Green bean pancakes

Basically instead of red bean pancakes , I used green beans ... Because I didn't have red beans at home !!!

So adapted from christines recipes again. And it was a real success. I just didn't do the deep fry bit at the end because I don't like deep frying.

Ingredients

Green bean paste

130 grams green bean paste made from
Dry/ raw Green beans 1 unit
Water 3 units + more for soaking

Pancake

1 cup plain flour (all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons glutinous rice flour
1 cup water
2 eggs
1tsp sugar optional
1/2 tsp salt optional

Caramel sauce
Oil spray
Oil for frying (liquid)
Sugar

apparently the glutinous rice flour makes it easier to roll. Not sure if true but I'll believe it.

Method:

1. a. Prepare green beans: Use a unit measure to determine amount of water to cook in later. Soak in a good amount of water for at least 4 hrs ie cover the beans at least I did it in the morning before going to work and 8 hrs later when i came home, it was ready. I guess it could be overnight. But then... It'll be soaking for 12 hrs.. Might make then super soft after cooking .

Rinse with tap water to get rid of any husks fallen off, grit and other dirt before cooking.

b. Cook green beans: ratio is 1:3 by volume raw green bean to water for cooking. I cooked in a rice cooker. I imagine you could do this in a pot like boiling rice the evaporative method until beans are soft and all water is evaporated.

When the rice cooker stopped cooking as per it's usual automatic turn off, i added some sugar to taste and roughly mashed up the beans into a lumpy paste with a wooden fork and spoon.. Wood so it didn't hurt the non stick coating of my rice cooker.

Set aside.

I actually thought the paste was a bit too thick and lumpy for my liking .even though the beans were just right and soft - mushy. Might add some milk or water to make it more paste ish, but might make it harder to wrap later ...


2. Make the pancakes: Whisk eggs with water first. Then add sifted plain flour and glutinous rice flour and whisk. Sprinkle optional salt and sugar. Mix well. Add more water if batter is not thin enough. Should be thin to nectar thick

3. Heat a nonstick frying pan over low heat. Use spray oil when pan is warm. If pan is too hot , you won't have enough time to swirl the batter so the batter covers the whole base of pan and make a nice thin, round pancake. .. Because the pancake would've cooked already.

Add a soup ladle of mixture near the edge/ the side of the pan and immediately swirl frying pan with a circle motion to spread the batter evenly on the pan.

Fry the batter on other side until done, but don’t fry until brown.

Remove from heat and place on a big flat plate or cooling rack.

Put red bean paste in the middle of the pancake and fold sides to form a rectangular roll .


4. Heat 1 tb olive oil, sprinkle with sugar to make a caramel sauce on high heat. Put red bean pancake rolls in caramel to soak up the sauce. Flip to cover the whole roll.

Dish up , slice into 1.5 cam widths and eat.


Next time I think I might just plain pan fry until brown then roll in a plate of white sugar... Or just eat as is without the 2nd pan fry

Hot Cross Buns (Tangzhong) SUCCESS

So after failing twice using Christine's recipes (sightly modified at times) for hot cross buns, I decided to go and create my own recipe like I usually do - of course, using what I've learnt in food chemistry and food science.

If only someone could research and publish in a proper scientific journal on the 65°C / Tangzhong / Water Roux. Anyhoo, putting away my scientific side...

So, started googling, found a few interesting articles about Tangzhong, which is apparently also called 'Water Roux'. Also some confusion about the origins of this method - supposed to have originated from Yvonne Chen, who some believe are Chinese, whilst others believe is Japanese. I wonder Yvonne would say. Or is this another great example of how people just can't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese? *Sigh*. 'Chen' to me sounds like a pretty typical Chinese name, not sure how the Hiragana (Japanese) would work for 'Chen', there is just no sound for 'che'...unless its 'chi' + little 'e', I guess.