Japanese Baked Pastry - MATCHA MANJU

This is my second take on Japanese pastry - MANJU, while I enjoy the steamed version of MANJU, I tasted a very tasty baked KURI MANJU (MANJU with chestnuts and red bean paste) the other week. It was for Japanese food bazaar.  It tasted so good.  I want to try making it myself, except I don't have cooked chestnuts, so this is MATCHA Bean Paste MANJU.  

This is not a very good recipe that I tried.  I got it from one of the YouTube blogger.  But nevertheless, it's worth studying.
Makes 8 to 10
Bean Filling:
Drain two cans of white kidney beans - Cannelini Beans - 15.5 oz or 435g - drained and rinsed.
1/2 C sugar in food processor, 1 Tbsp MATCHA powder, add strained beans.
Process till smooth.
Over a low heat in a small pot, with a heat proof spatula, heat the bean paste until it can hold up on a spoon without spreading off.  Basically heat over low heat to dehydrate the watery paste good enough to form into ball shape.
With 1 inch cookie dough scoop or with hand, form the bean paste into a ball.
Option is to buy Red Bean paste (AZUKI) from Asian market - heat over low heat to dehydrate enough to form into balls.
DOUGH:
Shift 3-1/2 oz Cake Flour Plus 1/2 C more for kneading with 1/2 tsp baking soda.
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt.
Food Processor:  1 whole large egg, 1-1/2 Tbsp butter, soft; 1/2 tsp water; Add 3-1/2 oz shifted flour.  Process till dough forms.
Place in a plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 min.
Take the dough out on a floured work surface and knead the rest of 1/2 C cake flour in.
Roll into 1 inch rope.  Slice into 8 to 10 pieces.  Roll into balls.
Cover and rest for 15 min.
Take one dough and flatten between the palms of your hand into a disc.  While the dough disc is still in the center or your palm, place filling in the middle.  Cuddle the dough around the filling and start working the dough by slow push upward with the palm while hold down the filling with right fingers.  Slowly turn the dough while cuddling upward and pushing filling down until the opening closes.
Place on top of baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silpat.
Preheat oven to 325'F after making six.
Prepare Egg Wash:  1 large beaten egg yolk mixed with 2 tsp of milk.  Apply egg wash.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if you have any.
Bake at 325'F for 10 min*, then raise the temperature to 400'F and bake for 10 min* or just till the top browns beautifully.   Be mindful of your oven's BTU power - Your MANJU might get browned beautifully after 15 min at 325'F.

I think I like the steam MANJU better.  And I think I need to study different dough formula.
It was fun.

Homemade Bagels and Pretzels

Lions and tigers and Bagels and Pretzels... they are the best when they are homemade.. of course, not the lions and tigers, but just like the home baked Matcha Hokkaido Loaves, you don't have to be concern with this and that unwanted additives.
Simple combinations of ingredients - flour, yeast, water, and your favorite toppings would satisfy your family's cravings for the chewy soft pretzel snacks or breakfast bagels.

 

 

Cover and let dough rise double in size. 

Bench Rest 5 min. after portioning.

Form into shape.  Place on top of Silpat.

 Cover with slightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise 1-1/2 time its size.

 Bring a pot of water to boil, then, bring down to simmer.
Carefully pick up a dough off the Silpat with flat strainer ladle and scoop the dough into simmering water.

 Cook 2 min. each side.
Remove to Silpat.  Preheat oven to 450.
When, the dough are bit cool-not steaming, apply egg wash.  In my case, because I forgot to add the chopped Japapeno into dough, I sprinkled them on top of the egg washed bagel dough.

 Ready for baking in hot preheated oven.

 Do the same for Pretzels.

 After applying egg wash, sprinkle poppy seeds and maybe a bit of coarse sea salt, for example.

 Bake!

 Yum!!!

 Awesome!

 The next morning? naaa... let's cut one open ... Wow! nice texture.

 Let's get some homemade Prickly Pear jelly and avocado slices.

 Let's bite into it!

 Pretzel is just as tasty with Deli mustard!

How about a chocolate dipped pretzels, the next time?

Cooking with Curly Parsley and Fennel Greens

I found a new delicious way to make a great fried rice or dish using curly parsley and fennel greens. I never though I would use the fennel greens.  I was wondering about it for a long time.  I've seen some chef use it sparingly as a deco like in fennel salad.  But as it turned out, it tastes delicious in my dish. 
Be sure to wash all greens.  I soak them in salted water for a while, then, rinse them to my heart content to make sure that I rinse out as much pesticide or what not.  I do this to all produce whether they are organic or from my own garden... You heard about the incidents of rat lungworm disease in Hawaii recently?  Can't drop our guard. 

