INTRODUCTION

I posted this Chinese/Asian cookie in the Facebook Group, sit down and proceed to write my post on Kuih Koya or mung beans cookies. I can’t proceed as there are too many comments on this cookie and members of Facebook Groups are requesting for recipe. I have therefore decided to issue this recipe today…

There is no food history for this cookie. Apparently, it is a Chinese or Japanese cookie. In Japanese, it is called Tamago Boro. The  Chinese name is also rather fun called : Wang Zhai Little Mantou （旺仔小馒头）。

Do not ask me why the name is as such or who is this little Wan Zhai, I do not have the answer..But apparently, it is the name of a company in China and it is a listed company that have a website and you may want to have a look at http://wzxmt.want-want.com/

I believed most parents will know this snack.. and in fact parents usually gave these little cuties to their babies who just grow their teeth and looking for something to bite.. It is a process of teeth grinding for the babies to get use to it.. It is full of egg aroma, crispy and easy soften by saliva when inside the mouth and therefore ideal for babies.

I have to be frank that this recipe will not produce exactly the same type of little mantou that are commercially sold.  It is slightly more dense and less aromatic. However, I believed that it is still a good recipe because of its simple ingredients without fats which is good for babies and we know exactly what is in the baby bite as compared to those commercially sold. 

In the Chinese Wikipedia equivalent, Baike – 旺仔小馒头.  it was listed there are 3 recipes for the preparation of this snack, two of which uses ammonia bicarbonate (臭粉）， a type of leavening agent that were used to improve the texture and crunchiness of a bake. That possibly explained the denser texture of this homemade snack.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe adapted from: 小巧可爱—旺仔小馒头

Servings: Prepare about 50 – 60 snacks

• 120 grams of potatoes starch （马铃薯淀粉）
• 10 grams of corn starch (optional) （玉米淀粉）- can be substitute with potatoes starch
• 55 grams of milk powder （奶粉）
• 25 grams of icing sugar （糖粉）
• 1 egg （鸡蛋）
• 2 grams of baking powder (optional) （发粉）– in this illustration there is no baking powder used .

* This recipe is not sweet at all. For those parents who wanted to avoid baby taking too much sugar, icing sugar can be avoided. For adult consumption, you may want to increase the sugar by another 10 grams.

* To enhance the milk fragrance, you can add more milk powder to the recipe by substituting part of of potatoes starch. To add more egg fragrance, instead of one whole egg, you can use 2 egg yolks.

* The recipe listed the use of baking powder. I have omitted it because it is for baby consumption. For adult consumption, do add this baking powder for a lighter and fluffier texture. However, the balls may crack slightly as a result of adding this.

STEPS OF PREPARATION

• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degree Celsius

• Beat the egg and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Sift in the potatoes starch, corn starch,  milk powder and baking powder (optional) in 3 stages. Use a spatula to mix until well combined. If the dough is too dry, sprinkle with some milk until it form a pliable dough. If the dough is too wet, add more potatoes starch or milk powder to salvage the dough.

• Take a portion, shape long and use a knife to cut into small pieces as even as possible. As a guideline, size of the dough should be about slightly bigger than the size of the soya bean, otherwise, it will not be crispy. Shape the dough into small balls and bake in the pre-heated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until it turn slight brownish. As you shape along, the dough will be drier and drier. Pat your hand with some water and continue the shaping.

CONCLUSION

Not a difficult recipe and it is definitely worthwhile to give it a try if you have a baby at home. The ingredients are simple, without fats and preparation is easy. Why buy outside if you can easily prepare at home?

Hope you like the post today. Cheers and have a nice day.

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