions. Luckily, the most famous one, in Yuanlin, is a stone’s throw from my grandparents’ place. And I’ve just found out it’s also their childhood bun. Soon it will be my daughter’s when I bring her to visit Taiwan. 
The recipe is adapted from 孟老師的中式麵食, a great cookbook on Chinese buns, pancakes, dumplings, etc. Unfortunately it’s available only in Chinese. Pan-fried buns only taste great if make with old dough or starter. It’s a little time-consuming but well worth the effort.
Old Dough or Starter
150 grams Water
1 gram Instant dry yeast or 3 grams fresh yeast
200 grams All-purpose flour
1. Dissolve yeast in water.
2. Add in flour and mix well. Let ferment for 4-5 hours in 28-30 degree Celcius room. Or until mixture double in size.
1st Feeding
350 grams Sarter/old dough
150 grams Water
200 grams All-purpose flour
1. Keep 350 grams of the starter from above. Discard the rest, if any.
2. Mix everything together well and let ferment 12-18 hours or until mixture double in size.
2nd Feeding:
700 grams Starter/Old dough
300 grams Water
400 grams All-purpose flour
1. Keep 700 grams of the starter/old dough from the 2nd feeding. Discard the rest, if any.
2. Mix all of the above together and let ferment for 5-6 hours or until double in size.
3. Starter/old dough is ready to be used.
Note: To keep the starter, take 400 grams and mix with 170 grams (43%) water and 230 grams (57%) all-purpose flour. Let ferment for 12-16 hours or until mixture double in volume. Repeat the process for each subsequent feeding. The only catch is over time the starter will turn sour and this is not a desirable characteristic for Chinese buns. If it happens, add 1/2 teaspoon of salt or baking soda to the mixture. Otherwise, start a new starter. 
My Childhood Pan-fried Buns 小時後的大餅
500 grams Starter/old dough
50 grams Water
150 grams All-purpose flour
25 grams sugar (I used brown sugar)
3 grams salt (I used sea salt)
1. Mix all of the above together. Knead until all ingredients all well incorporated. Let rest 5 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Shape into balls. Roll each out into 18 cm round circles. Let rest for 15-25 minutes.
3. On low heat, without adding any oil, pan-fry each bun with lid covered. Check after 4-5 minutes. When one side starts to turning yellow, flip over. Cover for another 4-5 minutes. Repeat process until buns are golden brown on both sides.
When I asked around what the difference between Sriracha and ordinary chili sauce is I got mixed answers. Some say they are the same – all chili sauce – just different percentage of ingredients. Others say Sriracha is the only chili sauce to eat with anything and then continues to rant on the American rip-off of the name…. When I asked my sis-in-law (her family owns a namprik (chili paste) company), she laughed and said they all have flour and papaya added into it: the flour to make it thick and the fruit for the color. I’ve heard about this rumor before and I hope it’s a joke.
But whatever. Let’s get to the tasting.
Initially I was going to do just a Sriracha sauce tasting but I was surprised by the larger shelf space of chili sauce. It outranks Sriracha sauce by a wide wide wide margin. Does that mean ordinary chili sauce is preferred? Sriracha is the sauce to use when eating Thai-sytle omelet. It’s like bread and butter. Or so I thought. My sis-in-law actually told me omelet is better with “flying horse brand” (Pegasus) chili sauce. I soon find out later there are people who prefer omelet with chili sauce than Sriracha sauce. Anyways, my impulsive grocery shopping goddess took over and I ended up with three bottles of the chili sauce, too. I guess I could have horded more but my cupboard is already overstuffed with the fish sauce from the previous taste. Must find a use for them soon.
From left to right: Sriraja Panich Medium Hot, SP Vegetarian, Three Mountains, and Heinz.
SRIRACHA SAUCE
Sriraja Panich ศรีราชาพาณิชย์ – Medium Hot
Sriraja Panich is considered the original Sriracha sauce. Sadly it has had to change its name from Sriracha to Sriraja due to trademark problems. It has since been acquired by Thai Theparos Food Products Public Company Limited (the manufacture of various sauces under the Golden Mountain brand). I grew up using this sauce and honestly I really find other brands pale in comparison. So, yes, I am already biased. Then why even the taste off, huh? Well, Heinz is making it and there is another brand in a plastic squeeze bottle like Huy Fong Foods’. I had to. Really.
