How to Make Hawaiian Buns (Tang Zhong Method) 夏威夷麵包-湯種法

Do you love Hawaiian Buns?  My family is a big fan of these buns!  Today, I want to share this homemade copy cat recipe with you.  After several recipe testing, I have finally ended up with this amazing recipe that our family absolutely loved!  The verdict?  We all agreed that my homemade version is way better than the store bought ones!  After all, it’s quite difficult to beat freshly baked buns that are still warm right out of the oven.  This is especially true since these buns are made with all natural ingredients and packed with amazing sweet aromas!  When you bake these buns, your whole house would smell amazing, like a bakery.  As my Son puts it, these buns are simply irresistible! 



If you had been following my blog for a while, you probably know that I like making bread and buns with the Tang Zhong Method 湯種法.  This Hawaiian Bun recipe is no exception.  Tang Zhong Method is a bread making method that involved a partially cooked dough added into the main bread dough.  This method yields the most amazing soft and fluffy texture of breads and buns.  The most amazing part is that the softness will last for a few days (that is if you haven’t finished these buns by then!)  You can read more about the science behind the Tang Zhong Method by clicking here. 



For the unfinished portions, simply wrap them tightly in plastic wraps.  To reheat, simply unwrap the buns and heat them up for a few seconds in the microwave.  They will be warm and soft just like they are fresh out of the oven!  If you haven’t try the Tang Zhong method of making bread, I highly recommend that you give it a try.  Once you have done it, you would not go back!  
  


To give these Hawaiian Buns their tropical flavor, I used pineapple juice in the bread dough.  They are slightly sweet because of the brown sugar and vanilla extract.  There’s no egg in the bread dough, but I added some custard powder to give these buns a hint richness of egg aromas.  I used custard powder quite often in a few of my other recipes.  It’s a more common ingredient in Asia countries.  Unfortunately,I haven’t seen them in the local supermarkets in the States yet and I always have to order them online.  I’ll list the ingredients and tools used in this recipe below this post for your convenience.



Although these Hawaiian Buns are just perfect the way they are, they are even more irresistible if you put a little butter and let it melt in the middle!  Each bite is simply heavenly!  If you are a Hawaiian Buns lover, you’ve got to give this recipe a try and thank me later!  After trying this recipe, you’ll never go back to the packaged version!



Thank you so much for visiting, stay tuned for more fresh and delicious recipe next week!  Remember, Eat, Drink, and Be Happy!

Ingredients and Tools Used:
9X13 Rectangular Baking Pan (Click here for more information)
Infrared Thermometer (Click here for more information)
Wooden Spatula (Click here for more information)
Dole’s 100% Pineapple Juice (Click here for more information)
Active Dry Yeast (Click here for more information)
Custard Powder (Click here for more information)
Dry Milk Powder (Click here for more information)
Kerrygold Salted Butter (Click here for more information)
Measuring Spoons Set (Click here for more information)
Kitchen Scale (Click here for more information)
Dough/Bench Scraper (Click here for more information)
Silicone Pastry Brush (Click here for more information)
Brown Sugar (Click here for more information)
Stand Mixer (Click here for more information)
Cooling Racks (Click here for more information)
Rolling Mat (Click here for more information)
Rolling Pin (Click here for more information)
Organic Vanilla Extract (Click here for more information)
Heat Proof Measuring Cups (Click here for more information)

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Hawaiian Poke Bowl

Every once in a while, my family loves to dine out and try new restaurants.  We can’t help but noticed one of the latest restaurant trend is Poke Bowl!  It sure seems like there’s a new Poke Bowl restaurant open up every month in the nearby cities!  Poke (pronounced as poʊˈkeɪ) is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine.  Poke is the Hawaiian verb for "section" or "to slice or cut".  Traditionally, the fish/seafood used for poke are ahi tuna, octopus, or salmon.  You can definitely explore and make it with different type of shellfish or seafood that you prefer.  Today, I chose salmon and made the poke with a hint of spiciness.  You can definitely adjust the level of spiciness by adding more or less chili sauce to your liking.



If you follow me on Instragram, you might recall that I shared a picture of my Homemade Salmon Poke a few months ago.  Since some of you asked me about the recipe, I decided that it would be best to share it here on my blog along with a video tutorial.  Thank you for your patience in waiting so long.  Well, what can I say.  This recipe is totally worth the wait!  Also, this Hawaiian Poke Bowl is super easy to prepare and only needs a few ingredients.  It’ll be one of the best poke bowl that you’ll ever eaten, no exaggeration!



