{ Mélanger :: to mix }

It has been a month of new flavours in the Mélanger kitchen.

Enjoying the fruit of an avocado in a sweet ice cream dessert.  Experimenting with glutinous rice flour and homemade red bean paste in a mochi cake.  Combining a water roux bread making method and the flavour of pandan in a popular ‘Rotiboy’ inspired bun.  And ditching the typical heavy “British influenced” pudding (a common craving for me!) for a light and refreshing Asian inspired tapioca pudding.

I hope you enjoyed my Asian inspired assortment.  But next month will take us in a completely new direction.  All I will say now is, I hope you will be tickled pink with the idea.  I know I am.

In the meantime, here is a round up of this month’s recipes!

  { Avocado ‘milkshake’ ice cream & sesame brittle } For quite some time I have wanted to incorporate avocado into a sweet dessert.   I was inspired by the avocado milkshake, apparently one of the most popular drinks in Southeast Asia, in Pichet Ong’s, The Sweet Spot.  This ice cream is sinfully sweet, yet surprisingly, pairs well with the sweet nuttiness of a crisp sesame brittle.

{ Green tea and red bean mochi slice } This slice is ridiciously simple.  But even better than that, it is delicious.  One taste, and I practically slapped myself for taking so long in whipping up this mochi slice.  It has a delightful hint of sweetness offset by the earthly flavour of the green tea.  And the sprinkling of red bean paste added a surprise texture with each mouthful.

  { Pandan ‘Rotiboy’ Mexican Buns } It was quite shameful to admit I had never tasted the flavour of pandan.  So enter these soft and fluffy on the inside, and crunchy and sweet on the outside buns.  The best bit it uses a gelatinised dough method (water roux starter).  There really is nothing to it, and it truly does produce an unrivalled softness.  If you have never used this method of bread making before, I urge you to try.  Soon!

  { Coconut lime tapioca pudding with chilli salt green mango fritters } I paired a zesty green mango with this pudding.  I stuck with the tradition of serving the green mango with salt and chilli by sprinking a healthy dose on the fritters once cooked.  The inherent sweetness of the pudding (from the coconut milk as well as the lime syrup), is the perfect balance to counter the spicy, salty flavour of the fritter.

I finish my four courses of Asian Inspiration this month with a simple pudding.

I have never used tapioca before, after being personally less than enthusiastic from my mother’s description she recalls from her London-hot-school-lunch-days.

But then motivated by Ellie’s post earlier in the year, by a silky looking tapioca pudding (with banana spring rolls, a sweet kaffir lime syrup and crunchy toasted coconut flakes!), I was instantly converted.

(Sorry, Mum.)

I made a few twists to Ellie’s recipe, the most obvious omitting the banana spring roll and instead pairing the pudding with a green mango fritter.  I stuck with the tradition of serving the green mango with salt and chilli by sprinking a healthy dose on the fritters once cooked.

The inherent sweetness of the pudding (from the coconut milk as well as the lime syrup), is the perfect balance to counter the spicy, salty flavour of the fritter.

But the best part?  It is so simple.

{ Coconut lime tapioca pudding with chilli salt green mango fritters } Adapted from Ellie of Almost Bourdain.

* Ingredients *

Tapioca
1/4 cup tapioca / sago pearls
1 cup water
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1/3 cup coconut cream

Syrup
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
Zest of 1/2 lime
Juice of 1 lime

Fritters
1/2 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup iced water
1 green mango, sliced
1 teaspoon coarse salt, ground
1 teaspoon chilli flakes, ground

* Directions *
To make coconut tapioca pearls, boil the water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add tapioca pearls and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the tapioca pearls are cooked and translucent. Add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and stir in coconut cream. Mix well, cool to room temperature and keep in fridge until needed.  To make the lime syrup, add the sugar, lime juice and water to a saucepan and stir to dissolve.  Heat over medium heat for 3-5 minutes without stirring.  Take off the heat, add the zest and set aside to cool.  To make the fritters, combine the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the iced water.  Mix until combined, and then pop in the fridge for 30 minutes.  Heat up a small saucepan of oil.  Dip pieces of the sliced mango into the batter and then fry in the oil until golden brown (about 2-3 minutes).  Drain on paper towel.  Sprinkle with the chilli salt while hot.  To assemble, place the tapioca pudding in the bottom of a glass and drizzle with syrup.  Serve with the warm fritters.

Serves 3-4

Nestled in between my lofty dreams and goals is a little, cold stash of reality.  If you are like me, your notepads and daydreams are filled with places you want to see, people you would love to meet, experiences you want to have.  But the harsh truth is time and money is limited.

So what is the next best thing?

Reinventing your plans to suit your circumstances?  (How pragmatic is that?)

