Hungry Note

Bot Chien, very popular street snack among southern Viet Nam, Ho Chi Minh city.
In Cho Long, China town, this is eaten as breakfast.
Actually bot chien keep you longer than sandwich or pancake, it really does!
If you have any Asian grocers around, you will probably find The frozen bot chien dough but I would say, home made one is way tastier, and there is nothing so hard to make your own.
If you want to make our morning little bit into asian, then please try this.
It is way easier than making pancake, I insist.

ingredients(3 ~ 4 serving)
[RICE CAKE]
125g Glutinous Rice Flour
3tbsp Tapioca Flour
1/2tsp Sugar
1/4tsp Salt
145~160ml Water

3~4 Egg(sightly whisked)
2 Spring Onion(Finely sliced)

1, Mix all the [RICE CAKE] ingredients in the bowl and mix well. Consistency is almost like a paste but not too watery.
Prepare the tin or any "steam-able" container, make sure that fit to your steamer.
I recommend lightly oil the tin or container first and pour the [RICE CAKE] mixture in
Steam for 20 ~ 25 mins.
*Stick a skewer in the middle of cake and if nothing sticks, then its done!

2, Cool the cake completely. (I always leave it over-night)
When its cool, cut it into 4 x 2cm(5mm thickness) rectangle.

3, Heat your wok to medium-heat, then add 1.5 tbsp of oil.
Place cubed rice cake(2) in single layer on the wok. Make sure both side is nicely colored.

4, When the rice cake is nicely colored in both side, Add egg and spring onion.
Try to bring them together.
when it become flippable, flip and cook for 20sec then done.
You don't want to cook egg too much for this dish.

5, Pour sweet soysauce(*Kecap Manis) or even normal soy sauce is ok, I love it with the sweet chill sauce!

Flavourful, fruity, rustic bread... if that is what you after, then this is the bread to make.
Little tanginess of kiwifruit tastes well-suited with cream cheese!
For healthy choice, I suggest using drained greek yogurt to serve with(it looks like spreadable cream cheese, and taste does! but not the calorie!)
I add orange and lemon peel, also cinnamon powder to burst flavour.
I have never ever felt so grateful over natural sweetness of honey with any dread other than this bread.
This bread makes great breakfast, or brunch, well accompanied with wine and cheese.

You have to start making this bread a day beforehand.

[Starter]
100g High Grade Flour
100ml Warm Water(use cold water in summer time)
5g Honey
1g Dried Yeast

[Dough]
50g High Grade Flour
100g Plain Flour
3g Salt
1g Dried Yeast
150ml Warm Water
8g Olive Oil
5g Honey
3~4 green & gold kiwi fruits

extra honey to brush on top
cinnamon*optional

1, Mix all starter ingredients in sealable container and leave them in warm place for over night or a day.(its ready to use when you see the mixture doubled in size and bubbled up)

2, Mix all the dough ingredient (*except kiwifruits) and starter(1), knead until the dough get smooth consistency then roll it into a ball, place in oil splayed bowl covered with cling wrap. Let them rest in warm place for 80 minutes or until doubled in size.

If you have a bread machine, put starter(1) and also the dough ingredient (*except kiwifruits) in the machine and let them knead using [dough mode].

3, Lightly flour the working table, Divide the dough into 4 pieces/about 103~107g each. Roll each dough into a ball(make it tight) then let them rest for 15mins.

4, Place the ball(3) on the oven tray and flatten into 7mm thick circle by your hand. Do same to others. Let them rest in warm place for another 50mins.

5, Preheat oven to 180C.
While the oven is warming up, Slice both kiwifruit into 5mm thick and place on top of the dough. you can add orange or lemon, mix of both peel on top for more fruity result.
Bake for 20~22 minutes.
Warm about 2 tbsp of honey in microwave for 20 sec to make it liquid.
Brush honey top of each bread and sprinkle cinnamon powder.

Lamington, is one of New Zealand's...or maybe Australia's great cake, No one knows which is actually the birthplace of Lamington and they've been fighting over the topic for years.
My first trial of lamington is in New Zealand bakery and that is also the last time I ate.
It was very soggy and excessively sweet, I thought thats how lamington supposed to be.
Well I was wrong.
One of my good friend told me how the real lamington is...which is fluffy, spongy, freshly baked cake coated with tangy but sweet raspbelly jelly.
That sounds GOOD!
So I did some serious research for making one!
You can make your own jelly coating and that makes huge variety of flavour but you can simply buy a packet of jelly and use that.
If you need lamington in hurry, then you can also use store-bought sponge.
What you really need to do is cutting sponge nicely and mix jelly packet and hot water, DIP, DONE!

ingredient(15 'couple bite' size lamingtons)
[SPONGE 16cm x 26cm rectangle tin]
3 eggs
125g Caster sugar
1tsp Vanilla essence
110g Plain flour
1/4cup Cornflour
1tsp Baking powder
A good pinch of salt
15ml Oil
45ml Hot Milk

[COATING]
85g packet of Jelly(I used raspberry)
300ml Hot Water
2.5~3cup Dried long coconut shred(or finely desiccated coconut will do)

200ml Fresh cream
2tbsp Caster Sugar

1, Preheat oven to 180C, line the base also side of tin with baking paper.
Shift plain flour, cornflour, baking powder together and mix with salt and set aside.

