Afternoon Tea - part 1 - Char Siu Buns

This weekend I hosted my friend's birthday with a Mad Hatter themed tea party at my house. All went very well and I'm going to put all the recipes on here as soon as time allows.

Some of the dishes I served, and will be including recipes for shortly, were:
- Macarons
- Strawberry tarts (posted on the blog last week)
- Mini Pissaladieres
- Ferrero Rocher Choux Buns
- Salt Beef sandwiches
- Char Siu Buns


The recipe I'm detailing today, is for one of my favourite foods - Char Siu Chicken Buns.   If, like me, you're a fan of Chinese Dim Sum, you will love these.  (You can also make a vegetarian version of these with mushrooms, which I will also detail below)  I've also included a recipe for the dipping sauce.

The Char Siu buns that you'll get from the Chinese restaurants usually contain Char Siu pork, but as I don't always have a loin of pork handy, I tend to use chicken instead, and it tastes just as good.  If you want to make the pork version, you'll need to marinate your loin of pork in the char siu sauce for a few hours before cooking it.

The dough for the buns can be made either by hand or in a bread maker, and I will detail both methods.  I prefer using the bread maker, as it makes the whole process a lot easier.

The sauces used (Char Siu, Oyster, Soy)  can be bought from most supermarkets, or from Asian supermarkets.  You will also need a bamboo steamer, or other steamer.  Bamboo steamers can be bought online or from most Asian supermarkets.


Char Siu Chicken Buns    
Makes approx 24 buns
difficulty level:  medium
Time: approx 2 1/2 hours  

Approx 112 calories per bun


For the dough:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups / 345 ml lukewarm water
1 packet dried yeast
1/4 cup /  50g sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil / sunflower oil
4 1/2 cups / 600g strong white flour

Method:

1. In a jug or small bowl, put the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water, and leave for 15 mins until frothy.
2.  In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, the yeast mix and the oil.   Mix together to form a dough.  Then on a floured surface knead for 10 minutes.
3. Put the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave for one hour in a warm place.  The dough should double in size.  Knead again on a floured surface for 1 minute. It is now ready for use.

If using a bread maker:

1. In the bread maker mixing bowl, place the ingredients in the following order:  water, sugar, oil, flour, yeast.
2. Put the breadmaker on the 'dough' program and press start.
3. Once ready, tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead for 1 minute. 

For the filling:

Ingredients:

1 large chicken breast  (or 1 1/2 medium)
(For Vegetarian option, substitute this for a 200g punnet of mushrooms, finely chopped)
3 spring onions (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
2 cm root ginger (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Char Siu Sauce 
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp Oyster sauce (or Hoi Sin sauce)
3 drops red food colouring (optional)
1 tbsp honey
Pinch of 5 spice seasoning (optional) 
white pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Wrap your chicken breast with kitchen foil, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until cooked.
2. Meanwhile mix your sauce -  in a mixing bowl add the chopped ginger and garlic, the Char Siu sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, red food dye, honey, 5 spice, and pepper. 
3. Finely chop the cooked chicken - the pieces should be no bigger than a half centimetre all round.  
4. If using mushrooms instead of chicken, fry the chopped mushrooms until cooked, then follow the same method as for the chicken from the next step.
5. Add the chopped chicken and finely chopped spring onions into the bowl with the sauce and mix well. 

To make the buns:

1. Cut your dough into quarters, and then cut each quarter into 6 equal sized portions.  You should now have 24 portions.
2. Roll each portion into a ball, and flatten with your hand.  Roll out into a circle with a rolling pin. The circle should be around 8 cm in diameter.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. At the centre of each circle of dough, place a teaspoon of filling.
   
4. Bring the outer edges of the circle to a point at the top of the filling and twist so that the bun is secured.  Do this for all 24 buns.
   
5. You are now ready to steam your buns!  
6. In a medium to large saucepan, ideally one that fits your steamer, place about an inch of boiling water in bottom, and place on a low to medium heat, to keep a simmer going.
7. Place each bun on a square of baking paper (so it doesn't stick to the steamer basket) and you should be able to fit 3 or 4 buns in your steamer at a time.
8. Cover with the steamer lid, and steam for 10 - 12 minutes.  Steam the rest in batches, refilling the boiling water in the pan each time.
9. When cooked your buns should be fluffy. 
   

Any buns you don't eat can be kept and frozen once cooled.  When you want to reheat them, just place them from frozen in the steamer basket again and steam for 13 minutes.

Dipping sauce:

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Combine the 2 ingredients and dip your buns! 

Surprising Strawberry Tarts

This weekend my best friend is celebrating her birthday, so we're having a Mad Hatter's tea party at my place for her and some friends, with lots of sweet and savoury food on offer, which I've been making and experimenting with over the last few weeks - so more of these recipes will follow shortly.

One of the recipes I've been trying out has been for individual Strawberry Tarts -  I'm going to add one special ingredient - popping candy.   Ok, this isn't an after-work recipe, it's more a weekend baking treat, but it is so worth taking the time to make.

As I'm lactose intolerant, I tend to use lactofree milk in my recipes, which always works well - it's exactly the same as ordinary cow's milk, just containing no lactose.  You can use either.

You will need mini tart tins (ideally with loose bases) baking paper and baking beans (as a cheaper and easier alternative, I use pasta shapes)

When you put the pastry ingredients together, you may find the mixture quite wet - just go with it.

Prep and cooking time - approx 2 hours
Difficulty level - medium
This should make approx 12 tarts.