Of all the four tasted, this one is darkest in color – rusty red-orange. The first taste is a rounded blend of sour, sweet and spicy followed by a hint of garlic. The sweetness is barely there. And the spicy note lingers at the back of the throat for a good 4-5 minutes. I know. I had to wait for it to subside before I could taste the next one. But what I don’t understand is why water (9%) was added. To thin the sauce? Make it less spicy?
In terms of smell, it is a light fermented vinegary-garlic-chili odor with garlic being more dominant. I know this is a poor description but that is how it smells. It’s like when you pound chili and garlic together and add vinegar……..only much much lighter.
Ingredients: Spur Chili 40%, White Sugar 17%, Garlic 15%, Vinegar (though in English it says acidifier) 14%, Water 9%, Salt 5%.
Sriraja Panich ศรีราชาพาณิชย์ – Vegetarian
There are no animal products in Sriracha sauce but the vegetarian version refers to one made without garlic. (Mahayana Buddhists are usually vegetarian and that includes abstaining from all pungent smelling food.) I bought this during the Thai Vegetarian Festival. The only thing that got me with this version is the ingredient numbers do not add up. Which doesn’t make sense since the original version does. I hope the missing 35% is not a concoction of papaya and flour!
I actually enjoy using this version. At least during the Vegetarian Festival. It’s the 2nd lightest in color but still dark. I had to smell this side by side to the former to pick out the difference. There is definitely less depth. The smell is less strong due to the absence of garlic, naturally. It also has more of the green-raw smell of chili and vinegar.
Taste-wise, it’s the sweetness that carries forth first. Followed by the acidic taste of vinegar then the spiciness. There is a very faint spiciness at the back of the throat and it fades away quickly. Definitely a sauce made for Buddhist vegetarians – nothing too strong; light and ephemeral. Not as profound as the original version.
Ingredients: White sugar 34%, Spur chili 25%, Vinegar 3%, Salt 3%.
Three Mountains
I got this purely for the squeeze bottle. At first I thought Huy Fong Foods made its way to Thailand! Nothing against the company, but it wouldn’t make sense to import Sriracha from the US of A. Anyways, it’s Thai and made from “Pure chili 100%”. Yup. No papaya. No flour. The percentages of the ingredients aren’t given but are listed in this order: Chili, sugar, vinegar, salt, and garlic. It is a brighter rusty orange in color. The smell is also very similar to Sriraja Panich. Except this one has more of the fresh chili smell.
In terms of taste, it has the sharpest vinegar taste of the three. Followed by the spiciness and garlicky taste. The hot spiciness also lingers for a good while at the back of the throat. About 5 minutes. I know. I timed it.
Heinz
I admit I was really sceptical about this one. My first reaction was Heinz, baby, stick to ketchup. But in comparison to Sriraja Panich, it is a lot sweeter (almost like ordinary chili sauce) which is weird because its only a 3% difference. But maybe that’s all it takes. And it does seem to take off some of the heat. The spiciness is mild in comparison to Sriraja Panich which again doesn’t make sense for me since Heinz has 16% more chili. Or maybe my tongue is already numb from all the tasting. It has a faint garlic-chili paste smell. And for some reason it is the brightest orange of the four. I might just puree some chili and papaya just to find out.
Ingredients: Spur chili 56%, Sugar 20%, Vinegar 9%, Fresh garlic 9%, Salt 3.5%.
L to R: Golden Mountain, Sukhum, and Pegasus.
CHILI SAUCE
Golden Mountain – Very Spicy
Made from the company that acquired Sriraja Panich. It’s a thick suace made wholly with chilis (as stated on the label). The color is a bit redder than SP. I actually tasted this with Sriraja Panich on the side again. Probably not a fair comparison as I didn’t get the Very Spicy version of SP. But GM is sweeter which is normal since chili sauce is generally sweeter. Plus it has a higher sugar content. The sweetness is quickly followed by the sour and spicy. And either my tongue is really dead by now or the spiciness didn’t linger long. Overall, it just seems less spicy than SP despite the 10% higher chili content. I really think sugar plays an important role here in taming the spiciness. Maybe that is why as Thai food got spicier, it also invariably got sweeter.
Ingredients: Spur chili 50%, Sugar 25%, Vinegar 10%, Garlic 10%, Salt 5%.
Sukhum Brand Chili Sauce ซอสพริกตราสุขุม – Very Spicy
I was surprised at how watery Sukhum is when I first poured it out. In fact the others all have a light paste-like quality while this one is runny. Guess no flour, no papaya. Heh. This is the sauce sweared by some of the people I talked to. Of all the 7 sauces tasted, it is the spiciest. Perfect for people who love dynamite-explosive spicy food. And I thought my tongue was numb and dead. My lips were burning. I had to drink a whole BIG glass of ice cold water.
There is a stronger sour taste. The sweetness was also very dominant but didn’t take off the heat as much. And here I was really confused since the sugar content is 10% higher than Golden Mountain but the chili content is 28% less. Makes absolutely no sense that Sukhum is hotter and tastes less sweet than GM. I was really going to puree some papaya and chili when I saw that Sukhum uses bird’s eye chili พริกขี้หนู instead of spur chili พริกชี้ฟ้า. So that’s why! (Bird’s eye chili is much much smaller but waaaaay more explosive.)
Ingredients: Sugar 35%, Vinegar 30%, Bird’s eye chili 22%, Salt 10%, Garlic 3%.
Chili Sauce Pegasus Brand ซอสพริกตราม้าบิน
Yet another one whose ingredient list does not add up. This is my sis-in-law and surprisingly many’s fav chili sauce. Preferred over Sriracha, actually. The color is the brightest of all the 7 tasted. But I can see why. Though it is not burning hot and lacks depth like SP, it is very well-rounded. It has a good blend of sweet, sour, and spicy though the sweetness leads just a little. The spiciness was mild and the sourness brings everything together. It’s an easy sauce to use. Doesn’t overpower the food. Perfect for people who like food to be a little sweeter in my opinion.
Ingredients: Spur chili 28%, Sugar 17%, Distilled vinegar 16%, Garlic 12%, Salt 10%.
And the conclusion to the tasting? I now have 7 more bottles of sauces with nowhere to put. Under the bed? My favorite is still Sriraja Panich. Grew up with it. Hard to change tastebuds that have been honed since childhood. Funny that. I’ve always thought the palate can be trained. Guess some things just can’t be replaced like bread and butter. Or omelet and Sriracha.
Next up, palm sugar tasting. Sweet.
Scallion pancake is one of my favorite food. There are so many versions in Taiwan with the most popular one from Yilan (a county in north Taiwan) which evidently is also known for scallions. San Sing (三星) scallions precisely. I often wonder what the difference between Taiwanese-style (台式蔥油餅) and Chinese-style pancakes are. I’ve asked around but never got a really satisfactory answer. Mostly they tell me is in the chew and texture. The Chinese version is a denser chew while the Taiwanese version has a softer satisfactory chew. Unfortunately for the two times that I visited China I never got to taste any scallion pancakes so I can’t make any comparison. But I did notice that the dough in older recipes are made with just medium-gluten (all-purpose) flour and water. While in later Taiwanese recipes oil and/or other flour are added to give the dough a softer chew or Q. (Q is the Taiwanese word for chewy and is a texture that is highly appreciated.)
Apart from the chew I am also told Chinese-style scallion pancakes are sold by weight or slices while the Taiwanese version is smaller and sold by the piece. Which reminds me of shops that sell Sandong (a province in northern China) style pancakes like the popular 天母山東蔥油餅 (此燈亮有餅). There is also another popular shop in Taipei, 秦家餅店, made by an elderly grandma (always a good sign) whose pancakes are made with the cold water method and no oil is added to batter. On top of that they are pan-fried without oil. Unfortunately, I never made it there the gazillion times I was in Taipei. Lightning should strike me.
Besides the different flour used, scallion pancakes can be made using the blanched dough or the aforementioned cold water dough method. The former requires partly mixing the flour with hot water and the later is made entirely with cold water. Both are supposed to produce different Q’s. But what gets me the most is the addition of baking powder and yeast. Seriously, why? Anything with baking powder or yeast shouldn’t be in the Chinese pancake classification. For all I care they should be in the “risen dough” 發麵 group.
Oh, and before I forget, they can be pan-fried with or without the lid on. The later is more common.
I’ve never had scallion pancakes made the cold water way nor with the addition of non-wheat flour. Not knowingly anyway. So I thought, hey, I did the fish sauce tasting, why not scallion pancakes, too. Yea. Why not. It’d be more fun to eat, too.
