Wholemeal Bread Using Yudane Method

First time read about Yudane (日本汤种) was from  a Hand-Made Bread book (手工QQ面包) which I bought a few years ago. However, I have not use yudane in bread until this day.

In a FB group,  Lynn Lim introduced this yudane method and many had tried and have good result. It encourages me to try on my 3 weeks old BM. Thank you Lynn Lim for introducing yudane method of making soft bread.

Even with added wholemeal flour, it remains very soft. It is unlike wholemeal bread without yudane. Yudane is a dough that is made of flour with 100°C hot boiling water with equal amount. That is 50/50 of water and flour. According to blogger Rie's Bento, "Yudane 湯種” (fairly similar to chinese湯種) was invented by Mr Saito of Japanese flour company for industrial use  to make fluffy soft bread.

Chinese湯種 uses 1:5 ratio. That is mixing 50g flour and 250g water and cook over stove until it reaches 65°C or when the mixture thichen like glue texture.

Yudane Japanese湯種 uses 1:1 ratio. That is, 50g flour mix with 50g 100°C boiling water to form a dough. For this loaf, I have adopted the yudane method.

From the above picture, you could see the texture of bread is so soft.  One of the picture shown my loaf of bread with "irregular" shape. I didn't expect the loaf to be so fluffy and soft, so I didn't handle it with extra care. I just shake it out like normal loaf from the baking tin. When it dropped onto the rack, then I realised how soft the bread was....the bread was "injured" :)

It is fluffy and very soft. Becareful when you shake the bread out of the baking tin.

Ingredients:
150g Cold fresh milk
30g Soft butter(room temperature)
3/4 Tsp salt
1 3/4 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp milk powder
160g Bread flour
60g Wholemeal flour

1 Tsp Instant yeast

Yudane:
60g bread flour
60g 100°C boiling hot water
Combine flour and boiling water to form a dough.

This is how it looks :

Covered and store it in refrigerator overnight or at least 4 hours.*** (Rie's bento method kept the yudane in the refrigerator). When you want to use, bring the yudane out from refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 40 mins to an hours before use. I adopted this method.

In the hand-made bread book, after mixing flour and boiling water, the author set the yudane aside in room temperature until it is lukewarm. I have yet to try this method.

***Note : DO NOT  keep yudane in refrigerator more than 3days. Discard when it turns greyish. Recommended to make this yudane the day before and use it for the next day.

Sweet bread mode 1 light crust  750g. 2.40hr

Method:
1.In the BM baking tin, add milk, salt, sugar, yudane, milk powder, butter and flour in sequence. Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.

2. Set "Sweet Bread", "Light" crust, weight 750g. My bread maker take 2hrs 40min.

3. When the bread is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. 1-2 hour. Slice it and serve.

You may be interested in these recipes too
1. wholemeal-cranberry-and-walnuts-bread
2. no-knead-sandwich-buns.
3. buns-for-breakfast (hand knead and oven baked buns)
4. yoghurt-bread-happy-loaf
5. wholemeal-rolled-oat-bread (yudane)


This is the book and the author wrote about 汤种:

The wholemeal flour which I used in this recipe :

There are different types of wholemeal flour.
A friend in a FB group used a different type of wholemeal flour (coarse) resulted dry crumpy texture.

Pumpkin Bread/Sunny Bread (金瓜面包)

Thank you Lord.  Thank God for encouragement .

I didn't expect to receive such a beautiful golden bread when I reached home yesterday night. The colour reminds me of sun...glory, because of its beautiful sunny bright yellow colour. All natural colour ..it is the mixture of pumpkin and flour resulting this beautiful yellow.

Baking is a way of "therapy" at time when I am feeling emotional. Thank God for this gift of passion to cook and bake.

Thank God for His presence all the time. He is a Father who always watch over His children and always love! For God is love. God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perished but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  Thank God that in Him there is hope!

Spent the whole sunday afternoon searching for recipes to bake this bread. Finally with some recipes which I have found and asking bloggers for more details and info, I did this wonderful chewy(QQ) soft and nice bread.

When I saw the bread, it just make me happy and laugh. As it looks so cute and round. Initially I thought I had ruin the bread. But no... in fact it was a good bread in my standard. This is the kind of bread that I like to eat. Chewy!