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

350g plain flour
a pinch of salt
125g cold butter, cubed
125g caster sugar
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 egg yolk for egg wash

For the creme patissiere:

500ml milk
1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)
6 egg yolks
120g caster sugar
2 oz cornflour
2 tbsp kirsch (optional)

For the topping:

400g strawberries
1 packet Quick-jell / or apricot jam
some popping candy


Method

1. For the pastry,  in a large bowl, stir the flour and salt together, add the butter and rub into the mixture.
2. Add the sugar, and mix the 2 eggs with the single egg yolk then add the eggs to the bowl.  Mix well with a spatula until the dough comes together.
3. You can do the above 2 steps in a food processor, which is what I do to save time.
4. On a lightly floured work surface, tip out the dough and knead until it's smooth and soft.  Cover with cling film and put into the fridge for about an hour, or for as long as you can stand.
5. Preheat the oven to 190C.  And grease your tart tins.
6. When your pastry has chilled,  roll out on a floured surface to approx 2-3mm.  I tend to split my pastry dough into halves or quarters, and do this in batches.   
7. Using your tart tins as a guide, cut approximate circles of pastry to line each tin.  Cut off any excess from across the tops of the tins using a sharp knife.
8. Gently prick the base of the pastry a few times with a fork.  
   
9. Line inside the pastry cases with baking paper, and fill with baking beans, or pasta. I use small macaroni, and find this works really well.  
   
10. Place the tart tins on a baking sheet and bake the cases for 15 mins.
11. When the 15 mins are up, remove the cases from the oven, remove the baking paper and baking beans, brush the pastry cases with the egg wash, and put back in the oven for another 8 mins. (If you're using macaroni or pasta shapes for your baking 'beans' then allow them to cool and store them for use next time.)
12. When cooked, allow cases to cool slightly, then remove from the tart tins.  Leave aside to cool completely.  They should be pretty sturdy and won't break easily.

For the Creme Patissiere:

1. Split the vanilla pod with a sharp knife (all the way down the pod) and put this into a large saucepan with the milk. Or substitute with the vanilla essence.  Warm through.
2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and cornflour - whisk until the mixture becomes pale.
3. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk, and add the warmed milk to the bowl gradually and whisk.  Return the mixture to the saucepan.
4. Heat the mixture on a low heat, stirring constantly until the mix thickens to a thick custard consistency.  Allow to completely cool.
5. Add the kirsch and mix well.

To make up the tarts:

1. Make up the Quick-jell as directed on the packet.  (You can also use ordinary jelly, as long as it is cool and not completely liquid - it needs to be slightly set so that it doesn't leak everywhere.) You could also use apricot jam instead.
2. Fit a piping bag with a large round nozzle, and fill the bag with the cold creme patissiere. 
3. Starting in the centre of each tart case, pipe a swirl of creme pat into each case to cover the whole base with an even layer. Spread with a palette knife to smooth over.
   
4. Cut the strawberries into halves, and place these on top of the creme pat in a pretty pattern of your choosing.
5. Brush the strawberries with some Quick-jelly (or apricot jam)
6. Sprinkle over the popping candy.

Enjoy...with few friends, or ideally none at all!

Intro - Keema Curry

Hi all, I'm Sharon and this is my recipe blog.  I'm going to share with you my secrets for easy, delicious recipes which require little time and effort after a hard day at work.  Of course, most of the time you might not have a hard day at work - you might have one of those jobs that require you doing very little for most of the day while trying to decide whether to write a new blog, finish your satirical novel about the Grim Reaper, or finish writing that damned comedy screenplay  - so for those people, you can just sit and dream of the fantastic meal that you are going to make later on when you get home and go back to procrastinating and playing Angry Birds.

Most of the recipes I make will be for 2 or more people - now that's not because I am married or currently in a blissful state of coupledom (those reading my other blog 'Sharon's Bad Dates' (sharonsbaddates.blogspot.com) will be under no illusions about that.)  But as a working woman who likes to have a decent lunch and not spend £3 or £4 per day in the sandwich shop / Subway / MacDonalds / Pret a Manger (delete as appropriate)  I like to have several cheap, healthy options open to me, so I freeze the extra portions for later.  It saves money and time, and makes my colleagues very jealous.   (You will need access to a microwave though.)

My first recipe is Keema curry.   It's a curry using minced beef, onion, peas and potato, it's fairly mild, so you can heat up the spice with the addition of some chilli powder at stage 3 if you wish.

Keema curry  

(serves 4)   

prep and cooking time 20 mins
skill level: easy

Ingredients

500g lean minced beef

1 onion (chopped)

1 large potato (chopped into small chunks)

1 cup (approx.) frozen peas

1 tbsp fresh ginger (finely chopped)

1 large clove of garlic (finely chopped)

2 tbsp mango chutney (optional)

2 tbsp brinjal pickle (optional)

1 tbsp tomato puree

½ beef oxo cube

fresh coriander (optional)

1 tbsp medium curry powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil

basmati rice  (enough for 4)

Method

     1.     Cook the basmati rice  (if you have a microwave rice cooker, it will take 17 minutes)

     2.     Meanwhile, boil the kettle, put the boiling water into a small saucepan and add the potato chunks. Boil for about 10 mins until the potato is just soft.

     3.     In a large saucepan or casserole, heat the oil on medium heat, add the curry powder and cook for 30 seconds, then add the minced beef.

     4.     Stir the beef until cooked.  Add the ginger, the garlic and the chopped onion.   When the onion looks cooked, add the oxo cube, crumbled, and a little water from the kettle (about a half a cup) then add the tomato puree. Stir everything.

     5.     Add the mango chutney and brinjal pickle to taste.  You can also season with salt and pepper, and add a teaspoon of sugar if necessary.

     6.     Add the frozen peas and the cooked potato chunks. Cook until peas are soft.    

     7.     Add the chopped fresh coriander.

     8.     Serve with basmati rice and brinjal pickle (optional)

      Freeze the extra portions in fast food containers, like the one below.

       After freezing, microwave for 3 - 4 mins on high power.