Pineapple Bun (菠蘿包)

I have always enjoy Chinese style bakery buns for breakfast.  It then became a comfort home food for me when our family immigrated to Canada.  I remembered I was really happy to be able to buy these buns in Canada (even though they aren't that great in Edmonton), it gives a warm, fuzzy, comfort food feeling... a piece of home and heritage in a foreign place.

When I get older, now when I think of pineapple bun I remember Danny's happy face with his favourite pineapple bun with butter (菠蘿油) lol.  Though I never thought of making these buns myself.  The task seem so daunting!  Making bread is not an easy task!  With yeast doubling at the right room temperature, the lengthy waiting time, and finickiness of buns not being poofy and moist... the list goes on!  Especially I failed multiple times with making cinnamon buns and anything with yeast.  Kudos to Freddy for his adventurous personality to initiate the task and the most important piece of equipment - the stand mixer.  I'd like to thank Freddy here, his stand mixer has made many, many of my dreams come true.  Thank you Freddy!  Also Haley's extra warm room temperature (23oC) may have been the success to the buns!!  


Here it is!

 

Ingredients

yields a dozen very large buns

To make pineapple buns, you'll need:

• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast (not the instant one!)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup milk
• 3 eggs, slightly beaten

The topping for the pineapple buns is made separately using:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

 

Procedure

1. Mix together 1/2 cup flour, sugar, yeast, and salt
2. Melt the butter, then add oil and milk to the butter and warm it
3. Pour the butter/oil/milk mixture into the flour mixture
4. Add the eggs to the flour mixture, and stir well to combine. Then beat mixture for 3 minutes
5. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough is formed
6. Dust the counter-top and knead the dough on it. Add dough little by little if it's too sticky.
7. Place the dough in a large bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Let it double in size, which will take roughly 1.5 hours. While the dough is rising, prepare the pineapple bun topping following the recipe further below on this page).
8. After 1.5 hours, punch the dough down and let it rise again for another 1.5 hours
9. Divide the dough into 12 equally sized balls, then flatten them to round, flat buns. Place them on lightly greased baking sheets and cover with a slightly damp towel for another 45 minutes so that the dough can rise a bit more.
10. Take the prepared pineapple topping and roll it to a thickness of about 1/2 a cm
11. Brush the buns with a small amount of water, and place the pineapple topping on top of the buns. The water will help the topping stick to the buns.
12. Take a knife and lightly score the toppings with a criss-cross pattern, kind of like grill marks on a steak.
13. Lightly beat 1 egg yolk and brush the buns and toppings with it. The egg yolk will provide the buns with a nice rich yellow colour.
14. Bake the buns at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes on the middle rack.

Pineapple Topping Procedure:

1. Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and fluffy
2. Add egg yolk, baking soda, and milk together, and mix well.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder into the butter mixture, and mix by hand until it's smooth and not sticky. Be careful not to manipulate it too much as it will form gluten.
4. Wrap the topping in plastic and refrigerate it for an hour and a half minimum.
   

Reciped adapted from Homemade Chinese

Thoughts

 

1. The pineapple buns are so delicious!!! I'm so proud of the team that made it happen! The recipe took like 7-8 hours to complete but the result is so WORTH it.
2. I would use more beaten egg yolks to brush the pineapple topping, it wasn't quite yellow enough.
3. I would probably double the pineapple topping next time, I find the topping to bun ratio not high enough.
4. Serve with butter inside the bun is the best way!!

Steam Egg Whites with Seafood

Ingredients:
4 egg whites
2 cups of water (cooled boiled water, or chicken broth)
5 shrimps, thaw, peeled, and chopped
3 sticks of imitation crab meat, thaw and chopped
chopped green onions for garnish

Procedure:
1.  First, set up a wok with cold tap water with a metal lifter.  Place a large round glass dish on top of the metal lifter to check the water level.  The water level should reach to above half the height of the glass dish.
2.  Turn on the stove to medium-high heat.
3.  Beat 4 egg whites in a bowl and pour into a measuring cup.  Measure the volume of the egg whites.
4.  If the egg whites volume is 150 mL, add (1.5 times the volume, 1.5 x 150 mL = 225 mL) 225 mL of water and beat well.
*note the water should be cooled boiled water.  you may substitute with chicken broth for more flavour*
5.  When the water in the wok is boiling, add the beaten egg white mixture on to the round glass dish through a strainer.  Add your chopped shrimp and crab meat and green onions.  Cover.
6.  After 2 minutes, turn off the heat and cover to steam for another 20 minutes.
7.  The egg whites are done when you lightly shake the plate, and they should firm up like a jello and not liquidy.
8.  Serve like that or with a little bit of sweet soya sauce.

