Rice Noodle Roll

Rice noodle roll or steamed rice roll is a Cantonese dish from Southern China including Hong Kong. Rice noodle roll is commonly served as snack, small meal or as a variety of dim sum.
There are various way to serve rice noodle roll from sweet to savory. In Malaysia and Singapore cuisine, many people prefer serving steamed rice roll with sweet sauce.

This is my simple version of rice noodle roll.

Ingredients
300gm rice flour
3 tbsp wheat starch
4 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
950 mls water

Wheat starch. You can get this flour from any Asian store.

1/ Mix rice flour, wheat starch and corn starch together.
2/ Add water slowly and stir continuously. Sieve the mixture.
3/ Add oil and salt, then mix thoroughly, keep batter aside for at least an hour.

4/ Prepare steamer and grease 10" non stick pizza pan. Steam the empty pan for 1 min.

5/ When water is boiling, ladle and spread a thin layer of 200ml batter onto the hot pan, steam for about 4 mins on high heat.

6/ Remove from steamer, leave it for 30 seconds and use a plastic scrapper to scrape the side.

7/  Remove the rice roll onto a plastic mat or greased tray with the top of the rice roll facing down.
Scrape the pan and grease again before steaming the next sheet of rice noodle.

8/  Roll the rice roll like swiss rolls.
Optional: you can fold the rice noodle sheet to 2" wide instead of rolling it.

Cooked rice roll can be cling wrap and keep in fridge for 3 to 4 days.

The thickness of the rice noodle should be very thin 1/8" or else it will have a gummy taste.

Sweet sauce A
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp black soya sauce
1/2 cup water
3 tsp sugar
2 tsp soya sauce

Mix all the ingredients together and cool till boil. Mix 1/2 tsp corn flour with 1 tbsp of water, add to sweet sauce and mix well. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Hoisin sauce

Sweet sauce B
50 mls water
50 mls light soya sauce
2 tsp sugar
Dash of sesame oil

Mix all the ingredients together and cook till boil.

 Condiments to be serve with rice noodle roll

Fried garlic.
Chopped the garlic and fry with oil till crispy and golden brown.

Fried dried shrimp.
Wash dried shrimp and pat dry with kitchen towel. Heat up oil and fry the dried shrimp until crispy.

Toast 2 tbsp sesame seed in non stick pan until fragrant using low/ medium heat.

Toasted sesame seeds

Sesame seed is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, prized as an oil seed for at least 5,000 years. While it is beginning to regain favor due to its exceptionally high calcium and magnesium content, few realize it is also one of the most potent medicinal foods still commonly consumed today.

Women in ancient Babylon were believed to use a mixture of honey and sesame seeds (havla) to prolong youth and beauty, and Roman soldiers ate the mixture for strength and energy.

Sesame seed include a combination of vitamins and minerals which make it one of the healthiest foods in the world. Sesame seed is good for your hair, skin and eyes.

Chopped spring onions/ scallions

Beside providing unique taste and flavor to the dish,  spring onions are loaded with essential nutrient. But don't eat too much spring onions if you are interested in gaining weight.

Popular breakfast food in Malaysia and Singapore. Simple version of rice noodle roll with sweet sauce  (A ) and toasted sesame seed. You can add tabasco chilli sauce if you like.

Rice noodle roll is smooth and slippery. Best to serve while its warm.

Another way of serving rice noodle roll, sprinkle dried prawn, sesame seed, spring onions and drizzle with sweet sauce (A.)  If you  like, you can drown the rice noodle with more sauce. 

Serve rice noodle roll with stir fry prawn, garlic oil, chopped spring onion and drizzle with sweet sauce ( B.)
Season prawn with soya sauce, pepper, sugar, hua tiaw chiew ( chinese wine ) and stir fry with garlic.
Sprinkle some cooked prawn on the cooked rice noodle and roll like swiss roll or fold flat.

One of the best sunrise meal which doesn't split your waistline. Enjoy!

Have a nice week ahead. Cheers.
Amelia

Some people call it "French toast...!"

The popular history behind French toast (aka German toast, American toast, Spanish toast) is that it was was created by medieval European cooks who needed to use every bit of food they could find to feed their families. They knew old, stale bread (French term *pain perdu* literally means *lost bread*) could be revived when moistened and heated.

Cooks would have added eggs for additional moisture and protein. Medieval recipes for "french toast" also suggest this meal was enjoyed by the wealthy. Cook books at this time were written by and for the wealthy.

These recipes used white bread (the very finest, most expensive bread available at the time) with the crusts cut off, something a poor, hungry person would be unlikely to do.

French can can dancer. I don't mean this one........

French Toast with caramelized banana

Actually recipes for "French toast" can be traced to Ancient Roman times.

