Pectin (for fibre maxxing experiment), Bread softener (potato flakes and emulsifiers) and Glucono delta lactone (to fake a sour dough taste).
Thought I bought vital wheat gluten, turns out I didn't...
Beans on Toast, but make it as asian as possible.
Ends up being an incredibly smoky, savoury delight.
On a bread machine + ninja creami theory crafting and experimenting mode so laying in supplies, as well as usual coffee beans too.
I usually do spices, cheese (the frozen burrata is great), cream.
The 20% off nearly matches Bake with Yan prices. Where else are you guys getting baking/home cooking supplies from?
Who is making Zhang this year?
Doing it solo for the first time, since grannies advancing dementia has made her step away from cooking for a few years.
Looking for flavour inspo, going to make my fave nonya zhang and Kee Zhang. Might do it with another family as well and teach their kids too.
Zhang making seems to have skipped my parents generation, they prefer to buy.
If anyone has access to the giant pandan for leaves in their garden/community pot/balcony, would love a few.
Not quite a pass, think I left it too long in fridge, 7 days. Very tacky and tired and took quite a bit of extra flour, arm grease and 2 rises for it to have a bit of a second rise... But it felt weak, iykyk.
Nice crunch at the edges, not quite a pizza crust but on its way.
Finished in air fryer, 6 minutes, 220c, dough must be cool, not warm (live in tropics).
Would love feedback on what makes a good lahamcun dough.
Was trying to go for a universal dough that I could turn from cold ferment pizza into a foccacia, lavash, pita, lahmacun with a rise and extra flour or hydration. Back to the drawing board.
Feedback appreciated from regular pizza pita foccacia bakers.
I've been thinking about how to up fibre intake for my family apart from massive amounts of forlax in the ninja creami and I arrived at bread, starting with psyllum husk. This was a success of sorts (hey 5g of psyllum husk, but way tastier than chugging it down as metamucil)
Would be interested in the most "normal whitebread" tasting loaves I can get to, slowly adding more wholewheat and vital gluten. Would love to hear from those of you who are making fibre monster loaves.
Some of the things I am experimenting with next: inulin, HM pectin, oats, oat bran, guar, rye, splet, barley, flaxseed, China, potato flakes, potato starch, sweet potato, Yam, pumpkin
Health Flavours: matcha, sesame, tumeric/pepper/masala,
Protein hacks: whey powder, collagen, pumpkin seed
Here is the recipe for the mostly acceptable white loaf. It has an odd, slightly sandy crunch, but only if you're really looking out for it
PSYLLUM HUSK ENRICHED WHITE BREAD LOAF (tropical and humidity adjustments, ymmv)
Ingredient Amount
Psyllium husk powder 5g
Milk (total, warm) 165g
Egg 50g
Bread flour 250g
White sugar 9g
Demerara sugar 9g
Milk powder 15g
Salt 3g
Yeast 2g
---
Method
Pre-gel: Whisk 5g psyllium into 165g warm milk (not just 140g). Let sit 10 minutes.
Add egg, then dry ingredients as before (flour, sugars, milk powder, salt).
Place yeast in a small well away from salt.
Run Enriched Bread cycle
---
Why
· Psyllium hydration: 5g × 6 = 30g water absorbed
· Original milk: 140g → minus 30g for psyllium = only 110g left for flour → too dry
· Adjusted milk: 165g → minus 30g for psyllium = 135g left for flour → perfect hydration for enriched dough
Instant pot on yoghurt setting for 24h.
Going to try organic beans next.
Looking for more reliable natto recipes, here mine:
Kimchi, tea leaf salad, 3 cloves garlic minced, half a small onion, everything minced up. Add tuna and egg if feeling fancy.
Just made Lotus Biscoff On whey protein shake, added creatine and collagen peptides.
Might mix in some fruit, maybe strawberries and some actual lotus biscuit.
Thrifted a Chinese slicer for about USD$12, based on discussions in this subreddit about slicing bread. Saw the bamboo hand crank sliver and thought "let's do it better". Also picking up one of those plastic knife guides from free cycling.
It will do double duty on deli meats for hotpot (and require deep cleaning) but wow, enjoying my professional looking loaf.
Chinese deli slicer thrifted for USD$12 on my daily Chinese French style Loaf.
Tldr, First World rich people problems - woman goes to Odette for fancy ass dinner, $700+ per head, brings own expensive grand cru wine, staff caught drinking from bottle. If Sommelier drinks from restaurants bottle, understandable, since QC mah, but drink from BYO bottle and not malu is a bit WTF.
Kena caught, restaurant waived corkage, but customer got charged $150 cleaning fee because wine got spilled. Customer still buay Kam guan about cleaning fee.
