Homemade Steamed Rice Rolls/ Chee Cheong Fun Recipes

Chee Cheong Fun is a type of rice noodles roll or steamed rice roll. Commonly roll in round shape but some comes in square thin pieces. There are two types of chee cheong fun; one is the local (Malaysia/Singapore) kind which served with tim cheong (sweet bean sauce) and another one which is the Hong Kong style served at dim sum places with fillings like shrimps, roast pork or minced meat in it. Since I have some shrimps in the freezer I decided to try out the Hong Kong Style CCF.

Making CCF at home isn’t as difficult as I thought it might be. It turn out pretty well except I need to improved on my rolling skills. I should have let the CCF cools down a bit more before rolling it as you can see there are some cracks on the CCF. Nevertheless they were delicious.This recipe is adapted from here .

Ingredients:

150g rice flour
1½ tbsp wheat starch
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp Oil
450ml water
½ tsp salt

1. Mix the rice flour, wheat starch and corn flour together. Add water slowly and stir continuously. Add the oil and salt and mix thoroughly and set batter aside for at least an hour.
2. Prepare your steamer. Oiled 2 or 3 steaming tray (for rotation to speed up the steaming process). Heat up the pan in the steamer for a minute.

3. Ladle and spread a thin layer of batter onto the tray. Sprinkle it with some spring onions and steam for 1 minute. Put 3 shrimps on top and continue to steam of 3 minutes.
4. Remove the tray from steamer and leave it to cool before using a scrapper and fold the CCF. While waiting for the CCF to cool put in the next tray to the steamer.
5. Arrange on serving plate and serve with some sauce and fried shallots.

Filling:

18 pieces of shrimps – peeled and deveined and marinate it with some pepper and soy sauce.

Sauce:

5 tbsp light soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oil

Put all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring it up to a boil. Serve the CCF with sauce.

Note:

1. Oil it steaming tray once at the start. If you find the CCF is getting difficult to remove, oil again before the next batter is poured in.
2. The thickness of the CCF depends on each individual preference.
3. Having 3 trays on rotation will help speed up the steaming process.

Chinese Crullers/Yau Char Kwai Recipes

Our group of Malaysian ladies attempted making Yau Char Kwai this month. We tried out two recipes and one turn out really well and one failed miserably. Not sure what went wrong with the failed recipe as we follow the ingredients and instructions to the T. Anyhow, we were glad Agnes Chang recipe turns out so well with less work and proofing time compare to the other one. The YCK were light with hollow texture on the inside. So the next time if we are going to make this again we will just stick to this recipe.

For more information about the Chinese Crullers/Yau Char Kwai please read here. As for more information on Ammonia Powder please refer to here. For me information for Alum please refer here .

Ingredients A
(Adapted from Agnes Chang’s Hawker’s Delights with minor changes)

1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp lukewarm water

Ingredients B

250 ml water
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp Ammonia powder (chow fun)
½ tsp of Alum (pak fun)

Ingredient C

300 grm bread flour (we used 320 grm)
1 tsp salt

(I put both successful and failed YCK together for comparison. Just look at the difference in size)

1. Mix all the ingredients A and set it aside for 10 – 15 minutes until it get foamy.
2. Mix ingredients B. Sift ingredient C into a mixing bowl. Add in mixture of A and B into the flour. Used a wooden spoon, mix the dough until well combined. Knead it for 5 minutes and if the dough is too sticky to work with add a little bit more flour.
3. Cover with a plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 2 hours.

4. Turn the dough out to the well floured work surface. Sprinkle some flour on the dough and roll the dough out into a long rectangle. Cut into 1” strips. Place two strips, one on top of each. Let it rest for another 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, prepare oil for deep frying.

6. Press lightly on the two strips of dough with a chopstick. Holds both ends of the dough and stretch the strips a little and lower into hot oil. Deep fry, turning constantly until each cruller turns puffy and golden brown.

Note: The dough is pretty sticky to work with so make sure your work surface, hands and utensils are well coated with flour.

Wife Biscuit/Sweetheart Cake/Lao Por Peng Recipes

Wife Biscuit/Sweetheart Cake is a traditional Chinese pastry with flaky thin skin and the filling made with winter melon and sesame seeds. This pastry is originated from Hong Kong but now you are able to buy it from almost all the Chinese Bakery. So how does the name of this pastry come about? There are quite a few stories out there and one of them is this.

