Pineapple-BBQ Pork Pastries. A hybrid of two classics, BBQ Pork Puff Pastry x Pineapple Buns. The latter is a staple at any Chinese bakery but surprisingly doesn’t have any pineapple in it. What a tragedy! Let’s fix that. 🍍
Think – a flaky, crumbly meat pie with a savoury-sweet pork filling… and a cookie topping!
Pastry:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps sea salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled
3/4 cup Crisco Golden All-Vegetable Shortening
1/2 cup cold water
Cookie Crust:
3/4 cup flour
4 tbsps unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk
2/3 cup organic raw sugar, pulsed in food processor till fine
1 tbsp whole milk
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
Pineapple-BBQ Pork Filling:
2 cups Chinese BBQ Pork (Cha Siu), minced
1/2 white onion, minced
3/4 cup chicken or beef broth
3/4 cup pineapple chunks, sectioned
3 tbsps organic raw sugar
2 tbsps soy sauce
2 tbsps dark soy sauce
3 tbsps Oyster Sauce
2 tbsps Hoisin Sauce
5 tbsps flour
1 egg beaten, used as egg wash
Instructions:
1. Prepare pastry, combining ingredients, adding water 1 tbsp at a time, handling minimally. Knead dough gently on floured surface. Roll into ball. Chill minimum 2 hours, no more than 5 days.
2. Pineapple-BBQ Pork filling: Sautée onions in sesame oil. Add pork and pineapple. Cook 3 minutes medium-high heat. Add sugar, dark and regular soy sauce, Oyster Sauce, Hoisin Sauce and chicken/beef broth. Bring to boil. Taste to ensure flavour balance is right. In bowl, mix flour and equal parts water to form paste, stirring into pork mixture till thick like a pie filling. Chill.
4. Cut dough into halves. Roll each half onto floured surface. Use cup to cut circles, reforming and rolling again till used. Each half should yield 12 circles, a total 24.
5. Flatten each circle with hand. Scoop filling into center of dough circle, careful not to overfill. Place another circle on-top, pressing together to seal and crimp edges gently with fork. Use paper towel to tidy any filling that leaked-out. Prepare 12 pastries and place on greased baking sheet.
6. Prepare oven at 425°F.
7. Cookie crust: mix flour, baking powder and turmeric in one bowl. In separate bowl, cream milk, butter, vanilla, egg yolk and sugar. Combine butter mixture into flour and form dough. Form 12 even balls, rolling into a thin sheet between 2 Ziploc bags till large enough to cover each pastry. Apply to pastries gently.
8. Using fingers or brush, apply egg wash.
9. Bake 15-17 minutes till golden. Cool 15 minutes.
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White Bread. To be honest Sourdough is okay, but nothing beats versatile, fluffy white bread. This is the second time in-a-row I’ve been able to get my dough to rise so I know it’s not a fluke! The trickiest part is ensuring the yeast is activated in lukewarm, not warm water and adding sugar. And the temperature at which you proof cannot be too hot. I’ll share a couple of my tips to making that perfect loaf! 🍞
Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
3 tablespoons organic raw sugar
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 egg, beaten for egg wash
Instructions:
1. Mix flour, salt and butter in mixing bowl. Use two forks criss-crossing to cut butter in.
2. In bowl, mix 3/4 cup lukewarm water (not warm or hot) with yeast and sugar till dissolved and filmy. Let stand a few minutes.
3. Mix yeast water into flour bit by bit, using forks. Pour another 1 1/3 cup lukewarm water, forming dough.
4. Turn dough onto flat, floured surface. Sprinkle with flour till dough no longer is sticky, kneading 10 minutes. Dough should be punchy and elastic.
5. Grease large bowl and transfer dough into it. Cover with damp cloth and place in oven on top rack with a pot of hot water on the rack below. Shut oven. Replace hot water again in 30 minutes. This provides a perfect environment for your dough to rise. Be careful!
6. Dough will have doubled in size by one hour if proofed right. If not, your water might have been too hot when activating or something is up with your yeast. Transfer back to floured surface and knead 5 minutes, releasing air pockets.
7. Grease loaf pan and fit dough into it. Proof again for 45 minutes to 1 hour covered, with pot of hot water underneath in oven. Dough will have doubled again in size. Remove from oven.
