Friday 31 October 2014

Roast Korean Sweet & Spicy Chicken 韩味酸甜烤鸡

A sweet, sour and spicy roast chicken with papar-thin skin. This is a low salt recipe, :)

Yield: 4 adult servings

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken legs

Marinades
2 tsp low salt light soya sauce 
1/4 tsp salt 
2 tsp raw sugar
2~3 tsp Korean red pepper paste 
1 tbsp rice wine
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp sesame oil 
2 tsp honey 
1 tbsp chopped onion
1/2 tsp chopped ginger
1/2 tsp chopped garlic

Glazing ingredients 
1 tbsp leftover marinade
1 tbsp honey
Juice from 1 lime
1 tsp honey 


Directions
1. Rinse and drain chicken legs. Pour all the marinades over the chicken legs and mix to coat well.


2. Cover with food wrap and let it stand for at least 1/2 an hour. 2 hours would be better, if time permits.

3. Place the chicken legs over a lined baking tray in a single layer.

4. Bake in a preheated oven set at 180 degree Celsius for about 20 minutes.

5. While the meat is roasting, collect about 1 tbsp of leftover marinade and mix with 1 tbsp honey. Set aside. 

6. After the first round of roasting, brush the chicken with the glazing sauce from (5) and return it to the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Repeat this step for one more round.

7. For the final round, add lime juice and 1 tsp honey to the remaining glazing sauce. 

8. After brushing the chicken with the honey lime sauce, 
return the chicken to the oven and raise the oven temperature to 200 degree Celsius and bake for 3 minutes. After the 3 minutes, turn off the oven temperature and continue to roast  the chicken using the remnant oven heat for 20 minutes. This process allows the fat under the skin to melt away slowly, and leave behind a paper-thin skin.


9. Transfer the chicken to a cooling rack.

10. Slice the meat and serve hot :)


Tuesday 28 October 2014

Choco-Milk Braided Cheese Bread

A soft milk loaf with patches of rich chocolate flavor baked with a nutty cheese top. The slightly sweetened bread can be eaten plain without any bread spread. I kept the bread in the fridge for up to 3 days and still remain soft after thawing. 
As the method of preparing the dough is similar to my another recipe, Choco-Milk Braided Loaf (smaller quantity), hence  please refer to that recipe for pictures illustrated steps :)

Yield: one 30 x 10 x 10 cm loaf

Ingredients 
270g bread flour 高筋面粉
30g top flour 低筋面粉
50g fine sugar 细糖
1 tsp instant dry yeast 速发干酵母
1/4 tsp salt 盐
30g beaten egg 蛋液
10g condensed milk 炼乳
180g fresh milk 鲜奶
40g unsalted butter 无盐奶油

2 tsp cocoa powder 无糖可可粉
1 tsp hot water 热水

Toppings 
Some beaten egg for glazing
30g shredded Swiss cheese, room temperature

Direction
1. Place a parchment paper covering the longer sides of the 30x10x7cm loaf tin. This is to facilitate transferring of the loaf out of the baking tin after baking.
Lightly coat the other shorter sides with butter. Set aside.

Click the link below for the steps in preparing the dough for baking 
(Step 1 to 11)

12. Spray some water over the top of the dough, and allow the dough to undergo 2nd proofing in a closed oven for about 50 to 60  minutes, or till the dough reaches the brim of the tin.



13. Remove the dough from the oven, and start to pre-heat the oven to 170 degree Celsius.

14. Brush a thin coat of egg wash over the top.

14. Sprinkle a luxurious amount of shredded cheese over the top.

15. Bake in a preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes at 160 degree Celsius, or till the top turns golden slightly.


16. After the baking is over, transfer the loaf out of the oven. With the help of the parchment paper, lift the loaf out of the tin immediately and onto a cooling rack.


17. After the loaf has completely cool down, slice the bread a with a long bread knife and enjoy :)



Monday 27 October 2014

Chocolate Roll with Peanut Butter Cream

A lovely swiss roll made up of soft chocolate chiffon and creamy peanut butter cream frosting. It looks like a log cake, but without heavy frosting.  :)

Yield: one 24cm long rolled cake

Peanut Butter Cream Frosting
Ingredients
100g unsalted butter, slightly softened
50g creamy peanut butter
25g icing sugar
Pinch of sal

Direction
1. Cream softened butter till pale by using an electric hand blender. 

2. Add in peanut butter and mix well.


3. Blend in the icing sugar.


4. Transfer the frosting to a clean bowl, sealed with food wrap, and refrigerate till needed.



Chocolate Chiffon
Ingredients
3 egg yolks
20g fine sugar

2 tbsp vegetable oil
40g water

50g top/cake flour
10g cocoa powder 

2 egg whites
40g fine sugar

Direction 
1. Line a 35x24cm or 30x30cm baking tray with parchment paper.

2. Whip egg yolks with sugar till sugar dissolves.

3. Add in oil and mix well.

4. Add in water and blend well.

5. Gradually add in flour and cocoa powder and blend well. Set aside.


6. Beat egg whites in a clean and grease-free mixing bowl till frothy.

7. Slowly add in sugar, in two to three batches, and beat at high speed till firm peaks formed.


8. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk mixture in (5) and mix well. Return the mixture to the remaining meringue and mix well.



9. Pour the batter into the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Level the batter.

10. Baked the batter in a preheated oven set at 200 degree Celsius for 10 to 12 minutes or till the cake becomes spongy.


11. Transfer the tray out, cover with a steamer cloth and wire rack, and invert the cake out.


12. Carefully peel off the parchment paper. Rest the parchment paper on the cake to prevent the cake from drying up.
While waiting for the cake to cool down, take out the peanut butter cream from the fridge, to let it softens.


13. Remove the parchment paper and apply the peanut butter cream evenly over the cake, leaving about 2 cm around the edge free.
This is to provide room for the cream to surge while rolling up the cake.

14. Slowly roll up the cake. Wrap the cake roll in food wrap, and refrigerate for about 1 to 2 hours. This help to fuse the cake with the cream and make slicing the cake easier later.

15. Unwrap good wrap from the cake roll and cut into desired size while the cake is cold. 

16. Enjoy the cake while it is cold. Keep the unfinished cake in the fridge :)

 
Recipe adapted from: