The ladies in our household love cheesecake; but for guys, not so much. Nevertheless, with the 'ladies power', we could finish a whole cheesecake in a matter of days.

I love Japanese light cheesecake, the cottony-light textured cheesecake. It is very different from the rich western style cheesecake. Despite its simple and humble appearance, its delicate, cheesy, and fluffy texture is enough to make you screaming for more. Watch out though, if you are like me, you are likely to eat more than you wanted to!

Japanese Light Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 93g caster sugar
• 4 egg white
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 33g butter
• 200g cream cheese
• 68g milk
• 40g cake flour
• 13g corn flour

Cooking Directions

1. Melt cream cheese, butter and milk over low heat.
2. Sift in cake flour and corn flour, mix well.
3. Add in egg yolk and mix well.
4. In another bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. Add in lemon juice and 1/3 sugar. Continue to whisk， add in the remaining sugar in 2 additions.
5. Continue to whisk until soft peak form.
   
   
6. Add 1/3 of the meringue into the cheese mixture. Mix well.
7. Pour the cheese mixture into the meringue, fold gently.
8. Pour into a 7 inch pan.
9. Bake in water bath in preheated oven at 190C for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 110C and bake for another 55 minutes (each oven behave differently, please adjust accordingly for your oven).
10. Leave to cook in oven with door ajar for about 30 minutes, before bringing the cake out of oven to let it cool on wire rack.

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日式轻乳酪蛋糕 

材料 

• 93克砂糖 
• 4个蛋白 
• 4个蛋黄，打散 
• 1茶匙柠檬汁 
• 33克黄油 
• 200克奶油奶酪 
• 68克鲜奶 
• 40克蛋糕粉 
• 13克玉米粉

做法

1. 用小火融化奶油奶酪，黄油和牛奶。 
2. 筛入低筋面粉和玉米粉，拌匀。 
3. 加入蛋黄拌匀。 
4. 在另一个碗里，蛋白打到粗泡。加入柠檬汁和1/3的砂糖。剩下的砂糖分两次加入。
5. 继续打直中性偏湿。
   
6. 将1/3的蛋白糊加入奶酪混合物。拌匀。 
7. 将奶酪混合物倒入蛋白糊，切拌均匀。 
8. 倒入一个7英寸的蛋糕烤盘。 
9. 以水浴法在以预热的烘箱中烤190℃15分钟，然后降低热至110℃，再烘烤55分钟 (每个烤箱不一样，请根据烤箱拿捏时间）。 

Hot dog buns are simply plain, soft bun that are shaped oval. Despite its name, you can stuff in whatever filling you like after slit open the top (or side, it is entirely up to you!) . Get some tuna, and it becomes a tuna bun; get some eggs and cheese, and it becomes a eggs and cheese bun. 

These buns are very easily available; supermarkets, and even 7-eleven sell them, but it is not difficult to make either. Using straight dough method, this bread is fuss free, and the olive oil used just make it sounds so much healthier. However, generally I would still prefer breads that are made out of tang zhong method especially the Hokkaido milk bread - they are soft, fluffy but also higher in fat with the addition of whipping cream!

Recipe adapted from Carol 吴涓涓 自在生活

Hot Dog Bun
Make 8 buns

Ingredients

• 300g bread flour
• 50g egg
• 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 30g caster sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 30g olive oil
• 150ml milk

Cooking Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together and knead until the dough form a ball and smooth.
2. Proof until double in size, around 2 hours.
3. Divide the dough into 8 portions.
4. Roll each of the dough into oval shape, roll and seal as shown in the picture.
   
5. With the sealed side facing down, let the dough proof for another 2 hours or until double in size.
6. Preheat oven 170C.
7. Egg wash the bread.
8. Bake the bread for 20 minutes.

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热狗面包

做8 份

材料 

• 300克面粉 
• 50克蛋 
• 1/2茶匙即食酵母粉 
• 30克砂糖 
• 1/8茶匙盐 
• 30克橄榄油 
• 150毫升牛奶 

做法 

1. 所有材料混合在一起，揉至面团形成一个球，光滑。 
2. 发酵至两倍大小，约2小时。 
3. 将面团分成8份。 
4. 把每个面团滚成椭圆形状，如图所示。
   
5. 收口朝下，让面团发酵2小时，或直至两倍大。 
6. 烤箱预热170℃。 
7. 面包涂上蛋液。 
8. 烤面包20分钟。

Polo bun, Bo Lo Bao, or pineapple bun is a kind of sweet bread very popular in Hong Kong and Macau. Contradict to its name, it does not contain any pineapple at all. The name Bo Lo originated from the appearance of the bun. Checkered top baked to golden brown, this resembles the skin of an pineapple. After baked, the dome will become crunchy and crumbly, creating a nice contrast to the soft pillowy bread within.

There are many variation to this bun. Some added luncheon meat, red bean paste, custard cream as fillings for the bun. Personally, I love the one with Char Siew most. How about you?

