Char Siew baos (Chinese pork buns)

If I ever wanted to impress friends about how easy the Thermomix makes Asian cooking, all I would do was whip up a batch of Char Siew baos.  Once the Varoma had finished steaming them, I would life the lid, display fluffy Char Siew baos and then laugh at the impressed and surprised looks on the faces around me.  The thermomix makes the dough and filling preparation so quick... and I hardly ever have left ever baos for lunch the next day!

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Makes approximately 24 Char Siew baos

Filling Ingredients

- 1 large onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 30g oil
- 350g Char Siew (my recipe found here) diced into small pieces
- 30g water or sauce from the Char Siew
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs oyster sauce
- 1 tbs cornflour
- Pepper and salt to taste
- Coriander and spring onion (optional)

Filling Method
- Place onion and garlic into TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 6
- Add oil and saute for 3 minutes on Varoma temperature, speed 1
- Add remaining ingredients and cook for 8 minutes on Varoma temperature, reverse speed 1.5
- Empty ingredients into another bowl and set aside to cool

Dough Ingredients

- 600g ultra white flour*

- 300g warm water

- 2 tsp yeast 

- 100g sugar

- 30g rice bran oil

- 3 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt
- 24 pieces of baking paper cut into 10cm x 10cm squares

*Ultra white flour can be purchased at any Chinese shop.  You can use plain flour but it will give the dough a slightly yellow appearance.  Char Siew baos are famous for its white fluffy skins which is why ultra white flour is used

Dough Method

- Place all ingredients into TM bowl and mix together on speed 5 for 10 seconds 

- Knead for for 2 minutes with the dial set to closed lid position on interval speed 

- Let the dough rest until it doubles in size

Assembly method
- Divide dough into 24 portions

 - Roll each portion into circles

- Place the filling into each portion, folding it like a Char Siew bao and place finished bao onto a piece of baking paper

- Place baos into the Varoma.  Add 1500g hot water into the TM bowl and steam for 15 minutes on Varoma temperature, speed 4. (cook 12-15 first, then refill hot water to 1500g, then steam the rest)
- Place cooked baos on a wire rack to help it cool down... if you can wait till they cool down before you eat them!

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Chicken corn soup

Do you ever come home after a busy day at work and wonder what to cook for dinner?  Then keep this recipe up your sleeve!  You should have all the ingredients in your fridge or pantry and you'll have dinner on the table in 12 minutes.  This is traditionally a side dish but it also makes a great snack, meal or even lunch the next day.  It's also a great soup for Winter... or any season for that matter!

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Ingredients

- 1 chicken thigh chopped into small pieces marinated in salt and pepper to taste

- 2 cobs of corn with corn chopped off (or a 400g can of corn kernels but fresh corn is better)

- 1 egg lightly beaten 

- 1 tbs vegetable stock from TM EDC (every day cookbook)

- 1 litre of water
- 1 tsp of chicken stock (optional but makes the soup tastier)

- 2 tbs corn flour mixed with 1 tbs cold water

- coriander or spring onion to garnish 

Method

- Place corn in TM bowl and roughly cream the corn for 2 seconds on speed 5

- Add chicken, stock and water and stir ingredients with the spatula then cook 100 degrees on reverse speed 1.5, for 12 minutes 

- Cook for a further 2.5 minutes reverse speed 1.5 on , adding cornflower and water mixture in the MC hole. Then add egg mixture.

- Garnish with herb of choice and enjoy!

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Stir fried green beans

This dish is quick, easy and so so tasty.  Even my two year old grand daughter will finish a full bowl whenever given to her.  I like my green beans with a bit of crunch to it, not soggy and soft so adapt the below cooking time to your personal preference. I also like a bit of a kick to my beans so I add a chilli with the garlic in the first step but that is purely optional.  Another way to serve this side dish is to garnish it with chilli at the end... It's all up to you!