So I spend the past three days making them. Yes. Three days because I learned from this CL that the pancakes taste a lot better if the dough is allowed to rest in the fridge for 24 hours. Which is true. After 24 hours the dough was so silky and smooth. And they did taste better. But I also left another batch for up to 48 hours not because I was trying to be some food scientist but I needed to take care of non-pancake stuff, too. At first I was afraid the dough would turn acidic – not a desirable trait in Chinese pancakes – but the amazing thing was the dough turned incredibly softer and more pliable. I didn’t even need to use a rolling pin. I could just stretch and shape everything with my palms. This is how I am going to make my scallion pancakes from now on.
Before I get to the tasting I’m going to share a few things I pick up along the way:
1. From this Taiwanese blogger I now make my pancakes with scallion oil and scallion oil paste. A big thanks to 妃娟. I also used her recipe for pancakes made with tapioca and all-purpose flour. I do have a similar recipe in one of my cookbooks but it includes baking powder. Yea. So so so wrong.
2. After mixing the flour with the water I find the dough will be easier to knead if given a 20 minutes rest first.
3. Patience patience patience is the secret to frying perfect pancakes. I have taken to pan-frying with the lid. I find it traps in the moisture and creates a crispier layer. They need to be done slowly on medium-low heat with frequent flipping. Plus for a klutz like me, it’s also harder to burn the pancakes.
4. 48 hours is my standard for resting the dough now. It really produces such a silky smooth and soft dough. Except for the cold water method. A long rest makes it dense and doughy.
5. The thinner the dough is rolled, the crispier. I tried rolling it so thin that when fried it was crisp like chips!
6. Over using the scallion oil paste will make the pancakes very greasy. Naturally.
7. I prefer small pancakes over larger ones as they ar easier to fry in a home stove and pan. The perfect dough weight for me is between 100-120 grams. Any larger I find it clumsy to work with. But it really depends on the person.
How the tasting is done (how do professionals do this??????):
1. All are made from the same brand of all-purpose flour (Kite brand).
2. Scallion oil and salt are added directly to the batter.
3. Each dough weighs 120 grams and is brushed with 3/4 tablespoon scallion oil paste.
4. Each is tasted after a 24 hour and 48 hour rest.
To begin:
1. Make the scallion oil first. Reserve 1/2 cup for mixing with the batter.
妃娟 does not give the exact proportion for making scallion oil and the paste. I made an estimate of 2 cups oil to 1 1/2 cups very thinly sliced scallions. Use good lard if possible if not any neutral oil like grapeseed is fine. But lard will result in a crispier pancake. Pan fry the oil and scallion on low heat just until the scallions turn soft but not yellow. Strain and set the scallions aside.
Make sure the scallions are patted dry before using. I actually left mine to air-dry for a few hours.
2. Make the scallion oil paste. Mix the remaining scallion oil with enough all-purpose flour until a mayo consistency is obtained. This part is optional as not everyone in the family likes it. Too much makes it greasy but the right amount gives the pancake more pronounced layers and a bit flakier.
3. After mixing the flour and dough, let rest 20 minutes before kneading.
4. After kneading, let rest another 20 minutes before putting in fridge.
5. After 24 hours, shape dough and let rest yet another 20 minutes. Roll flat and pan-fry slowly. For me the pancakes are best at 0.3-0.4 cm.
For a more detailed description on how to shape the dough read my Chinese Toon pancake post.
6. After 48 hours, do the same as above.
7. Pan-fry each pancake on medium-low heat. Start with one side and just as it turns yellow, flip over to another side. When it turns yellow, flip over again and cover with lide. Let fry for 1-2 minutes then flip over. Cover for 1-2 minutes then flip. Repeat the process 3-4 times or until pancake is done.
8. Like a good croissant, these are best when fresh hot out of the pan. If left to cool, they tend to become tough.
Cold water method – All purpose flour
I adapted this recipe from a famous Taiwanese baker/chef. She has written a wonderful book on Chinese buns, dumplings, pancakes….unfortunately, it’s available only in Chinese. This is the only dough that does not and should not have an overnight rest. In fact, the chef warns against resting the dough in room temperature for more than an hour. I didn’t listen and ended up with a dense and doughy pancake after 24 hours. After 48 hours the pancake still has a soft chew but almost doughy like Chinese buns. Done right the pancake has a medium chew. Less soft than Taiwanese-style pancakes but still crispy.
