Pumpkin bread with milk chocolate and cranberries

Super moist pumpkin bread for Halloween. 😊

Ingredients:

220 g  flour
1 tsp baking soda
0,5 tsp ground cardamom
0,25 tsp nutmeg
0,25 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp salt
2 L size eggs
150 g sugar
100 g farine sugar
340 g  pumpkin puree
120 ml vegetable oil
60 ml orange juice
60 g dark chocolate chips
60 g dried cranberries


Preheat oven to 180 C

In big bowl mix flour, baking soda, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger and salt. In a medium bowl whisk eggs and sugars until combined. Whisk in pumpkin, oil and orange juice.Mix dry and wet ingredients alltogether. Gently fold in chocolate and cranberries.
Pure batter into prepared loaf pan. Cover the bread from the top to be sure that bread will not overcook from the top. Bread is ready when the wooden stick inserted to bread will be clean. Time for baking is appr 55-65 minutes.
Let the bread cool down completely.

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Mongolian butter cookies ( Boortsog)

This time Foodtrip 2019 is in Mongolia and we are making tradititional Mongolian cookies called Boortsog. These could be eaten with milk or tea and dipped into honey or sugar. Served with butter or cheese these cookies are also very tasty. Recipe is very easy and idea I got form here:

https://www.internationalcuisine.com/mongolian-butter-cookies/

Ingredients:
240 g flour
55 g butter
120 g warm water
64 g sugar
salt
oil for frying

Solve the sugar and salt into the warm water. In a bowl, mix together the flour, water mixture, butter and knead extensively to a tough, dense dough, add flour or water as necessary. Let rest for about 30 minutes and knead again to remove any air bubbles.
Roll out the dough to about 1,5 cm thickness and cut into rectangles about 6*12 cm.
Cut a slit in the middle and pull one end through making sort of a knot shape.
Heat up you oil in a frying pan and deep fry until golden brown on each side.
Remove and serve warm with Mongolian tea.

Churros

Churros recipe. Crispy and sweet. You need to try these...

Ingredients:
250 ml water
60 g butter
1 tbsp sugar
0,25 tsp salt
140 g flour
1 L size egg
1 tsp vanilla sugar
vegetable oil for frying

For coating:
100 g sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

1. For the coating whisk together 100 g of sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish, set aside. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat to 180 C. While oil is heating prepare batter.
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4. Add water, butter, sugar and salt to a large saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add flour reduce heat to medium-low and cook and stir constantly with a rubber spatula until mixture comes together and is smooth. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, let cool 5 minutes. Add vanilla sugar and egg to flour mixture then blend  with an electric mixer. Blend until mixture comes together and is smooth.
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9. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a rounded star tip. Carefully pipe mixture into preheated oil, into about 15 cm lengths, cut end with clean scissors.
11. Let fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels to dry briefly then transfer to cinnamon sugar mixture and roll to coat.
12. Repeat process with remaining dough. 
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14. Serve warm. For serving homemade apple jam is reallly enjoyable.

Char Siew Bao (Char Siu Bao)

Foodtrip 2019 has arrived to China  and today´s recipe is Char Siu Bao.
It is basicly steamed bun filled with chinese BBQ pork.

Recipe for BBQ I have took from this page. Unfortunately all ingredients are not available, so I made some addjustments. It is no so authentical anymore, but anyway amazingly good. 😊

https://rasamalaysia.com/char-siu/

Char Siu (BBQ pork ingredents)
500 g skinless pork belly, cut into 2 long strips
2 tbsp finelly chopped garlic

Char Siu Sauce ingredients:
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp Chinese Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp Oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp dark and thick soy sauce
1 tbsp five spice powder
0,25 tsp white pepper ground
100 g sugar

Mix all sauce ingredients, add garlic and pork belly and marinate overnight in the fridge.
Next day heat the oven to 200 C.
Place the pork belly to oven  and bake for 15 minutes from one side.
Remove from oven and turn the pork belly over, brush the remainig sauce over and place the pork belly back to oven for another 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 150 C and cook about 1 hour until meat will be very soft. 