8. Preheat oven at 400°F. Brush top of loaf with egg wash using fingers or a brush.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes or till golden brown. Rotate pan once, half-way through. Allow to cool 15 minutes in pan and transfer to cooling rack to avoid bottom getting soggy. This freezes well.
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Matcha-Pistachio-Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies. Scaling it back a bit today, but nothing beats a perfect cookie! This buttery elevated twist to the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie is a delight and easy to make! 🍵🍪
Ingredients:
2 cups flour, sifted
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1/3 cup of almond and pistachios, crushed
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1-2 tablespoons Matcha powder, to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven at 325°F.
2. In large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and soda.
3. In separate bowl, cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla with handmixer.
4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture bit by bit till combined.
5. Add-in chocolate chips.
6. In small skillet, toast nuts. Be careful not to burn as this happens quickly. Mix into dough evenly.
7. Using hands, roll 24 even balls and place on greased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
8. Bake 10 minutes, or till bottom of cookie is golden brown.
9. Cool 20 minutes, transfer to storage container.
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(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Courgette Loaf with Lime-Ricotta Frosting. I have memories of my Dad making Zucchini Bread a lot when I was a kid. It pretty much is like Carrot Cake, a bit like Banana Bread, maybe a bit more moist and less sweet. Dad worked with a lot of Italians from whom he got the recipe and we grew zucchini in our garden, often having an abundance of them. He’d never make just that basic Chocolate Cake I always wanted, but luckily my Grandpa would do it for me when I visited him and Grandma. I would watch cooking shows on TV with Grandpa like Wok With Yan and The Price is Right, and that was often my March Breaks and Summer Vacations. Looking back, I miss Zucchini Bread, and decided to make my own version of it finally, but with my own little razzle dazzle. I’ve even tried this with 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut folded-in too and it’s great! 🥒
Ingredients:
2 cups of zucchini, chopped
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried fig, mulberry, cherry, apricot mixture
1/4 cup chopped almonds
Ricotta Frosting:
300g of Ricotta
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
Zest of one lime
1/4 cup chopped pistachios, toasted
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven at 350°F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon and nutmeg into mixing bowl. Add-in raisins and dried fruit.
3. Cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a separate bowl.
4. Add butter mixture into flour mixture and mix till combined. Do not over-mix.
5. Grease and flour loaf pan. Pour thick batter into pan. Sprinkle almonds on-top.
6. Bake 45 minutes or till toothpick comes out clean.
7. Let loaf cool for one hour. Prepare frosting.
8. In mixing bowl combine all frosting ingredients and mix with handmixer till smooth. Chill till ready to use.
9. Frost loaf with icing using spatula. Top with a few threads of zucchini spirals and complete with toasted pistachio bits.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Strawberry-Cherry Blossom Mochi. This is a perfect Springtime delight. Mochi are the one treat that the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese all can agree is a favourite. These chewy rice cakes are a bit quirky to Western palates, but have a pleasing chewy texture that leaves you reminiscing. Its filling, Azuki Red Bean Paste is dense and rich, a bit like chocolate and a bit like a sweet potato mash. 🍓🌸
Mochi:
3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
2 tablespoons organic raw sugar
150 ml or more water
1 tablespoon Sakura Latte powder
4 drops red food colouring
Potato starch
Azuki Red Bean Paste:
1 cup dried Azuki red beans
1/2 cup (or more) organic raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
6 large ripe strawberries
Instructions:
1. Soak Azuki beans overnight in water.
2. On medium heat, cook beans and water in saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 75 minutes.
3. Drain beans in colander and place back in sauce pan. Add sugar and salt. Mash with hand mixer.
4. On very low heat, stir paste occasionally. Cook uncovered till water evaporates and beans become a thick paste. You can tell you’re done when you take a chopstick, draw a line through it and can see the bottom of the pan.
5. Cool paste at room temperature and roll into six even balls.
6. Cut tops off strawberries and roll into red bean balls, covering them evenly. Wash hands after forming each ball and dry hands. Let stand.
7. Prepare steamer or a large deep skillet, adding water.
8. In large mixing bowl, prepare Mochi. Mix all ingredients till smooth.
9. Pour Mochi batter into a square/rectangular dish. Place dish into steamer/skillet and steam Mochi, stirring 2-3 times. Cook 10 minutes.
