PalwithnoovenP's blog

I should have posted this yesterday but I was just feeling uninspired to write anything. This is also my first bake without Pochi, our very loyal and loving dog. He was our only dog when I started baking. I am still saddened as I type this but at least we are moving on.

Exactly 2 weeks ago, he was gone; Saturday noon, he just did not eat his lunch and we noticed his nose was dry so we took him to the vet immediately. Upon arrival at the vet's office, he does not even like to walk, I had to lift/carry him inside but part of it is because it's not dad (his true pack leader) that accompanied him to the vet. He was diagnosed with a cold/respiratory infection so he received 2 shots, one to fight infection and another to boost his appetite. We even bought him his medicines, some energy drink, prescription diet dog food (canned liver) and regular dog food. I had to lift him again to the vehicle before leaving the clinic. I remembered to lighten my mood, I practiced my "French lessons" and I suddenly understood the use of lequel and all of its forms; so I will always remember that that day on our way home with Pochi, I finally understood all of the French relative pronouns! :) As soon as we arrived home, my dad played with him, groomed him and did all of their usual bonding activities; he was FINE. My dad then fed him some regular dog food to see if he will eat it and he finished it all! Even without the canned liver! Then he also finished his energy drink, he was energetic and wagging his tail all the time.  He had gastrointestinal problems before and he does not have any appetite for days so we are slightly relieved and confident that he will recover.



That night, he was let into the house (they have their own house outside to keep their fur from accumulating in the house because we may be allergic) and he slept by my dad's side while he watched TV. At 9:00 PM he lay down his old resting place in the kitchen on his cushion. We are not worrying as much as earlier because he showed signs of recovery. Until at 11:25 while watching TV, we heard cry like barks so my dad rushed to the kitchen thinking that our cat might be provoking him then my dad shouted "His is going!", my mom and I rushed to the kitchen and called his name, he is stretched out there already urinated involuntarily, breathing with difficulty, and his tongue dark and bluish gray; and one last breath and he's gone. It's like he just called us one last time to bid his last farewell. :( My mom cried a lot at that very moment; at 11:30 our friend, guard and companion was gone which is really unexpected because he is really well fed and nourished that he didn't even loss any muscle mass (he is 17 kg) and he is very active and barks, plays and runs really well; he didn't even become lethargic or whatsoever, he just didn't eat his lunch that day; he haven't even taken a single pill from his medicines that is due for the next day and that makes it all the more saddening and crippling. We hardly slept that night, I slept at 2:55 AM and woke up just before 6:00 AM. We buried him that morning near our date tree.

It still sad but not that sad anymore partly because we still have our 2 dogs (both Labradors), our longing and love for Pochi, we channeled in them. Of course, the yard is quieter than ever for we lost the baritone in the barking trio!



Pochi is the one on the left, Bimbo is the black lab and Fedra is the yellow lab.

As I said, we miss everything about him; his barks, his banging on the door, the wagging of his tail, the way he lies down to get his belly rubbed, and his pure display of love. What we miss most is how accurate his barks are, with a clear distinction between people and other dogs/ animals. He never misses when someone enters and he never barks when there is nothing to bark at! Fedra is in the backyard leaving Bimbo the sole watch dog in the front yard; he is very playful and sometimes a little lazy to bark. Pochi is the most serious one only displaying playfulness when dad is around and although he is neutered, he is the most aggressive one! He has also the most number of tricks. Fedra is playful too but knows when to take matters seriously, just like me that's why she is my dog. They're are all very intelligent, affectionate and loving.

Do you know Cooking with Dog? It is a Japanese food channel that I follow. Recently I also learnt that Francis, the show's cute poodle host was gone too. It made me sadder too because I followed their channel over the years and I feel that I lost another dog who gives me joy.

I'm sorry if the first few paragraphs are about our dog. I just want to feel a little lighter because we miss him and I know we have some dog lovers here too. During my university days, when I was kneading my dough for my first loaf of bread, he was in the kitchen witnessing my first venture into baking. Until my graduation, it was him who greets me in the kitchen when I proceed to knead some dough before going to school. I'm just glad that I have a few pictures and videos of him as a remembrance, that's more than enough.



He really loves getting up on windows to get a good vantage point for manning the yard.



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Back to the calzones (I'm actually hesistating to call these "Calzones" because they look far from the real thing); it is the same dough as my yard sourdough, my best and favorite bread. AP flour autolysed in the fridge for 20 hours, the combined with a 12 hour old levain fed with bread flour and salt, gently mixed until incorporated, allowed to rest for an hour then given 3 stretch and folds one hour a part with a total bulk ferment at room temperature of 4 hours. It was then divided into 6 pieces, shaped into rounds and allowed to rest in the fridge for 12 hours.



I meant these calzones more as an hors d'oeuvre (I still don't know how to pronounce this despite studying some French! :P) than a main dish so they are smaller and I drew the flavor combination from a classic starter, baked brie! I'm always amazed by the leaking cheese with nuts and/or fruit preserves whether it is encased in puff pastry or not.

