Last Sunday it was Father’s Day. My dear husband Shawn, the
father of my kids, received his Father’s Day gift – a nifty tripod, with nice
ball head and all. Now Shawn will be able to shoot photos of exceptionally good
quality, using long exposure times, in any kind of light, even Chiaroscuro. This tripod can do it all.
Father’s Day morning
and early afternoon were spent by the pond, swimming and playing baseball with some friends.
In the afternoon a few of our other friends came over, for a scheduled cooking demonstration. Joy and
Joe were teaching us how to make Taiwanese pork and beef buns.
Just like the
previous gathering when we all made sushi, this time the bun-making tutorial
and the dinner afterwards were equally as much fun and equally delicious.
Everyone had a chance to make a bun or two. I myself made three buns,
effortlessly and without any smallest problem, especially since the dough and
the filling were brought to my house already prepared, the portions of both
were handed to me, and all I had to do was to tuck the meat neatly inside the
dough and pinch the tops. I love that kind of cooking.
The focus of the dinner
menu was clear – MEAT:
Taiwanese
pork/beef buns
Grilled
pork chops
marinated with grain mustard, olive oil,
white wine vinegar and a mixture of herbs
Sous vide roast beef sirloin
prepared by Makoto
Sous
vide roast pork tenderloin
also prepared by Makoto
Everything was
delicious: buns were extremely soft, steamy, juicy and fragrant; I definitely will
be making them again. Makoto’s sous vide creations were melt-in-your mouth tender,
especially pork; I have never expected
that meat could be so tender.
After dinner Jonas,
Julius and Izzy made sure that all our guests get a healthy dose of exercise.
We had dessert. I drank excessively large amounts of wine, because I obtained
1,5 L bottle of Zinfandel, purposefully for the occasion, and ended up being
the only one drinking it. I was a very nice evening.
Needless to say that
the photos in this post were not taken by Shawn. There were taken by me, using
my embarrassing Fuji FinePix F20, under the influence of all that wine that I
drank. But I promise that in the future things will change. Now that Shawn has
this amazing can-do-it-all tripod, I’ll
try to recruit him as a full time photographer for this blog, and I
expect to be able to present you with the
photos of superb quality. No more of this point-and-shoot mediocrity.
Thanks everyone for
a wonderful time.
And thank you for reading.
Aušra
Taiwanese baked pork
/ beef rolls
Joy’s recipe
Dough:
340 g water
1 package dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
600 g flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
400 g ground pork / beef
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
100 g scallions
To make the dough: dissolve
sugar in lukewarm water. Add yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes until
bubbly. Mix salt into flour. Add yeast/sugar mixture to flour/salt mixture and
work into a smooth dough ball. Let rise for 30 minutes.
To make the filling: add spices
to the meat. Mix well. Place into fridge until read to make the buns. Chop scallions
and add them to the meat mixture right before making the buns.
To make the buns: preheat oven
to 375oF. Lightly grease baking sheet with a little bit of oil. Divide
dough and filling into 16 equal portions. Take one portion of the dough, shape
into a flat round, thinner at the edges and thicker in the center. Place one
portion of the filling onto a dough round and start tucking the meat filling in
by pinching the outside edges of the dough, encircling the filling with dough wrapper.
Brush the tops of the buns with water. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Let buns
rise for about 20 minutes*. Bake buns
for 20 minutes. Open oven door every 5 – 10 minutes for about 5 – 10 seconds,
to let out the accumulated moisture. Buns taste best if served hot, with some
good soy sauce for dipping.
*This step can be skipped if your kitchen is really warm, since the dough
will be rising while you are shaping the buns.
Taivanietiškos mielinės bandelės su kiauliena arba
jautiena
Joy receptas
Tešlai:
340 g vandens
2 šaukšteliai
sausų mielių
3 šaukštai
cukraus
600 g miltų
3/4 šaukštelio
druskos
Įdarui:
400 g kiaulienos arba jautienos
faršo
1 šaukštas
sojų padažo
1 šaukštas sesamo
aliejaus
1 šaukštas ryžių vyno
1 šaukštas cukraus
1/2 šaukštelio
druskos
1/2 šaukšto
maltų juodųjų pipirų
100 g svogūnų laiškų
Paruošti tešlą: cukrų ištirpinti šiltame vandenyje. Suberti mieles ir palikti maždaug 5 minutėms, kol
pradės putoti. Sumaišyti miltus ir druską. Į sausus ingredientus supilti
vandens/cukraus/mielių mišinį, viską gerai išmaišyti, kol tešla taps vienalytė
ir minkšta. Tešlą suformuoti į rutulį. Palikti maždaug 30 minučių, kad pakiltų.
Paruošti įdarą: į faršą suberti visus prieskonius. Prieš pat
formuojant bandeles, smulkiai supjaustyti svogūnų laiškus ir suberti į faršą.
Išmaišyti.
Bandelės: Orkaitę įkaitinti iki 190oC. Aliejumi plonai patepti
žemą plačią kepimo skardą. Tešlą ir įdarą padalinti į 16 vienodų porcijų. Iš
vienos tešlos porcijos suformuoti plokščią diskelį, storesnį viduryje, plonesnį
kraštuose. Ant diskelio dėti 1 porciją mėsos įdaro. Suformuoti bandelę,
apsukant įdarą tešla ir viršuje užspaudžiant tešlos kraštus. Bandelių viršų patepti
vandeniu ir apibarstyti sezamo sėklomis. Bandeles palikti 20 minučių, kad
pakiltų*.
Kepti 20 minučių. Maždaug kas 5 – 10 minučių praverti orkaitės dureles ir jas palikti atviras maždaug 5 – 10 sekundžių, kad iš orkaitės išeitų susikaupę garai. Iškeptas bandeles traukti
iš orkaitės. Bandelės skaniausios kol dar karštos; tiekti su geros kokybės sojų padažu.
*bandelilų kildinti nebūtina, jeigu
virtuvėje yra labai šilta.