Breadmaker black sesame hee pan (kikaku)

My clients are getting sick of just baking bread with their Donlim breadmaker. So they are asking if I can come up with more recipes, other than bread. Yesterday, I made soft and fluffy banana and walnut cake with it. This morning I made these Hakka delicacies with the breadmaker. I kneaded the dough and let it proof in the breadmaker, then steamed them in the steamer. The lil' fella loved them. He had about 2-3 of them. I had 3 myself. We love the chewiness but at the same time, also fluffy, especially when warm. 

This is a sponge dough recipe. It requires additional steps of preparation. I have made some simple dough method, but I felt that the texture of the kikaku is quite dense, so I have always prefer those made with this sponge dough. You can refer to those easier ones if you felt that this recipe is a little too cumbersome for you. Here's the link for the easier straight dough recipe. 

Sponge dough: 

• 1tsp active dry yeast 
• 200g all purpose flour
• 150g black sesame drink / pandan juice (if making a pandan heepan) 

Combine all ingredients. Cover and proof overnight at room temperature. 

Main dough: 

• 100g all purpose flour (I have used 85g all purpose flour + 15g cornflour) 
• 150g glutinous rice flour 
• 125g water / pandan juice (if making a pandan heepan) 
• 125g sugar (I've replaced with 75g brown sugar) 
• 1/2 tsp active dry yeast 
• Some oil for rubbing on palms when moulding the hee pan later on. 

1. Place all ingredients, including the sponge dough into the breadpan. Select mode no. 6 for knead (和面）。 Press Start 启动/停止。Let it knead for 10minutes. Press Stop 启动/停止。 
2. Select mode no. 8 for Proof (发酵）。 Adjust TIME 时间 to 01:00 (1 hour). 
3. After an hour, bring dough out of breadpan. Punch out trapped air. Shape into 50g ball and place on a steam paper or banana leaf. Press to flatten. 
4. Let proof for another 15min. Steam on medium heat for 10min. 

中文翻译

面种: 

• 1tsp 酵母 
• 200g 普通面粉
• 150g 黑芝麻奶 

在一个碗内将以上材料混合。盖上保险纸 ， 放在室内室温发酵过夜。 

主面团：

• 100g　普通面粉 （我用85g 普通面粉 + 15g 生粉) 
• 150g 糯米粉
• 125g 水
• 125g 糖 (我只用了75g 黄糖) 
• 1/2 tsp 酵母 
• 油　（整形的时候抹在手板上用）　

1. 将所有材料，包括面种，放入面包桶内。启动菜单 6  和面。 和面 10分钟，按停止。　 
2. 启动菜单 8  (发酵）。 调整时间为１小时。　按启动／停止。　 
3. 一小时之后，　将面团取出。敲打以将空气敲走。　将面团分成50克的小圆形，　放在香蕉叶上压扁。　
4. 发酵15分钟. 中火蒸10分钟。　 

Pandan kikaku (hee pan) (sponge dough)

Pardon me for the poor photo taken, was trying to show how fluffy this was.

I've been making kikaku (or known as hakka hee pan) a lot lately, but it just seems that the recipes I tried (I tried two similar recipes) aren't soft enough. They are chewy but not exactly fluffily soft. Then I come across one that Wendy (from Wendy's Small Small World) made and she claimed that the recipe was a keeper and the hee pan came out seriously soft and fluffy. I had a look through the instructions, the sponge dough (or starter dough) needs to be kept overnight at room temperature, then another four-hour proof when mixed with the rest of the ingredients.. hm.. reading this, I somehow, had a feeling it is gonna be soft. I decided that I wanted to do it, and I got some pandan (screwpine) leaves cos I wanted to make a soft and fragrant one.

I prepared pandan soymilk by pureeing about 5 pieces of pandan leaves with 1 cup of fresh unsweetened soymilk. My blender can blend the leaves till really smooth fiber-free, so I didn't even sieve the mixture. Even though pandan leaves are mostly used for fragrance where we are, they are actually quite a nutritious and antioxidant-rich plant. Screwpine foliage is rich in antioxidant  flavonoids and, as a result, is thought to have anti-cancer properties. This benefit is attained by consuming the leaves in rice, soup, as a wrap, or in desserts. The foliage is used as an arthritic pain reliever and an antiseptic for healing wounds and skin disorders, including leprosy and acne. Diabetics and those that suffer from ulcers may also find it to be beneficial. Read more about this here.

The pandan soymilk blend that I prepared was partly used for this recipe and the leftover portion was used for my soft and fragrant pandan raisin bun.

Here's the recipe for my pandan kikaku (hee pan) using the sponge dough method

Recipe adapted from Wendy's Small Small World

Sponge dough:

1tsp dry instant active yeast
200 g all purpose flour
150g pandan soymil

Mix the above. Cover and proof overnight at room temperature. (I didn't do this overnight, I did it for about 4hrs during the day, at room temperature).

Main dough:

100g all purpose flour
150g glutinous rice flour
125g water
125g sugar (I cut this down to 5tbsp ie 75g)

*I also added 1tbsp grapeseed oil when kneading this dough

a bit of red coloring (I omitted this)
some oil for rubbing on palms while moulding the hee pan.

Mix the sponge dough and the main dough together, knead till soft.
Cover and prove for another 4hours. (I did this for about 2.5hrs)
Then shaped 50g each and place on a banana leaf.
Let proved for another 15mins, steamed at medium heat for 10mins.

Verdict: Like what Wendy mentioned, this recipe is definitely a keeper, thumbs up! The hee pan were softer and fluffier than the previous recipes I tried. But it's not for those who are short of time, cos it requires preparation in advanced.