I used this fruit preserves made by dad. I don't know its name in English but it is sweet and tangy, perfect with some cheese! This is something that you can't buy, you have to make it yourself or have someone give one they made themselves to you. I chopped them up and mixed it with the syrup. I used some sharp cheddar for the cheese component because I really love how the salty, sweet and tangy play together but you could certainly use other cheeses like an Edam, a brie, cream cheese, a goat or even a blue!.



I pat the dough flat using just my hands, the dough was very extensible. On half of it, I spread a teaspoon of the preserves and one slice of cheese. I only use a little amount of cheese because the cheddar I used was particularly salty. I got overly excited about this folding and crimping thing of the calzones that I forgot to take a picture of the assembly before folding the calzones.



Then they went straight to the clay pot without any proofing at all; same set-up baked on a banana leaf over heated pebbles in a clay pot over a wood fire. Again I didn't take any pictures because I was attending to some errands at the time. They were baked on a open fire for 5 minutes then flipped and baked for another 5 minutes; 10 minutes total baking time.



The charm of these calzones is all about their rustic look. I didn't go for a darker bake, just a few browned and charred spots is fine. I could fry this but the taste of the dough, the preserves and the cheese will shine more if there is no oil masking them. Here are some close-ups:







The crust is crispy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside with a sweet wheaty flavor and a slight tang. The cheese is nicely melted and just the right amount for the saltiness to complement the sweetness and tang of the fruit preserves. The dough and the fillings complement each other well. A very nice way to start a meal.







I was really overwhelmed by the response to this humble little challenge of mine. It is one of the rare times where I feel valued by other people. I could cry again while typing or saying this but you don't know how much it means to me! A big, warm, and sincere THANK YOU to all of those who participated in the no oven bread bake challenge! 

MARAMING SALAMAT SA INYONG LAHAT!!! Napasaya ninyo talaga ako!!!

Happy No Oven baking!

Job

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/45779/mothers-day-and-birthday-croissants-and-pains-au-chocolat-des-veinnoiseries-maison-sans

Some bread baking enthusiasts including me have no access to ovens that's why they cannot really do what they want or truly practice their craft.  So on December 16, 2016 let us encourage and uplift them by showing them that an oven isn't 100% necessary to make great bread; that they could do what they want and be happy with what they make.


http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/46176/fathers-day-fried-pies-and-doughnuts

Guidelines:

On December 16, 2016 post a bread that you made without using an oven here.

• No oven means any method without using one. Your bread could be fried, steamed, cooked on a skillet, cooked in a grill or even in a dutch oven with coals. Be free and creative with your method.
  
  
• Your bread could be unleavened or leavened; quick or yeasted; made with instant yeast or sourdough.
  
  
• You can post earlier or later than December 16. No problems!

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/43780/two-green-onion-breads-i-turned-our-kitchen-street-food-stall

I hope a few of you would be interested to join in this little challenge. All of the breads you've seen here are made without an oven, so I know you can too! You can device a way to cook bread without an oven or make a bread that doesn't need an oven like donuts, steamed buns, bannock, welsh cakes, tortillas, naan, English muffins, crumpets. pepper cakes and many more.

See you!

I hope this is not late for homemade bread day. There was no internet connection for several days, finally there is a connection now. I may not post for a while because our internet service provider scheduled a wide repair and maintenance, we're not sure if we will be affected. I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, the connection could be cut off anytime! I will surely repeat this bread and make a more "dramatic" post in the future. I missed uncle Dab's Mandela challenge last time and I don't want to miss this one now.



This is the bread of the countryside, of our yard. I named it yard sourdough because like many breads named after a place,; the starter was made here, the bread was made here and the baking method was based on primitive cooking styles from here.

What characterizes this bread? No measurements, all by feel, a super long autolyze (longer than 16 hours), a firm starter (or a starter that favors acetic acid production), and a long cold proof. It is baked in a clay pot on a banana leaf over heated pebbles. Our place is famous for it's vinegar all over the country so that's why I emphasized the use of a firm starter or one that favor acetic acid to keep the connection to our home.

I autolyzed some AP flour and water longer than 16 hours in the fridge. Unlike others who use ice water for a cold autolyse, I just use room temperature water to jump start the enzymatic reactions and just let the dough catch up with the cold in the fridge. I let the dough warm up for an hour before incorporating the 12 hour old levain (fed with BF, it smells lovely vinegar already) built using 2 builds. I incorporated it using gentle folds and let it rest for an hour. The dough is dry that you can pick it up in one hand or even just 3 finger and it won't droop or tear. After an hour, I gave it a stretch and fold did the same for the next 3 hours, 1 hour apart. After the stretch and folds were done, I let it rest for an hour at room temperature then an hour on the fridge.



I've been wanting to bake seam-side up for the longest time so I did not miss the opportunity here. For me it makes the loaf look more rustic, and rustic is what our home is all about. After the 1 hour rest in the fridge, I pre-shaped it into a tight boule and let it rest for 30 minutes and shape it this way. Place the dough seam-side up; give it a light degassing; give the edges an extra degassing/flattening and fold the edges as shown here starting at 0:32. Put in the cloth lined proofing basket dusted with corn starch and flour seam-side down and put it straight in the fridge for a 12 hour retarded proof.