Family loves this bread. We finished the whole loaf this morning. Daughter on first bite "mmM.. nice! What is this bread? Nice!" "The colour very appealing!"
Yes, I like the texture of this bread just like her.

I shall named this SUNNY bread!

Updates on 11/Dec/2015:
Daughter loves this sunny bread and requested for it. I baked this loaf again on Wed(9/Dec) with added sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds for a difference taste. It was for the next day's breakfast. There were 2 slices left until this morning. The bread after 2days still remain soft and nice. :)

Ingredients:
90g Cooked pumpkin (room temperature)
80g Cold fresh milk
30g Homemade yoghurt (room temperature)
30g Soft butter(room temperature)
3/4 Tsp salt
2 1/4 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp milk powder
250g Bread flour
30g Wholemeal flour


1 Tsp Instant yeast


Soft bread mode 1 light crust  750g. 2.55hr


Method:
1. Cut pumpkin into small pieces 3x2x1cm..or any sizes (purpose is to enable pumpkin to cook and soften faster). Put water enough to cover the pumpkin and cook them over stove. When pumpkin is soft appro 5min. Depend on the type of pumpkin and the size. Off fire. Remove the pumpkin from water. Use a fork to smash pumpkin while it is hot. Set aside to cool.


2. In the BM baking tin, add milk, yoghurt, pumpkin(1), salt, sugar, milk powder, butter and flour in sequence. Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.


3. Set "Soft Bread", "Light" crust, weight 750g. My bread maker take 2hrs 55min. However, yesterday, I set delay timer 3hr 30min.


4. When the bread is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. 1-2 hour. Slice it and serve.


Note : If you are using oven. Then after putting all ingredients into BM and set to dough. Or mix it in a mixer to form a dough. Refer to my buns recipe  for handknead/mixer knead dough and baking

You may be interested in
1)homemade-yoghurt-yogurt
2)wholemeal-cranberry-and-walnuts-bread
3) wholemeal-bread-using-yudane-method very soft and fluffy bread
4) wholemeal-rolled-oat-bread (yudan method)

Soaked Rolled Oats

About a year ago, this soaked oats was very popular in FB posts.. Everyone is talking about it. After sometime, the "trend" die of "natural death"...

Nevertheless, this is a good and healthy breakfast that is yummy and also convient. You can prepare one night before and next morning bring to office if you are in a rush for time.

Usually I like to prepare this at night before sleep and bring it out from refrigerator half to an hour before breakfast. So that it will not be too cold for my stomach especially in the morning.

However, if it is in the afternoon,  I like to consume it straight from refrigerator like a cold dessert especially in a hot day.

Personal preference : I like this oat to soak with strawberry. Find strawberry goes very well with this. As it is not easy to get nice and sweet strawberry in my country all year round. So I will replace strawberry with other fruits.


Ingredients
2-3 tbsp rolled oats
1 tbsp chia seed
1 tbsp yoghurt (I used homemade yoghurt)
Appro 1 cup fresh milk
2 green grapes - cut*
2 red grapes - cut*
1/4 oranges - cut*
Honey - (optional)

*note : you may replace with strawberry and other fruits. Add bananas only during serving.

Direction:
Prepare a 300-400mil cleaned dry glass bottle with lid that can be tighten. I usually use recycled bottle from jam.

Put in oats and chia seed. Stir the mixture with a spoon with just few stroke. Purpose is the mixed them. Add yoghurt. Pour in the milk, make sure it cover the oats. Top with cut fruits. Add honey, if you like it sweet. (I prefer natural fruit sweetness, so I do not add honey.) Cover with lid.

Leave the bottle in the refrigerator overnight. Serve soaked oat in the next morning.

Note: Do not keep this more than 2 days. It is advise to best make the night before and consume it in the next day.

You may like to try this too :
1) Savoury Roll Oats Porridge breakfast
2) wholemeal-rolled-oat-bread

Wholemeal Cranberry and Walnuts Bread

The last few days I have been busy baking yoghurt bread, hokkaido bread and other bread.  One day hubby asked whether I have added any nuts and cranberry. Today after searching through google and some facebook group for cranberry and walnuts bread recipe, I couldn't find any suitable one. So I took the soft bread recipe that came with BM and modified the ingredients quite a fair bit. The reason I did this was because I am still not very familiar with Bread Maker. I am not sure how much ingredients will yield 500g or 750g . My BM maximum is 750g.