**a variation of this can be separately stir fry some marinated chicken strips and then add it on top of the steamed egg whites after step 6.**

Adapted from 吾淑吾食.

君.子.蘭.

君.子.蘭.


We have this pot of plant for over 8 years now.  It has always been green leaves, but this spring flowers have bloomed!!! Words cannot describe this incredible feeling seeing its flower for the first time.  I found this description about this plant in Chinese and found it much more suiting than English.  What good luck will this bring???

翠綠的劍葉烘托火紅的花團     數十朵喇叭狀小花向四方鳴奏

觀其整個植物形體     挺拔青翠的綠葉玉立亭亭  

綽約的風姿以及高雅的神韻 飄然坦蕩大有「君子」之風

 亦是「吉祥」、「高雅富貴」的象徵 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFprdzHje0o

 

Shanghai Morning (小南國上海小吃)

The story with Shanghai Morning begins about 5 years ago.  5 Christmases ago, I visited Charles' family in Vancouver.  Charles took me to a lot of Chinese and Sushi restaurants.  One of his favorites was Chen's on Alexandra Rd in Richmond. Their Shanghainese siu long bao was so good that I went to that restaurant 3 times in 2 weeks. The last time we each have an order of siu long bao (6 per order) per person lol. After two years, Chen's was sold.  And we were very disappointed that we no longer can have the BEST siu long baos ever.  

Fast foward to April 2013, because of a CNPN conference happening in Vancouver.  My boss lets me go to this conference by myself.  I visited Charles' parents and realized the owner has re-opened her restaurant in a new location with nice decor and tables and chairs.  I'm soo happy I get to eat her hand-made siu long baos again!!  I have tried a few other places in Edmonton and Toronto, and not until I tried hers that I remembered how good it can be! Here it is!! 

Shanghai Morning

小南國上海小吃
125-8291 Alexandra Road Richmond, BCV6X1C3
(778) 297-6098
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/1647010/restaurant/Vancouver/Richmond-Central/Shanghai-Morning-Restaurant-Richmond

Smoked fish (熏魚)

Siu Long Bao (小籠包)

Dumplings (鍋貼)

Dan Dan Noodles (擔擔麵) 

Seasame pastry with black seasame filling（黃橋燒餅）

Five spice beef wrap（大餅牛肉卷）

Banh Mi Boys

Banh Mi Boys

392 Queen St W
Toronto, ON
M5V 2A9
http://www.banhmiboys.com/

Kalbi beef Banh Mi ($5.99) - short ribs, kimchi, asian bbq sauce

close up of kalbi beef banh mi

Korean style beef short rib with Asian BBQ sauce, topped with cucumbers, pickled carrots, and cilantro and served on a baguette.  The baquette it was served on was particularly noteworthy as it was soft and fresh.

Five Spice Pork Belly Steamed Bao ($3.49) - braised pork belly, pickled radish

The steamed bao was topped with cucumber, pickled carrots and cilantro which contrasted the fatty, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly nicely. It came with two thick pieces of pork sandwiched between the soft and chewy bun.  My favourite item of all the things we tried.  The taste resembles peking duck flavours.

Kimchi fries ($5.99)

The fries came served in a box topped with Japanese mayo, green onions, kimchi and spicy pork. The tender pulled pork was a welcome addition and the combination of all the flavours was delicious.  It's like eating a fusion poutine with Korean/Japanese influence.  I just wish the box was bigger!

Japanese Korokke (Croquette)

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. (about 4) russet potatoes, peeled and halved
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• ½ carrots, finely diced
• 2 medium sized Chinese mushrooms, soaked and finely diced
•  1 can of corn
• 1 stalk of green onion, finely diced
• 2 tsp. oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. white pepper
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 eggs for the breading
• 2 cup Panko
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• Oil for deep frying
• Tonkatsu Sauce 

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, put water and potatoes and bring it to a boil. Cook potatoes until a skewer goes through the potato easily.
2. Move the pot back to the stove. On low heat shift the pot so that remaining moisture will completely evaporate (but don’t burn them). Remove the potato from the heat and drain the water completely. When you do so, use a lid to partially cover so the potatoes don’t fall off from the pot.
3. Meanwhile, chop onion, carrot, mushrooms, and green onion finely.Turn off the heat and mash the potatoes. Unlike mashed potato, you don’t have to mash completely. You can want to leave some small chunks for texture. Set aside.
4. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium high heat. Sauté onion until soft.
5. Add carrot and mushrooms and cook until they are soft.  Saute corn and green onions lightly.
6. Add salt, white pepper, and black pepper to season. Set aside.