A little escape to Malaysia with the family may or may not be in my future, but bread baking sure is.  I came across these buns on Su-yin’s tasty blog, Bread et Butter.  This London resident, originally from Penang, shared a post on some coffee and matcha ‘Mexican’ buns.

I had never heard of these strangely named buns before.  Intrigued, I immediately investigated these (apparently very popular in Malaysia) buns further.  Apparently they have been made famous by a Penang based company called Rotiboy.

It is not every day you have a friend who can do a bit of a recce for you.  My friend Emma is currently living in Penang with her husband for the next 3 years.  (Well, make that 2 ½ more years.)

It seemed not even 24 hours past after a quick email exchange (asking if she had heard of these buns), when I received an MMS complete with close up images from the store in question.  Big snaps for Emma.

Motivated more than ever, I pressed on to make a batch in my little Brisbane kitchen.  But what recipe?  I decided to adapt a recipe from Chef Alex Goh, which appeared in a Malaysian food magazine, flavours.

It seemed fated.

The best bit about this bun, is it uses a gelatinised dough method (water roux starter).  There really is nothing to it, and it truly does produce an unrivalled softness.

If you have never used this method of bread making before, I urge you to try.  Soon!

In my research, there seemed no clear consensus on why these are called Mexican buns.  But my guess is because the technique and topping is similar to the famous Mexican bun, Conchas Blancas.  (But if anyone does know how they got the name, please let me know!)

{ Pandan ‘Rotiboy’ Mexican Buns } Adapted from Alex Goh

* Ingredients *

Gelatinised dough
100g bread flour
70ml boiling water

Bread dough
300g bread flour
100g plain flour
80g sugar
20g milk powder
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
175g cold water
60g cold egg
60g cold butter, cubed

Topping
125g butter
125g icing sugar
1 egg
240g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon milk powder
1/8 teaspoon pandan paste

* Directions *
To make the gelatinised dough, add the boiling water into the flour and mix until well-blended to form dough. (I did this in a food processor.)  Refrigerate for at least 12 hours.   The next day, add the flour, sugar, milk powder, yeast and salt to a mixing bowl.  Tear the gelatinised dough into pieces and add to the bowl along with the egg.  Using a mixer with a dough hook, mix on low adding the cold water gradually.  Mix until the dough is well combined and leaves the sides of the bowl.  Add in the butter and mix to combine.  Then mix until smooth and elastic.  Remove the dough and shape into a ball.  Put into a bowl, and cover with plastic.  Leave to proof for 40 minutes, until doubled.  To prepare the topping, cream butter and sugar until smooth then mix in egg. Add the four and milk powder and pandan paste, and mix until well incorporated. Preheat the oven to 190C.  To prepare the buns, divide the dough into 50g portions and mould into round balls.  Arrange on baking pan and leave to rest for 10 minutes.  Place the topping into a piping bag.  Pipe the topping in a spiral pattern onto the buns starting from the top and finishing about half way down the side of the dough.  Proof for a further 20-30 minutes and then bake for 12-15 minutes.  Best when eaten warm.

Makes 18-20 buns

:: Yeastspotting ::

I am submitting these Pandan ‘Rotiboy’ Mexican Buns to Yeastspotting.

Time is a funny thing.  Life for me never seems to slow down, and in fact my goals, dreams and aspirations only seem to proliferate at a frightening speed.  My ‘to-do’ lists are plentiful, grow daily, and always seem uncontrollably long!

So for the next installment in my Asian Inspiration month, let us rewind 2 years.

Back in July 2009, I was inspired by a quick and easy, one bowl wonder using glutious rice flour at one of my favourite blogs, Lemonpi.  When reading this recipe for a Mochi Cake creation, I was intrigued by the chewy texture this flour produced.  I had seen this ingredient at my local asian grocer, but never had used it myself.

As enthusiast as the uber talented Lemonpi is about all the creations she shares on her blog, there was something particularly appealing about the versatility and adaptability of this recipe.  So I marked it down on one of my many lists. 

2 years later, here we are!

After a quick round up of supplies, and a few turns of a wooden spoon, this slice was in the oven.  One taste, and I practically slapped myself for taking so long in whipping up this mochi slice.  It has a delightful hint of sweetness offset by the earthly flavour of the green tea.  And the sprinkling of red bean paste added a surprise texture with each mouthful.

Knowing this slice was going to be a breeze to put together, I thought the very least I could do is make my own red bean paste.  Sure, you can buy in in a tin, but where is the fun in that?  That turned out to be pretty simple, too.  All in all, a wonderfully simple, Asian inspired sweet treat.