2, Mix eggs and sugar with electric mixer until thickened, pale look.
Add shifted flour mixture(1), gently fold with rubber spatula.
When its almost combined, add oil, hot milk, vanilla essence and fold until well combined.

3, Pour the mixture into prepared tin and bake for 20 ~ 25minutes, golden in color and feel a little bounce back when you touch the top.
Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes and take it out on the rack and cool completely.

4, Mix jelly with hot water[COATING] and leave until its getting hard, almost a jelly-drink consistency.

5, Cut the sponge into 15 little pieces, or any size you prefer.
Also cut off all browned part of cake.
Dip cake pieces into jelly mixture(4), make sure coat every side of cake then coat dried long coconut shred around.
Repeat same to every pieces and refrigerate them for 3 hours to set.

6, Whip fresh cream and sugar together with electric mixer.
You can simply spoon the cream by the side of lamington, or pipe it out on top if you fancy.

I really love this bread slightly toasted and spread simply butter or honey to enjoy.
Because of they are already so flavourful, You don't want to disturb this nutty seedy rustic flavour with anything really.I am very addicted to Nutella, or Nuttino, those hazelnut spread but for this bread, I don't even think that.
Also this bread makes great sandwich, I like it with salami and lettuce, thin slice of onion.
You can make this bread either with your hand or breadmachine, thats your choice.

ingredient(5 pieces)

280g High Grade Flour
180ml Warm Water(*use cold one in summer time)
15g Brown Sugar(*if not, just white sugar is fine)
6g Dried Yeast
10g Skim Milk Powder
15g Unsalted Butter
3g Salt
20g Ground LSA
20g Walnut Pieces
20g Pumpkin Seed
10g Jumbo Oat

1, Line baking paper on baking tray.

2, If using breadmachine, Place all the ingredients except of walnut pieces and pumpkin seed, jumbo oat and start with "dough" mode. If your breadmachine does have an alarm for "adding nut, fruit" then add walnut pieces and pumkin seed, jumbo oat when the alam goes on, if not, add them in the last 3 minutes of kneading.(( GO TO DIRECTION (4) ))

If you are kneading by your hand, Mix all the ingredients in the bowl except of walnut pieces and pumpkin seed, jumbo oat and make a big lump. Knead for 10 minutes or until it get smooth consistency, Add walnut pieces and pumpkin seed, jumbo oat, knead and mix evenly.

3, Make a huge ball and place it in a big bowl covered with cling wrap, let them rest in the warm place for an hour ~ 80 minutes or until doubled in size.

4, Divide them in 5 pieces(around 110~120g each), Roll each of them into ball and let them rest for another 15 minutes. Roll each pieces again into ball but this time, roll it a bit tighter.
Place them on prepared baking tray, let them rise in warm place for an hour ~ 1 1/2 hour or until doubled in size.

5, Preheat your oven to 180C.
Dust flour on top of the bread with tea-strainer if you want, and cut 4 lines on each bread with scoring knife just before baking.

6, Bake 16 minutes ~ 18 minute or until nicely browned in colour.

I make this choux only when large amount of giveaway ensured.
Although, they are really favourite of mine, they are something I can't resist, 'one-or-couple-aday' won't work for me, I will easily finish all in a day...
Therefore, I need them to be gone before I finish off all.

In Japan, choux is common sweet treat, you can find them in patisserie, super market, even convinience store. We call SHU- KURI- MU(choux creme).
My kiwi friends call them 'cream puff' instead!
I tried throgh few recipes of choux creme last couple years and developed to my taste, and THIS IS IT! Its crunchy texture this is the one I always come back to.

ingredient(12 ~ 15 pieces)
70g Milk
50g Water
50g Butter
2g Caster sugar
1g Salt
40g Plain flour
30g High grade flour
110g Egg(beaten)
*1/4 extra egg for brushing

[Fillig]
300ml Fresh Cream
3Tbsp Icing sugar
few drops of vanilla essence

1, Preheat oven to 220C, Line baking paper on baking tray.
Also shift both plain flour and high grade flour together in a bowl and set aside.

2, Place milk, water, butter, sugar, salt into heavy based pot with high-heat.
Mix gently.