The key to a successful Poke Bowl?  Make sure you use the best quality of seafood.  I used the sashimi-grand salmon here and the marinate ingredients for the poke are just a few Asian pantry staples.  I’ll list all these ingredients at the end of this post for your reference.  This recipe is so easy that you can put dinner on the table in less than 15 minutes!  Check out the video at the beginning of this post for the complete tutorial.  You’ll also find out how to make this gorgeous avocado flower as well.  It’s super easy and the creaminess texture of the avocado is the perfect compliment to the slightly tangy and spicy salmon poke as well. 



I hope you enjoy today’s video and recipe.  Please stay tuned for more fun and easy recipe next week.

Ingredients and Tools used:
Light Soy Sauce (Click here for more information)

Rice Vinegar (Click here for more information)
Hawaiian Salt (Click here for more information)

Zojirushi Rice Cooker (Click here for more information)

Japanese Short Grain Rice (Click here for more information)

Sesame Oil (Click here for more information)

Black Sesame Seeds (Click here for more information)

White Sesame Seeds (Click here for more information)
Sriracha (Click here for more information)
 
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel here.  That way, you won’t miss out on any video and you’ll be the first to know when I have a new tutorial published.

Ice Bowl Chilled Udon with Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Egg) 冰鎮烏冬配温泉蛋

Aloha!  If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you might have noticed that my family was in Hawaii this summer.  It was one of our best summer vacation, ever!  Now that we’re back to reality, all of us are suffering from a severe case of VWS, a.k.a, Vacation Withdrawal Syndrome!  Yes, I just made that term up.  You don’t need to Google it!    

While in Hawaii, we visited two islands: Oahu and the Big Island.  I’ll share with you, in other posts in the near future, the details on the places we visited, things we did, and restaurants that we tried and loved!

 

One of the restaurants that we tried was Marukame Udon in Waikiki.  The rating of this place from a popular restaurant review sites was really high.  Of course, we wouldn’t miss the chance to check this place out.  It was near our hotel and we actually passed by this restaurant on a few different occasions.  During the peak lunch and dinner hours, the line outside of the restaurant was super long!  Yes, my kids love udon, but I doubted if they would really love udon that much to patiently stand and wait for more than an hour for a bowl of udon!  So, we planned our visit in the late morning before the lunch rush hour started.  The good news was that we only had to wait about 15 minutes before placing our order (This restaurant offers a semi self-serving type ordering approach that is very similar to cafeteria style).   

To be honest, I was a little bit disappointed by their udon.  My hubby and I both ordered hot udon with beef along with some other side dishes.  The flavor of our beef udon was great, but the udon itself was a bit too soft to our liking.  On the other hand, both of our kids ordered cold udon and that was totally a different story!  The udon was cooked perfectly to el dente, perfectly chilled, super bouncy, and had the wonderful slightly chewy texture that I enjoy in my udon!  Guess the grown up ordered the “wrong” thing!  I have to say though, they have some awesome and delicious side dishes to choose from and the Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Egg) was one of the item that I think is a must try!    

As a result of this restaurant visit, I was inspired to recreate this awesome cold udon recipe!  Let me introduce to you, Ice Bowl Chilled Udon with Onsen Tamago (Hot Spring Egg) 冰鎮烏冬配温泉蛋!  It’s perfect for the hot summer days!  Yes, summer vacation might be over, but the temperature sure is not coming down any time soon!  If you still long for a refreshing recipe that can cool you down instantly, you’ve got to try this one out.  

If you haven’t watch the video tutorial at the top of this post yet, please make sure you don’t miss it.  In the video, I’ll show you step-by-step on how to put this cold udon dish together, including the homemade dipping sauce, the ice bowl that the udon is served in, as well as this super decadent hot spring egg!  The egg is truly the star of this dish and adds so much flavors and decadent aromas to the udon!  Follow my video tutorial closely and you’ll get the perfect hot spring eggs.  The egg white is cooked to perfection, yet the yolk is still runny.  It’s really amazing how you can crack the cooked egg right from its shell onto the serving bowl!  The ice bowl will keep your udon cold while you eat.  Not to mention, it’s a super fun presentation as well.     