Deleted thread said wine value was $18k retail and $50 K at restaurant rates.....
Charged for cleaning fee after a blowup with Sommelier team excessively sampling their grand crus. A bit shit - Sommelier sample what they sell, cos QC. Sampling the guests BYO and not malu is a bit WTF, tbh.
https://www.instagram.com/laurel\_jiao?igsh=NmNrNWRuMDNpZ3E=
There was a whole bread machine fad about 10 years ago and has now died down.
Just got a second hand machine off Carousell for 1/3 retail on taobao, in mint condition. Will confer I've mostly used it to make pork floss, jam and sausages.
Turns out a decent loaf though, even if I have to air fryer it to get a good colour. I've had to chill ingredients and use less water to get a decent loaf adapted to Singapore heat and humidity.
Price for a 500g loaf for the Chinese style "French loaf" currently runs $1.18. About the same price as Gardenia, but eats like a $5 bakery loaf.
If anyone has fool proof shokupan and hokkaido milk recipes, and lobangs for cheap, high quality bread flour ( been buying BWY and Sheng Siong brand). Dinner roll recipe, like the kind they have at shashlik, also greatly appreciated.
We went to Ssak at Bras Basah, good and not ridiculously sweet like Seoul or chain restos. Sweet ssamjang makes me mad.
Banchan were OK, but had spring onion salad, which I haven't had at many places here. Liked that I got kkakdugi. Oh, and Kim chi was just right, not too sour, not to sweet and juicy. It's so good when it's also grilled.
Mom liked the quality and value for money prices.
Got a Chinese machine and this is the most popular Chinese social media recipe "French style bread" according to red note.
Gives an enriched white loaf with a crisp, crunchy crust. It's also versatile enough to be shaped to give hotdog buns and hamburger buns with a nice crunch to the crust (once adequately browned).
So far, we've had it plain, with honey and butter and with toasted with cheese and cevapchihi.
This is my current recipe, hacked for hot humid tropical environments:
- Cold milk: 140–150 ml
- 1 cold egg, large yields 50g
· Bread flour: 250g
· Sugar: 18g (demera might give a better colour)
· Milk powder: 15g
· Salt: 3.5g
· Instant yeast: 2g
· 20g cold butter, added after first knead
Some people go as far as to freeze the milk and have a slushy, or refrigerate the flour and the pan. Main adjustments have been to lower the hydration ratio and up the salt to retard the yeast to prevent over proofing from the sugar
Set to go French loaf setting on the breadmaker, #2 on the menu, but a standard setting should work.
3rd loaf of bread using this recipe, neither last the night.
Main gripe is that the dark colour is still rather light, leading me to pop it into the airfryer at 180 deg for 5 minutes to medium, 8 minutes to a true rusting dark.
It's been interesting seeing the differences in baking culture and social media. I find the Chinese recipes waaay too sweet, which explains why I rarely enjoy breads and patlstries from more local bakeries when I visit.
What are some of the restaurants and hawkers that you and family have you've gone to for decades that are still around - and the standard hasn't dropped, while still being great value.
Minus points for those that are still around and have gone to shit. Central kitchen bullshit must not be rewarded. Extra bonus points for defunct restaurants that the food was good to the end.
I'll go first:
South Buona Vista Duck - the savoury chup on warm rice, the tender duck, the sambal kang kong, the lime juice. Standards dropped at the Sam long road. Cam back up to 90% of glory days at desker road.
Ngee Fou Hakka Yong Tau Foo - the zoo and funeral lunch, lip smacking Ytf drenched in umami garlic gravy, with the delicious sui kao.
Tai Hwa - Crawford Street - start eating at Marina Square, parents would make me queue 1+hr. Parents ate at Hill Street Branch
Jaggi’s - not me but family friends go to for Punjabi food. Feels borderline illegal, good with that home made taste like they got little grandma's chained up at the back making food.
Casuarina Curry - been good since at least 1990, the curry's always on point, drinks are solid, Prata is crispy and flaky.
Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Ytf - only been going for a decade but the middle aged crowd in the queue have been going for decades
Kim Hwa Guan - Toa Payoh and People's Park, the bak kwa has that charcoal flavour and crisp edges that none of the other famous stalls manage. Been going 40+ years, aunty used to give me free samples because I was a cute kid...
127 fish soup Toa Payoh - friends family has been going for 40 years, we've been going for 10. Freshest, best soup, no competition.
Chomp Chomp Left side seafood stall, Hai Wei Yuan, been going for 18+ years. Fire every single time. Nothing comes close. Go while auntie and uncle can still cook.