When both mashed potato and meat mixture are ready, add the meat mixture into mashed potato in the large pot. Make sure you leave the liquid behind. We only want dry ingredients into the pot. Discard any liquid left in the pan
7. Add an egg and mix all together until everything is well combined.
8. Set aside to cool down a bit (so you can actually hold the mixture with your hands).
   
9. Dredge each ball in flour, then egg, and then Panko.


In a wok (or frying pan), heat oil over medium high heat. Deep fry Korokke until they are golden brown. Inside is already cooked, so all you need to do is to make it nice brown color.
10. Transfer Korokke to paper towels and let the oil absorbed in the paper. Serve immediately with Tonkatsu Sauce.

Recipe adapted from: http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/korokke-croquette/

Thoughts:

1. A lot of work! but so worth it!!! It is very delicious, and restaurant quality too.  Love the addition of corn in it, makes it a little sweet. And having tonkatsu sauce is key to make it delicious!

Paillard

Paillard
1097 Rue Saint-Jean
Quebec City, QC G1R 1S3 
http://www.paillard.ca/

Paillard is a cafe, bakery, sandwich/soup, lunch, take-out, patisserie all-in-one.  It is conveniently located in the heart of Old Quebec, walking distance to major attractions and hotels.  The place is fairly large and packed with locals.  A great place to stop for lunch, especially we find that Quebec's restaurants tend to be on the higher end of things.

From our googling, we were going to go to Le Croquembouche for patisserie.  But Le Croquembouche is very far away from Old Quebec, and we would need to take the car out to drive there.  So while we were just walking around Old Quebec, we saw Paillard and lots of people inside, meaning it's a great place to try.  At first I was skeptical with it being a touristy location, but it turns out it is packed with locals with families and kids enjoying lunch there.  Since we already had lunch that day, we decided to get some take-outs.  We bought an almond and chocolate croissant for next day's breakfast.  And we also bought two mini cakes and macarons to share with the Campbell family when we arrive at Montreal. 

Almond croissant ($2.95) - voted the best croissant in Quebec 2010.  Loved that it has a sweet creamy filling inside, not many places do that.

Chocolatine ($2.95 ish) - super flaky and yummy

First off, I absolutely enjoyed the croissants very much.  For once I enjoyed the almond croissant more than the chocolate one!! Surprise surprise.  This is because Paillard's almond croissant has a sweet almond paste filling inside the almond croissant, which prior to this I have found it really rare to have.  It went perfectly with the Starbucks coffee from the hotel.

Don't remember the name =( ($3.95 ish) Dark chocolate mousse with blackberry flavours - delicious!

Bombe marron au caramel fondant ($3.95) chestnut mousse with a white chocolate cover - a bit too sweet for me

Box of assorted macarons ($1.55 each) - there's lemon, chocolate, salted caramel, passionfruit, strawberry, pistachio, vanilla, and coffee.

The remaining desserts were enjoyed with the Campbell family.  When Roxie first saw us unwrapping the desserts, she immediately went and hold the box of colorful macarons.  I guess this is her first time seeing such cute colourful little cookies.  I didn't try all the flavours, so I couldn't tell you how they all tasted.  I tried chocolate and vanilla.  They were very nice and crisp, and moist with chocolate ganaches.  The flavours weren't as strong as the Montreal's La Maison du Chocolate ($2 something each?), but for the price I think Paillard is mighty amazing too! I'm very happy Stepehen, Avery, and Roxie enjoyed them very well for their first time.  We liked it so much, we went to buy all the ingredients the next day to make chocolate macarons  with Stephen's new stand mixer.

Then we tried the two cakes while watching a movie.  I enjoyed the dark chocolate cake more.  The other one was bought because during the trip I learned that "marron" means "chestnut". and decided to try anything chestnut.  The chestnut one taste a bit like the Chinese chestnut angel cake but sweeter.

I enjoyed Paillard very much, found it super affordable and casual but with great quality!  Can't wait to try their made-to-order sandwich station with fresh baked breads and soups next time.

Le cochon dingue

Le cochon dingue
46, boulevard Champlain
Québec (Québec) G1K 4H5
http://www.cochondingue.com/en/home.html?lang=EN

Le cochon dingue, literally means crazy pig, is located in the Petit Champlain district also.  With the look and feel of a real French bistro, its friendly atmosphere and its ultra tasty menu with a European flair, it quickly become the go-to-place for breakfast.  We actually came to this restaurant twice.  Once for breakfast, and because we like it so much, again for lunch before we leave Quebec City.