300 grams All-purpose flour
220 grams Cold water (room temperature)
1 tablespoon Scallion oil
3/4 tablespoon Scallion paste
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1. Mix all the ingredients together and let rest 1 hour in room temperature. Covered with saran wrap, of course.
2. After one hour, lightly oiled the working surface. Weigh out 120 grams of the dough and gently stretch it as thin as possible. Brush with 3/4 tablespoon scallion paste then sprinkle with scallion all over. Roll into tube then coil. Let rest 30 minutes before frying.
Note: This pancakes tastes the closest to those made the traditional way. It has more chew and is the least soft of the four. It’s not as dense as the traditional pancakes probably because of the added oil. This is the kind my dad would love – not too soft not too dense.
Blanched dough method – All purpose flour
I adapted this recipe from CL. In fact I also used her recipe with the potato flour. I picked this recipe because it uses a higher proportion of hot water than I normally do. My guess was it would give the pancake a softer chew and it did. Plus she also sifted the flour first which makes it less dense than recipes made the old way.
300 grams All-purpose flour
150 grams Hot water
50 grams Cold water
1 tablespoon Scallion oil
3/4 tablespoon Scallion paste
1 teaspoon Salt
1. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add in the salt. Pour the hot water all around the flour and mix thoroughly. Add in cold water. Mix. Add in scallion oil. Mix well. Let rest 20 minutes before kneading. Let rest another 20 minutes before putting in fridge.
2. After 48 hours: Remove dough and roll into a log. Divide and weigh into 120 gram pieces. At this point the dough is soft enough to spread out with palms. Or if preferred use a rolling pin. Brush with scallion paste and sprinkle with scallions. Roll into log and squeeze out as much air as possible rolling. Roll into a coil. Let rest 30 minutes. Flatten into 0.4 cm pieces then pan-fry.
Note: I have to admit I have a hard time distinguishing the texture between this one and the one above. They are so similar with only a slight degree of chewy difference. Naturally this one is a bit softer but they have the same medium dense texture.
Blanched dough method – All purpose and potato flour
Recipe adapted from CL. The recipe calls for using either all-purpose or bread flour. I used all-purpose.
75 grams Potato flour
60 grams Room temperature water
150 grams Hot water
300 grams All-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Scallion oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon room temperature water
1. Mix potato flour with 60 grams room temperature water. Mix well then add in 150 grams hot water. Mix well and leave to cool slightly. Add in all-purpose flour, scallion oil, salt and the 1 tablespoon water. Mix well again and let rest 20 minutes.
2. Knead dough lightly until dough doesn’t stick to hands and is slightly stretchy. Let rest 20 minutes before putting in fridge.
3. After 48 hours: Shape and pan-fry as described above.
Note: After putting in fridge for 48 hours every dough type is very soft and pliable with the hand except for this one. It is silkier than before putting into fridge but definitely less stretchable than the others.
The texture is slightly dense but has a soft bouncy chew. Not sure if that is a good description but when compared with the two above it is sort of springy. But when compared with the tapioca pancake, the potato pancake is a bit chewier. It is definitely softer than the traditional pancake and less dense.
Blanched dough method – All purpose and tapioca flour
I adapted this recipe from here. 妃娟 adds an extra 15-20 grams cold water which I omitted since the dough was already so watery and sticky.
20 grams Tapioca flour
30 grams Room temperature water
200 grams All-purpose flour
4 grams salt
112 grams Hot water
10 grams scallion oil
1. Mix tapioca flour with 30 grams room temp water. Add in all-purpose flour and salt. Mix well. Add in hot water and mix well again. Let cool before kneading with hand. Knead until dough doesn’t stick to hand and is slightly stretchy.
If the dough is still too sticky to knead, let rest 20 minutes.
2. After kneading, let dough rest another 20 minutes before putting in fridge.
3. 48 hours after: shape and roll dough as above.
Note: Of the four this one has the softest chew which is a surprise for me as I had thought the potato flour would be the softest. Again, this is not as dense as the traditional pancake. People who prefer soft cookies would like this. Including children.