If you love spicy food, I highly recommend that you add a small amount of wasabi and mix it into the udon.  It’ll add a nice kick to this dish and balance the flavor perfectly.  I know I’ll be making and enjoying this dish over and over again!  It’ll certainly reminds me of the wonderful summer vacation that we had in Hawaii!  Aloha!

 

Tools and ingredients used:

Instant Dashi Powder (Click here for more information)
Mirin (Click here for more information)

Sesame Oil (Click here for more information)
Light Soy Sauce (Click here for more information)
Wasabi (Click here for more information)
Assorted Floral Chopsticks (Click here to see similar product)
Crane Chopsticks Rest (Click here to see product information)
Bamboo Placemats (Click here for more information) 

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel here.  That way, you won’t miss out on any video and you’ll be the first to know when I have a new tutorial published.

Mango Shaved Ice

My Kids fell in love with shaved ice the very first time I took them to one of those fancy shaved ice places.  You can pretty much order different flavored shaved ice, along with different toppings such as fresh fruit, sprinkles, candies and mochi.  They usually charge you by an arm or a leg...oh, I meant by weight! 

On the other hand, my kids also loved the more traditional Hawaiian version of shaved ice, especially my Son.  He had it at a charity event at school.  I can totally see why the kids love shaved ice so much.  It's cool, usually colorful with the syrup/flavorings, you can hold it in your hand and it's totally okay to make a mess type of treat, etc.



If you've been following my blog for a while, or if you know me personally, you probably knew that flavored syrup and artificial coloring aren't things that I would like to see in my food, nor the kids' food.  I love big flavors, but not from artificial stuffs that I can't pronounce.  So, as I created the homemade version of shaved ice, all natural, organic, and healthy ingredients are on top of the list.



During our Spring break, we went to San Francisco for vacation.  My Hubby's cousin took us to the Google Store and I purchased the Android ice cube tray (see picture below and click here for product information).  Since my fridge have the ice cube dispenser, I used this ice cube tray for "flavored ice" instead.  To be more specific, mango juice ice cubes.



Simply pour your favorite mango juice, or mango nectar, into the tray. Let them freeze until completely hardened.  And you've got mango juice ice cubes.  Not only they are perfect in this mango shaved ice recipe, you can also add them to your mango juice or cocktails.  Your drink will stay nice and chilled without getting diluted by regular ice cubes.



Since I'm making quite a lot of shaved ice and I only have one ice cube tray, I made some extra mango juice ice cubes in a more efficient way.  Simply pour the mango juice into freezer safe containers, cover and freeze for 3 to 4 hours, depending on the size.  I took the container out and cut the mango ice into cubes before they are completely frozen because that's way easier to cut.  Then you can freeze the cut out cubes until they are completely hardened afterwards.




Besides my little helpers, I have some special kitchen tools to help me out with this Mango Shaved ice.  My kids had been requesting for shaved ice for a while.  Instead of spending $6 to $8 a bowl at the shave ice store, the little machine below is quite a good bargain.  I tried the manual snow cone machine in the past and they don't quite really work, except that you get a pretty good upper arm workout out from those.  But for shaved ice, this little machines works beautifully. Simply drop the ice cubes, or mango ice cubes in this case, and twist the lid to turn on the machine and you've got mango shaved ice.  I can't resist but to get the paper snow cone cups and straws as well.  They are just adorable and so much fun to use.  I say, they are perfect for summer parties too.  You can check out the machine here, and the cups set here.




You can serve the Mango Shaved Ice the traditional way, in the paper cone and a straw.  You don't need to add any syrup as the mango ice cubes are already sweet enough and very flavorful.




However, it's always nice to add a little more fresh fruit on top of the shaved ice, just like those in the fancy shaved ice cafes.  My favorite Ataulfo Mangos are in season now, so, that's what I added, along with some fresh strawberries.




Of course, you can top with anything that you fancy for.  I love to keep it simple and use what I have in the fridge and in season. 

I hope you enjoy today's post and recipe.  Stay tuned for more fun recipes in the future and stay cool!





Tools and Props Used in this Post:

Android Ice Cube Tray (Click here for more information)
Snow Cone Machine (Click here for more information)
Snow Cone Cups and Straws (Click here for more information)
Pyrex Baking Dish with Lid (Click here for more information)
Small Cutting Board with handle (Click here for more information)
Small Bamboo Spoon (Click here to see similar product)
Ice Cream/Snow Cone Stand (Click here for more information)