3, Remove pot from the heat when butter melt completely and bubbling up a bit.
Add shifted flour into the pot at once and immerdiately mix well using whisk.

4, Place pot with mixture back to medium-heat.
Keep kneading the mixture using rubber spatula for a minute.
When you can see thin layer of mixture stick to the bottom of the pan, its done, place the mixture to a bowl.(Don't need for scraping the layer stuck on bottom)

5, Add beaten eggs little by little to the mixture, probably 1tbsp at once.
Each time of adding egg, Mix well with rubber spatula.

6, Use electric mixer with one whisk attachment and mix until the mixture get smooth consistency.

7, Put mixture into piping bag with plain round nozzle.
Squeeze out into 4cm diameter round on baking tray.
Keep 5cm apart from each oter.
Brush beaten egg(for brushing) on top, and also press slightly with fork.

8, After you put them into oven, turn it down to 200C bake for 20mins.
Then turn it down to 180C bake for 10 mins, finally turn it down to 150C bake for another 10mins.
Let them cool down completely on cooling rack before you fill.

9, Place all the filling ingredient into a bowl and mix with low-speed of electric mixer for
a minuse then turn into high-speed and whip for 2 minutes.
I cut the top of choux and pipe the filling inside and put rid on.
You can spoon the filling inside too.

This is my version of banana cake, I insist this banana cake is the best eating next day you baked, slightly toasted with whipped cream and drizzle little maple syrup.
Well moist and fluffy texture and amazing banana flavour which develops fully next day...(So little patience!)
My friend, maori guy, he really loves this so we used to trade fresh sweet corn and this banana cake which is very good deal for me, because to prepare this is pretty easy and I am just a big fan of sweet corn!
A lot of Banana cake recipe out there and I also tried so many of them but I always wonder if its under-baked or not even its fully baked.
This Banana cake is the one I have never ever feel under-baked because of its wonderful fluffiness.
And very easy, never fail recipe.

ingredient(2 small loaves 13 x 5.5 x 6cm / 1 large loaf 27 x 9 x 13cm)
2 ~ 3 Ripened Bananas(240g)
1/4 Lemon, grated also using juice
75g Greek Yogurt
120g Butter(softened)
60g Brown sugar
60g Caster sugar
2 eggs
240g Plain flour
2tsp Baking powder
A pinch of salt
60g Walnut pieces

1, Preheat oven to 180C, Line the base also around of the tin with baking paper.
Shift plain flour and baking powder together, and add salt set a side.

2, Mash the banana, add grated lemon and juice also.
Mix yogurt into the mixture and combine well with whisk.

3, In another bowl, cream the butter with both brown and caster sugar until they get lighter the colour and fluffy.

4, Whisk the egg in a jug. Gradually add 1/2 amount of egg to butter mixture(3) little by little. Afterward, add 1/3 amount of shifted powder(1) and whisk well.

5, Gradually add remaining egg, then add 1/2 amount of remaining shifted powder, whisk well.

6, Now use rubber spatura.
Add banana and yogurt mixture(2) and remaining shifted flour into (5) combine them gently.
Spoon the mixture into prepared tin, then sprincle walnut on top, Bake for 40 mins ~ 45 mins.

*or you can check with sticking skewer in the middle of cake, if nothing stick then done.

I made paneer(indian style cottage cheese) other day.
And I have some buttermilk left from process of making paneer.
This bread is soft, nutty flavour go great with apple paste filling.
Hot SWEET coffee with this warm, cinnamony, soft bread is the reason to get out from warm bed in chilly morning.
Great for your morning/afternoon tea also.
You can knead the dough in bread machine so there is no hard work for you to enjoy this bread.

ingredient(7 pieces)
220g High Grade Flour
60g Plain Flour
5g Yeast
4g Salt
15g Honey
15g Butter
1tbsp Ground Almond
185ml Buttermilk
30g Chopped Fig
7tbsp Apple Paste

Jumbo Oat for topping(optional)

1, Place all ingredients in the bread machine except of apple paste and jumbo oat.

2, Divide the dough into 7 pieces. Give them a bit of rest time, around 20minutes.
Lightly flour the working bench and flatten each dough into palm size and place 1 tbsp of apple paste
in the middle of each dough, Pinch the edge and bring the dough up and stick together.
Be careful the edge isn't touching apple paste or it doesn't stick.
Place the bread on baking tray which is lined with baking paper.

3, Leave them in the warm place(covered by cling wrap or wet cloth to prevent being dried)
for 1 hour~1 1/2hours or until the bread get doubled in size.

4, Preheat the oven to 180 degree.
If using jumbo oat for topping, spray the water on top of bread and sprinkle oats on top.
Bake for 18mins~22mins or until they get golden brown.

They are hard when they get cold but you can revive them back with heating them up in microwave
for 20~30 sec.