French toast with caramelized banana
4 slices of bread
2 large eggs
1/4 cup whip cream
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon castor sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest - grated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter

For Caramelizeds
1/2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 bananas, slice into 2 pieces

French Toast Batter
1/  Combine eggs, whip cream, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
2/  Cut each slice of bread into 2 pieces. Dip each bread slice into batter allowing to soak for about 30 seconds.
3/  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

4/  Add 2 bread slices and grill slightly until egg mixture is sealed to bread, approximately 30 seconds each side. Dip the bread back in egg mixture, coating each side.
5/  Place the bread back in skillet and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side.
6/  Repeat with remaining slices.

Fancy breakfast. Picture compliments from a friend.

Caramelized Bananas
1/  Combine 1/2 tablespoons butter and brown sugar in a non stick pan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and bubbles.
2/  Add lemon juice using low heat, simmering until mixture thickens, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3/  Add bananas and cook until glazed and caramelized, about 1 minute.
4/  Serve the caramelized banana with the french toast.

Caramelized bananas

French toast with caramelized bananas

ORIGIN OF BREAD

12,000 years ago, primitive people made flat breads by mixing flour and water and placing these "cakes" in the sun to bake. Later, bread was baked on heated rocks or in the hot ashes of a fire.

It was the Egyptians who are credited with using a 'starter' of wild yeast from the air that was kept and mixed with other dough and baked to create a leavened product. Legend has it that a slave in a royal Egyptian household forgot about some dough he had set aside. When he returned, it had doubled in size. Trying to hide the mistake, the dough was punched down furiously and baked. The result was a lighter bread than anyone had ever tasted.

Ontario, Canada wheat fields

Ontario wheat is grown by over 17,000 producers on one of the most diverse wheat growing landscapes in the world. Over our 100 year history of commercial wheat production in Canada, Ontario has evolved to become the highest quality soft wheat region in North America.

Canadian wheat field

Over the last ten years, Ontario wheat has experienced a transformation from a predominantly rotational crop to one of importance in producers’ commercial crop planning. This has created the annual export availability of upwards of one million tonnes of one of Canada’s best kept secrets - Ontario wheat.

The wheat we buy comes from Canada.

 Grain mill for grinding homemade flour. Pictures compliments from my buddy in KC.

Wheat from KC, USA

Homemade flour

Canadian Cheese Bread

2 tsp sugar
400 ml water, warm
1 envelope (8 g) active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp/11 mL)
70 ml oil
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 large egg, beaten ( Reserved some for egg wash )
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
540gm  ( 4 cups ) bread flour 
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded ( Divide into 4 equal part )

Topping:
Shredded cheddar cheese
Mozzarella cheese

Cheese, yeast and Tabasco sauce

1/  Dissolve sugar in warm water in large bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well.
2/  Beat in oil, salt, Tabasco and egg until smoothly blended. Add Parmesan cheese.
3/  Stir in 2 cups bread flour, mix well. Add the balance flour until mixture becomes too stiff to stir and cleans sides of bowl. Turn out onto lightly floured board.

4/  Knead dough, adding more flour as necessary to make a soft dough. If too dry add a little water. Continue kneading until dough is smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (about 10 minutes).

You can use bread maker to knead the dough using 'dough function' and continue with step 7 to 14.

5/  Place in lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to grease top. Cover with greased waxed paper or tea towel. 6/  Let it rise in warm place until doubled (45 minutes).

7/  Punch down. Turn out onto lightly floured board, divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Rest 10 mins. Roll out one portion of the dough into rectangular shape about 1/2 inch thick, spread 1 part of the cheddar cheese on top the roll out dough.

8/ Fold into three, bring down one third of the dough from the top towards the centre.

9/  Make a half turn so that the open edges on both ends face you and the first fold is at your right. Rest 10 mins, roll out and spread the second part cheddar cheese. Repeat the folding in step 8 and 9. Rest 10 mins.

10/  Roll out into a rectangular shape about 1/2 inch thick and roll like swiss roll. Put in a well greased pan.
Note: Grease pan very well with butter as cheese tends to stick when it melts.

Psssttt.. have you any cheese?

11/  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese.

12/  Bake at 190 deg c for 35 to 40 mins.

13/  Remove the bread from the loaf pan and cool on wire rack.

My fluffy Canadian Cheese bread now ready.......

 Imported designer slipper

14/ For checking done-ness of the bread using the old reliable thump test. This method has been used since goodness knows when, definitely since before ready access to probe thermometers. Using oven mitts or pot holders, take the loaf out of the oven and hold it top side down. With the bottom side up and using your index and middle fingers, firmly tap the loaf. If the resulting thud sounds like tapping on a hollow tree, then the bread is done.

Soft and fluffy bread,  I used this bread for French toast.

In case your toaster not working.....

QUICK NOTE:
1/  To make mini Cheese Loaves: Prepare as above, dividing dough into 6 portions.
2/  Shape and bake in 5" x 2 1/2" x 2" loaf pans. Reduce rising and baking time by approximately 10 minutes.
3/  Mix in 250 g cooked and chopped bacon or ham with the cheese.
4/  Add chopped green onions if desired.

For extra crispy crust, sprinkle generous amount of topping cheese.

Have a nice day, Cheers!