Breakfast:

Their website claims they "serve the best coffee, old-fashion hot chocolate made with Belgian chocolate, your choice of toast, with homemade raspberry-strawberry jam or apple butter with a sincere morning smile"  And I totally agree with that line! Keep in mind, everything on their breakfast menu includes a cup of expresso, or a bowl of cafe au lait (French word for latte), or a pot of old fashioned hot chocolate. Sweet deal!

Bowl of cafe au lait and old fashioned hot chocolate

I ordered a 2 eggs benedict with ham and poached egg on toasted English muffin and Hollandaise sauce.  The meal is also served with homefries, choice of toast, I picked raspberry-strawberry jam, and comes with a mango yogurt to finish it off ($14.50).  And this price includes my old-fashioned hot chocolate.

Charles ordered a sunny side up fried egg with sauteed mushrooms, bacon, onions, and béchamel  sauce. Also served with home fries, choice of toaste, he picked apple butter, and also has the mango yogurt.  ($12.95) and this includes the giant bowl of cafe au lait (or latte). Note béchamel sauce is a classic white sauce made from butter, flour, and milk; it is a classic base for many sauces.

Lunch:

Because breakfast was so amazing, we came for lunch before leaving Quebec City.

I ordered a set lunch from the daily menu (it changes). It is a pulled duck linguine pasta, it comes with a soup or salad, and coffee or tea ($11.95).  A very good deal I think.  I chose soup, and that day's daily soup is cream of broccoli.  I enjoyed the pasta very much.  It is different than my usual Italian style of pasta.  It is more stir fry in olive oil and lots of herbs and duck.  Very interesting and delicious.

Cream of Broccoli 

Pulled duck Linguine

 Charles ordered the famous Cochon Dingue Seafood Pot Pie ($21.95), it has lobster, crab, shrimps, scallops, salmon, diced potatoes in a creamy sauce and served with a salad. We shared both dishes, and there are at least 2-3 pieces of each item listed so that we both can try each thing. Amazing good. Crispy pastry is pretty awesome too.  Wish I had room to order dessert before we head out =(

Seafood Pot Pie

Overall impression is very very good. A classic European bistro.  Great for casual dining without sacrificing food quality or price! Serving daily fresh food done well! Also has unlimited bread upon request.

P.S. a night view of the restaurant, so prettty!

Restaurant at night

Le Lapin Sauté

Le Lapin Sauté
52 Rue du Petit Champlain  
Quebec City, QC G1K 4H4
(418) 692-5325
http://www.lapinsaute.com/english/home/

With the recommendations of coworkers growing up in Quebec, we have picked Le Lapin to celebrate this year's Valentine's day and our 'first' romantic dinner during our trip to Quebec City.  Le Lapin is located in Quebec's Petit-Champlain district, a picture-perfect neighbourhood resembling a quaint riverside village with a romantic European atmosphere.  One of the most visited neighbourhood of Quebec! 

Walking in Le Lapin, we were immediately greeted.  The restaurant has a country-in-the-city feel... a warm, quaint and cozy inns from the early 20th century.  Perfect for romantic getaway!  We were seated by the fireplace on a cold winter night.  And ordered a glass of cider (alcoholic version) to warm ourselves up.  I enjoyed the glass of cider very much, it is sweet and sour like apple juice and you can barely taste the alcohol in it. 

A glass of cider in pretty pink

As the restaurant name suggests, Le Lapin's specialty is rabbit.  Then after looking at the menu, we decide to go with the Rabbit and Duck for Two (Tout lapin tout canard) to taste the menu. To my knowledge, this is probably the first time I have real French cuisine!

After ordering, the waiter gave us some in-house appetizer to start.  It is French bread baked daily served with some spread.   The spread is crumbly, dark, and tasty!  I have no idea what it is made of, but it is absolutely delicious.  I wish I remember what the name of the spread to tell you more about it.

Appetizer French bread with spread

The rabbit and duck for two menu includes rabbit leg confit, homemade rabbit "rillettes", rabbit sausage, duck leg confit, duck foie gras, and smoked duck breast served with carrots and onions confit, "La Sauvagine" cheese, nuts bread with nuts, rustic bread, beets and apples salad, mustards and pickles ($62.95).

Rabbit and Duck for Two

This is my first time eating rabbit and smoked duck breast. Let me describe each item...