In ancient China, there was a poor couple. They adored and loved each other, staying in a small village. When a mysterious disease spread, the husband's father became very sick. Although they tried really hard to raise money to provide treatment for him, it wasn't enough. Sadly, the wife decided to sell herself as a slave, exchanging herself for her father-in-law's medicine. Once the husband learned about what his wife did, he made a cake filled with winter melon and with a crispy crust in honor of his wife. However, his cake became so popular that he was able to earn enough money to buy his wife back

I wanted to make this biscuit for the longest time but I can’t seems to find ‘koh fun’ here in the US until one of my blogger friend told me that I am able to get it from the Asian Store in PA. Making the pastry takes a bit of work but the end result was fantastic. The pastry is flaky and the filling has a great fragrant of sesame seeds and the right sweetness from the winter melon. This is really addictive that I don’t think you can stop by just eating one. Here is the recipe adapted from Corner Café with some minor changes.

Ingredients for Water Dough:

70g bread flour
70g  flour
25g caster sugar
55g  shortening
70ml water, adjust as necessary


Ingredients for Oil Dough:

70g flour
35g shortening

Winter Melon Filling:

200g candied winter melon (tung kua/ 糖冬瓜)
3 tbsp roasted white sesame seeds
3 tbsp of dry coconut
30g (1 1/2 tablespoons) sugar
40g (4 tablespoons) cooked glutinous rice flour (Koh fun/ 糕粉)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
55ml water

1 beaten egg for egg wash
Some sesame seeds – for sprinkle

1. Prepare water dough: Combine all flours and sugar in a bowl, rub in shortening to a crumbly stage. Slowing add just enough water to form a soft and non-sticky dough. Knead until smooth. Shape into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Rest for 30 minutes. Divide into 14 equal portions.
2. Prepare oil dough: Rub shortening into flour and knead to form soft dough. Rest for 30 minutes then divide into 14 equal portions.
3. While the dough is resting, prepare the filling: Finely chop together candied winter melon, sesame seeds and grated coconut. Transfer to a bowl and add sugar, glutinous rice flour, salt and oil. Stir to combine. Slowly add just enough water to form a ball. Divide the filling into 14 portions. Roll it into balls.

(pix A)

(Pix B)

(Pix C)

4. Take 1 piece of oil dough to wrap inside 1 piece of water dough and seal well. Be sure to wrap tightly and eliminate any air pocket. Flatten the dough with your palm then roll it out into long oval thin dough using a rolling pin (pix A). Roll the dough up like a Swiss roll (Pix B and C).

(Pix D)

(Pix E)

(Pix F)

5. Turn the dough 90° (pix D), flatten it and roll it out thin (pix E). Then roll it up like a Swiss roll (pix F)  Repeat step 4-5 with the remaining dough)

(Pix G)

(Pix H)

6. Take 1 piece of pastry dough, press down the center of the dough (Pix G) and pinch both ends (Pix H) together then flatten it so the dough is roughly round shape. Roll the dough out to a circle.

7. Wrap in 1 piece of filling and seal tightly (be sure no air pocket inside). Flatten the wrapped pastry with your palm the roll it out slightly to 1/3 inch thick. Repeat the same steps with the remaining pastry.

8. Cut 2 - 3 parallel slits on the top (seal side down), brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of sesame seeds. Place pastries on a baking sheet and bake in preheated 400°F oven for 16-18 minutes or golden brown.

Coconut Tarts Recipes

When I moved to the USA the first thing I look for was freshly grated coconut. Since growing up in Malaysia coconut play an important part in our cuisine. We use freshly grated coconut or coconut milk in our dessert and curries. Lucky I am able to get the frozen kind from the Vietnamese and Indian grocery store here.

I have some leftover short crust pastry from my savory quiche, I decided to finish it up by making some coconut tarts. You can find this type of tart at every Chinese Bakery but making them is not difficult. The pastry of the tarts is soft and flaky while the coconut filling is moist and buttery with a slightly caramelized flavor. They are the best for afternoon tea.

Pastry:

280 gram flour
50 gram sugar
1 egg
150 gram butter, chilled and cut into cubes
2 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp salt

Filling:

200 gram fresh grated coconut
80 gram melted butter
90 gram sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp condensed milk
1 tbsp custard powder or cornstarch

1. Sift flour and cornstarch together into a mixing bowl. Add in the sugar and salt. Mix well. Rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2. Add in egg. Mix until the pastry begins to form large dough. Press together gently with your fingers to form the pastry into a ball.
3. Chill pastry dough for about 30 minutes.
4. In a bowl, mix all ingredients of filling. Set aside.
5. Press pastry evenly into tart mould. Trim the edges to remove excessive dough. Fill tarts with
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes until lightly brown.
7. Leave the tarts in moulds for 5 minutes before turning it out onto wire rack to cool.

Note : For the pandan coconut filling just add a few drop of pandan paste to it.

