March 2010 | Christine's Recipes: Easy Chinese Recipes | Delicious Recipes -->

Smoked Salmon Salad (Easter Side Dish)

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Smoked Salmon Salad01

In many parties I joined, I found salad was very popular and a favourite dish to most people. This smoked salmon is one of my favourites, either enjoying in social gatherings or making for a light family meal. The smoked salmon used in this side dish was bought from supermarket, very handy, huh.

What would happen when the east meets the west? It might come up with some dishes like this one. This time I experimented using Chinese way of marinating chicken instead of just sprinkling a pinch of salt and pepper. The oriental taste of chicken was mingled with Aussie salad greens, subtly adding an Asian kick. The crisp baby spinach was a big hit in my family unexpectedly. My hubby kept asking whether I left some more in the kitchen.
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Chocolate Profiteroles (Easter Dessert)

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As Easter is coming around the corner, there’re heaps of chocolate on sale at every supermarket already. Since chocolate is definitely a favorite at Easter, I’ve been long for making some profiteroles with chocolate sauce on top for a festive treat.

Chocolate Profiteroles01

A profiterole (also known as cream puff) is a popular choux pastry, small round in shape with a hollow inside that are often served cold with sweet filling and a topping. It might be originated from France, but I’m not sure. What I’m sure about is that baking successful profiteroles sometimes is a challenge.

The little puffs tend to deflate if removed from oven and cooled down. But the remedies here that I experimented are quite reliable for baking hollow puffs with crisp shells outside and soft inside.
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Japanese Style Coconut Custard Buns (Tangzhong Method)

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These Japanese Style Coconut Custard Buns taste really superb. The bread texture is soft and fluffy and the filling is full of coconut aroma. 

Coconut Custard Buns01

I have been addicted to making bread recently, with the tangzhong (湯種) method of course since I found it’s easy to manage and the end products were wonderful even in my first attempt.

Even better, the bread can be kept soft for a few days. What else can be better than baking homemade bread that my family likes? So I keep baking and baking, even on a day with a little accident happened….

These coconut custard buns were baked on the day when my finger was cut and right after it stopped bleeding.

The dough had been proofed for enough time, custard prepared and chilled in fridge. An unexpected bleeding didn’t hold me off. I used only one hand to wrap the fillings and pop all those cute little buns in oven.

It’s really a new challenge to me, the first time, and I hope it’s the last time too. Well, it’s simply because I didn’t want to waste anything that was already there. The buns looked good enough, tasted as expected, very soft and fluffy.

Coconut Custard Buns03

See....the texture is so soft inside, really fluffy!
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Roasted Chicken Drumsticks with Garlic and Sweet Potato

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I cut my little finger accidentally last Friday when I was slicing onion for our beef soup noodles. It really hurt and my finger’s bleeding a lot. Luckily, my finger is getting better and better, close to completely recovered right now.

After cutting my finger, I didn’t really cook at all for the past few days. We just had some simple and quick dishes. The other day, we talked about how to have a better dinner without my cooking. Quickly, we came up with this conclusion: my daughter suggested herself to cook a main dish, my husband cooked a side dish. However, my daughter had no idea of what to cook. Coincidently, I found an easy and quick recipe of garlic-roasted chicken from Food Network. It appeared just in time as a life-line for us. So my daughter adapted the recipe and baked this heavenly delicious dish, roasted drumsticks with garlic and sweet potato using what we have got in our fridge.

I hadn’t used sweet potatoes to go with any sauce cooked with vinegar before. Before trying this dish, I had little doubt about how the end result would be like. Amazingly, I found out the taste was wonderful. The sweetness of sweet potato subtly blended with the tangy sauce went really well with the moist and succulent chicken meat.
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Stewed Pork Ribs with Lemon and Champagne

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Stewed Pork Ribs with Lemon and Champagne01

Champagne is one of popular sparkling wines used in occasions of celebrations. Whenever I come across champagne, it reminds me of many good and happy moments. As a matter of fact, it’s seldom used in home cooking. Often times, I like to break the rule of cooking by adding some extraordinary ingredients into an ordinary dish to impress my family. Here comes a humble dish of pork rib stew infused by the sweet fragrance of champagne, with a bit of subtle sourness of lemon. You might have tried the popular Chinese dish, lemon chicken before. Would you like to try this new creation?
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Lemon Pork Loin Chops

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Lemon Pork Chops

You might have tried the popular dish, lemon chicken. So have I. It's my favourite dish too. You can easily find lemon chicken on the menu at any Chinese restaurants. Well, ever tried lemon pork chops? I wasn’t quite sure how the taste it would be like if lemon goes with pork until I experimented cooking the dish the other day. The juicy and tender pork chops, drizzled with sweet and sour lemon sauce on top tasted fantastic and appetizing. As this dish was an experiment, I only cooked two pieces of chops. If you’d like to cook and try how the taste is like, double the size or increase the amount according to your preference.

As the pork chops are to be pan-fried, I find thin pork loin is the best choice for this recipe. Keep the time of frying pork chops as short as you can, to the point that it’s just done so that the meat won’t be too dry.
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Sausage Rolls (Tangzhong Method)

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Hong Kong Style Sausage Rolls01

It’s been a long time not to have this Hong Kong Style sausage roll, Hong Kong style. A reader left a comment on my Chinese food blog a few days ago, letting me know she liked the tangzhong recipe very much and was succeeded in making some soft and fluffy Hong Kong style sausage rolls. Waahoo…the comment really intrigued me to make some to satisfy my craving.

Here comes the recipe that I created and based on the method of bread making with tangzhong. Basically, the method is the same as the one posted here, but for the filling, I replaced with sausages. You might use any kinds of sausage you like with different sizes. I used the the Continental Frankfurt that’s similar to hot dogs in size. So each roll was big enough for being a light lunch for me, haha…
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Stewed Beancurd Puffs with Daikon & Carrot

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Stewed Beancurd Puffs with Turnips & Carrots01

Sometimes I feel really good to have a vegan dish especially when I have had enough meat. This Stewed Beancurd Puffs with Daikon and Carrot that I created last night was a bit like Japanese dish. Daikon has a natural sweetness which is often used in Japanese cuisine. However, I do like to incorporate it in my Chinese cooking as well. The dish I cooked last night was very simple. I just used a red carrot and some beancurd puffs to cook with daikon in stock. The daikon was very tender and absorbed all the flavours in it, very delicious!
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Japanese Style Bacon and Cheese Bread (Tangzhong Method 湯種法)

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Ever tried Tangzhong breads before? You'd be amazed with its soft and fluffy texture if you tried. This bacon and cheese bread was made by Tangzhong method (aka 'water roux'), detailed info below.

There are many different methods of making bread with different styles and tastes. My family likes soft, springy and fluffy bread, like those of Japanese style.

A few years ago, an amazing method of making this kind of soft and fluffy bread was introduced by Yvonne Chen 陳郁芬 who wrote a Chinese book, entitled “65°C湯種麵包” (Bread Doctor). In her book, tangzhong “湯種”, is described as the “secret ingredient” which is originated from Japan, to make soft and bouncy bread. It’s actually a kind of “flour paste”(aka water roux starter), cooked 1 part of bread flour in 5 parts of water to 65°C. So it’s very natural and handy to make. The Chinese community has been fascinated and crazy about this bread making method ever since.

Why does tangzhong 湯種 (flour paste) work so amazingly that can produce fluffy bread and stay soft for many days? At 65°C, the gluten in the flour and water mixture would absorb the moisture and become leavened. When tangzhonog is added into other ingredients of the bread, the bread dough will be heightened and produces softer bread.
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