Yeasted Huat Kuih or Flower Mantou (酵母发糕或花馒头）

Updated post on 10-2-2017

Update another shape using this recipe

INTRODUCTION

This is another Huat Kuih or Fatt Gou (发糕） recipe.. Chinese in general like huat kuih as it is used in religious praying and symbolizes prosperity.. There are many Huat Kuih recipe and this is my 5th huat kuih recipe..

In general, huat kuih recipe have two main variable factors: type of leavening agent and type of flours .. The leavener or rising agent is a type of agent that were used to make the huat kuih flourish or look like a flower.. It can be either yeast, baking powder, double acting powder, eggs or fruit salt (eno or sodium bicarbonate). The flour used is either plain flour, self raising flour, rice flour or a combination of both. With these many type of flours and leavening agents, it will therefore generate a lot of recipes..

One of the reasons that I surfed Facebook is to get inspiration of recipes.. I bumped into a very old recipe that uses yeast and plain flour. Further understanding of the recipe indicated that it is basically a steamed bread.. Yes, bread, the type of bread that we used to bake ..

Or in another perspective, it is a mantou in flower shape.. So for this recipe if you like mantou, you will like this huat kuih..

Immediately after I read the recipe, I have the urge to try. One is that I like mantou or yeasted bread. Secondly, the procedures seems easy and very logical. Since we can shape a baked bread, why can’t we shape a steamed bread into our desired pattern. Thirdly, as it is a bread dough, it will likely to flourish depending on how we design unless the yeast is dead. Therefore, chances or succeed are great..I stepped into the kitchen and start my adventure and very happy to see the final outcome.. a beautifully crafted huat kuih.. Ha-ha.

WHAT IS REQUIRED

Recipe modified from: 面粉发糕

Servings: Prepare a 6”-7” big Huat Kuih weigh about 1 kg

500 grams of plain flour (普通面粉）
125 grams of white sugar （白糖）
11 grams of instant yeast （即时酵母）
260 grams (ml) warm water (温水）
50 grams of vegetable shortening or cooking oil (白油或食用油）
One 6” –7” bamboo basket (竹篮） that are 4” deep lined with baking paper

STEPS OF PREPARATION

Put all the ingredients in a stand mixer bowl and use the knead function to knead until smooth and does not stick to the sides of the mixing bowl. It took me about 15 minutes to do this. Transfer out to a lightly floured surface, shape it round and let it proof until double the size. Proofing time will depend on the weather and it took me about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, line the bamboo basket with some baking paper. When the first proofing is done, punch the dough and lightly knead for 1-2 minutes. Shape round and transfer the dough to the lined basket. Ideally, the basket shall be about 75% full. Let it proof again until double in size or when it reaches 90% the height of the basket before send for steaming.

While the second proofing is done, get ready a steamer with enough water to steam the huat kuih for at least 45 minutes. Timing may be slightly shorter if your huat kuih is of cupcake or smaller size. Bring the water to boil.

Once the water is boiling, use a scissor greased with cooking oil and cut some lines into your desired pattern (it can be 3 lines, 4 lines, 5 lines or as many lines as you want). For this size, steam under high heat for at least 45 minutes or when a skewer inserted comes out clean.

For this shaping it is slightly different. Different the dough into 60-70 grams each. Shape round and place on a piece of paper. Use a sharp scissors to cut into the number of petals you wanted. Put a red date at the centre.

Put in the steamer tray and let it proof until 1.5 times the size. When you lift the dough, you should feel that it is light.

Once the dough reach 1.5 times of the size (about 30-45 minutes), transfer the steamer tray to the steamer with COLD WATER. Bring the water boil under high heat and steam for 15-20 minutes （note that the 15-20 minutes starts from cold water until the end of the steaming).

CONCLUSION

This huat kuih tastes like a mantou.. If you prefer, since this is a bread dough unlike other huat kuih of which the batter is quite wet, you can easily design the huat kuih into many shapes and colour.. Close your eyes, imagine this is a mantou that can be used for praying and breakfast, do you think you will give it a try? In addition, in my humble opinion, chances of failure are very low..since this is yeasted. As long as your yeast is still active, it will boom like a bread in your desired pattern when heated…

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

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