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Ingredients

- 400g green beans

- 1 clove garlic
- 1 red chilli (optional)

- 20g rice bran oil

- 2 tsp oyster sauce

- salt and pepper to taste

Method

- Chop garlic clove on speed 5 for 2 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl

- Add oil and sauté for 2 minutes on Caroma temperature, speed 2 without the MC 

- Add beans, salt, pepper and oyster sauce and 'stir fry' for 7 minutes on 100 degrees, reverse speed 1.5 with the MC back on

Serve with steamed rice and fish

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Hainanese Rice (Poached chicken rice)

When my second daughter moved out of home last year, the first recipe she requested was for Hainanese rice.  It's a dish I often cooked for my children as they grew up so when I got my Thermomix, I was immediately impressed by how quickly and easily the Thermomix could produce this family favourite.  My recipe doesn't include the traditional chicken soup that many restaurants serve with their Hainanese rice, but I always found it to be too oily.  Plus I don't think you really need it but that's just my opinion. Don't be fooled by the long recipe - it really is simple and delicious!

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Rice Ingredients 

- 400 g jasmine rice
- 1 clove of garlic
- 20 g oil (I use rice bran oil)
- Salt to taste

Rice Preparation Method

- Chop garlic for 2-3 seconds on speed 7 
- Add oil and sauté for two minutes at varoma temperature on speed 1 
- Add rice and salt then sauté for one minute at 100 degrees on Reverse on speed 1 
- Remove ingredients from TM bowl and place into rice basket and set aside 

Chicken Ingredients

 - 1.2 kg whole free range/organic chicken (or chicken drumsticks)
- 50 g Chinese cooking wine (Shao Xing wine)*
- 20 g ginger cut into thin slices

- 1 spring onion

- 1 red chilli (optional)
- 1500g boiled water, + some extra
*Shao Xing wine can be purchased at any Chinese shop

Chicken & Chicken rice Method

 - place ginger and whole spring onion (just fold in half) Into the chicken cavity. 

- Pour Chinese cooking wine over the Chicken to marinate it 
- Place marinated chicken onto the Varoma and water into TM bowl
- Steam chicken for 30 minutes on Varoma temperature on speed 4
- Insert basket with rice and cook for 13 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 4
- Check the chicken to ensure it is cooked (as every chicken is different) before serving

Ginger Sauce Ingredients

- 30g ginger
- 1 lime or lemon, juiced
-  50g sugar or 1/2 tsp salt 
Optional: fresh chilli finely chopped and 1 tsp sesame oil

Ginger Sauce Method
- Place ginger in TM bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.  Remove ginger into small bowl for serving
- Add lemon juice, sugar, chilli and oil and mix together

- Serve the sauce with the chicken and rice (Serve sliced cucumber with the meal as a side dish). Garnish with spring onions.

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Char Siew marinade (traditional Chinese barbeque pork)

Two batches of delicious Char Siew!

I know many people who go to their local Chinese restaurant and buy pieces of Char Siew for dinner. They go to the shops or restaurants with ducks, pork and chicken hanging in their display window, pop in to buy char Siew then go home to cook some rice and whip up some Chinese Greens for a quick, no fuss, delicious dinner.  For those unfamiliar with Char Siew, it is pork neck or pork scotch fillet in a sweet, sticky marinade.  If you go to your local Chinese butcher, you should be able to purchase pork neck for about $12/kg. Other large supermarkets or butchers can charge up to $16/kg so look around.

So, here is my recipe for Char Siew marinade.  There is a bit of sugar but it is needed to counter the natural saltiness of the pork.  If you are a family of four and are eating the Char Siew with steamed rice and other Asian greens or even on top of some crispy egg noodles, I would suggest freezing two pieces for another meal.  It is so simple that once you try it, you will never buy it from your local Chinese restaurant again!

Note: You would also reocgnise Char Siew as the meat filling for pork buns or Char Siew baos.  You can find my recipe for the dough and assembly method here.

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Serves 8 when served with rice and Asian greens

Meat preparation method 

1) Buy one pork neck (pork scotch fillet) roughly a kilo in weight.

