Xiao Long Bao

Nani: So which xiao long bao do you like better?

Me: You mean do i prefer 鼎泰丰's or some other places one huh?

Nani: Yup:)

Me: [PAUSES] * i was in a deeep thought *

Nani: *Giving meng ni the "what is taking her so long? Is she okay?" look*

Me: I prefer Crystal Jade ones

Nani: huh?! *Giving meng ni that look again*

Yesh i agree that 鼎泰丰 is famous for their 'xiao long bao'. And double yesh.. their xiao long bao is delicious. But having first tried the ORIGINAL 鼎泰丰(and i do mean the very first store) in Taiwan, it was sooooooo much better than the ones in Singapore .. I can't really point out what the problem is.. i always see the chefs weighing every single dough pieces so there must definitely be some kind of QC going on. Probably it's the stock, you know how most of the old restaurants have pots of broth/stock that has been cooking for the past 20 years? And since 鼎泰丰 is relatively young in Singapore, so maybe their broth/stock hasn't age enough yet?!? hmmm..

Anyways, Crystal jade ones are definitely delicious too:) I don't know if they are better than 鼎泰丰's (i'm biased in some sense)

So, i tried making my own xiao long bao. I shall call it "Hii Inc's Xiao Long Bao"-HIXLB in short. The whole process took 2 days! Day 1 is to prepare the aspic, which is the jelly-like thing that gives the " soup oozing out " effect. *SLURPS*. It took freaking 5 hours to get the concentrated stock from constant simmering Pig's skin, chicken bones and chicken feet in water. (I need to check my cholesterol level after this)

The jelly-like aspic

2nd day;today, is the mixing of all the fillings and making the dough, it's definitely less hassle than making the aspic except for the part when i really have no idea how to make pretty xiao long baos like the ones i see in the restaurants, probably a year of training in shao ling temple's kitchen might help. oh wait do they accept females?

HIXLB may look ugly and uh.. 70% of the xiao long bao actually broke after steaming.. but it still taste good.. especially the ones where the soup is "retained". heehee:)

Stats:

number of xiao long baos: 50

money spent: definitely less than $50 but i'm not sure how much

number of days spent: 2

Conclusion: I think i'll go crystal jade when i wanna have my dose of XLB. Unless i want to gobble all 50 XLB all at once.

馒头 ♪♫ mán tou (Part II)

Had another try with the steamed buns today. I've substituted half of the flour with mashed sweet potato this time.. on top of that i've doubled the kneading time, trying my best to make my dough as smooth as possible.. I've also increased the setting time by 5 mins..

Took much effort to make everything as homogeneous as possible, as pretty as possible.. and the product? NOT BAD AT ALL! the buns tasted sweet (of cos! i've added sweet potatoes) the colour is a nice yellow and the texture.. GOOD! heehee.. i'm flushed with excitement.. got itono to taste it and it was confirmed.. it's good.. muahaha~

How i wish my skin could be that smooth and glowy.. damn.. i'm jealous of buns

~yummy yumyum~

馒头 ♪♫ mán tou

I was asked by someone when i was younger.. probably during elementary school, "Ever wondered why most inventors are westerners?" my answer was "uhhhhh..huh?" The person then told me his version of the answer--> because ang mos are very lazy people making chinese the hardworking bunch.. and so he went on.. "who invented the tv?" (Philo Taylor Farnsworth - an American Inventor) an ang mo.. because he is too lazy to walk to the theater to watch a show.. so he invented something for him to have his dose of entertainment in the comfort of his home. On the other hand, chinese being the diligent group will walk 100miles over the mountains and the seas (i'm exagerating) to watch the chinese opera.

It sounds like a plausible reason for me at that time.. so he went on with more examples.. "and the remote control?" (Robert Adler) another ang mo. You see, they are too lazy to walk to the tv to change the channels and so the remote control was born! Chinese will never think of one because they wouldn't mind making a few steps to the tv every now and then, (they have already saved the time climbing mountains and swimming across seas with the earlier inventions!)

It's just something someone told me about.. BUT! what i made today is going to prove that person right.. not that ang mos are lazy, but that chinese do have indefatigable energy. Today I've attempted to make 馒头 otherwise known as steamed bun.. it goes well with chilli crab but traditionally they are prepared as breakfast.

First i mixed all my ingredients and started kneading (and there's a lot of kneading involved) to get my dough:) and indeed i got my pretty dough (and small muscles developing) after an hour (including time for the dough to set)


Then i need to knead somemore and cut my dough into the desired size. It's the first time i used a food steamer, it's a little too small but still usable. The final product? ▼

i think they look ugly:( but mr. bro said that the taste is okay but not fantastic:( *sigh* i think i should add something to it next time.. maybe mashed sweet potatoes? overall, it's quite fun! only that it took me 2.5 hours altogether.. hmm.. so if i want to have steamed buns for breakfast at 10am i'll have to start preparing at 7.30am! Wonder how long it'll take to make an all day american breakfast.. (scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, harsh brown) probably 5 mins... just buy it from Mcdonalds' hee...

By the way, Man Utd lost to Chelsea today.. feeling very down.. probably, that's why my buns looked so ugly.. *sigh* So! No more food experimenting on Man Utd match days!

Last note: I am really really really x 100 disgusted by Avraham (Avram) Grant. He Sux!