I know, triangle proofing baskets are rare, I can't even find round ones in my area so I made a makeshift proofing basket from a legal size folder. I used "trusted" origami skills and made a tetrahedron and it worked!



Here is the dough after 12 hours in the fridge. I think it is just proofed right. It is already seam-side up in the photo. It is baked on the clay pot for 20 minutes over a live fire and the next 10 minutes on embers. I "skewered" it on a fork and the top now facing the pebbles browned for an additional 10 minutes.



This is what I'm talking about, baked on a banana leaf over heated pebbles. This photo was taken after 20 minutes. The seams have started to open although one didn't and instead a weak spot on the side opened. The crust is nicely gelatinized. am I using the correct term?



I underestimated the thermal mass of the pebbles (they are even gathered from our yard) so the bottom and a little of the top got a little burnt, I should have used the embers earlier to avoid this but I think it's okay because I've seen some more charred breads like Jim Lahey's Truccione Sare.  If you look closely at the bottom, you can clearly see the pebble marks.



Some close-ups of the crust. The crust was crunchy for the first 6 hours then softened at night. It was flavorful with caramelized notes. It even had some blisters!







Some of the crumb shots are out of focus so I just included all of them. The big hole in the middle came from the fork I suppose and not from the shaping.













It was so good this is what was left in just half a day!





The crumb reminds me of David Snyder's old school San Francisco Sourdough. It is tight because of the low hydration but its is moist and soft with a little bit of chew. It is my favorite crumb texture so far. The aroma is heavenly, toasty and sweet with the unmistakable scent of the banana leaves. The flavor is super sweet like there is some added sugar and although made with only white flour, I could still taste some notes of the wheat. From all of the sweetness is a background of a mild tang. It is mild in my taste but definitely tastes like vinegar.





Definitely a bread worth repeating. I'm gonna tweak this bread further and I'm sure it's going to be a regular in the house. Gonna check your entries later. See you all!

Happy Homemade Bread Day!!!

Park Tae Young's first loaf. She has "Korean" roots so what's better than use her in a bread with Korean flavors. This is just an improved version of my Pane Yaksik, the very first bread I baked in 2016. This time I made it my persimmon yeast water and a more complete cast of yaksik add-ins. Yaksik (藥食/약식) is a traditional Korean sweet dish made by steaming glutinous rice, honey, nuts and dried fruits. Yak (藥)  in Korean means medicine and Sik (食) means food so yaksik literally means medicinal food. I incorporated its unusual flavours in this bread.

I made a levain using my YW and strong flour; I don't know what is the hydration but I just added flour until it was like a thick batter. I fermented it for 12 hours and it became slightly more than double.



The add-ins in their "unprocessed" form. Anti-clockwise from top left: Jujubes, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, and dried persimmon. Pine nuts are the traditional thing for yaksik but I can't find it so I substituted sunflower seeds because I read long time ago that it is a good substitute and I've been doing it for years. Chestnuts too are traditional in yaksik but they are not yet in season.



Jaaaaaaaaan! They are prepared now. The dried persimmon was soaked in boiling water then cut into small pieces, the sunflowers seeds were shelled one by one and the jujubes were deseeded and cut in half so the beautiful red color pops in the loaf.



The seasoning sauce. Brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, cinnamon and sesame oil. I reduced the brown sugar to 1/3 from the original recipe and increased the amount honey to complete the total amount of sugar because it is the honey that makes yaksik "medicine". Half of the sauce will go in the dough and half is for soaking the fruits. I added some extra soy sauce to the dough; there is no salt in the dough, it all comes from the soy sauce. It is very fragrant and strong from the cinnamon and sesame oil. I didn't taste it in it's pure form like before, I already learnt the hard way! :) 



The fruits soaking in the sauce. They look so glorious with all that sheen!



The dough is simple. Strong flour, water, YW levain, seasoning sauce, and oil. I kneaded it until it passed the windowpane test and then I added the fruits and I knead the dough some more until they are incorporated then an overnight bulk rise at room temperature. since it is already getting colder. Like before, it rose nicely; the soy sauce and cinnamon had no ill effects.



I shaped it into a round and plopped it in my circular tin and proofed it for 3 hours or until double. Before baking, it was brushed with a mixture of egg yolk and soy sauce. I baked it for 30 minutes in my clay pot; 20 minutes with live fire and the last 10 minutes on embers.



The bread does not have a very tall profile because the tin was relatively wider than it is tall and I pressed the dough really flat. It is also a bit lopsided because of it's position in the clay pot.



Here is the top. It is not smooth, in fact very bumpy from the large amount of add-ins.



It was immediately devoured so no crumb shot. :( I had some left over dough and baked it in stainless steel glasses. Unfortunately, the center was gummy because I pulled them too early because of their size. I should have let them cook the same time as the large one.







The crust is very thin and delicate and the crumb is soft though the commercial yeast version is a tad softer and fluffier. I'll try to make the crumb fluffier and more feathery next time, perhaps by adding a bit more oil.