Bao dough ingredients:
240 ml warm water
3 tbsp sugar
1  package dry yeast
400 g flour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
0,5 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder

To prepare dough, combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Mix in alll other ingredients. Knead dough until smooth and elastic ( about 10 minutes)
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place  1 hour or until doubled in size. 
Punch dough down; let rest 5 minutes. Turn dough out onto a clean surface; knead in baking powder solution (2 tbsp water+1,5 tsp baking powder). Let dough rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 equal portions, forming each into a ball. Working with one dough ball at a time (cover remaining dough balls to keep from drying), roll ball into a 15 cm circle. Place 1 tbsp filling in center of dough circle. Bring up sides to cover filling and meet on top. Pinch and seal closed with a twist. Repeat procedure with remaining dough balls and filling.

Arrange buns seam side down, in bamboo steamer. Cover with lid.

Add water to a large skillet to a depth of 3 cm; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Place steamer in pan; steam 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before serving.
Adding a few drops of vinegar into steaming water will produce whiter buns, but this is optional. Steamer must be preheated otherwise bun would not rise to the volume as it should be. 

Filling ingredients:

A

250 g char siew diced

0,5 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp sugar

1 small onion diced

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

 B

150 ml water

1,5 tbsp corn flour

Salt to taste

Heat oil and sauté onion for 1-2 minutes. Add all other A ingredients, stir fry for 1 minute.

Mix together water with corn flour, add mixture into the pan and stir well. Simmer until gravy is thickened,

Transfer to plate and allow to cool.

Japanese Yaki Gyoza (Fried Dumplings)

Juicy on the inside, crispy and golden brown on the outside, these Japanese pan-fried dumplings, Gyoza we are making in our Foodtrip 2019 stop in Japan.

I used this recipes:

https://www.justonecookbook.com/gyoza-wrappers/
https://www.justonecookbook.com/gyoza/#wprm-recipe-container-60570

Gyoza wrapper ingredients:

240 g flour
0,5 tsp salt
120 ml water
potato  starch for dusting

Gather all the ingredients. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add salt to juist boiled water and mix until salt is completely dissolved. Mix flour with water and knead it into dough ball. If flour is still separated add 0,5 tbsp of water at a time until you can form a dough ball.

Knead dough for 10 minutes. Cut dough into halves and Shape each half into a long log, about 3 mm diameter (it doesn't have to be perfect if you’re going to use a cookie cutter later). Wrap each log with plastic wrap. Cover halves with food film and let the dough sit for a 30 minutes.

Unwrap the dough. Sprinkle a little potato starch on the work surface and cut each log crosswise into about 12 pieces (may vary depending on the log length and width). Cover the dough with damp kitchen towel at all time to prevent from drying. Roll each piece of dough into a ball shape.Press the ball onto the work surface.Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough, but DO NOT roll out (flatten) the TOP and BOTTOM edge. This is a trick to make a nice round shape. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat rolling the dough to make a nice round shape. Try to roll out the dough to a thin circle. If you want a perfect round shape for your wrappers, press down the 8 cm cookie cutter and remove excess dough.  If the dough rolls back, leave it for a few seconds, and cut out. Cover the scraps with the damp towel. Later combine all the scraps as long as they still squish together and haven’t dried out too much. Re-roll the scraps and repeat the process. 

Sprinkle each wrapper with potato starch and stack the gyoza wrappers. Make sure to the wrappers covered with damp kitchen towel. Once all the dough is used, wrap the gyoza wrappers with plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate until you’re ready to use. 

Gyoza frying ingredients:

38 Gyosa wrappers

1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying each batch

60 ml water for frying each batch

1tsp roasted sesame oil for frying each batch 

Gyoza filling ingredients:

200 g ground pork and beef mix

70 g cabbage
12 g green onions
2 shitake mushrooms
1 garlic clove (minced)
ca 2,5 cm piece of ginger (grated)

Gyoza filling ingredients:

1 tsp sake

1 tsp roasted sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

0,25 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

Gyoza dipping sauce:

1tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

chopped chili

Filling and forming of Gyoza:

Remove the core of the cabbage leaves and cut into very small pieces

Cut green onions and shiitake mushrooms into small pieces

Combine the ground meat, cabbage, green onion, and shiitake mushrooms in a large bowl.

Add minced garlic and grated ginger to the bowl.

Add the seasonings

Mix well and knead the mixture with hand until it becomes pale in color and sticky.

Take a wrapper and place it in the palm of your non-dominant hand. Use a teaspoon to take a small amount of filling and put it in the center of the wrapper. Dip one finger in a bowl of water and draw a circle around the outer 1 cm of the wrapper with your wet finger until it’s wet all around.

Fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch it in the center with your fingers (but don’t seal yet!). Using your thumb and index finger, start making a pleat about once every 0,5 cm on the top part of the wrapper from the center toward the right. As you fold each pleat, press the folded pleat tightly against the back part of wrapper using your other thumb and index finger. Make 3-4 pleats.

Continue with the left side of the gyoza. Start making a pleat from the center to the left.

Gyoza cooking:

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, place the gyoza in a single layer, flat side down (in two rows or in a circular shape).

Cook until the bottom of the gyoza turns golden brown, about 3 minutes

Add  60 ml of water to the pan. Immediately cover with a lid and steam the gyoza for about 3 minutes or until most of the water evaporates.

Remove the lid to evaporate any remaining water. Add 1 tsp sesame oil around the frying pan.

Cook uncovered until the gyoza is nice and crisp on the bottom.

Transfer to a plate and serve with dipping sauce. For the dipping sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a small plate and mix all together. 

Lechon Kawali (Filipino Crispy Fried Pork Belly) Recipe

Foodtrip 2019 is in Philiphines and we are making Lechon Kawali or Filiphino Crispy Fried Pork Belly. This tastes especially good.

Recipe idea I found from this page;
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/02/lechon-kawali-filipino-crispy-fried-pork-belly-recipe.html

Ingredients:
1 kg boneless skin-on pork belly, cut in half
8 garlic gloves
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
120 ml soy sauce
salt
Vegetable oil for frying
Rice vinegar for dipping sauce

Place pork belly, skin side down, in a large pot and add enough water to completely submerge meat. Add garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then lower heat and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until pork skin can be pierced with a knife with no resistance, about 1 hour. Transfer pork to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and season liberally with salt all over. Refrigerate pork until skin has completely dried, 6 hours or overnight.
Remove pork from refrigerator and cut into 2 cm slices.

Heat oil to 200 C. Working in batches, fry pork until deeply browned and skin has bubbled and crisped, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer pork to a paper towel-lined plate and season with salt to taste. Serve immediately with vinegar for dipping.

Sticky Date Pudding

Sticky Date Pudding is the best dessert ever. 😊

Recipe I used from here:
https://mkr.7plus.com.au/anne-jennifers-sticky-date-pudding

From this amount you will get 6 small puddings.

Ingredients:
Whipped cream 
Finely grated lemon zest, to garnish

Pudding ingredients:
100 g pitted dates, chopped
100 ml orange juice
0,5 tsp bicarbonate of soda
65 g butter, softened
75 g Farine sugar
1 egg
75 g flour
0,5 tsp baking powder

Caramel sauce ingredients:
110 g brown sugar
150 ml whipping cream
30 g butter
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease six holes of muffin pan (diameter of hole ca 7 cm).
Heat the orange juice until hot and pour over chopped dates. Stir in bicarbonate of soda. Stand 10 minutes and combine into puree with hand blender.
Using an electric mixer, whisk butter and sugar until pale and creamy.
Add egg and whisk again. Add flour mixed with baking powder. Stir in date and orange juice mix.
Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown and cooked when tested with wooden stick.

To make caramel sauce, stir all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer until thickened and reduced.

Serve puddings with sauce and whipped cream. Decorate with lemon zest.

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Coconut Kaukau

We have landed to Papua New Guinea with our food trip.
Today we have on menu baked sweet potatoes or Kaukau´s with coconut cream.
Recipe I have got from this page:

https://www.196flavors.com/papua-new-guinea-coconut-kau-kau/

From this amount you will get 4 portions.

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes (Kaukau)
4 tbsp butter
150 g coconut cream
half red onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
ca 2 cm of ginger, grated
2 tbsp orange juice
salt 
pepper

Rinse the sweet potatoes, then wrap each of them in aluminum foil and place on a plate. Bake in preheated 200 C oven for 1 hour or until cooked through.
Cut sweet potatoes in two lengthwise.
Scoop out about ¾ of the sweet potatoes with a spoon into a bowl.
Add the butter. Add salt and pepper, and mash with a fork to get a smooth purée.
Set the skins of  sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Add the coconut cream, onion, garlic, ginger and orange juice to the mashed sweet potatoes. Mix well.
Fill the hollowed half sweet potatoes with the mashed mixture.
Bake in the oven for another 5 minutes before serving.