I used the soft bread recipe for 500g. That is total flour 330g as written in the manual recipe book for a 500g loaf. But I was surprised when the bread is baked. It yield more than 750g loaf! "Profit"! That is, with little flour to achieve tall fluffy bread. Good deal.

This bread is very soft and the aroma is so fragranceful that as I cut I started eating it. Can't resist.


Ingredients:
200g Fresh Hokkaido Milk included an egg
50g  Homemade Plain Yoghurt ( or any stored bought yoghurt)
3/4 tsp Sea salt
1 2/3 tbsp sugar
200g Bread flour
100g Wholemeal Flour
30g Rolled oat
20g Chop walnut
20g  Dried cranberry

1 tsp instant yeast

30g Salted Butter

*Note: Let yoghurt stand in room temperature for 30mins to an hour.

Method:
Directions using Bread Maker:
1)Place fresh milk, yoghurt, sugar, salt, breadflour, wholemeal flour and rolled oats into the tin of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.
2) Use "dough" mode to combine the ingredients until it form a dough then add room temperature soft butter. It took 25mins
3) Use"Sweet Bread" mode under "Function 2" with "Light" crust,  weight 750g. You may adjust according to you Bread Maker's instruction. My BM indicated it take 2hrs 40mins for sweet bread to complete the whole cycle.
4) At the first beep about remainder time 2.18hr, add in all the nuts and cranberry.
5) So now let the Bread Maker does its job and you can relax... When the loaf is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. an hour. Slice it and serve.


You may refer to my other post about how to bake Buns without bread maker from scratch. That is either hand knead or mixer and then bake in oven.

You may like to refer to homemade yoghurt recipe to make your own yoghurt/yogurt with simple steps and utensils are easily found in your kitchen. 😊

This is the original recipe from the bread maker

Original soft bread recipe from the BM:

190g water (190mil)

1 egg (30-50g)

1.7g salt (1/4 small tsp)

21.7g sugar (1 2/3 big tsp)

6.5g Enriched bread powder(1 big tsp)

19.3g Oil (1 3/4 big tsp)

330g High-gluten flour (2 cup)

3.3g Dry yeast (1 small tsp)

You may like to try these recipes too: 

1) wholemeal-hokkaido-milk-loaf

2) wholemeal-yoghurt-loaf-double-happiness

There are different types of wholemeal flour.

For this recipe I had used the fine wholemeal flour as in the above picture.  Coarse wholemeal flour may result in dry crumpy texture.

Happy baking.

Do leave your comments if you have tried and like this recipe.

Wholemeal Yoghurt Loaf ( Happy Loaf 2)

Ingredients:
100g Fresh Hokkaido Milk (or any fresh milk)
150g  Homemade Plain Yoghurt ( or any stored bought yoghurt)
3/4 tsp Sea salt
20g Sugar
20g Milk powder (3.5 tbsp)
150g Bread flour
150g Wholemeal Flour

5g yeast( I used 1 1/2tsp)

30g Salted Butter (or unsalted)

*Note: Let yoghurt and milk stand in room temperature for about 30mins to an hour.

Method:
Directions using Bread Maker:
1)Place fresh milk, yoghurt, sugar, salt, milk powder and bread/wholemeal flour into the tin of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.
2) I use "Soft Bread" mode under "Function 1" with "Light" crust,  weight 750g. You may adjust according to you Bread Maker's instruction. My BM indicated it take 2hrs 55mins for soft bread to complete the whole cycle.
3) After few minutes add butter when above 1) formed into a dough.
4) So now let the Bread Maker does its job and you can relax... When the loaf is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. an hour. Slice it and serve.

You may like to try this too
1) yoghurt-bread-happy-loaf  uses 100% bread flour
2) wholemeal-cranberry-and-walnuts-bread
3) homemade-yoghurt. With simple steps using yoghurt make more yoghurt.

There are different types of wholemeal flour.
I used fine wholemeal flour as in above picture. Coarse wholemeal flour may result in dry crumpy texture.

Yoghurt Bread (Happy Loaf 开心面包)

I am so happy with this recipe. Using very little flour but yield a big loaf of bread. Thanks Joni Lian for sharing Eugenia Teo's recipe.

