Char Sui Pork Bun, De-Constructed!

WARNING: Long ingredient list…but don’t be put off!

You could call this ‘De-constructed Pork Buns or Pot Stickers’…almost. As you know (if you read this blog regularly), I am into anything that is easy and quick, can be adapted to feed 1000′s, and naturally, gotta be tasty. Pork Buns officially fill most of the said requirements, but these are easier and quicker still! And yes, I did the Char Sui Pork myself…see note below.

NEED:

Water Dough Pastry;

50g rice

150g bakers flour

50-100g boiling water

pinch salt

Oil Dough Pastry;

200g bakers flour

pinch salt

50g oil

50-70g hot water

Dressing;

1 dried chilli

2-3 cloves garlic

2cm piece peeled ginger

1-2 tbsp sugar

50g soy sauce

20g Chinese black vinegar

Juice 1 lemon

Remaining Filling;

600g Char Sui Pork, sliced

1/4 Chinese cabbage, shredded

A few sliced spring onions (shallots)

Bean shoots to taste

Crispy fried shallots to taste

500g cubed and roasted sweet potato

Roasted peanuts to taste (optional)

Few sprigs coriander

DO:

To make hot water dough, place rice into Thermomix bowl and mill for 1.5 minutes on speed 10. Add remaining ingredients and only about 50-60g of the water, mix for 6 seconds on speed 6.

With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1 minute on Interval speed. (Add more water at this point if not forming sticky dough.) Turn out onto Silpat mat and wrap tightly. Allow to rest for at least 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the oil dough by placing all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and mixing for 6 seconds on speed 6. With dial set to closed lid position, knead for 1.5 minutes on Interval speed. Wrap tightly and allow to rest for at least 10 mintues.

Place both doughs back into Thermomix bowl and with dial set to closed lid position, knead for 2 minutes on Interval speed.

Roll into long sausage shape and cut into rounds which you then roll flat into large circles before placing into a hot, well oiled fry pan. Add a ‘slosh’ of  water and cover the pan immediately so that the wrap is steamed. When the water has almost evaporated, remove lid and when golden, turn and brown the other side. Set aside, but keep warm until service.

To make Dressing, place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend together for 15 seconds on speed 6. Set aside.

Assemble wraps as you would any other, salad, sweet potato, dressing, pork, garnishes and more dressing…don’t forget anything now! Is there something you would like me to ‘de-construct’ to make it simpler? Let me know…perhaps that should be my new alter ego…Recipe Doctor.com, or De-Constructs R Us! (Only in my spare time of course!)

Char Sui Pork

Make the Char Sui marinade by placing to taste honey, sugar, oyster sauce, five spice powder, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, Chinese wine, chilli, garlic and ginger into Thermomix bowl and mixing until blended. Heat for 4 minutes at 60C on speed 1 to form a syrup. Marinate up to 2 kg of pork fillet slices for several hours. (I marinated for around 24 hours) Cook under a very hot grill until charred and fragrant. Slice as needed.

Persimmon Tart

Well my son thought I had gone completely vego on him and had served up a carrot tart. Not so crazy beings that we have recently had raw carrot cake, (stunning) amongst other strange and wonderful kitchen creations..all for a good cause, A Taste of Vegetarian, long since finished and almost erased from my memory as other projects take over!
There was some fantastic produce at my local markets on the weekend, and all inspired I came home with Persimmons, Quince and the most amazing orange skinned lemons…still, could only get to the Persimmons at the moment, so here is my offering;
Persimmon Puff Tart.

NEED:
1 batch of puff pastry from Everyday Thermomix cookbook. (I used frozen butter, and you could of course purchase puff pastry, but I must say the overall result of homemade was pretty outstanding, if not impressive!)
4 persimmons peeled and sliced thinly.
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp Agave syrup
Juice 1 lemon

DO:
Make pastry and line a loose bottomed flan tin. Freeze until use.
Preheat oven to 180oC.
Mix filling ingredients in large bowl and allow to macerate for 30 minutes.
Arrange into lined flan dish. Cut lattice from pastry and lay on top of filling.
Sprinkle top of pastry with 1 tbsp granulated sugar.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden.
Serve warm with lashings of whipped cream.

We were all expecting a tart (and boom boom, we got one) flavor because it didn’t look unlike an apricot filling, but the gentle flavor of the persimmons was enhanced by the ginger and lemon and was quietly unassuming, like all of us really. Delicious!