The flavour still rocks! Like before notes of peanut butter, chocolate and cinnamon wafted in the air when I opened the clay pot. No sour note, honey flavor dominates along with complexity of the fruits with the soy sauce providing a slight savory note but not enough to reveal itself, sesame oil and sunflower seeds make it very nutty and the cinnamon provides a familiar flavor in the background. I hope I'm not just repeating what I wrote before. ;-) Textures also play well; the chewy persimmon, the soft jujubes, the plump and juicy raisins, and the crunchy sunflower seeds! It's a sublime combination!

I wonder what will be its flavor if I make it with sourdough and/or some whole wheat flour. I hope I could try it soon.

Meet Park Tae Young, my persimmon yeast water!

After sourdough, I promised myself I will try yeast water. Although it took many months, here she is finally. Ready to raise breads with a different character. I documented another journey of my baking life so I hope you enjoy.

Many TFLers here have used yeast water and posted their beautiful breads made with it. It's really an old thing here and when I read it before I really wanted to try it. I waited so many years before giving it a try, I'm lucky because many have formalized the yeast water method by that time.

Uncle Dab has great tutorial about yeast water here YW Primer. Even though I followed his steps, I always fail just like my SD journey, in fact its 3 times already that I failed. All those attempts, I used raisins because I read it is one of the most reliable fruits for yeast water but I forgot that the only ones available here are oiled raisins so maybe that's what was hindering my success. Determined to succeed, this time I took a different route.

This yeast water is inspired by and named after my Korean friend Park Tae Young who is also fond of dried persimmons. Actually we became friends because of food, 90% of the time we talk about food; Korean or not, sweet or savory. It is how we discovered that we both like dried persimmons and became closer than ever. We often share this snack, even through photos as she is in Korea now.



Dried persimmons have a unique taste; like honeyed apples but different. They're fragrant and sweet but are very chewy and hard. The outside bloom looks like molds but I read they're just sugars from the pulp that migrated to the surface while drying into a delicate white bloom. Maybe there's yeast in there too. Any fruit or dried fruit can be used for YW but skin on and unwashed are the best, so I decided to use my favorite dried fruit for this. We got this beautiful dried persimmons from Chinatown a couple of months ago, They're a little expensive and we seldom have them because it's only 3 times a year at most that we go to Chinatown (because of the distance and heavy traffic) so they must be put to good use.



Average temperature from start to finish is 82 F.

I just removed the seed in the middle and cut the persimmons into little pieces and fill the jar with water three quarters full. No measuring or whatsoever. I didn't boil (to make sure that only the yeast in the fruits survives) my water like before. I just used it straight from the faucet. Before I was overly careful but now, anything goes because I feel that this is a success. I shook the jar and opened the lid twice on the first day.



Yes, miracles do happen! It is when I don't show any obsessive compulsive behavior that I succeed! The next day, it was already bubbling and active. There was a "psssh" sound when I opened the tight lid. Before it was already 7 days and yet there is no activity! Because it was already active, I didn't put honey anymore as prescribed by uncle Dab for the third day but I continued shaking and opening the lid for the next couple of days.



Here is the top view before shaking on the second day.



I kept the jar submerged halfway in water to keep ants at bay. I think ants are of the reasons too for my failures because they introduce bacteria and other microorganisms in the yeast water I'm trying to culture. Well I cannot blame them because who can resist the sweet fragrant liquid that flows down the sides of the jar when it is shaken.



Here is she is on the third day. Nothing much has changed, she is still bubbly and active but the persimmon pieces look much softer and the aroma of honeyed apples became stronger.







I shook and opened the jar for the next 4 days and here is she is by the 7th day. The "psssh" and fizzing sounds are much louder and the aroma is not unlike that of fresh persimmons. 



The top looks like a thick smoothie but settles and becomes homogeneous after shaking.



Here is close-up shot of the bubbles on the side indicating that she is very active.



Since we seldom buy dried persimmons and my yeast water could be all used up before we buy the next pack to refresh her, every yeast water that I make from dried persimmons; I will call Park Tae Young (朴泰映). Her English name is Claire Park so I guess I could fondly call my yeast water Claire sometimes. :-)

A letter that my friend wrote me, I wish I could read Hangul!



Park Tae Young and Zhou Clementine together. My bread workforce and friends in the kitchen!




Happy Yeast Water Baking!

Old Shanghai (老上海- lǎo shàng hǎi), the 1930's Shanghai is one of my favorite eras in history just like old Manila. There's no's other era in my opinion where flair and flamboyance meet sophistication and class! It has this certain charm that's difficult to describe and resist. The fusion of East and West just harmonizes with each other; the buildings, the bridges, the alleys, the vehicles, the qipaos/cheongsams, everything! Shanghai was not called Paris of the East for no reason. If time travel will ever come true, it is sure to be one of the eras I will go back to!

This bread is inspired by my love for the Old Shanghai era and my desire to experience what was life back there. Of course, it was a fusion city so the food there must have influences from the west. First, bread- wheat is not the staple in some parts of China and from research Chinese breads before that time are only steamed breads and baked flat breads. Sourdough known as lǎo miǎn (老麵 )is also used to leaven bread of any kind in China as commercial yeast was not yet available at that time. The breads were very basic too with probably only 4 ingredients just like European breads because they were meant as staple food.

