Celebraing the Tradition

Happy Dragon Boat Day!

I'm curious who at what time made this translation.It must be long ago,because glutinous rice dumpling obviously contributes more to this holiday nowadays,for some people,all the tradition lies in a dumpling.

Needless to say,traditional holidays are also losing their meanings,people no longer do that something for the same purpose but for following a trend.How many youngsters actually knows the background of Dragon Boat Day(DBD)?

DBD can't go without glutinous rice dumpling.This year I'm eating Daoxiangcun®'s,a redoubted brand,every Beijinger has got something on this term.A dim sum lover like me can never thank it too much.You know what's behind this hundred-year brand only after one try.There's no chance to get disappointed.From her I learned the power of frame.There's never a day one of the chain stores is not crowded.I usually prepare such festival foods at least a week earlier,because as the day drawing near,the line gets longer,it normal for a one-block long queue lines from the gate.
Making a glutinous rice dumpling is nothing complex,the most difficult part is wrapping.I'm not a big fan of this dim sum,I guess it's because the filling was too little.Today we can find in stores almost all such festival foods except my favourite--moon cakes.This may be forgivable because good moon cakes must be prepared by hands and are considerably time and space consuming to get the best flavour.I shall say more on it on Mid-Autumn Day.
I also made some traditional multi-layer pastry--remember the Chinese pastry I've mentioned before?If you like it,there's even more:try to use this method on your danish bread,it saves your butter,time and electricity(fridge-free),for people like me,flavours can be modified variously by adding drink powder to the oil dough without bothering the yeasts so that the bread is good enough eating alone!
Chinese multi-layer pastry:
flaky dough:
50ml soy oil
100g sugar
a pinch of salt
250g flour
30g baker's milk powder
100ml water
Mix the above ingredients,knead until smooth.Divide into 32 portions.Roll each one into thin round.
oil dough:
150ml soy oil
100g sugar
a pinch of salt
250g flour
Mix until well blended.Divide into 32 portions.
filling:
32 salted egg yolks
500g date paste
Wrap each egg with date paste(get yourself some good material so that it'll be easier to work).
Wrap each oil dough with flaky dough.Roll each into thin round.
Roll up from one side,press each portion flat.
Roll out each portion length wise,roll up like jelly roll.
Repeat the roll out and roll up steps.
Place a portion edge on top,press with hand,and roll into thin round,wrap 1 portion filling.
Continue with the remaining dough.
Bake at 200C until slightly browned.
This may not assemble puff pastry as it is somewhat tend to be crispy.As for the oil,lard work best,however,butter is also allowed.
Chinese style chocolate Danish:
bread dough:
400g bread flour
2tbsp sugar
2tbsp instant dry yeast
1tsp salt
30g unsalted butter
50g baker's milk powder

oil dough:
400g bread flour
200g sugar
200g soy oil(butter is preferred)
1tsp salt
Mix until well blended,use as he wrap-in butter.
I'm getting busy as my finals are coming,god bless me on this!

filling:
350g milk chocolate

Follow the way of normal danish making,just notice that there's no pause among the 3 folds.

Chocolate Cheese Strawberry Yorgut Bread

I've been blogging blind.Interesting enough,I can edit anything about my blog,but I can never view it.I've experiencing the same problem with a number of websites.So if you find mistakes on my blog or your comments unreplied(if there is a comment),je suis désolée mais ce n'est pas ma faute!
I finally give physics a farewell this afternoon by finish my final on physics experiment,I wouldn't say physics is boring or too tough to learn.Physic is full of fun,and fairly useful,and of course,easy as ABC comparing with maths.Nevertheless,it seems that I was not born for it.No one ever said my physics were bad and,though I'd rather not say about it,I was put into a physics specialist class in high school.I just lack that gene,perhaps.
Does today's bread sound somewhat bizarre?Not to me.
I'm the kind of people who are always looking for "On Sale".It's quite normal for me to buy foods near their expiration date.I don't know if it matters to some of you.They do stay well a certain time beyond their shelf-life.SanYuan® strawberry yogurt is my favourite yogurt,I'm always kept away by its high price,not very expensive but I don't usually drink yogurt,and I'd say I don't drink any other yogurt.Sanyuan® is one of the brands I fell in love with not long after I came to Beijing.I don't think there's anything good in such processed cheese,but they were two for one,a good bargain,isn't it?
Chocolate Cheese Strawberry Yogurt Bread
Ingredients:
For the dough:
500g s strawberry yogurt
400g bread flour
50g baker's dried milk
2 tbsp instant dry yeast
30g butter
For filling:
16 chocolate cheese slices
Method:
1.Put the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl,mix until dough forms,add in butter,knead until smooth and elastic.
2.Let rise until doubled in volume.
3.Divide dough into 16 portions,roll out each portion thin and flat(not too thin).
4.Place 1 cheese slice on each portion and roll up.Press to seal edges.
5.Let rise until doubled again.
6.Bake at 200C until golden brown.
I don't know why they say it is important to preheat the oven,my breads are usually cold oven baked and they taste as well.