10. Remove Mochi from heat. Cool at room temperature a few minutes.
11. On large flat surface, sprinkle generously some potato starch.
12. Take spatula and scoop six equal clumps of Mochi. With hand and potato starch, meld each Mochi into a flat 3-4 inch portion.
14. Take each strawberry-red bean ball and place onto Mochi flat and roll gently into a ball. Bring together at bottom and pinch to seal. Place on flat sheet. Rinse and dry hands if they are sticky, before proceeding to the next. Serve. Stores 1 day.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Matcha-Cherry Blossom Shortbread. Nothing says Spring like the fragrant, fresh notes of blooming Cherry Blossoms in High Park and harvested Matcha in May. We’re saddened at the thought that High Park won’t be even be open this Spring for Cherry Blossom viewing. Combining these flavours into a Tea Time favourite allows us to savour the season, even if we will be doing it in isolation this year. Enjoy the perfume-like aroma that fills the air as these bake! 🌸🍵
Ingredients:
1 cup + 2 tablespoons of flour
Two pinches sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (not melted)
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1/2 tablespoon (or more) Matcha powder
1 tablespoon (or more) Sakura Latte powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Three drops of red food colouring
Instructions:
1. Prepare two mixing bowls. Divide half of butter into each bowl. Cream with sugar and vanilla.
2. Prepare two more bowls. In Bowl #1, mix evenly half of the flour with Matcha powder and a pinch of sea salt. In Bowl #2, mix evenly the other half of flour with Sakura powder and pinch of salt. Put-in a couple drops of red food colouring into Bowl #2.
3. Mix Matcha and flour into creamed butter and sugar in Bowl #1. Mix Sakura powder and flour into Bowl #2. Form each bowl’s contents into dough, handling gently.
4. Turn each dough into floured surface and form into a rectangle. The green and pink doughs should be equal in size. Cover each rectangle in plastic wrap and freeze for an hour.
5. Remove doughs from freezer and place one above the other on cutting board. If dough splits, wet hand with a bit of water and gently piece back together. Press doughs together firmly and cut into 16 pieces.
6. Place slices onto parchment paper and freeze for another hour.
7. Preheat oven to 350°F.
8. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and space each cookie 1-2 inches apart.
9. Sprinkle with a bit of organic raw cane sugar.
10. Bake 15-17 minutes till slightly golden. Remove from oven and cool about 30 minutes. Serve. Store in air-tight container.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Cinnamon Buns. An all-time favourite I’ve been looking to tackle! Pleased with the results! These buns are comparable to ones at the mall. Recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.
Ingredients:
3 cups of pastry flour
1 packet of yeast
1/4 cups soft butter (not melted)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
1 1/4 cups warm milk (about 45°C)
1/4 cup organic granulated cane sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
1/2 cup organic granulated cane sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Frosting:
1/2 block cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Or Betty Crocker makes a great fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting! Easy! No shame.
Instructions:
1. Stir yeast into warm milk (like a warm bath) in large mixing bowl.
2. Add-in sugar, mix.
3. Add butter and eggs. Beat two minutes. It’s okay if yeast doesn’t dissolve.
4. Combine flour and salt. Add half a cup at a time into milk mixture, forming dough.
5. Transfer dough onto floured surface. Knead 8-10 minutes till elastic and punchy.
6. Grease large bowl with oil. Roll dough ball till coated. Cover with damp cloth or two damp paper towels. Place somewhere warm (i.e. laundry room while drying or preheated oven that is warm, not hot). Allow dough to rise over 1.5-2 hours.
7. Dough will double in size. Transfer to floured surface. With rolling pin, roll dough to a rectangle (14″ w x 9″ l).
8. Brush dough with 1/4 cup melted butter. In bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over dough, pressing into the buttered dough.
9. Roll dough tightly into a log. Cover with plastic wrap to aid if you wish.
10. Remove wrap. Trim edges off dough log. Cut log into 1 inch-thick slices. Line into a greased baking pan. You should have about 9 rolls.
11. Cover pan with plastic wrap and damp cloth/paper towels. Keep somewhere warm for 45 minutes. Rolls will rise.
12. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls for 25-28 minutes till slightly golden.
13. Remove from oven. Cool 30 minutes.
14. Prepare frosting in bowl, creaming Cream Cheese with butter and vanilla. Fold-in icing sugar and beat till fluffy.
15. Spread frosting onto rolls. Store in container in fridge for a week.
Gallery:
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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