This morning i started making the yoghurt which took 3 hours to "curd". After it curd, kept in the refrigerator for a while as I planned to bake the loaf only in the mid afternoon. I scooped the necessary amount out and leave it in room temperature for an hour.

My Bread Maker max capacity is 750g. I was a little worried initially when it started to proof until very high. However, thank God though it went above but the baking tin is big enough to contain the loaf. Whew!  I think it yield like a 1000g loaf. So we called this happiness loaf. Because we are all so happy when the loaf is done.

Encourage you to try. It is very soft. This bread texture is very good and chewy and soft and fluffy and light. Nice bread.

This bread remain soft like cotton,chewy, fluffy and light even until next day.


Basic recipe adopted from Eugenia Teo's recipe (via Joni Lian)

Ingredients:
150g Fresh Milk ( I used Hokkaido milk)
100g Strawberry yogurt (I used homemade plain)*
1g Salt (i used 1/4 tsp) ***
60g Sugar(I used 20g)
20g Milk powder (4 tbsp)
300g Bread flour

5g yeast( I used 1 1/2tsp instant yeast)

30g Butter (I used salted butter. Room temperature)

*Note: Let yoghurt stand in room temperature for about 45mins to an hour.

***to increase salt to 3/4tsp the next round. Would think it will taste better as I had reduced the sugar.

Method:
Directions using Bread Maker:
1)Place fresh milk, yoghurt, sugar, salt, milk powder and bread flour into the tin of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Make an indentation on the flour and add in the instant yeast. Then cover the yeast with some of the flour.
2) I use Setting 1 from my Bread Maker( Soft Bread mode)  Light crust, 750g. You may adjust according to you Bread Maker's instruction. My BM indicated it take 2hrs 55mins to complete the cycle.
3) After few minutes add butter when above 1) formed into a dough. Then you can relax and let the bread maker to the rest of the job..when the cycle is completed you will have a freshly baked loaf.
4) When the loaf is ready, there will be a continuous beep sound. Remove tin and shake out the loaf onto a rack and leave to cool. Appro. an hour. Slice it and serve.

Direction using mixer and oven:
Though I have not use this dough to bake in oven. However, this will be the method I will use. You may refer to my post Buns for Breakfast.
1. Combine all ingredients in a mixer with hook on low speed till it becomes a dough. *If you are using butter , add it after beating for about 5 mins with the mixer then add in the butter and beat for another 15mins till smooth. Remove from mixer bowl and let it proof till it doubles its size.
2. Remove to a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 2 portions. Shape it round and covered and let it proof for 45mins or almost double in size. Depend on weather. Hot weather proof faster.
3. Once the dough rise to double size, you can start to cut and  shape into your desire bun or bread. While working on the dough to shape, you may need extra flour. Once it is shaped, place them onto baking tin(loaf) or tray(buns) lay with parchment paper.
4. Brush buns with egg and bake in preheated oven at 180°C  for 15-20mins (buns) 35mins (loaf) or until  the top of bun is golden brown.
Remove from oven , wait for several mins and remove the bread from pan and let it cool completely on the wire rack.

You may use these bun or loaf to make chicken patties buns or chicken sandwich. See my post on Homemade Chicken Patties Sandwich

Refer to recipe Homemade Yoghurt

You may be interested in
1) wholemeal-yoghurt-loaf which uses wholemeal flour.
2)wholemeal-cranberry-and-walnuts-bread
3) wholemeal-rolled-oat-bread (yudane method)

How to fry rice without sticking on stainless steel wok

My family love eating fried rice. Recently I switched from hard anodised wok to stainless steel wok. From many reviews learnt that stainless steel wok stick easily. Many find stainlese steel wok stick more than other wok, so how to use little oil to fry rice yet rice doesn't stick on wok?
In the past, when i was using hard anodized wok,  after heat up wok, i will lower the heat first then crack an egg onto the wok then i put in the rice.
I find stainless steel wok is more hot than other wok when it is heated up. When i do the same hard anodised wok method on stainless steel wok,  before i could even put in the rice, the egg cooked immediately.

So how to solve this problem?
I did these 2 methods and both work.