Here is what I came up with, a bread made with Chinese ingredients using western techniques. I thought of Chinese flavors that will complement each other. I love lychees for their special flavor and they're one of the famous Chinese fruits so I decided to use them then a bolder flavor so I thought of Mandarin oranges, their flavor packs a little punch but not overpowering so that's the combination that I thought. Finally, I decided to use Jasmine tea, one of the famous teas in China for the liquid because it has this delicate floral aroma that will go well with lychees and mandarin oranges for a triple layered Chinese flavour profile.

The bread is still made with sourdough for a little bit of European and Chinese tradition and BAKED in a PAN because at that time those ideas were new and most likely to become trendy. A revolutionary and fashionable bread at that period, that's what exactly this bread is!

*Another coincidence October 16 is World Bread Day, I'm sad I wasn't able to join when it was still active. They're on a break now but I will still celebrate it with this bread.



The dough has both bread and AP flour for a balance of chewiness and tenderness. I autolyzed it with the jasmine tea for 2 hours at room temperature. The dough is dark because of the tea. The jasmine tea need to be fairly strong for it to come through in the finished bread. A tip for brewing strong tea: Increase the amount of tea, not the brewing time!



After the autolyze, I added the levain and salt and gave it 30 slap and folds. I gave it 2 more sets of 30 slap and folds each one hour apart. The dough became smooth and silky.



After two hours, I incorporate the lychees and mandarins by a stretch and fold. I gave it 2 more sets of stretch and folds to evenly distribute the fruits and add strength. The bulk fermentation is 6 hours in total then it went into the fridge overnight. Zhou Clementine likes a long warm bulk fermentation for her to raise the dough properly. The dough could have a retarded cold bulk ferment, a short and warm proofing, or another retarded proofing. You could certainly fit the dough to any schedule but you cannot mess with long warm bulk ferment, after that it will be a breeze.



Here is the dough the next morning. I used canned lychees and mandarins because fresh ones are not yet in season. I forgot how much water they contain and made the dough extremely watery, much like a ciabatta!



I tried to shape it into a log on a liberally floured surface but it was futile so I just dumped the whole thing into the greased and floured loaf pan and proofed it at room temperature for 2.5 hours.



Here it is after the final proof. The pan is more than 80% full and the dough is very bubbly. I'm just amazed with my starter's strength. I'm so excited to bake it as I slide the lid onto the pan.



I baked it in a frying pan over a wood fire rotating the pan at regular intervals, that's where the lid comes in handy; it's mainly conduction that cooks the bread. Because of the high water content of the dough I baked it for 1 hour and 20 minutes. An hour with live fire, the rest just embers and here are the results.



The crust is slightly crisp and soft and studded with oranges and lychees everywhere. A perfumey fragrance filled the air when I slid the the lid off to release the bread. This is the most fragrant bread I have ever baked.



The crumb is slightly open but even maybe because I mangled the dough while "shaping". The crumb is soft and moist because of the fruits but it is certainly not underdone. What I'm most amazed with is the colours of the crumb as seen in the close up. I mean, just look at it! The tang was just right, and lychees and mandarin oranges taste wonderful together with the subtle jasmine aroma. A very delicious bread!







Sorry, but I just can't get this scene out of my mind that this bread is served as a snack or as a house special at a hip lounge in Old Shanghai so I tried my best to make it happen. . Coincidentally, The table where the bread lies is made from lychee wood! I also use lychee firewood to cook this bread, I only used 4 "sticks" and they were enough for the entire cooking time because they produce a roaring stable and long fire! Lychee is if my memory serves me right, is the 6th heaviest and densest wood in the world and comes with a vibrant red color without staining. The wood is from our yard, maybe more than a hundred years old because my dad told me that when my great grandfather came here, it was already a huge tree providing shade! It was starting to decay two years ago so we had it cut down and made into furniture.



The name 夜上海 (Ye Shang Hai) means Shanghai nights and reflects the vibrant, decadent, and luxurious culture of Old Shanghai (of course there is a dark side to all of this and that's not the one I find amazing about this era) much like the adventurous nature of this bread. I thought of the name after I listened to the song Ye Shang Hai by arguably the most famous diva of the era, the golden voice of Old Shanghai: Zhou Xuan. Here is the song  周璇- 夜上海 complete with translations and background and a video showing what the era was like.
 


This is my wild imagination of sitting in a lounge indulging in this bread and a mocktail (I don't drink! :P) while listening to Zhou Xuan and other jazzy music letting the hours pass by. Here are a couple more of classic hits from the era that I like to listen to, maybe you can too if you have time. 周璇-花樣的年華 / 周璇 - 月圓花好 / 周璇 - 何日君再來 / 周璇 - 陋巷之春 / 白光 - 桃李爭春 / 李香蘭 -夜來香. Most of them are by Zhou Xuan because she is my favorite singer of this era, most of the songs here too were covered by Teresa Teng, my favorite singer of Chinese songs. This is my weird side again, I like them because they have an old and lovely feel quite unlike the many songs of today and it also helped me in learning the Chinese language.

With this picture, I remembered the film In the Mood for Love. It is set in 1960's Hong Kong but the feel is like 1930's Shanghai. It is also one of the reasons I learnt to love Cantonese and learn some words. The restaurant and dining scenes there looks like this one; watch it someday, it's a great film.