Pan Fried Bean curd Rolls Recipes

Who can resist these crispy rolls? It is a must order dish for me if I go for dim sum restaurant. I just like the crispy skin made out of bean curd skin and the fillings of ground meat, carrot bits and crunchy water chestnuts. Since I still have bean curd skin leftover from my Yong Tau Foo I decided to make some.

Ingredients:

16-17 pieces of 5 1/2” x 3 1/2” bean curd skin
3 tbsp of flour + 4 - 5 tbsp of water – mix into a paste for sealing the rolls

Filling:

½ pound ground chicken or pork
15 large shrimps – peel, deveined and roughly chopped
6 water chestnuts – cut into small cubes
1 small carrot – peels and grated
3 spring onions – cut small
1 small red chili – chopped (optional)
2 tbsp cornstarch
½ beaten egg
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp of soy sauce
½ tsp sesame oil
½ tsp black pepper
Salt the taste

1. Mix all the filling ingredients until well combined. Set it aside in the fridge for an hour.
2. Take about 1 ½ tbsp of filling and spread it at one end of the beancurd skin. Brush a bit of the cornstarch mixture on the other 3 end of the bean curd skin. Roll up to seal. Do the same to the rest of the beancurd skin.
3. Heat a bit of oil in a frying pan, pan fried both side of the rolls over medium heat until golden brown. Drain the oil on paper towel.
4. Serve warm with some chili sauce.

Porcupine Lotus Paste Steamed Buns Recipes

On my last trip home I bought a lot of cooking and baking books. One of them is Vegetarian Dim Sum by Chin Mun Chong. I am not a vegetarian but the pictures of the dim sum inside the book look so good that I just have to get it. I decided to make the Porcupine Pao from the book. I just love the look of these buns, aren’t they cute? Carlos helps me to cut some of the prickles of the porcupine. For a first timer I think he did a pretty good job. The skin of the buns texture is very much like the flower mantau. It is kind of chewy and not too fluffy. As for the filling I used lotus paste but you can replace it with kaya or even red bean paste.

Since this is the first time I am trying out the recipe from the book so I am not sure how good they are so I decided to half the original recipe.

Ingredients:

300 grm bao flour or Hong Kong flour
5 grm baking powder
6 grm yeast
55 grm sugar
1 tbsp of shortening
115 ml water (I need about 145 ml)

Fillings:

Lotus Paste or red bean paste

* Few drop of red food coloring

1. In a mixing bowl, mix all the dried ingredients until well combined. Slowly add in the water (you might need more or less and it all depend on the flour) until it form into a dough. Then add in the shortening. Mix until smooth.
2. In the meantime, take a tbsp of the lotus or bean paste and roll it into a ball. Make about 12-13 pieces.
3. Cover the dough and let it rest at a warm place for 2 hours. After 2 hours. Divide the dough into 12-13 pieces. Roll the dough into round balls and wrap in the fillings.


Carlos shaping the prickles
4. Shape the dough into oval shape. Using a sharp scissors snip the top part of the dough to form prickles to shape as a porcupine. Put two red dots at the head of the porcupine to form the eyes. Put the bun on top of the greaseproof paper and set aside to proof for 20 minutes.
5. Prepare a steamer with rapid boiling water, add a few drop of white vinegar to the water and steam the buns for 8 minutes. Serve warm.

Note: If you can't find bao flour or Hong Kong flour you can always replace it with regular all purpose flour.

Egg Tarts Recipes

Egg tarts come in many variations .There are egg white tarts, milk tarts, honey-egg tarts, Pandan flavor tarts etc but the traditional one is the egg custard tarts which usually serve at dim sum place or at the Chinese Bakeries. These come in two kind of pastry. One which use the sweet short crust pastry and another one is the puff pastry kind. I made the traditional kind using short crust pastry. The custard filling is made out of eggs, milk, sugar and a bit of vanilla. The custard is soft and silky and it contrasted beautifully with the crispy crust. You can always change the filling to pandan, green tea or citrus flavor.

Ingredients for the Pastry

125 gm. butter
60 gm. icing sugar
1 egg yolk
200 gm. flour

Ingredients for Egg Custard

280 gm. fresh milk
110 gm. sugar
3 nos. eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F. Beat butter and icing sugar till well mixed. Add in the egg yolk and mix well.
2. Add in vanilla and then the flour and mix into a dough. If the dough mixture is a bit dry add a bit of cold water until the dough comes together. Rest the dough for 30mins. Roll out the dough and line the dough into small tart moulds.
3. Bake the tart shell till half-cooked. This will take about 10 min. The pastry should turn white and slightly brown on the edges. Remove from the oven. Turn the oven heat down to 325 degree F
4. For egg custard, heat sugar and milk together. Once sugar dissolves remove from heat Do not boil the milk.
5. Whisk eggs and pour into the milk mixture. Add in the vanilla.
6. Sift the egg custard and pour into tart shells and bake till egg custard sets.