1. Put 1- 2 spoons of oil in the stainless steel wok. Let the wok heat up a while, oil the wok. off the fire then crack an egg into the wok so that the egg will not cook too fast. You need runny egg. Quickly add in the cooked rice when egg is still runny. With very quick "action" stir the rice in the wok to coat every grains of rice with the egg. Then on the fire again. With high fire fry the rice. When rice is coated with egg, it will not stick on wok.

2. Crack an egg onto cooled cooked rice. And mixed them together. Do this process just before frying. Make sure every grains is coated with egg. Put 1-2 spoons of oil into cleaned and dry stainless steel wok then on the fire. Pour in the egg coated cooked rice. With high heat fry them.
This method give a very egg fragranced rice. Taste very good as every grains had been coated with egg.

Suggestion rice vs egg:
1) 2-3 cups of rice (measure before cooked). Cooked then cool down at room temperature or overnight rice is the best for doing fried rice.
2) 1-2 eggs

You may like to try these egg recipes
1) pan-fry-prawn-omelette
2) rice-omelette-pancake

Wholemeal Hokkaido Milk Loaf

This bread is very fluffy and soft though it is used with 90% wholemeal flour and 10% cake flour. The past few days I have been eating very densed and heavy bread made by my new breadmaker using other recipe.
Today i am very happy with wholemeal hokkaido milk loaf. It is soft and fluffy and full of milk aroma. Thanks Everyday Eat Well.  I have reduced the sugar level as I prefer less sweet loaf. I believe will go well as ham or tuna sandwich.

Recipe adapted from Everyday Eat Well with thanks!

Ingredients for a 600+ gram loaf
110g fresh milk (I used low fat)
75g heavy whipping cream
1 large egg beaten (60g. But I used 54g)
40g sugar ( I used only 20g)
3/4 tsp or 4.5g salt
2 1/2tbsp milk powder (Nestle Everyday milk powder)
270g wholemeal flour
30g cake flour(I substituted with 3/4 cup plain flour mixed with 2tbsp cornflour, then measure only 30g)
1 2/3tsp or 5g instant yeast

Method:
1. Put the ingredients in sequent into your bread maker. That is wet ingredients at the bottom and dry on top. Put the yeast last. Dig a small hole in the flour then put the yeast into it and cover with flour. Select "Sweet Bread" mode, select"Light" crust, and "750g". Each Bread Maker(BM)is different so choose the options according to your BM. My Mayer bread maker indicated it will take 2hr 40 min.
Note: It is recommended to choose "Light" crust  as the crust will turn out darker brown. The above picture of the loaf, I have selected crust option "Light" and the loaf still turned out in nice brown colour.

There are different types of wholemeal flour.
I used fine wholemeal flour as in above picture. Coarse may result in dry crumpy texture.

You may be also interested to try these recipe:
1. wholemeal-rolled-oat-bread

Happy baking. Leave a comments.

All Times Favorite Deep Fried Meat Balls

Ingredients:
550g minced pork
1 egg
4 stalks spring onion - chopped
1 carrot -chopped
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp breadcrumb

Some oil for deep fry

Method:
Combine all ingredients. Let it seasoned for at least 20mins.
Heat up oil. Using 2 spoons to scoop the meat and make it into small meat balls. Deep fry  the meat until golden brown.
Remove from oil and place them on a plate lay with thick kitchen paper towel to absorb extra oil from the meat.
Serve.

You may be interested in my Homemade Fried Meat Balls. For healthier choice, you may want to try Steam Minced Meat and also this Char Siew/BBQ pork

Black Pepper Stir Fry Meat

Ingredients:
300-400g pork fillets thinly sliced ( can replace with beef)
1 tbsp black pepper sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp mushroom sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp corn flour (can substitute wt potatoes flour, but reduce to half tbsp)
1 tbsp water

Ingredients for stir fry:
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic -minced
1 small red onion/shallots  - minced
Thumb size old ginger thinly shredded

Garnish:
2 stalks of spring onion cut into 1 inch length
1 red chilli padi cut into slices (optional)

Method:
1. Place sliced meat into a bowl or plate, add all the ingredients together and mix them well. Set it a side to let the meat season for at least 20min. Seasoning of meat can be done earlier the day and use clingwrap to cover and leave it in refrigerator to keep fresh.

2. In a wok over a medium fire, i use a stainless steel chinese wok but sometime I do use non-stick, put in all the stir-fry ingredients and fry until the garlic and red onion turn light golden brown.