I just love gingerbread and having a cold, but sunny day seemed the perfect excuse to play around with a homey cake that brought back the warm fuzzies from my childhood…you know the score. Walk home from school, open the door to a welcoming warm smell of something delicious. My mum used to make ‘Parkin’ which is basically gingerbread in a huge slab cake. So partly as a salute to my Yorkshire origins and because I’ve been reading Cyndi O’Meara’s website (and she firmly believes that a piece of cake made with real eggs, butter and raw sugar, is a great treat and not at all bad for you), and partly because I agree with her and knowing the love that ‘homemade’ adds to anything, (it just puts the icing on the cake…that and the lemon glaze…yes I am still using those lemons;) Here is my Old Fashioned Gingerbread…or Parkin! Enjoy.

NEED:
225 grams unsalted butter
200 grams caster sugar
3 eggs
1 cup treacle (or honey, though this does add different taste)
1 cup milk
480 grams unbleached SR flour
1 teaspoon each;
cinnamon, cardomom, nutmeg, cloves
3 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon orange essence
1/2 teaspoon almond essence

DO:
Spray 23 cm pan with cooking spray.
Place milk and treacle in Thermomix bowl and heat on 70 degrees and stir for 3 minutes.
Beat on Speed 8 for 10 seconds, pour out and set aside to cool slightly.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy on speed 7 for 2 minutes.
Scrape down side of bowl from time to time as needed.
Slowly add eggs beating between additions.
Add treacle/milk mix and beat till well intergrated.
Add spices and flour and mix until just combined (on speed 4, around 30 seconds)
Pour batter into prepared tin.
Process in steam oven for one hour.
Move to pre-heated oven (160 degrees) for a further 30 minutes.

SERVE:
With a lemon glaze made from 1/2 cup icing sugar (make your own in the TM) and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
And FYI; This is better by far the next day and the day after that…should it last that long!

NEED:
125 grams unsalted butter
2 inch peeled piece of fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
225 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
4 large eggs
110 grams SR flour
200 grams almond meal
3 apricot halves from a can per serving (or fresh if you are lucky enough to be in summer right now!)
Unflavored oil (Grapeseed)
Extra caster sugar for grilling
Plus more caster sugar for toffee bark (see below)
6 large ramekins or 14 small

DO:
In Thermomix bowl chop butter and peeled ginger together for 3 seconds on Speed 9.
Insert butterfly attachment.
Add sugar, ground ginger, nutmeg and vanilla bean paste and whip on Speed 3-4 for around 5 minutes.
The mixture should look almost white.
Meanwhile grease and flour ramekins.
Prepare water bath if you do not have a steam oven.
Add eggs one at a time.
You may have to add some flour at this point to prevent curdling.
Add remaining flour and almond meal and whip briefly until the mix comes together.
It should be a soft batter, (not runny).
Spoon mix evenly into ramekins and process in Steam Oven for 45 minutes.
OR using water bath method, place ramekins in large pan filled to the halfway point with water and steam in 100 degree Celcius oven (around 212 F) for 45 minutes.
Heat griddle pan with a dash of Grapeseed oil and some sprinkled caster sugar.
Grill canned or fresh apricot halves, round side down until browned and caramelized.
Set aside for serving.
OPTIONAL: Toffee bark.
This is really just a bit of cosmetic thing, though a nice crunch with dessert is a plus.
Spray a flat oven tray (with a rim) with oil.
Thinkly spread around 1/2 cup caster sugar so it is even and place under a hot grill for around 5 minutes.
This is quite tricky as one minute you have sugar granules and the next, the oven is up in smoke…so don’t move away! Check and when sugar is runny and golden, remove and cook tray, allowing the toffee to set.
When completely cold, break into uneven pieces and use for decoration.
SERVE: Un mold from ramekin, dredge with icing sugar, arrange apricots and use the little bit of drizzle you’ll have as a syrup over the pudding and apricots. It goes without saying you need dollops of freshly whipped cream…and I must say, diet or no diet, this was delish!

USED: Ginger Grater

NEED:

1 Cup Rice
500g Pork Mince
4 Spring onions Chopped
1 Tablespoon chopped water chestnuts
3 Cloves garlic crushed or 3 teaspoons of crushed garlic from a jar
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon salt

Dipping sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 Teaspoons sweet chilli sauce
Splash of lime juice

DO:

Soak rice in cold water for 30 minutes then drain well.
Combine all other ingredients and mix well.  Rolls into walnut sized balls and coat each ball in rice.  Place in a single layer on steamer tray and steam for 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Mix ingredients for dipping sauce together serve with cooked balls.