Polo Bun

Makes 10-12 buns

Ingredients

 Bread
Tang Zhong Starter Dough

• 25g bread flour
• 125 ml water

Bread Dough

• 270g bread flour
• 43g caster sugar
• 4g salt
• 4.5g milk powder
• 5.5g instant yeast
• 43g egg, beaten
• 30g whipping cream
• 27g fresh milk
• 25g unsalted butter

Filling

• 240g Char Siew (store bought or homemade)
• 5 tbsp ABC Kicap Manis
• 2.5 tbsp Shao Xing Wine
• 2.5 tsp honey
• 35g spring onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seed, toasted
• 1/3 tsp five-spiced powder

Polo Toppings

• 100g butter
• 60g caster sugar
• 180g cake flour
• 55g egg
• 10g milk powder

Cooking Directions
Bread

1. For Tang Zhong, mix water with bread flour and cook over low heat in a pot.
2. Stir constantly until it reaches 65 degree celsius or when it thicken (the time when you can see the bottom of the pot when stirring).
3. Let tang zhong cool to room temperature before use.
4. Mix all the ingredients under 'bread dough' (including tang zhong) except the butter. Knead until smooth and elastic (around 10 minutes).
5. Knead in butter until fully incorporated (around 5-10 minutes).
6. Cover the dough (you can use a clingwrap or pastry cloth; if you have none of these, just put it in a pot and cover with the pot cover) and place it in a warm place to let it undergo the 1st proofing, about 1 hour.
7. Place the dough onto a clean floured surface. Punch down and divide the dough into 10-12 portions.

Filling

1. In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, stir fry spring onion until fragrant. Add in the remaining ingredients and toss well. 
2. Divide the filling to 10-12 portions.

Polo Toppings

1. Mix all the ingredients together.
2. Divide the topping to 10-12 portions, roll round.

Assemble

1. Wrap a portion of filling into a portion of dough. Seal the edges.
2. Flatten the topping using hand, place it on top of the dough.
   
   
3. Use scraper or knife to draw the criss cross pattern.
4. Let the dough proof for another 1-2 hours or until double in size.
5. Brush with eggwash. Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 20-25 minutes, or until the top turn golden brown.

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用料

面包

汤种

• 高筋面粉 25 克
• 水 125 ml

面团

• 高筋面粉 270 克
• 細砂糖 43 克
• 盐 4 克
• 奶粉 4.5 克
• 快速乾酵母 5.5克
• 全蛋液 43 克 （大约 3/4 全蛋）
• 忌廉（whipping cream 動物性鮮奶油）30 克
• 牛奶 54克
• 无盐牛油 25 克

内陷

• 240克叉烧（商店购买或自制） 
• 5汤匙ABC 甜酱 
• 2.5汤匙料酒 
• 2.5茶匙蜂蜜 
• 35克青葱，切碎 
• 1汤匙麻油 
• 1小匙芝麻，烤过
• 1/3茶匙五香粉

菠萝酥

• 100克牛油
• 60克砂糖 
• 180克低筋面粉 
• 55g蛋 
• 10克奶粉

做法

面包

汤种

1. 高筋面粉和水放到锅里，开小火，不停搅拌。熬成浓稠的糊状，盛出待温度降至室温方才使用

面团

1. 把所有材料包括汤种（除了牛油）搅拌成面团，用手揉至面团光滑（大约10分钟）
2. 加入已软化的牛油，继续揉约5-10分钟
3. 把面团放在温暖处发酵至2-2.5倍大小（大约1小时）
4. 用手按压面团，然后分割成大小均匀的10-12份

内陷

1. 锅内热油，炒香青葱，加入其余的材料。
2. 将内陷分成10-12份。

菠萝酥

1. 将所有材料混合在一起。
2. 分割成10-12份，滚圆。

组合

1. 将一份叉烧包入一份面团里。收口。
2. 将一份菠萝酥压扁，放在面团上面。
   
3. 用刮刀或刀画出十字交叉的图案。 
4. 让面团发酵1-2小时或直到两倍大。 
5. 涂上蛋液。在170℃预热烘箱中烘烤20-25分钟，或者直至顶部金黄色。

Char Siew, literally means 'fork roast', is a popular dish in Singapore. Long strips of seasoned pork skewered with long forks and roasted until the sauce caramelised and slightly charred. It is usually sold alongside with roast chicken, roast duck, braised tofu and egg etc..

Char Siew is a very versatile dish, you can have it with rice, noodles, hor fun, or use it as fillings for bun or pao.

To make it the traditional way, you may need to char-grill it. However, a friend shared with me her 'short-cut' version which I find very suitable for home-cook. There is no need for char-grill, just a oven toaster will do...

The pork is cooked twice, once half-cooked in the frying pan and then finished off in oven to give the charred look. Indeed this is a very simple and convenient dish, because you can prepare it in advance and just toss it in the oven before serving. Whenever I make this, I made sure there are a lot of extra sauces. We use it to drizzle over the rice and the plain rice immediately taste much more appetizing. 

