Puto Cheese Nga!

After 5 long years I made it! My husband was grinning at me this afternoon after tasting it. He had to endure, 5 years of my failed puto attempts after all. He was more surprised than me that I got it right this time.

All these years, all I've been missing is the egg white! That's the secret to the soft and delicate puto.

For more of the drama surrounding this recipe, please proceed to my travel blog "Cat's walks".

Puto Cheese

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
8 egg whites
1 1/2 cups water + 2 tbsps water or milk
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp cream of tartar
cheese (cut into strips or grated)

1. Mix all ingredients except the egg whites and the cream of tartar until smooth.
2. Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks stage at maximum speed. Remember to add the cream of tartar when the bubbles are already even before the whites reach the soft peaks stage.
3. Fold the egg whites into the batter.
4. Spoon into muffin pans lined with paper. Top with cheese.
5. Bake in a baño maria (put the pan inside a pan with about an inch of water inside an oven; make sure your fire is only at the bottom otherwise cover the big pan containing the puto with aluminum foil to protect the puto from being cooked from the top) for 15 minutes at 180 C.

If you want to make puto pao, just put asado or Filling 1 of my siopao recipe in the middle of the puto.

Technorati tags: puto+recipe puto+pao puto+cheese puto+puti puto puto+pao+recipe puto+cheese+recipe puto+puti+recipe Filipino+food Filipino+recipe

Siopao

To read about the drama at finding this siopao recipe, please read my travel and adventure blog "Cat's Walks".

Starter Dough:

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
160 ml water

Main Dough:

starter dough
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp milk
1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup bun flour or cake flour (as long as it is low gluten flour)
2 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling 1:

500 g pork cut into shreds
2 tbsps cooking oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsps oyster sauce
2 tbps soy sauce
1/4 cup water
pepper to taste
2 tbps sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 4

Filling 2:

500g ground pork
1 tsp ginger powder
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsps flour
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into 4

Dough:
1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in water water. Wait until frothy (about 10 minutes, if it doesn't then throw it away and start again). Add all purpose flour. Mix. Keep overnight in the refrigerator. It should double in volume. This will be the starter dough.
2. Take the starter dough from the refrigerator then wait until it's in room temperature.
3. Add milk, baking powder, sugar and vegetable oil into the starter dough then mix well.
4. Add flour gradually by kneading. Add flour until dough is not sticky anymore this can be between 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cup of flour. You can also use the hook of your mixer.
5. Shape dough into a log.
6. Let dough rest for about 5-10 minutes.
7. Divide into 6 pieces for big siopao or 8 for small siopao
8. Flatten, then put filling in the middle.
9. Steam immediately (15-20 minutes).

Filling 1:
1. Saute pork in garlic and onion until pork is cooked.
2. In another bowl mix, oyster sauce, soy sauce, pepper, water, sugar, and cornstarch.
3. Add into pork. Cook until sauce is thick.
4. Put in the middle of dough with a slice of egg.

Filling 2:
1. Add all ingredients together except egg, mix well. (Tip: I usually fry a small part of the filling to check if my seasonings are alright).
2. Shape into balls (make sure the size fits your dough).
3. Put in the middle of dough with a slice of egg.

If you prefer the siopao to be really white then just use bun flour. Here in Zurich I buy the bun flour from the Asian store. We don't have cake flour in the supermarket so I have no choice.

Technorati Tags: siopao+ recipe mantou+recipe bao+recipe siopao mantou bao pao pao+recipe Filipino+food Filipino+recipes

Easy Focaccia

Did it ever happen to you to go through your fridge thinking you have nothing? Anyway, it was Sunday and we are entitled to a good meal. Focaccia is a real treat because you can create something special with flour and herbs. I had tomatoes yesterday so I decided to throw some in...This focaccia should come out nice and chewy. It is so eay to make that I made it while cooking pasta!

Focaccia

Dough
1 package dry yeast (7g)
1 1/3 cup warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsps oil
3 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsps oil

Topping
5 tbsps olive oil
3 cloves garlic
salt to taste
rosemary
oregano
parmesan cheese
3 tomatoes (cut a few mm thick)

To make topping:
Crush garlic using mortar and pestle (or blender, like you wish). Gradually add the olive oil onto the mortar while continuing to crush the garlic. This will blend the garlic into the olive oil. Add salt to taste. Set-aside. This should give time for the garlic and olive oil to blend better.

To make dough:
1. Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let stand in a warm place until frothy.
2. Stir in the oil and the flour.
3. Knead until smooth. The dough should be soft.
4. Clean bowl and then put the dough back in the bowl coating it with oil.
5. Cover and let rise until double (about 30 mins) in a warm place.
6. Place dough in a pan and spread it until half an inch think.
7. Make indentations (like dimples) using the handle of a spoon.
8. Spread the garlic-olive oil mixture evenly on the flattened and dimpled dough.
9 Sprinkle oregano, rosemary and parmesan on top of the oil.
10. Place the cut tomatoes last.
11. Place in a cold oven to bake
12. Set temperature to 220 C.
13. Bake for about 20 minutes or until done.


Technorati tags: Focaccia Italian+recipe bread Frugal+cooking

Pan de Sal

It is with great pleasure that I share with you my pan de sal recipe. I worked very hard to get this one right. The first ones I made were like rocks and then after 10 more attempts I could shout-- SUCCESS! I was really obssessed in doing this correctly (read: I made it everyday until I got it just right), it didn't help that my standards are quite high. I want it to taste exactly like how they made it in the bakeshop in my hometown in the Philippines. My ultimate success was when I made it for my mother and she said that it is the best pan de sal she ever tried! Honestly, having the luxury of having pan de sal anytime I want here in Switzerland changed my life.

Pan de sal

Ingredients: 2 cups water, 6 cups flour, 14 grams yeast, 1 cup of plain bread crumbs, 1 cup of dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Procedure
1. Dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup of warm water and 1 tbsp sugar. Wait until frothy. While proofing the yeast, mix & dissolve 1 cup dark brown sugar & salt into 1/2 cups warm water . Sift 6 cups of flour into large mixing bowl.
2. Fold 6 tablespoons of vegetable oil evenly into sifted flour. Add sugar & water and yeast & water mixtures to flour then add remaining 1 cup of water. Stir dough mixture with the hook of your mixer for about 5-10 minutes . The dough should be sticky. Take the dough out, clean the bowl then put oil in bowl. Place the dough back in the bowl then coat it with oil. Cover with saran wrap. Let rise until doubled in size probably about 1 hr in a warm place. Punch it down when it rises over the bowl.
3. Knead the dough on a board then flatten it to about 3/4 inch thick. Reshape it into a ball then again place dough in bowl, cover and let rise again until doubles in size.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. After dough has doubled in size place dough on a board then flatten dough to about 3/4 inch thick.
6. Spread dough across board. Cut dough into four columns & eight rows to yield 32 pandesal rolls . Shape each piece into a roll then roll it onto breadcrumbs and then place on a baking paper lined baking pan. Arrange all 32 pandesal evenly on baking pan.
7. Let rise until doubled.
8. Place pan de sals into 350-degree fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.

This recipe was modified from Manong Ken's Recipe of the Month (http://www.carinderia.net)

pan de sal recipe bread Filipino food philippines