This one even looks like a sepia photograph!



This is a long post because it is full of my personal aspirations and I'm just so happy about this bread. Someday I will make a bread that is dedicated to Old Manila too. Thank you very much!

Hey! I'm back! I just had a HUGE culinary failure 2 months ago and since then I haven't baked or cooked anything until last week. My failure was so huge and heartbreaking that just talking about it makes me sad. I kept myself busy so I could move on but there are always reasons to celebrate so I made these gifts to give to some significant persons to me.

I just took another Chinese proficiency test . If you're familiar with Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK), that's what I took. I passed level 4 that includes 1200 vocabulary; 600 new words and 600 old words from the previous 3 levels. I wasn't paying attention to the date of the exam and only became aware of it 10 days before the actual examination date with zero knowledge of the new vocabulary. The old words; I have no problem because they're already engraved in my brain. I studied by myself  for 7 days and asked for help from my teacher and friend before. Imagine what work out my brain had for a week!



To repay her kindness and make some kind of memory of our friendship I made some hopia for her. The day before the exam instead of reviewing, I spent the whole afternoon to make hopia filled with homemade red bean paste, I know your familiar with these from my old posts. Having a cold also doesn't help! I made ways to keep everything sanitary. Fortunately before dark the hopia were ready and already boxed. That night my headache was so severe I didn't even bother to open my notes and I just said to myself that if I don't pass there is always a next time.



The morning before the exam I tied the boxes with ribbons and tried my best to write a short message in Chinese. I know my writing is not the best but at least I tried. She is from Mainland China so I used simplified characters, that's also the system used in the proficiency test. I don't have much issues in speaking and reading Chinese but writing is another story for me. What are written here are just two ways to say "Thank you very much!" and my Chinese name.



The test was difficult and I did not even finish the writing part. I'm just happy it's all finished in the end. In fact I already conditioned my mind in the beginning that I went there just to give my gift. She was surprised when I presented her my gift.  She said " How did you make it?!" "Come over here I have some pretty mooncakes from a friend!" (Hopia is similar to some styles of mooncake in China. This is a variant of the 酥皮月饼 su pi yue bing Flaky Mooncake.)  All of the conversations are in Mandarin. The other teachers were surprised too! They said it's so delicious on par or even better than the ones they have in China. They even said a man who can cook well can marry a beautiful girl in China! :P They really appreciated it and I'm so happy!




She was so happy so unexpectedly, she gave me a gift too! A mat and a brush to practice Chinese calligraphy. Water is used as an ink and fades as it dries allowing the mat to be used over and over again. What a practical and eco-friendly way to practice calligraphy; writing which is the skill I struggle the most. She showed me how to use and wrote my name on it. Oh my! The writing was so beautiful! Bear with me because I'm still practicing.







Here is my Chinese name that I wrote on it.



After a few moments, it fades.



Here is a comparison.



 Here are some more of my practice characters.

I love you



Thank you in Traditional and Simplified script. Although most of my friends are from the mainland and I use simplified characters to communicate with them, I also study traditional characters myself because those are what are used in our country. I just love them both.





I really love her gift and I will always remember her when I use it. Her colleague maybe because of the deliciousness of the hopia also gave me a gift even though we don't know each other that much; it's a book with a talking pen that will read every passage in the book so you have a pronunciation and audio guide.

My beautiful and kind teacher/friend with me. 



She lives in this ancient beautiful town in Hunan. I want to go there someday. I really have this thing for places with ancient feel; the houses, the stone bridge, the river.



I checked the results of the test and I passed! It was really a miracle thank God! 180 is the passing score for the 300 item test; with only 10 days of review, making hopia instead of having a review before the big day and a cold and headache on the day of the exam, I still managed to score 207! We're just overwhelmed even my parents who really support me in my Chinese studies. I'm planning to take level 5 next time, another hard work because 1,300 new vocabulary will be added! I hope I will pass that too.

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Another gift this time for an old friend.



I met with an old friend from my high school days too. It has been 4 years since we last saw each other. We were classmates when we were freshmen in high school but we do not talk much, it's only at the end of the school year where our friendship blossomed. We were one of the "loners" in the class who do not have a "fixed" set of friends and we found console in each other. We would talk on the phone four hours during the summer breaks from night till the wee hours of the morning! I guess it's just because we have the same interests, hobbies and likes. By our sophomore years we were no longer classmates, I was move to class 2 from class 1 of the special curriculum because my grades weren't good enough; well, still good but not enough to make the cut for class 1. It was new world for me because basically half of the class was gone and a new half  from the old class 2 replaced them. We were ranked individually to determine the final classes. Even though that's the case we still continued our friendship even the long telephone talks. Though I had new friends, there was no one that can understand me like her.

We graduated and she was the class valedictorian with an average of 94.XX, I was 77th out of 80 students with a grade of 90.I can't remember; most grades were just separated by decimal numbers. She went to the University of the Philippines to study Industrial Pharmacy; I also passed the university's entrance exam but it's for another campus for a degree in Nutrition. I didn't pursue it because it was too far away and I really want to take something related to hospitality.