So how does the bright red color of char siew came about? Well, it could be the red fermented bean curd, red yeast rice wine, red yeast powder, red yeast rice reaidue, or simply, red coloring (which I believe is more commonly used nowadays). If you are not super fancy of the red color, I believe you can just skip it. 

This recipe might not show you the very traditional way of making char siew but it has the busy mom in mind. 

This recipe is easy to make, but it always helps to watch the step-by-step video tutorial below.

Char Siew (Simplified Version)

Ingredients

• 200g pork collar, cut into 2 strips
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp ABC Kecap Manis (ABC dark sweet sauce)
• 2 tbsp Shao Xing wine
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
• 1/4 tsp red yeast powder (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. In a sauce pan, heat sesame oil, add dark sweet sauce, wine, honey, 5 spice powder, red yeast powder and cook until sauce thicken.
2. Add pork collar, stir to coat well.
3. Bake in preheated oven at 200C for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce slightly caramelised.

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叉烧（简易版） 

材料 

• 200克猪肉，切成2条 
• 半茶匙麻油 
• 4汤匙ABC Kecap Manis（ABC黑甜酱） 
• 2汤匙料酒 
• 1汤匙酱油
• 2茶匙蜂蜜 
• 1/4 茶匙5五香粉 
• 1/4茶匙红曲粉（选择性） 

做法 

1. 在一个平底锅，加热麻油，放入黑甜酱油，酒，蜂蜜，5香料粉，红曲粉，煮至酱汁变稠。 
2. 加入猪肉，均匀裹上浆汁。 
3. 放入已预热烤炉烤200℃ 10-15分钟或烤到略焦。

On my previous post, I made Hong Kong style egg tart which uses short crust pastry. I have the tendency to repeat baking the same food again and again until it taste the way I want it to be. Needless to say, after weeks of eating Hong Kong style egg tarts I guess we will say sayonara to those tarts for quite a while.

It was only a few days ago, and yes, I am now back in business making egg tarts again!



Fret not, these egg tarts are of different nationality - the Portuguese! Loving those super crispy skin that produce loud crackling sound when you biting down the skin. The custard was soft and oozing out when the crispy puff skin break apart. This is no doubt the best Portugese egg tart that I have ever tried!
 

Recipe adapted from Layers, Baking with Gregoire Michaud

Portuguese Egg Tart

Makes 14 tarts

Ingredients

Pastry

• 250g cake flour
• 50g butter
• 3g salt
• 20g sugar
• 120g water
• 100g lard (or ghee)

Filling

• 210g heavy cream
• 105ml milk
• 75g sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 egg

Cooking Directions

1. Rub flour and butter until sandy.
2. Dissolve salt and sugar in warm water, add to flour.
3. Mix and rest in the fridge for 15 mins.
4. Roll the dough to 1cm thickness.
5. Spread 90g of the lard/ghee over, fold the dough into half, seal the edges and chill for 30 minutes.
6. Roll again to 1cm thickness. Make a *single fold. Chill the dough for another 15 minutes.
   
   
7. Roll again to 1cm thickness. Make a *single fold. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, mix together fillings. Sieve the fillings to get rid of any lumps or bubbles.
9. Roll the dough to 2mm thickness, spread the remaining 10g of lard/ghee over. Roll up the dough. (If the dough is too soft at this point, put the dough into freezer for 30 minutes before cutting)        
   
   
10. Slice the roll to about 3cm thick. Lay dough flat.
    
11. Press dough into mould.
    
    
    
12. Fill the tart with filling and bake at preheated oven 230C for 25-30 minutes (I followed the temperature used in the recipe and the tarts turned up well, you may adjust the temperature accordingly for your oven).

Notes:

* Single fold

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葡京蛋塔

做14个塔

塔皮

• 250克蛋糕粉
• 50克牛油
• 3克盐
• 20克糖
• 120克水
• 100克酥油或猪油

内陷

• 210克鲜奶油
• 105毫升奶
• 75克糖
• 2颗蛋黄
• 半粒蛋

做法

1. 捏搓面粉和黄油，直到沙粒状。
2. 盐和糖溶解在温水中，加入（1）。
3. 将面团充分混合和，放入冰箱里松弛15分钟。
4. 将面团擀至1cm厚。
5. 在面团表面均匀涂上90g酥油或猪油，对折, 收口，放入冰箱里松弛30分钟。
6. 再次擀至1cm厚。做一次*单叠折。放入冰箱里松弛15分钟。
   
7. 再次擀至1cm厚。做一次*单叠折。放入冰箱里松弛30分钟。
8. 此时，混合内陷材料。过筛。
9. 将面团擀至2mm厚，涂上一层10g酥油或猪油。卷起面团。
   
10. 切卷约3cm厚，平放于塔摸。
    
11. 按捏成塔形。
    
    
12. 填注内陷。 放入已预热好的烤箱烤230℃25-30分钟(我是依照食谱给的温度烤来烤蛋塔的。如果有必要，请根据您的烤炉做调整）。

贴士：

*单叠折