I personally can’t decide which I like best. I like the texture of the one made with tapioca best but I have this unjustified prejudice against tapioca. Don’t know why. I tend to avoid using it whenever I can. Maybe because it’s such a “cheater’s” flour that I just don’t like it. I like the idea of using potato flour which is funny because I only like potatoes when they are fried. Robuchon’s famous mashed potato didn’t do it for me either. Sorry chef. They are good only when fried. Or when made into a kind of dumpling (肉圓) popular in Taichung, Taiwan. Or maybe I am a traditionalist at heart. If I have to make them for myself I’d choose either the cold water or hot water method with just all-purpose flour. And pine for the kind of texture made with tapioca or potato flour. But I guess people’s taste change and evolve over time. Maybe over time I’ll learn to get rid of my prejudice against tapioca. Maybe.
There are many ways to add jazz up an ordinary pound cake. Mostly by adding ingredients such as candied orange, flowers, spices, tea, coffee chocolate, pure extracts of this and that…. Many recipes also add salt . I like a little salt in my pound cake. There is just something about the contrasting sweet and savoury that somehow rounds up really well with the buttery goodness. This is also how watermelon and many fruits are eating in Taiwan – with a little salt on the side.
But my favorite way to is to sprinkle the pound cake lightly with coarse sea salt before eating rather than adding it directly to the batter. Sometimes I have it on the side for dipping, too. Plus the crunch adds another dimension to the taste. My favorite is fleur de sel from Guérande, by the way.
I’ve adapted the brown butter recipe from Gourmet’s October 2009 issue. I infused the butter with rosemary as well as added another teaspoon to the batter. I omitted the salt and served the baked nutty buttery rosemary heaven with salt on the side. Lovely. Really. Give it a try.
Rosemary Brown Butter Pound Cake (adapted from Gourmet October 2009)
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 medium stalks rosemary
1 tsp coarsely chopped rosemary
1. Preheat oven to 160 C with rack in middle. Butter and lightly flour an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. (I used a Bundt.)
2. Heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet with the three stalks rosemary over medium heat until milk solids on bottom are a dark chocolate brown. Transfer to a shallow bowl. Let cool , discard rosemary stalks and strain. Chill in freezer until just congealed about 15 minutes.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder and the chopped rosemary.
4. Beat together brown butter and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just incorporated.
5. Transfer batter to pan, smoother top, then rap pan on counter to settle batter. Bake until golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool in pan 30 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack and cool completely, right side up, 1 hour. Serve with coarse sea salt on the side. Please.
From left to right (also from darkest to lightest): Juthatip, Tiparos, Tra Chang (2-yrs), Megachef, Abalone, Squid, Tra Chang (1-yr), and Oyster.
With all the recent brouhaha over fish sauce and Sriracha sauce, I thought, heck, might as well do a tasting for Thai fish sauce. (Will do the Sriracha sauce another day.) Back when I was growing up there were only a few brands in the market. Today, practically every sauce company makes it. I was going to do a tasting for all the fish sauce I can get at my local upscale supermarket but in the end I limited it to 6 brands and another one made from tuna fish. That’s right. Tuna. Fish. My guess is it’s horse mackerel.
I’ve never done any kind of tasting (apart from wine) but I thought this should be fun. And it was except I craved for something cloyingly sweet so bad afterward. Plus I was drinking ice cold water non-stop. I usually buy Tiparos, Squid or Tra Chang brand. But lately I’ve been using more of Tra Chang than anything else so I am going to use it as a benchmark for the tasting.
I admit I was vastly surprised by the woodsy and whiskey/brandy-like and cheesy aromas. Either that or my nose is playing tricks on me. I don’t know how experts would do the tasting but the best way for me was to dilute 1 tablespoon of fish sauce with 5 tablespoons water. I initially dipped a spoon into the undiluted fish sauce to taste. Somehow it was very difficult to get past the harsh saltiness. I was actually put off by it and was all about to give up when I remembered reading one of Jeffrey Steingarten’s articles in which he did a salt tasting by diluting it in water. I find diluted fish sauce also makes it easier to pick out the mellower and lingering (if any) sweet taste. In the end I tasted it first undiluted then diluted.
I only found two brands that were fermented for two years : Tra Chang and Megachef. Good fish sauce should be fermented for at least a year. Tra Chang also sells a 1-yr fermented fish sauce which I included in the tasting. The other brands are Oyster, Tiparos, Squid, Abalone, and Juthatip.