Azmi CHAPATI - best chapati in Singapore, reasonable and tasty side. That Keema, man. the triple lemon drink is fire. Husbands best friend took us there about 15 years back, he's been going for decades as well.
Samy's Curry - 30+ years, the ta pao spot whe. You are sick of only Chinese food at dinner. Chicken masala great. Some blips in the mid teens when they tried to atas, but standard back up.
Karu's - the chicken masala, the dry mutton, prawn masala. Hell, everything is good except the north India, which is just OK. Drinks with meal, so satisfying
Hjjh Mamuniah - the best nasi padang for spicing, price and variety. Tauhu telor, every cumi there is good.
Anjappa - well spiced Chettinad, high standards, but mainly the one in front of mustafa. Other branches hit and miss.
Mariners Corner sunset way. Weekday lunch special prices are fantastic, would go with parents foe a slightly more special lunch.
Additions from husband:
Hwa Heng at Jalan Besar triangle kopitiam - the scotts odeon Katong noodle we grew up eating in the 80's and 90's.
Beng Thin at OCBC, Classic Hokkien Food, refined but still hearty. Tastier than a lot of what we had in Fujian. Order duck salad, ngoh hiang, oyster omelette, braised pork, crab meat omelette.
West Lake - hearty portions, tasty food. Braised pork.
Colbar - stick to your ribs western food since the 60's. Auntie and uncle are getting on. Fried bee hoon hor fun is the economical lunch option and very tasty. Only place to get marmite toast at non exotritionate prices, with good beer.
Guan Hoe Soon - if its good enough for LKY to take away.... My preferred Perankan in Singapore. Singapore perankan a friend's claim that it's the Hainanese cook style and on the light and sour side and other more Lemak style restaurants are better.
Ye Lai Xiang - big variety of teochew dishes at a good price. Everything is fresh. Taxi uncles can't be wrong.
Janggut Laksa - the queensway one, cos the drinks are good and you also can get curry chicken and chicken chop.
Kim Choo Bak Chang - good nonya zhang, fragrant rice is always done just right.
Gone but not forgotten:
Raja's curry, iykyk
Soon Heng Curry restaurant at Kinta Lane/Rendezvous Restaurant
Lai Huat Rangoon Road
Tapas club, those $10 lunch specials
Mong Hing: OG teochew, duck, veg, soup, Orh nee everything was perfect.
OG liang Kee from Ellenbrough market up the HDB block that became Mu Liang Zai Liang Kee, the is no longer open.
Ye Shanghai teochew, cheap and so good. Now closed.
Midnight Hunger Games Nazi Yong Tau Foo Bukit Merah View - insane queue system with people camping hours before they open, whenever they want to open, sometimes, 11 pm, sometimes 12 mn, sometimes never. Deeply tasty Ikan bilis soup with a green chilli kick and the most eclectic options, Yam, pork belly, innards, spam, Taiwan sausages, paired with with fragrant dry noodles laced with addictive Shallot oil. Aunty and Uncle are quite sweet when you show appreciation for their food. RIP UNCLE.
Bugis Street Ngak Seah beef noodles opposite the Eminent Plaza/Lavender wanton mee, next to turtle soup. RIP UNCLE ALSO. Stall hand opened up at Toa Payoh Lorong 8, chilli is the same, but meat isn't, but the most economical bowl of beef noodles out there.
Looking for:
Chinese fish head curry recs, dim sum (shang palace/90's tung lok standard, short lived luk yu)
Work friend from KL coming down with his wife, wondering where to bring them, since they also keep halal, they have 4 nights here and I have a few days with them. Local here.
Jewel walk about.
Tekka hawker food + HDB + Mustafa + Little India
Friday Prayers at Sultan Mosque, Hajjiah Mamuniah. Boutique Ice cream after.
Katong + Hua Yu wee if they'll accept no pork, otherwise will need good halal seafood rec.
Late afternoon gardens, Super Trees and hidden spots.
Ate at the Clementi Mall branch and it was fair value at lunchtime with specials for the meat, almost 600g meat with beer and drinks - maybe $65 after tax and service.
But gawd, the sauces were dog shit. Everything was sweet. Like disgusting levels of sweet.
Garlic soy - sweet
Yakiniku - sweet
Thai Chilli - sweet
Lemon sauce - sugar with artifical lemon. Nasty AF.
Kimchi - more like sugar Kim chi
We literally recoiled tasting each sauce.
Even the marination sauce was sweet.
In the end, resorted to lemon wedge + salt + pepper. Might bring my own Yuzu ponzu next time, tbh.
Have they gone mad with the sugar like Paiks bibim?!
So please, please recommend a centrally located Yakiniku place which isn't sweet. Usual place before it closed down was Wano Niku at Tanjong Pagar.