2) Cut in half and then half again lengthwise so you have four pieces

 

Marinade ingredients
- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 2 tbs light soy sauce#

- 1 tsp mushroom soy sauce*

- 1 tsp dark soy sauce

- 1 tbs Chinese rice wine

- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped

- 1/2 cup water 

- 2 tbs honey

#for a gluten free version, see here for which soy sauce brands are gluten free
*if you don't have mushroom soy sauce then just add an extra tablespoon of dark soy sauce

Method

1) Add all ingredients (except water and honey) into a bowl and mix well.

2) Add the pieces of pork and pour marinade over. Mix well.

3) Cover and leave overnight in the fridge or at least 2-3 hours

Cooking method
1) When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2) Place meat on roast rack then onto a roasting dish. Add water and leftover marinade into dish then cook in oven for half an hour.

3) Take meat out and brush meat with 1 tbs of honey. Turn pieces over and brush with remaining honey as well as the marinade fallen in the roasting pan. Place back into oven and cook for a further 15 minutes (or longer depending on your oven).

4) Take out of oven and brush both sides of meat with marinade in dish. 

5) Slice into small pieces and serve with rice and Asian greens (such as these 'stir fry' green beans here) and enjoy!

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Steamed taro cakes / Yam cakes

Many of you may eat your steamed taro cakes pan fried with a bit of oil so this version is a lot healthier for you without taking away from the flavour.  You need to eat these cakes with the topping as it gives it the beautiful savoury taste these cakes are famous for.  Taro is a vegetable that can be found in some supermarkets and all Asian shops.  I like to eat mine with chopped chilli (the hotter the better!) in soy sauce for my dipping sauce.  It looks like a long recipe but it really is simple... trust me!

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Makes about 16 cakes

Taro Cake Ingredients

- 325g cold water
- 250g rice flour
- 2 tbs corn flour
- 2 tbs Tapioca flour 
- 1 tsp salt
-1 tsp chicken powder
- pepper to taste
- 300g fresh taro roughly chopped 
- 2 cloves of garlic 

- 50g rice brain oil

- 450g water (doesn't matter the temperature)
- 1.5L of hot water (to steam)

Tara Cake Method

- Mix cold water, rice flour, corn flour, tapioca flour, salt, chicken powder and pepper together in a bowl (not TM bowl) and set a side

- Chop taro in the TM bowl on speed 5 for 2 seconds and set aside

- Chop garlic on speed 5 for 2 seconds then add oil to saute on Varoma temperature, speed 2 for 3 minutes with the MC off

- Add chopped taro and cooked for an additional 2 mins on 100 degrees on speed 2 

- Pour 450g water and cook on 100 degrees for 5 minutes, speed 2

- Pour the flour mixture (from the first step which should be in a separate bowl) into TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 4
- Pour mixture into the mini foil baking pans and arrange in Varoma
- Pour 1.5 litres of hot water into a clean TM bowl and steam cakes for 30 mins on Varoma temperature, speed 4, or until cooked
- Remove taro cakes from the Varoma and allow it to cool (approx 15 minutes) while you cook the topping.

Topping Ingredients

- 4 dried Chinese mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 10 mins with stalks removed)

- 30g dried shrimp (soaked in the hot water for 10 mins)

- 1 garlic clove 
- 30g of oil 

- 1 Tbsp soy sauce/tamari

-1/2 tsp chicken stock

-1/4 tsp  sugar

- 1 Chinese sausage (omit for a gluten free option)

- Coriander, spring-onions and chili to garnish

Topping Method

- Chop soaked mushrooms and shrimp for 4 seconds on speed 4 then set aside

- Chop garlic for 1-2 seconds on speed 5 then add oil to saute on Varoma temperature, 2 minutes on speed 2 with the MC off

- Add in the chopped mushrooms and shrimps (and chinese sausage if using) as well as the seasoning ingredients (soy sauce/tamari, chicken stock and sugar) and cook on Varoma temperature for another 5 mins on speed 2, MC off.

- Put topping on the steamed taro cakes garnish with coriander, spring onions and chili

And enjoy!

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