Purple sweet potato kikaku (hee pan)

This morning I steamed some nice purple sweet potato and turned them into puree, which I then used in bread, sauce for my son's cheese-baked-rice and lastly, reserved some for this. As I got home all ready to make my purple color kikaku (or hee pan), I just realized I only have 30g of sugar left and only 50g of this sweet potato puree. Arghhhh!! And I really wanted to make them, so I made do with whatever I had and they still come out lovely. This is the recipe that I innovated with whatever I had left in my kitchen, adapted from this original recipe:

 

• 125g all purpose flour, sifted
• 125g glutinous rice flour, sifted 
•  30g brown sugar, sifted
• 1tsp instant active dry yeast
• 50g purple sweet potato puree
• 170g sweetened soymilk 
• 1.5 tbsp. virgin coconut oil  

1. Mix all ingredients, except for oil, until texture turns into a dough. Slowly drizzle in veg oil and knead till smooth.
2. Grab about 60g of the dough and knead into small ball.   
3. Place on baking paper (or banana leaves, in my case, I used cupcake liner).
4. Cover up and let it proof for 30min. (In my case, I let it proof in an enclosed oven, not on)  
5. Steam on medium low heat for 10min.

*Note

• Do not poof for too long, over-proved dough will turn wrinkly. Some sources from the other bloggers proof for 30min. But the problem is they never mention how to know when the kikaku is ready to be steamed.  
• Once the kikaku has been steamed for 10min, lift the lid to a little gap to allow the steam to release, this is to avoid sudden drop in temperature which will turn the kikaku wrinkly.

I don't even have photos taken of these lovely purple color sweet potato. All I have is this, photo of my little fella munching on them, or more like playing with it.

 

 

Pumpkin kikaku with homemade mung bean paste

Yes, it's kikaku again. Second time in a week.

 

I loved the texture, it's somewhere in between of mochi and steamed cupcakes. But I wasn't very pleased with my first try, whereby the kikaku turned out to be wrinkly. I suspected that I have either over-proved it*, or I have steamed it for too long.

 

I also did a little adjustment to the recipe after reading up a little about it. Tada!! Check out the photos! Texture wise, I love this even more. It still has that chewiness, which I love, and it's softer this time.

 

 

Here's the adjusted recipe (this recipe makes about 9 kikaku, weighing 55-60g each, without the filling)

 

• 125g all purpose flour, sifted
• 125g glutinous rice flour, sifted 
• 60g brown sugar, sifted
• 1tsp instant active dry yeast
• 100g pumpkin puree
• 120g water
• 1.5 tbsp. oil  

1. Mix all ingredients, except for veg oil, until texture turns into a dough. Slowly drizzle in veg oil and knead till smooth.
2. Grab about 55-60g of the dough and knead into small ball. Roll it into a flat round disk using a rolling pin, wrap about 1-2tbsp of mung bean filling in it, seal and form a round shape.  
3. Place on baking paper (or banana leaves, in my case, I used cupcake liner).
4. Cover up and let it proof for 30min. (In my case, I let it proof in an enclosed oven, not on)  
5. Steam on medium low heat for 10min.

*Note

• Do not poof for too long, over-proved dough will turn wrinkly. Some sources from the other bloggers proof for 30min. But the problem is they never mention how to know when the kikaku is ready to be steamed.  
• Once the kikaku has been steamed for 10min, lift the lid to a little gap to allow the steam to release, this is to avoid sudden drop in temperature which will turn the kikaku wrinkly.

Homemade mung bean paste filling

• 1cups of mung bean
• 100g pumpkin
• 2-3tbsp molasses sugar (adjust this to your own preference)

1. Soak mung beans for 2-4hours prior to cooking.
2. Cook pumpkin and mung bean until soft and mushy. In a blender, puree both pumpkin and mung bean. Sweeten with molasses sugar.
3. Keep in refrigerator.

On the way to nanny's, this is what he does when I asked him to smile for the camera :)

Pumpkin kikaku 南瓜喜板

Even though my mom is Hakka and she cooks lots of great Hakka delicacies, and my husband's family is Hakka, and they too cooks superb Hakka dishes, I have never tried kikaku before (they call this a Hakka dish)..hmmm... I wonder.

 

But both my son and I fall in love with it the first time we tried it. It's not exactly fluffy like pao, it's more to chewy and soft. I cut down the sugar content from the original recipe, and I made this in the morning for our breakfast. I must have been rushing, that's why my kikaku didn't come out smooth, arghh.. but it tasted good still nonetheless. One recipe yielded about 15-16 kikaku, so we had them for breakfast, left some for hubby and maid and brought the rest to the nanny's. Must thank my friend Yunicko for introducing me the recipe.

 

 

 

Here's the recipe, this recipe yields about 15-16 kikaku

• 150g all purpose flour
• 125g glutinous rice flour
• 80g sugar (I only used 60g brown sugar)
• 1tsp instant active dry yeast
• 120g pumpkin puree (pumpkin, steam-cooked and pureed) 
• 100g water
• 1tbsp vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil)

1. Mix all ingredients, except for veg oil, until texture turns into a dough. Slowly drizzle in veg oil and knead till smooth.
2. Grab about 50g of the dough and knead into small ball and place on baking paper (or banana leaves, in my case, I used cupcake liner).
3. Cover up and let it proof for about an hour*. (I let mine proof in an enclosed oven, not on)
4. Steam for 10min.

*Note:

I did a little research after seeing that my kikaku didn't turn out to be smooth like how it should be, here's what you should take note on:

• Do not poof for too long, over-proved dough will turn wrinkly. Some sources from the other bloggers proof for 30min. But the problem is they never mention how to know when the kikaku is ready to be steamed.  
• Once the kikaku has been steamed for 10min, lift the lid to a little gap to allow the steam to release, this is to avoid sudden drop in temperature which will turn the kikaku wrinkly.