Hi Stef - just stopping-by to say, "HI"....a double celebration for you next weekend, Stef, you are going to be real BUSY & best wishes to YOU!!   

Howdy there, Andy, lovely to 'see'  you & hope you enjoy Easter also, along with, Frizz & everyone here!......take care; Kris 

Last edited by Kiwi Kris (Sat 20 Mar 10 10:06am)

Also do you have a recipe for chinese char siu bau dough?

thanks

Hi Scott...welcome to the forums!

Yes, the steamed sponge cake is very popular at dim sum joints indeed and there are a couple of versions. The brown sugar version is from Malaysia and the yellow version is from Hong Kong. What makes the latter so deliciously light and airy is a liberal splash of ice-cream soda!
The Malaysian version is definitely a more-ish one with beautiful honeycomb effect rippling throughout the cake. I've added a little coconut sugar in this one for more fragrance...be sure not to overmix the batter or your cake won't have that honeycomb effect! For this reason,it is better to mix by hand rather than with a machine.
Have fun recreating this at home!

Ingredients for Starter Batter :

1-1/2 tbsp white sugar
70ml warm water
1 tspn strong yeast
150gm flour

- dissolve yeast and sugar into warm water for 10mins.
- then add in flour to form a dough and let proof for 12 hours.

Main Batter Ingredients :

starter dough from before
40gm high protein flour,sifted
1 tbsp milk powder,sifted
1 & 1/2tbsp custard powder,sifted
200gm dark brown sugar
30g finely grated coconut (palm) sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
150ml corn oil
1 & 1/2 tspn baking powder,sifted
3/4 tspn baking soda,sifted

Method :

Combine starter dough, flour, milk powder, custard powder, baking powder, baking soda & sugars together, mix well till just combined.
Beat in vanilla,eggs and oil until combined, then leave to proof for 2-3hours.
Pour the batter to a 8" tray and leave to rest for an hour. Finally, steam for 40 mins in a steamer or in a wok over a rack under high heat. Resist the urge to uncover the lid too many times except to check once after 20 mins if more boiling water is needed for steaming. DON'T top up steamer with cold water,it will bring down the cooking temperature.
Cool for 20 minutes then slice and eat warm. To reheat for the next day,just steam it again for a few minutes to warm through.

Scott,this is a really good char siew bao recipe from a friend of mine,you're going to need to source for Hong Kong flour though, it's what makes the bao so soft. Failing which,use 'super fine' or 'super lite' flour.
http://tasteoftime.blogspot.com/2010/02 … iling.html
Enjoy! 

Last edited by Stefanie (Mon 22 Mar 10 3:14am)

I may have to do a search here but I would love the recipe for a good orange chicken recipe and general tsos recipe.  The other thing I reallly like is the soup at Ichiban (is that Japanese though?)...I always wonder what is in it that is so  yummy!

If you haven't  posted any of these before, would you mind terribly helping me with them? 

Thanks so much!

Hi ya Susanne....wow I'm so happy to hear that!
Sharing recipes and cooking tips over a cookout..that's the way I love to hang out with friends too....glad she enjoyed it so much...cheers!