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Food
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007 |
Apart from the famous "Daan Tat" (custard tart with flaked pastry - the mainstay of any dim sum meal), little is written about Chinese or Asian desserts. From personal knowledge, there is a tremendous variety out there,
though you could say that our colonial past has had a huge influence on the evolution of certainly the Hong Kong Chinese desserts.
To kick off our Chinese/Asian dessert odyssey we have included two basic recipes, specially translated from Chinese for Dimsum by Dr Helen Tsui, -  and Japanese Cheese Cake. Green Tea Powder, used in the first recipe can be found in most Japanese Grocery Stores and is an ingredient used often in desserts such as green tea ice cream.
The Aduki red bean is another ingredient often found in Asian desserts - 'hung dao bing' (red bean drink) is a popular drink in Hong Kong as Milkshake is to McDonalds stalwarts. The Japanese cheesecake is simply a far eastern take on the American cheesecake.
Japanese Cheesecake
Ingredients:
Cream Cheese - 160g
Milk - 120ml
Egg White - 4
Egg Yolk - 4
Caster Sugar - 180g
Plain Flour - 6 tbsp
Corn Flour - 3 tbsp
Cream of Tartar Powder - 2/3 tsp (two-thirds of a teaspoon)
A 9 inch(23cm) diameter cake tin and a roasting tin.
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 180C and place a roasting tin with water in the oven.
- Sift the plain flour and corn flour together.
- Mix the milk and cream cheese into a pan and heat on a low heat until the cheese have melted and combined with the milk. Do not boil it otherwise it will curdle.
- Mix the egg yolk with half of the sugar and beat until the colour of the mixture becomes pale yellow.
- Add the cream mixture from step 3 into the egg yolk mixture from step 4. Mix well with a whisk, then sift the flour from step 2 into the mixture and mix well until combined.
- Whisk the egg white to soft peak, then add in the cream of tartar powder and the remaining sugar and whisk until stiff. If you turn the bowl upside down and it doesn't fall off, then it is ready.
- Fold in the egg white mixture from step 6 into the mixture from step 5 in stages until well combined. Do not over mix it.
- Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper and then pour in the mixture from step 7.
- Place the cake tin into the roasting tin and bake for 20 minutes at 180C. Then reduce the temperature to 150C and bake for a further 15 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for 10 minutes before removing it. You can eat it warm, but it tastes much better if you cool it and then refrigerate it.
Red Bean Green Tea Rolls
Ingredients:
Red bean paste - 100g (I used the tinned Japanese Azuki beans, it's only 99p from that Rice Wine Shop)
Sugar - 80g (I've used caster sugar)
Plain flour - 70g
Cornstarch (corn flour) - 30 g
Butter - 30 g
Fresh cream - 200 ml (I used double cream)
Milk - 15 ml
Eggs - 3
Green tea powder - 2 tsp (I used the Maccha Powder)
Baking powder 0.5 tsp
10-inch flan tin. (swiss roll tin)
Preparation:
- Melt the butter.
- Heat the milk.
- Separate the egg yolks and egg whites.
- Sift baking powder, green tea powder, plain flour and cornstarch into a mixing bowl.
- Preheat oven to 170C for 10 minutes.
- Whisk the fresh cream until thicken.
Method:
- Beat the egg yolks with an egg whisk until frothy. Add sugar (in 2 – 3 batches) to the egg yolks and beat until the mixture’s consistency becomes similar to mayonnaise. The mixture should be sticky and flow down slowly.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Add the sifted mixed powder into the beaten yolks gradually. Fold in and cut the mixture to the bottom with a rubber spatula.
- Stir (3) in egg whites, add in melted butter and warm milk. Stir with a rubber spatula.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 170C.
- Place on a cooling rack. Spread the fresh cream and red bean paste onto the sponge and roll it up with greaseproof paper.
- Cut into thick slices and serve.
We hope you enjoy the recipes!
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