{ Green tea and red bean mochi slice } Mochi recipe adapted from Lemonpi

* Ingredients *
115g glutinous rice flour
5g green tea powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
40g unsalted butter, melted
95g caster sugar
100g evaporated milk (about 1/4 can)
1 egg
125g red bean paste (see below)

* Directions *
Preheat the oven to 175?C. Grease and line 20 x 20 cm (8 x 8 inch) square cake tin.  Sift the flour, green tea and baking powder together. In an electric mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. Fold in the melted butter, then the evaporated milk.  Fold in the dry ingredients and red bean paste.  Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cake on a rack, then remove from tin and cut into slices.

{ Red Bean Paste / Tsubushi-An } recipe by Apple Pie, Patis & Pâté

* Ingredients *
180 grams (about 1 cup) red azuki beans
150 (about ¾ cup) sugar
Pinch of salt

* Directions *
Wash the azuki beans and place in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, drain, and discard the water. Add about 3 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled azuki beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot, and simmer the azuki beans until soft, approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. The water should be almost completely absorbed by the time the beans are done. Add water as needed while simmering to prevent the beans from scorching.  Add the sugar, stirring gently until the azuki bean paste is heated through and glossy. Season with a pinch of salt and mix well. The paste should be thick with some whole and half-crushed azuki beans.

There has been a hint of spring in the air recently.

Fresh, warm breezes have been welcomed into our home.  Every single window has been opened wide to capture the full warmth of the sun.  The bright blue, sunny sky has charmed smiles from all of us.

The recent explosion of sunshine and happiness was reason enough for me to celebrate with a generous bowl of cool, homemade ice-cream.

For quite some time I have wanted to incorporate avocado into a sweet dessert.   I was inspired by the avocado milkshake, apparently one of the most popular drinks in Southeast Asia, in Pichet Ong’s, The Sweet Spot.

I took the basic ingredients that Ong includes in his recipe (avocado, whole milk, lime juice, condensed milk and salt), adapted the quantities to my taste and then continued the preparation to make ice cream.

This ice cream is sinfully sweet, yet surprisingly, pairs well with the sweet nuttiness of a crisp sesame brittle.

{ Avocado ‘milkshake’ ice cream & sesame brittle }

Avocado ‘milkshake’ ice cream Recipe inspired by Pichet Ong’s, Avocado Milk Shake from The Sweet Spot

* Ingredients *
200g avocado flesh (approx. ¾ avocado – I used a Shepard avocado)
395g condensed milk (1 tin)
250ml whole milk
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch salt

* Directions *
Place all the ingredients into a food processor, and blend until thoroughly combined.  Transfer to a jug/bowl and refrigerate overnight.  The following day, churn the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.  Transfer to a container, and freeze for a further 1-2 hours to firm up the texture.

Sesame brittle Recipe by Julia @ Mélanger

* Ingredients *
40g sesame seeds (I used half white and black)
60g white sugar
30g water

* Directions *
Sprinkle the sesame seeds in a single layer over a silpat sheet on a baking tray.  Set aside.  In a small saucepan, place the sugar and water and stir until clear.  Place over a medium heat and, without stirring, cook until syrup comes to a boil.  Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush if necessary.  Continue to cook until it reaches 165C/325F.  At this stage, gently pour the caramel over the prepared sesame seeds.  With an offset spatula, evenly spread the caramel across the sesame seeds.  Allow to cool.

Separately, I have received a few gentle requests for an update on baby Mélanger.  I have not included any photographs of her on my blog all year (shame on me!).  She is, if you can believe it, only a couple of weeks away from 11 months!  So here is a little sequence from earlier this week.

I have started experimenting with some muffins (looking at low fat and low sugar options) for baby Mélanger.  Here is the result of one of my recent trials.  This muffin included blueberry, which she had never eaten before.

I think she likes them, no?

Picking up baby Mélanger from her first day of child care, a carer gave me a run down of how she managed (without me!) during the day.  At the end she remarked, “She is quite an inquisitive baby.”

All babies are inquisitive, I am sure, as they have so much to learn about the world.  But baby Mélanger’s daily discoveries reminded me of my own curiosity in life.

For some time now, I have been nagging myself to explore a selection of never-before-been-used ingredients, test out new taste combinations, and experiment with different recipe techniques and methods.

In particular, inspired by Asian flavours.

Sure, I can soak up some detail in a well thumbed food magazine, flick through a cookbook, or read up on some great food blogs as a substitute.  But for me, there is nothing quite like trying something yourself.

Besides, you get to eat the goodies at the end!

So for this month, I hope you enjoy my Asian inspired assortment.  For many of you, the flavours and style will be very familiar – I would love your feedback if that is the case – but if you are like me, hopefully you will also discover something new!