4 years later we already had our degrees when she randomly just greeted me on my birthday this year. We chatted a lot (a long chat is the evidence that we really missed each other) and she asked me if I want to meet her because she will come here to our hometown in a few days. I said Yes! Of course! So we set the date, time and venue of our "mini reunion". She asked me to bring anything that I cooked for her. She just wants to taste any of my concoctions because she was curious every time I posted something.

I don't have a lot of ingredients that time and knowing that anyone who tastes my hopia smiles and raves about it, I said I will make hopia for her. She was amazed just as she heard it because she always thought that the little treat is never made but always bought. This hopia is filled with peeled split mung beans, what we call here as yellow mung bean paste. I made the mung bean paste a day before and made the pastry on the day of our reunion to  ensure freshness. These are 4 large pieces and because we both like mixing sweet and savory flavors I made the 2 plain and the other 2 with chopped salted egg.



When we met were so happy, we barely contained ourselves. On our way to the food court she immediately asked about my promise hopia and as soon as we are seated I gave it to her and we both experience a sense of bliss. She devoured a piece (the one with salted egg) immediately and encourage me to turn it into a business  because to her the taste, the appearance, and presentation was perfect.


 
We talked for 4 hours as she goes through another piece of hopia this time more slowly. We did a lot of catching up and talked about a wide range of topics about the fields we studied. Here are just some samples. First we talked about yeasts like candida and lactobacilli, it was our opening topic because it's related to her microorganism study and my baking. :P Then it went wild as we talked about molds like aspergillus oryzae, a. flavus, a. niger, penicillum species. Then we talked about toxicology related things like aflatoxin B1 G1, ochratoxin, neurotoxin, hemotoxin, and other stuff. Then our high school memories and nostalgia, then anime, then our future plans, then her thesis about bacteriophages, then about languages we study like the derivation of meaning of Chinese characters; I taught her a little French and Mandarin then she taught me some Japanese, we even sang old and foreign language songs before we end our short reunion. Now you know how crazy we are and why we found completeness in each other. Throughout our stay, 4 or 5 groups of people sat next to us and as you can imagine, hearing all those crazy things from us; all of them gave us weird looks but we don't care! That's what make us happy!

Of course, the last thing we did was to take some souvenir photos!

My genius friend Charleen! We understand each other like no other!





Thank you very much!

I originally planned to enter this for BBD #83 for a bread with special flour but I'm pressed for time and did not make it to the deadline so maybe it was really meant for BBD #84. Thanks to Susanne for a great theme of sandwich bread for this month: https://magentratzerl.net/2016/06/06/bread-baking-day-84-sandwichbrot/ and to Zorra for coming up with this great monthly challenge: http://www.kochtopf.me/bbd-breadbakingday. Sandwich bread is my favorite type of bread to make because it is hearty and homey and the standard bread in our house. Discovering so much more techniques, I now strive to improve our favorite house bread.



This bread was mainly inspired by the painting and music here. The painting is so finely crafted with textures and colors as if it was real. The music also really fits the melancholic mood; I almost cried when I listened to it for the first time. The painting reveals different stories depending on the interpreter's mind; I see a longing for true love rather than unrecruited love. When I was in the university, this is my calming music whenever I'm having a review for an exam. Played with rain and thunder effects, it is much more calming and much more real. With the painting and music in my mind, I was able to form a story and a formula for a bread that will fit the setting.

Today is Father's Day so I prepared meals for my dad. Normally, one will make some burgers for dad or prepare a carnivore feast but you know us, we love sweets and dad do not like to eat much meat anymore so I prepared some sweet and rich treats for him.

I made some fried pies. We really love fried pies especially peach and mango but I prepared a special one this time.



The dough is spiral pastry because I'm running low on butter and I still need a pretty large amount for all other things I'm going to make including the filling for this pie. Crimping the edges is my favorite part of pie making. I think I'm pretty good at it.



These are fried coconut cream pies and these are no ordinary pies. We love coconut sweets so when we harvested some young coconuts I thought of using it in a special dessert. Instead of packaged sweetened flaked coconut, young coconut called buko with soft thin delicate sweet meat is used here and it is what makes these pies special.



The filling is a milk based custard made more special by pandan extract from fresh pandan leaves. Buko pandan is a classic flavor combo in the Philippines; if you don't like it, just use vanilla but please use buko, it;s much better than packaged coconut with superb texture and flavor.



The pastry is flaky, golden, and crispy! It almost doubled and blistered after frying in hot oil. Its slightly salty flavor goes very very well with the sweet and rich custard filling.





Here it is bitten to reveal the filling and all those succulent young coconut strips! Enjoy!







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I served the pies in the morning and for lunch, I cooked some pancit. Again! This one has chorizo, braised pork leg and mushrooms, shirmp, and veggies! Very delicious and perfect for lunch.





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For the afternoon snack, I made doughnuts. Though made with commercial yeast, the overnight fermentation and quite a bit of butter makes it really flavorful. In the hotel where I had my practicum, doughnuts that were oval were considered "rejects" because of mishandling and unfit for sale and display but I see beauty in them so I purposely made my doughnuts oval. I plan this to be a my signature shape if I will ever open a doughnut shop, so don't steal it! :P I fried them right this time and learnt that a low flame is the secret for a perfect doughnut especially for filled doughnuts where no hole is punched in the center. The inside is done and the outside is golden brown and crispy.