Note : Check your tarts after 12-15 mins of baking. What you can do is to shake the tray of egg tarts and if the custard wobbles, then it a sign that it's not cook and if it doesn't wobble, then it's set and you can take it out from the oven.

Vegetable Steamed Buns/Vegetable Bao Recipes

My family and I just love this type of steamed buns. I made these for our breakfast when my sisters were here. It was pretty simple as I used the ready mix steamed buns flour which you can get easily from the Asian grocery store. The steamed buns turn out to be real soft and the flavor of the fillings is just right, with a hint of pepper, a not too pungent smell of the dried shrimp and the right sweetness from the jicama.

For the dough:

1 packet of the steamed buns mix

Fillings Ingredients:

1 large jicama / sengkuang - julienned
1 carrot - julienned
8 dried Chinese mushroom - soaked and julienned
3 tbsp of dry shrimp – soaked and give a rough chopped (optional)
2 spring onions – finely diced
3 cloves garlic - chopped finely
1 cup of water

Seasoning:

2 tbsp of oyster sauce
1 tbsp of chicken bouillon (optional)
1 tsp of white pepper
2 tbsp of soy sauce
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce

Thickening:

1 tsp of cornstarch
2 tbsp of water

1. Mix the dough according to the instruction on the packet. Set it aside to rest.
2. Heat up the frying pan; add about 2 tbsp of oil and sauté the garlic until fragrant and lightly brown. Add in the dried shrimp, stir fry for a few second and add in the jicama, carrots and mushrooms. Stir-fry for a minute and add in about 1 cup of water and all the seasoning.
3. Lower down the heat and let it simmered until the jicama and carrot are tender. Add in the thickening and stir well until it’s thickened.
4. Dish out and set it aside to cool before using it.
5. Divide dough into 12-14 pieces and roll into a ball. Flatten it and put a tablespoon of filling and seal the edges. Put the bun on top of the greaseproof paper and set aside to proof for 15 minutes.
6) Prepare a steamer with rapid boiling water, add a few drop of white vinegar to the water and steam the buns for 20 minutes. Serve warm



Few other recipes using the Steam Buns Mix :
Steamed Flower Buns
Steamed BBQ Buns II

Crispy BBQ Buns/Siew Bao Recipes

It has been a long time since I had Crispy BBQ Buns or know as Siew Bao. I remember when I was living in Malaysia I will have these at least once or twice a month. I decided to make some last week using Elin’s recipe for the pastries. The pastries turn out to be very crispy and flaky. The only problem I encounter is pleating the buns. It split opens during baking and the juice of the filling oozing out during baking.

Ingredients for oil dough

240 gm flour
120 gm shortening

Ingredients for Water dough

240 gm all purpose flour
60 gm icing sugar
60 shortening
120 ml water

Egg wash

1 egg - beaten
some sesame seeds (optional)

1. Mix all the ingredients of oil dough together and knead till you get a soft dough. Set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.
2. Mix all the ingredients of water dough together and knead till you get a soft dough. Set it aside to rest for 30 minutes.
3. Divide both dough into 20-22 equal pieces. Wrap the oil dough into the water dough and flatten it (pix 1)
4. Roll the dough out into a longish flat piece (refer to pix 2 ). Roll it up like a swiss roll (pix 3)
5. Turn 90deg (pix 4), and roll out again and roll it up like a swiss roll (pix 5 & 6).
6. Press dough with palm and lightly roll out into a circle (pix 7)
7. Place filling in the center (do not put too much filling in), wrap and pleat into a pau shape (pix 8) Place on a greaseproof paper.
8. Brush pie with egg wash, sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake at 375 degree F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

(Pix 1)

(Pix 2)

(Pix 3)

(Pix 4)

(Pix 5)

(Pix 6)

(Pix 7)

(Pix 8)

Ingredients for Fillings.

400 grm BBQ meat (can be pork or chicken)- cut into small cubes
½ cup of green peas
1 tbsp thick black soy sauce
1 big onion- diced small
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp of sugar - more if you want it sweeter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of water

For thickening :

1 tsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp of water

1. Heat about 1 tbsp of oil. Saute onions for 1-2 minutes. Add in BBQ meat and the rest of the filling ingredients. Stir fry for 1 - 2 mins. Add in the thickening and simmer till the gravy has thickened. Dish out and let it cool. Set aside for use later.