Rabbit leg confit (top right) - confit describes the traditional way of preserving meat usually with goose or duck leg.  The meat is salted and seasoned with herbs, slow cooked, cooled, and stored in its fat.  Rabbit meat taste like chicken but with a hint of game meat taste (like lamb).  The leg is a bit on the dry side for my liking, but I think it is because rabbit meat itself is very lean.

Homemade rabbit "rillettes" (sphere shaped on the bottom left) - rillettes is a preparation of meat similar to pâté, where the meat is cut, salted, cooked slowly, shredded, cooled to form a paste for spread.  I really like the taste of the rillettes, it is tender and moist, and flavourful. 

Rabbit sausage (top right underneath the rabbit leg) - very delicious.  I don't have much to describe it, besides it taste like a sausage and it tasted good. 

Duck leg confit (bottom right) - similar to the preparation to the rabbit leg, but I like the duck leg confit much better.  It is juicy, tender, and flavourful.  The duck fat really helps! I have lots of BBQ duck as a Chinese, but this is my first time eating duck the French way.  Very good!

Duck foie gras (disk shaped on the left) - or duck liver. By French law, foie gras is the liver of a duck fattened by force feeding of corn and gavage.  I do enjoy the texture of liver pâté so I liked it.  It is rich, buttery, and delicate.  Although I find it pretty filling after a few bites.  The whole disk is a bit too much to eat, if you don't like liver.

Smoked duck breast (pink meat in the middle) - duck breast that has been slow smoked and thinly sliced.  Taste a lot like smoked salmon but a bit chewier.  I was so surprised by this.  Never heard of smoked duck breast before.  It is very tasty if you like smoked salmon.

Carrots and onion confit (bottom left) - cold salad of carrots and onion and it is sweet.

"La Sauvagine" cheese (top left) - honestly, I still don't appreciate cheese that much.  This cheese is rich and too flavourful for me.  So I can't comment too much on it.

Nuts bread with nuts (bottom right) - love, love, love this bread!! SO MUCH! I wish I can bake my own bread to make it.  Full of walnuts, almond, and other nuts... soft and warm... yummy!

Rustic bread - also baked freshly daily. Not as special, but it is yummy.  Bread is unlimited, you can ask for more to go with your meal if you would like.

Beets and apple salad (middle) - Amazing salad! Sweet and tangy and refreshing with the rest of the meal.

Mustard and pickles - I actually didn't eat the mustard at all. So no comment.  I did eat a lot of the pickles.  I am no expert in pickles though.  I found the pickles really help with the fattiness of the meal though. Palette cleansing.

Maple syrup crème brûlée

And to finish off with a delicious meal, we ordered their INFAMOUS, world renowned, Oh-you-will-die-from-eating-this... Maple syrup crème brûlée ($7.25) with some coffee. 

I have crème brûlée from a few places before, but I was never impressed with it.  I found most places have the hard caramel too thick.  If I eat it, I would finish eating the custard part so fast, but the caramel takes a long time to melt in my mouth.  This maple syrup crème brûlée... oh-it-is-different-and-special!  The caramel layer is PAPER thin!  When you first put in your mouth, you can taste the sweet maple flavour custard... within seconds the ultra thin caramel begins to melt and adds a hint of sugary-ness.  It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! Definitely the BEST BEST BEST crème brûlée I have E-V-E-R tried.  I don't know how to emphasize this anymore!  The portion is big too.  Argh so good!

Overall impression of Le Lapin is very good. Great atmosphere, romantic, and reasonable prices.  This made me fall in love with French cuisine.  Wish I discovered it earlier =)

Casse Crêpe Breton

Casse Crêpe Breton
1136 Rue St-Jean
Quebec, QC G1R 2L3
http://cassecrepebreton.com/

A cute little bistro serving made-to-order crepes in Old Quebec (Veux Quebec).  On Rue St Jean you can find many shops, restaurants, and bars.  Everything seemed pretty pricy to us.  And we are so happy to find this place so that we can try some French crepes on a nice budget! First off is that they don't have a huge selection making decision a bit easier.  We ordered a breakfast crepe with ham, egg, mozzarella and mushrrom.  The crepe is so crisp and thin that I find it very difficult to eat with forks and knives.  The second crepe we have we customized it to include turkey, green peppers, and mozzarella.  And then we finished off with a dessert crepe with chestnut filling and ice cream.  It is difficult to find chestnut filling in many places, it is so cool they have it.  Love the dessert crepe!

Ham, egg, mozzarella, and mushroom ($7.75)

turkey, green pepper, and mozzarella ($7.25)

Chestnut Crepe with ice cream ($4.75 + $1.25)

Another angle of the chestnut crepe with ice cream