Coffee and doughnuts go so well together and dad also love coffee so I rolled them into one dessert, coffee doughnuts! In the hotel I tasted a fantastic coffee doughnut filled with coffee whipped cream and glazed with a caramel glazed and decorated with pastry cream. It was so delicious but it costs $2.00 for a piece! I want to make something similar  and delicious. For just over $3.00 I made 4 with an extra little one from the scrap dough pieces. The filling is a coffee custard made with instant coffee powder; if I want to be fancy, I will use my own blend of coffee beans, roast them to my preference and infuse my milk with it. Still with it's simplicity, it was better than the hotel's not because of the taste (it's on par) but because of the fresh ingredients; no doughnut pre-mixes, no powdered pastry cream that just needs to be mixed with milk and no powdered glazes!



It goes great with hot chocolate. It was rainy and windy this afternoon and it's really comforting, I chose a simple dusting of icing sugar rather than a glaze since the filling is already sweet. Still, in my case it is a cold chocolate drink made from raw cocoa liquor that is pressed and dried into cakes.


 


The crust is crispy and light that only a real doughnut can have. Some may argue but in my opinion, baked doughnuts can be good but they can NEVER match a fried doughnut!





This is a "knife and fork" doughnut so I filled them generously with the custard. If you want to eat them on the go, fill them less. The crumb is ethereal! It so soft and fluffy and light and feathery! I think it's because of the kneading, I also think that I have improved in my kneading skills; before I spend more than an hour but now it takes just under 25 minutes for the dough to pass the windowpane. This is the first bread that I sliced using my serrated knife that my dad gave me on my birthday, without it I would be in trouble. It's like magic, it effortlessly sliced the very delicate doughnut without me applying any force, just slicing back and forth like playing a violin. Thank you and Happy Father's day daddy!



Crumb: sliced and bitten!



Thank God for this wonderful day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad and to all fathers out there!

Maligayang Araw ng mga Ama!

父親節快樂！

父亲节块乐！

I made banana roti almost a year ago and we loved it! I also noted before that I will try this with mangoes come mango season and it's finally here! Banana roti is a famous  street food in some South East Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand, from the name it's obviously made with bananas but I've seen some made with a different fruit like mango. Mango is my favorite fruit and where I'm from is famous for its mangoes so I'm sure I will love it.



This bread/snack is simple; an unleavened dough is stretched very thinly the cooked on a griddle for a few seconds then the fruit filling is deposited in the center then the sides of the dough are folded neatly like a handkerchief, a few minutes later it is flipped and when browned beautifully cut into small pieces then drizzled with condensed milk. Here is a newer video I found for this snack, jump to 1:52 for the actual cooking process. Both mango and banana were used for this roti.



Mangoes ripen in large quantities so we froze those that we cannot eat. Very juicy and sweet. For the filling, the mangoes were just mixed with eggs.



Here is the mango custard. Mangoes are already juicier than bananas but frozen mangoes are even more watery! I don't know if this will work as filling.



For the actual roti, I want to try a different folding method too like the ones in Malaysia but it's more difficult because the dough need to be stretched thinner and larger and this is just my second time to make this kind of bread so I stuck with the method I used before and tried to improve. I used the same dough but with slight modifications. Here are the dough balls soaking in oil.



I used AP flour (you can see in the white dough color) as uncle Dab suggested and it was more extensible than my dough before made with strong flour. I also made it wetter and softer this time. My technique may have improved too and I'm still using this plate as my work surface. I was able to stretch it thin without any holes.



Look! This is some serious windowpane!



I cooked them just like in the video. The mango filling is very runny and I have to be fast in folding the dough to contain the filling otherwise it will be a mess; mango flavored scrambled eggs instead of smooth mango custard!



It was much better than my banana rotis. More even square shape with good distribution of the filling.



I cut it into 9 pieces using my spatula just like how vendors do it! The mango filling is peeking.



Fully dressed and ready to rock & roll.



Condensed milk, salt and sugar. You know, half of the can of condensed milk ended up in my and dad's hands!



Crispy, soft with a slight chew and a fragrant sweet creamy mango custard filling! So delicious!  The texture is unique, like a crepe but like a tortilla too, only this method could achieve this texture. Even though mango is my favorite fruit, I still prefer this with banana. The mangoes broke down too much and the flavor is somewhat diluted quite the opposite of banana where the flavor and aroma gets concentrated. This dessert is still really good, with the crunch from the sugar and the salt playing very well with all the sweet flavors.



A mango-pineapple drink to accompany the rotis.



I got a little bit crazy too and made some homemade spring roll (popiah 薄餅皮) wrappers. We were craving for some spring rolls but we don't have the wrappers and it's too dark to go to the market so I experimented in making my own whether it will work or not.



Still a bit thick, I need to practice the dabbing technique (Here is a video so you know what I mean) more but again not bad for a first try making only a few pieces. This week is all about thin breads / wheaten products.