 I also used Cilantro in this dish.  Chop everything to nice bite size 1/2 inch or less.

 

Here I made 'OMELETTO' rice.   Cook the rice.  Set aside.  Stir fry parsley - about 1 min.

Add fennel and cilantro greens (stems, too).  Stir fry for 1 min.  Add cooked rice.   Add seasoning.

 Ha! the red stripes are Ketchup... unfortunately it splattered out of the bottle.  It's just for me, so I just spread the love around.

 Beat 2 eggs and make the omelette egg shell -- like Crepe.   If you would like, place the egg crepe in a bowl to form a mold.

You got the idea - then, fill the egg crepe, fold and reverse it onto a plate to serve.
Kids love the mystery rice.
I also fried some cut onions.  Set aside.  Stir fry thinly sliced chicken breast.  Stir fry with wine, then add soy sauce, sugar, then, add parsley, fennel green.  Season to your taste.

I served it with my omelette rice #2.
I also made Parsley Cilantro Hamburger.  It was so tasty!!  You know how to do this in your kitchen easy.

I definitely would make this hamburger again.  Parsley and Cilantro are inexpensive, and they turned out to be one of my favorite ingredients in my dish.

DAIKON Slicing Practice

So impressed by Japanese chef's knife skill in cutting DAIKON, I thought I would like to try it myself.  While I do not have the same straight knife to cut with, I think I did it pretty 'okay'.

 Slice the DAIKON - about 4 inches in length or the length my hand can handle, I place the knife straight against it and begin slicing it as though I am slicing off the apple peel.  I keep on rotating DAIKON carefully to not break the slicing.  Then, place it on the cutting board, julienne slice it.  I took the video of it, but not sure where it went.  But, Voila!

 I pickled them.  

Polly's Matcha MANJU Adventure with Butternut Squash Filling

Do you ever get inspired by TV drama involving food?   While I was watching this Japanese drama about a young lady who end up working as an apprentice in a Japanese pastry shop in ASAKUSA, Japan - MANGETSUDO (fictitious), I got fascinated by the tiny cute and beautiful life like pastries in the shape of flower, fruits, etc,... filled with sweet fillings.  It is amazing that even for an event, this shop's top pastry chef and assistant would make all MANJU by hand every single day - hundreds of them... well, it's a TV drama,  But you never know... they may be able to do so.  It is hard to believe such a shop would exist today, but that will be a prize find.   It is mostly made by machine today, I am guessing, but regardless, I thought I would like to try making one.  I don't normally eat MANJU because the filling is too sweet to my taste.  But if I make it myself, I thought I could control the sweetness and what to use. 
There is no recipe for this... I just made it up.  
Or follow this one: https://www.thespruce.com/manju-japanese-steamed-cake-with-sweet-red-bean-filling-2031082

Some pastry flours - I believe was one cup, a tablespoon of natural Matcha (green tea powder - not for the smoothie type fake green powder with food color), a bit of salt, a bit of sugar, a 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder, and just enough water to mix and form into a tender dough.
Filling:  Roasted butternut squash.  Strained and cooked with sugar (as much as I liked) until thick paste is formed.
Hold a small wad of the dough about a tablespoon size between palms and round it into a ball, then, squash, then, fingers with thumbs inward, start to stretch the dough in a circular motion. Form into a thin disc and enclose the filling.  In this testing the dough was not rolled out thin enough.  During my testing, about 4 mm or 3 mm is ideal.  I also made the size even smaller for a bite size.
Place the formed Mnaju on pre-cut organic parchment paper squares.
Steam for 10 min.

I used strained butternut squash, sweetened with sugar.  Cooked to evaporate moisture until thick consistency.

I can see that the dough needs to be more thin... may be 3mm would be better.

But the flavor or butternut squash is wonderful.   I now found another replacement to the normal overly sweetened red bean paste that is sold at the grocery stores.   Sure, you could make them fresh yourself, but red beans are something I don't really like to work with.  I watched it on TV that after they boil them, they smash them and strain them, then add sugar and knead them over the heat until moisture is reduced so the red bean paste are in perfect density.   But I like the butternut squash replacement.  It's my new finding.

This one is with Blueberries.   I added a couple of blueberries with butternut squash.
Yum!  the tangy taste of blueberries made the butternut squash even better.