Tra Chang - 2 years fermentation.
Brand: Tra Chang
Frmentation: 2 years
Color: Amber/whisky-like
Smell: Charred-smoky, slight woody/brandy, mellow dried fish smell; soft cheesy (somehow reminds me of well-aged Comté) and musky smell. I like the smell of this one best. Maybe because it bizarrly reminds me of cheese and brandy…..
Taste: Starts off with an ocean-like saltiness then mellows out with a soft lingering nutty and (dare I say) cheese taste.
Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 29% salt, 1% sugar.
Left: 2-yr Tra chang. Right: 1-yr Tra Chang.
Brand: Tra Chang
Fermentation: 1 year
Color: Amber/whisky-like but a bit lighter than the 2-year fermentation
Smell: Mellow charred-smoky and dried fish smell. No much brandy-like smell but has a soft well-aged cheese smell.
Taste: Sharp saltiness then mellows out. Light dried fish aftertaste.
Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 29% salt, 1% sugar
Megachef - 2 years fermentation.
Brand: Megachef
Fermentation: 2 years.
Color: Amber/whisky-like.
Smell: Softer brandy smell than Tra Chang 2-years; charred smoky dried fish smell; aged cheese and musky smell.
Taste: Has the longest lingering aftertaste; nutty and very soft overall well-rounded sweet taste. Not sure if it’s because of the added sucrose but the saltiness is slightly less harsh than Tra Chang 2-years. This would also be great as a dipping sauce.
Ingredients: 70% anchovy, 27% salt, 2% sugar, 1% sucrose.
I still can’t find out why the added sucrose except that glucose and sucrose are supposed to ferment well.
Oyster - 1 year fermentation.
Brand: Oyster
Fermentation: 1 year.
Color: Pale honey-like color. In fact it is the palest of all the brands tasted.
Smell: Light, mellow dried fish smell.
Taste: Light saltiness and little aftertaste.
Ingredients: 75% anchovy, 24% salt, 1% sugar.
I am actually surprised by the outcome . Because of it high anchovy percentage I was expecting stronger smell and taste but they were mild in comparison to the others.
Tiparos - fermentation year unspecified but listed as 1st grade.
Brand: Tiparos
Fermentation: Unspecified. 1st grade.
Color: Amber/brandy-like.
Smell: Very faint, almost none, dried fish smell. Very mellow and sweet note.
Taste: Sharp saltiness with long lingering sweet taste. Barely there cheese taste.
Ingredients: 65% anchovy, 30.5% salt, 4.5% sugar.
Of all the brands tasted, Tiparos has the darkest amber color which is unexpected. I had thought one of the 2-yr fermented sauces would have the darker color. It also has the least fishy but very well-rounded smell. This is the one that makes me wonder how long has it been fermented. I have used this brand for a long time in the past. The sweet smell and taste were a surprise.
Squid - fermentation year unspecified but listed as 1st grade.
Brand: Squid
Fermentation: Unspecified. 1st grade.
Color: Amber/whisky-like.
Smell: Dried fish/squid (hence the name?) like smell. The smell reminds me a bit of Megachef but lighter.
Taste: Strong salty taste with slight cheesy-dried fish after taste.
Ingredients: 60% anchovy, 37% salt, 3% sugar.
Abalone - year unspecified; listed as "starter".
Brand: Abalone
Fermentation: Unspecified but listed as a “starter” or หัวนำ้ปลา as printed in Thai. Most likely this means this is the 1st filtration of the fermented product. I am told the starter is actually hard to come by as this is liquid gold for fish sauce companies. It is usually diluted with the 2nd or 3rd fermentation of the same batch of anchovy (as is the practice). I am assuming this is pure starter and Abalone hasn’t diluted it.
Color: Amber/whiskey color.
Smell: Dried fish, smoky and slight cheesy smell.
Taste: Smoky fish head note with a light lingering well-rounded dried fish taste. A bit cheesy. The saltiness is not as sharp as I thought starters would have. Surprising , actually. It’s my new favorite.
Ingredients: 76% anchovy, 23% salt, 1% sugar.
- Juthathip tuna fish sauce.