Watermelon Mousse with Agar

For me,mousse is a dessert to clean up the left-aways, where the unappetising turn to crusts.This mousse began with my overly sweet cookies made several days ago.

so easy that I gave up my cheesecake experiment after making once.It seems that you can never make it a nightmare.

Agar is made from marine plants,such as marine algae.I don't know how it is used in other cuisine,it is a versatile food when it is softened or dissolved in liquid:I like it in Chinese salads.also,it is one of the most important ingredients of commercially produced puddings and chewing gums.

I guess none-vegans mostly use gelatin to make mousse,nonetheless,I daresay agar is the basic ingredient in instant jelly powder(I never saw such item in stores here,though).Agar has a considerable higher set point,I'm not sure about the precise degree,it set easily today in my kitchen whose temperature was surely higher than 30C.So if you also like it stiffer,try agar instead of gelatin.

Watermelon Mousse:

Ingredients:

juice from 1/4 watermelon

250g cream cheese

400g none-dairy whipping top(of course,heavy cream works better)

25g agar

overly sweet cookies

Method:

1.Over low heat,dissolve agar in watermelon juice.

2.Cream the cheese,gradually pour in watermelon juice,mix well.

3.Whip the cream,fold in the cheese mixture.

4.break cookies too small pieces,place a layer at the bottom of a bowl,pour in some mousse,repeat layers.

You don't need to let it in cool down completely,in fact,mine had already begun to set when fold into the cold topping.

You may have to add some sugar if your cookies are not overly sweet or if your cream is sugar-free.

Agar salad:

Put some agar in lukewarm water(10-20C) for 20 minutes or until softened,add to your salad to make a twist.

Ice cream, no maker

I agree that an ice cream maker makes everything easy,it seems whatever combination can end up in ice cream if thrown into a machine.But good ice cream must have come before an ice cream maker.Just be careful on the ingredients,it's as tasty.

At least I'm quite satisfied with my ice cream so far.I dislike store-bought ice cream.I guess it's better in the US but imported ones are definitely too expensive,China made ice cream is ice,not cream.You see,it hardens as ice if frozen overnight.

strawberry ice cream

ingredients:

250g fresh strawberries

100g sugar

gelatin this varies,depends on your preference of the texture and the quality of your gelatin

250g whipping cream

method:

1.Dissolve gelatin with as little boiling water as possible.

2.Mash strawberries with sugar.

3.Combine strawberries and gelatin.

4.Whip the cream.

5.Fold in strawberries.

6.Put in freezer.

Chocolate banana ice cream

This is a by-product.

Ingredients:

Chocolate filling from 360g sandwich cookies(Can be substitute with chocolate syrup)

2 bananas

250g whipping cream

1.Mash bananas with filling.

2.Whip the cream.

3.fold in bananas.

4.Put in freezer.

Cinnamon ice cream

Ingredients:

1 cinnamon stick

100g sugar

100g water

3 egg yolks

250g whipping cream

Method:

1.Heat the first 3 ingredients until the mixture browns,thickens and bubbles.(Better use low heat to let the cinnamon release its flavour.)Take out cinnamon.

2.Quickly pour the syrup into yolks,whip until fluffy.(Work fast to get the yolks pasteurised.)

3.Whip the cream.

4.Fold in yolks.

5.Put in freezer.

I suggest using heavy cream to make it softer,is it sold somewhere in Beijing?

Nestle's light cream is a little bit harder to whip,maybe it's too white?Arla's looks slightly yellow and is made from fresh milk,seen from the package,Nestle's ingredients contains milk,butter and some additives.