Thermomix Hokkaido Milk Toast

I have been making bread regularly this past week as the Thermomix makes it so quick and easy. This dough also uses the tangzhong method and I am now addicted to using this method for making bread as it gives the bread a soft and fluffy texture. Hubby declared that "the bread is soooooooooo good it can be eaten on it's own".

I reduced the kneading time for this dough (compared to my previous plain bread recipe) and found that it resulted a less sticky dough which was much easier to work with. I believe higher fat content of this recipe also helped in making the dough less sticky. I think this may be my new favourite bread recipe.


After shaping. The recipe yielded 8 rolls, about
the size of a small hamburger bun after baking.

Hokkaido Milk Toast

adapted from here for the Thermomix

 

INGREDIENTS

270g bread flour
45g castor sugar
pinch of salt
5g non-dairy creamer powder  or milk powder
5g dried yeast
45g egg (1 small egg)
30g heavy cream
25g milk
90g tangzhong
25g salted butter

METHOD

1. Measure all ingredients except the butter into the TM bowl (flour and yeast should be last). Milk, cream and egg can be cold as the kneading will warm the ingredients.
2. Mix on speed 4 for a few seconds to combine then set to knead for 8 minutes.
3. Add in the butter (cold) and knead a further 2 minutes until butter is incorporated and dough is smooth and elastic.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 30-40 minutes till doubled in size.
5. Turn out the dough onto a baking mat, punch down the dough, then shape.
6. Allow the dough to rise for another 30 minutes.
7. Brush with milk or beaten egg before baking at 180°C 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Soyabean Milk

Soyabean milk

Last night I soaked 180g of organic soyabeans so that I could make soya milk for breakfast today. I ended up with about 1.5litres of soya milk, kept 500ml to make into egg tofu another day and we drank the rest. Since I needed unsweetened soya milk for the tofu, I boiled the soya milk plain first then added the pandan leaves and sugar after pouring out the milk for the tofu. I then air dried the left over soy pulp, toasted it in the oven to cook it and dry it out further and am storing it in an airtight container so I can try adding it to my next bread recipe.

Soyabeans after soaking

Soyabean Milk

INGREDIENTS

180g soyabeans
water
2-3 pandan leaves
Rock sugar to taste

METHOD

1. Rinse soya beans in water, then soak them in water for 4-6 hours.
2. Rinse the beans again, and pour away any husks that have come loose.
3. Place all the soyabeans in the TM bowl and fill with water to the 1.5 litre mark. Blend on speed 8 for 1 minute. If you are going to drink all the soya milk, you can add in the pandan leaves and blend them together for a stronger pandan fragrance. If you prefer a milder fragrance, add the pandan leaves to the soya milk after straining. I intended to use some of the soya milk for tofu, so I added the pandan leaves later.
4. Line the steamer basket with a cheese cloth (I used a clean nappy) and pour the soya bean mixture through the cloth.
5. Squeeze the cheese cloth to extract as much soya milk as possible.
6. Rinse out the TM bowl and lid, then pour the strained soya milk back into the TM bowl. Skim off any foam on the surface.
7. Add the pandan leaves(if you did not add them earlier) and rock sugar then cook at 100°C for 10 minutes, speed 2.
8. Serve hot or cold.

 

Soyabean pulp after straining

 

Soft & Fluffy Thermomix Bread (Tangzhong method)

I first came across the Tangzhong method of making bread from Christine's Recipes. The first time I read about it, I thought it sounded intimidating, however, I finally plucked up the courage to try it last night, and it was actually pretty easy in the Thermomix. The Bush Gourmand has adapted Christine's recipe for use in the thermomix, so I used her method as a guide, with a slight adaptation of Christine's recipe.

All the ingredients I used was cold from the fridge as I find that the kneading in the Thermomix warms the dough quite abit.

Tangzhong

INGREDIENTS (FOR TANGZHONG)

 50g bread flour
125g milk
125g water

METHOD (FOR TANGZHONG)

1. Place all ingredients in the Thermomix and cook at 70°C, speed 2, 10-15 minutes until the mixture becomes a paste. Temperature for the paste should be about 65°C when it is done.
2. Cover the surface with cling wrap (the cling wrap should touch the surface) and store in the fridge. I used mine immediately after it had cooled to room temperature.

Bread Dough

INGREDIENTS (FOR BREAD)

• 350gm bread flour
• 55gm caster sugar
  
• 2gm salt
  
• 56gm egg (I beat 2 small eggs and poured out what I needed. Keep the rest for glazing.)
  
• 7gm non-dairy creamer powder
  
• 125g milk
  
• 120gm tangzhong
  
• 6gm instant yeast
  
• 30gm salted butter

METHOD (FOR BREAD)

1. Place milk, egg, tangzhong, sugar, salt and milk powder at the bottom of TM bowl. Add the flour on top of the liquids, then the yeast on top of the flour.
2. Press the turbo 2-3 times to mix the ingredients together.
3. Knead for 10 minutes on the knead setting.
4. Add the butter and knread another 5-10 minutes on the knead setting until the dough is elastic.
5. Shape into a ball and place into a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel and allow to proof for about 30 minutes until doubled in size.
6. Once risen, turn the dough out on to a lightly greased silicone mat and punch down to release the air. Proceed to shape the dough into rolls. I did some plain and some with sambal prawn filling.
7. Set the shaped dough aside for another 40 minutes to rise. 
8. Before baking, glaze with the leftover egg or milk.
9. Bake at 180°C for 20 minutes (I baked rolls, if you do a loaf baking time will be longer.