I have included a tuna fish sauce because, well, I am not sure if this is how the future is going to be with diminishing anchovy supply. Many of the pla kratuk are caught in the oceans of Thailand’s neighbors. Some companies even import them pre-fermented. Plus I was curious about the taste. Juthathip suggests mixing it with wasabi to be eaten with sashimi. I don’t eat raw fish so I can’t tell if that’s a good combo. I might try making some kind of fried rice or noodle out of it.
Brand: Juthatip
Fermentation: Unspecified.
Color: Dark soy sauce.
Smell: A mixture of light fish sauce with soy sauce.
Taste: As the label says, it does taste a bit like soy sauce….mixed with fish sauce.
Ingredients: 73% tuna, 24% salt, 3% sugar.
Overall I have to admit there are slight nuances among the various brands with the 2-yr fermented sauce having a more profound and complex taste. I also like the smoky and cheesy taste of Abalone brand. I can’t say which is better than the other. It’s all a matter of taste. Different ones, I say. But I did become more aware of fish sauce, something that I took for granted. It’s actually making me want to try all the other sauces that I have never really paid much attention. Can’t wait till the Sriracha sauce tasting.
I dined at Le Violon d’Ingres a few years ago and never went back until this past August when I visited Paris again. The food was a winner. Unfortunately, the service was rude and horrible even by Parisian standards. Its only saving grace was the 2 bottles of Chatelon that it forgot to charge us.
Friends urged us to go back since the rude waiter and manager weren’t there any more. Plus they assured us the food is still as good as ever. Well, since it was August and many places were closed, we relented. Who knows they might forget to charge us for the wine. Ha.
My friends were right. The service was friendly and un-snotty. And the food?
Superb!
I know it’s summer but the cassoulet here is one of the best I’ve tasted. Especially the beans. They are not mushy but soft and hold their shape at the same time.
The last time that I was here I also ordered this lovely soft cloud of a souffle. It was so good that I forgot about the bad service for the few minutes that I was savoring it. Hence, this time I wanted to recreate that experience with the bonus of nicer service. It didn’t disappoint. The souffle arrived in a pillowy fluff on the table. Then a yummy buttery caramel sauce was poured into it……….heaven!
They didn’t forget to charge us for the Chatelon nor the wine (damn it) but it’s since made its way to my list of favorite bistros in France.
Many, many, many weeks ago, my sister came to bake. We had been talking about making bael cake for the longest time but the opportunity never presented itself until then. Since we had more candied bael than we could use, we also made a batch of bael cookies adapted from an online recipe that didn’t deliver, so no post on that. But the cakes or mini-cakes came out perfect.
We adapted the recipe from a Thai Macrobiotic cookbook – อาหารชีวจิต ตำหรับอาหารบ้านคุณชูเกียรติ. Yes, there is such a thing as Thai Macrobiotic. Do not be duanted by the word Macrobiotic. The cake was moist and sumptous with the salted butter. That’s right. There is butter in this Macrobiotic recipe. Why else would I even use it, huh?
Instead of wholewheat flour I use regular white flour. I also added Chinese red dates to the 1/2 cup of bael juice. Other changes? I used salted butter in place of adding salt to the batter with unsalted butter. Lastly, I baked everything in those cute small Nordic Ware molds.
Recipe adapted from Aharn Cheevajit Tumrub Aharn Baan Khun Chookiat (อาหารชีวจิต ตำหรับอาหารบ้านคุณชูเกียรติ)
2 cups White or cake flour (sifted twice)
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 teaspoon Baking soda
70 grams Salted butter
1/2 cup Muscovado sugar
1/2 cup Candied bael(chopped)
3 medium-sized Eggs
1/2 cup Bael and Chinese date juice (Lightly grill about 3 slices of bael and boil with 5, more or less, dried Chinese red dates (not the candied kind) and 1 cup water. Leave to cool before use.)
1. Beat butter until soft. Slowly add in the sugar and continue beating until creamed. Add in an egg and mix well before adding another. Continue until all three eggs are well mixed in the mixture.
2. Roughly divide the flour into three equal parts. Slowly add one part into the egg mixture. Mix lightly. Add in half the bael juice. Mix. Add in the second flour part. Mix lightly and add the rest of bael juice. Mix well. Add in the last flour part and chopped candied bael. Mix well and set aside.
3. Preheat oven at 170 degree Celcius. Lightly butter then dust the molds. Shake all excess flour. Fill the molds 2/3 full. Bake 40 minutes.
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