Chinese Man Tou and Sesame Scallion Shao Bing

I tried making man tou and yeast based bao zi this summer, but I had a problem in that the products tasted too dense, and not 'fluffy' enough. I talked with one of my mom's friends, and figured out the trick; baking powder!!

Ingredients:
2 cups liquid (but one has to be water, one has to be milk)
2 tbsp oil (olive)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp yeast
6 cups flour (AP Bleached)

1. Proof the yeast. Add in baking powder and oil.
2. Stir in flour.
3. Cover with moist towel, let rise 2 hours in a dry, warm location.
   
4. Chop up some scallions. Roll out dough to 1/4" thick, brush with sesame oil. Add in scallions with salt, or alternatively, other fillings, a la sweet shao bing fillings.
   
5. Roll up like a jelly roll, pinch ends to seal. Flatten with rolling pin.
6. Let gluten rest, ~ 20 minutes.
7. Brush surface with egg white wash, coat with sesame seeds.
8. Pan fry, starting with sesame seed side first. Add water into pan to 'steam' cook. Fry other side.
9. For man tou, prepare the same starter dough, but just steam 15-20 minutes depending on thickness.
   

Some hors d'oeuvres

I don't feel like typing out the recipes today, but here are some pictures of two hors d'oeuvres I made.

I) Mini sweet potato corn fritters, with mango salsa, and lime zest.




The recipe is pretty straightforward. Grate some ~ 1.5 cups sweet potatoes, add in 1 Tbsp of corn flour, 1-2 eggs, diced scallions, salt and pepper to taste. Fry them to make mini pancakes.

For the salsa, dice up mango, avocado, and purple onions. Lay down a bit of sour cream, top with salsa, lime zest, and garnish with a cilantro sprig.

II) Mini Crab Cakes




Essentially the same recipe as before (check my recipes in the summer), but with a bit of a Christmas touch. The other difference is that the crab cakes were baked rather than sauteed. I personally prefer sautee-ing, as it brings out more flavor, but baking is more convenient.

The garnish is composed of a few julienned tomatoes (remove the pulp first), and diced cilantro. Yes, I love cilantro!

White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccinos!

Well, I had a bit of white chocolate truffle base leftover from my truffling last week, and I had been procrastinating regarding what to do with it. I contemplated making white chocolate hazlenut biscotti, but it seemed like it required more time than I wanted to commit. So I decided to make some frapps instead.

Iced White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccinos

- White chocolate
- Heavy Whipping Cream (I already had the cream, but you can use milk for a healthier version)
- Freshly brewed dark coffee
- Instant D'Meglia Espresso Powder
- Vanilla
- Bailey's Irish Cream

1. Brew an extra dark coffee to contrast with the sweeter white chocolate.
2. Mix ingredients together, add liqueur at the end.
3. Use an immersion blender to smooth out.
4. Refrigerate overnight.
5. Add coffee ice cubes when serving. Regular ice cubes will dilute the frapp after melting, so make ice cubes from a coffee base!

Sorry, no pictures, I drank most of it!