Chinese Almond Tea

I love Chinese almond tea. Chinese almonds are commonly used as an ingredient in TCM. There are 2 types of Chinese almonds, South almonds aka sweet almonds and North almonds aka bitter almonds. South almonds  have a slightly sweet taste and can be eaten raw. It is used to make snacks, soup, cakes, cookies and dishes. It is believed to be good for the lungs, helps nourish the skin, and is good for coughs, colds and asthma

North almonds is also good for coughs, colds and asthma, and can also help with constipation, phlegm and perhaps even cancer. However, it contains small amounts of amygdalin which can be toxic when taken in large quantities. North almonds must be cooked to remove this toxin. North and south almonds are often mixed for cooking, and a ratio of 1:4 (bitter:sweet) is recommended to avoid toxicity from the bitter almonds.

Chinese almond creme or tea sold commercially are not only pricey, they also tend to be too sweet. I've tried doing this is a regular blender before I owned a thermomix, however, I wasn't able to blend the almonds finely enough, so it required a fair bit of sieving and extra work to transfer to another pot for cooking.

I was delighted to see the recipe for "Chinese Almond Creme" in the Taste of Asia cookbook and since I had the ingredients on hand, I decided to try it out. The result was great, and it only took 15 minutes! The thermomix can blend the almonds fine enough that I don't need to sieve the mixture. Also, since I can blend and cook in the thermomix, much less effort is needed to make this. The resulting product is more like a tea (liquid) rather than a creme. We consumed it as a drink, but if you prefer to eat it as a dessert, you may want to add more rice to get a thicker mxture.

Chinese Almond Tea

adapted from A Taste of Asia Thermomix Cookbook

 

INGREDIENTS

100g Chinese almonds (sweet)
1 tbsp Chinese almonds (bitter) (Mine are premixed, so I just used 100g of my mix)
10g white rice (original recipe states 20g, just adjust the amount for the desired thickness. Can also use other types of rice)
1l water
1 small lump of rock sugar (optional)
Splash of milk (optional)

METHOD

1. Place almonds and rice in the TM bowl. Mill on speed 10 for 10s. Scrape down bowl and repeat one more time.
2. Add water and cook for 15mins at 100°C on speed 4.
3. Add milk and sugar if using then mix for 30s on speed 9. (increase speed gradually and cover measuring cup with a cloth to prevent splashing)
4. Serve hot or cold.

Quick & Easy Thermomix Meal

Quick & Easy Thermomix meal...

I received my Thermie on Saturday morning, and have been trying out various things over the weekend, but last night was the first time using the Thermomix to cook dinner on a weekday. It was quick and easy, and I even managed to get a shower while everything was cooking before picking the kids from childcare.

1 steamed 2 MCs of white rice in the steamer basket, while steaming 2 different types of chicken (herbal for me, soy sauce for the kids) in the varoma then did a quick stir fry of xiao bai cai. After dinner, I made a milkshake for dessert which the kids enjoyed throughly.

As hubby was away, the rice turned out to be too much for us...1 MC would probably have been just right for me and the kids since we don't eat much.

 

Steamed rice

INGREDIENTS

• Rice
• Water

METHOD

1. Measure rice into steamer basket (1 MC yields a generous amount for 1 adult) and rinse under running water.
2. Place the basket into the thermomix and fill with enough water to just cover the rice. As you can see I put water slightly above the rice so the rice turned out softer than I like. I would add slightly less next time as I like my rice with some bite.
3. Steam at 100°C, speed 4, 15 minutes. (I did varoma temp since I was steaming my chicken at the same time.

Dang Gui Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 3-4 slices of dang gui
• 3/4 boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Small handful of wolfberries
• Light soya sauce
• Shao xing wine
• D.O.M

METHOD

1. Place the chicken into a bowl and season with a light drizzle of soya sauce, shao xing wine and D.O.M. Add in the dang gui slices and mix everything well. Leave it to marinade while you prepare the soy sauce chicken.
2. Steam on varoma temperature, speed 4, 15 minutes.

Soy Sauce Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 boneless chicken thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces
• Small handful of wolfberries
• 1 tsp light soya sauce
• 1/8 tsp finely chopped ginger
• Few drops of sesame oil

METHOD

1. Mix all ingredients and place onto a plate for steaming.
2. Steam on varoma temperature, speed 4, 15 minutes.

Stir Fried Xiao Bai Cai

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 packet of xiao bai cai
• Pinch of salt
• Oil for frying

METHOD

1. Wash and cut the vegetables.
2. Place garlic into the thermomix. Chop on reverse speed 5 for a few seconds. Open the lid and remove the garlic skin.
3. Scrape down the garlic, then add 1 tsp of cooking oil and heat on varoma, 4 minutes, speed stir, until garlic is lightly browned and fragrant.
4. Add in all the vegetables and a pinch of salt. Cook on varoma, 2 minutes, or till you see steam coming out from the top of the lid.

Strawberries & Cream Shake

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small box of strawberries, stem removed and frozen
• 250ml strawberry milk
• 1/2 cup of natural plain yoghurt
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 20g sugar (adjust to taste)

METHOD

1. Place all ingredients into the thermomix, blend on speed 10 until smooth.