3. Put in the seasoned sliced meat  and stir fry until the colour of meat turn pale colour. If the fire is too strong, it will dry up the sauce, so add about 1-2 tablespoon of water and continue to stirfry 2-3min or until meat is tender and cooked. Put in the garnish and stir fry for another few sec when the spring onion turn a little darker tone. Off fire and dish up the meat into a plate and serve with white rice.

Enjoy cooking. Do leave your comments. 😊

You may be interseted in Steam Minced Meat

No Knead Sandwich Buns

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fine sugar
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup plain flour

Glazing :
1 egg beaten
Some white sesame

Method :
In a big bowl , add flour, salt, sugar and yeast. Use a spoon to simply mix them together.  Pour in the water and use a pair of chopstick or a rubber spatula to mix all wet and dry ingredients well. This whole process take about 5min.
The dough should be wet and loose.

Use cling wrap to cover the bowl. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it is double in size( or at least flattens on top and dough has  many small holes),  take about two hours. Longer rising times will not hurt the dough.
Allow the dough proof for minimum 3hours. I proof it for 6hours. You may allow dough to proof overnight in the refrigerator and then shape it in the morning.

Shape the buns
After 6 hours proof in room temperature, shape the dough into desire shape.
Prepare a piece of baking parchment paper on a aluminum baking tray. Sprinkle  about 2 spoons of flour on a working surface. Pour out the dough from the bowl onto the floured surface using a rubber spatula. Using a pastry cutter divide dough into 6 portions. DO NOT KNEAD. Dust hands with flour and shape dough into oval shape with the help of the pastry cutter. Then place them on the tray lay with parchment paper.
Cover the shaped dough with a dry towel or clingwrap. Let the dough proof for another 1 - 1.5hours.

Preheat oven at 210°C and the rack placed in the middle.

After 1.5 hours proofing, eggwash the uncook bun with brush. Sprinkle some sesame on top of the dough.  Use a kitchen scissor to cut the top of the uncook bun. Put into preheated oven to bake to 20 minutes.

For this same recipe without the sugar, you may use it to make No Knead Artisan Bread and for pizza base

Chinese Dark Soy Braised Pork Belly 扣肉(Kong Bak)

This is another signature dish of my mother-in-laws. We like to make th8s during family gathering as one of our buffet dish.
Few years ago my church sister request me to make this for fund-raising event. It received very good comments. We usually keep the sauce from the kong bak to make dark soy eggs and toupok and also tang hoon(glass noodle). This will become another dish fir dinner. Go very well with white porridge or white rice.

Ingredients:
500g pork belly with leaner cut. Slice into 1.5cm.thickness
600g shoulder butt. Slice into 1.5cm thickness
1/2 cup dark soya sauce (appro. 8 tablespoons)**
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 clove
1 tbsp homemade corriander powder(optional).
10 cloves of garlic
3-4 cups of water

                                       Cinnamon stick

garlic

Clove

Star anise

**Note on dark soy sauce:
The saltiness of different brands and grades may vary. Those lower grade sauce can be more saltier. So, I would suggest you add half then adjust by adding a spoon at a time according to your desire taste.

Method:
1. Pan fry the slice pork without oil. I used stainless steel pot. Heat the cleaned and dry pot. Place the meat slice by slice to just slightly brown both side and remove from fire. It is about 20%  cooked. It is simply brown both sides. You can opt out this process if short of time or lazy. But of course this process enhance the taste.

2. Put all the browned sliced pork into a pot on stove. Add all the balance ingredients except garlic. Put this pot of meat to boil in high heat. Stir. You will also start to see there are more liquid at the base of the pot. This liquid is from the pork itself. Stir to mix well.

3. Cook until the liquid is almost dry, with 10% liquid left. Add hot water to just cover the meat. Add garlic. Continue to cook the meat at moderate heat until meat is tender. In between braising process, check the saltiness. You may add a little more of dark soy sauce to your desire taste. Total braising time is about 45min to an hour.  Off fire. And serve with lotus shape bao with lettucte.

You may be interested in the following recipes using pork as the ingredients :
1. Roasted Crispy Pork Belly / Siew Yuk
2. Ama's Pan Fry Dark Soy Pork Chop
3. Char-siew-bbq-pork