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Monday, May 16, 2011

Red Skin Bun [Mi Koo] Using Bread Maker


These buns are usually made for praying [more often for ancestral praying]. It is always cheaper to make our own instead of buying them. It can be made days ahead and can also be kept in the freezer for a long time. To serve, just leave bun in room temperature and steam for 15 minutes and it is ready to go with a cup of hot coffee.
I use a breadmaker machine to knead the dough [used dough function ].
Ingredients
[makes 8 pieces]
A]
600 gm plain flour - sift together with baking powder
1 heaped tsp double action baking powder
B] 1 heaped tbsp vegetable shortening
C]
250 ml warm water
150 gm caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp coconut milk
D] 1 1/2 Tbsp instant yeast
E] 1 tsp rose pink colouring mix with 100 ml water
8 pieces of greased proof or parchment paper [3 inches x 5 inches]
  1. Mix [C] together till sugar dissolve and add to breadmaker pan. Top up with sifted flour and add in instant yeast. Let the breadmaker kneads the dough for about 5 minutes then add in vegetable shortening. Continue kneading process till dough function is completed.
  2. Remove dough from pan onto a floured board. Punch down dough to release air then roll out into a long log and cut into 8 equal pieces [about 150 gm/piece]. Form each piece into a smooth round ball then press roll from the centre to form an oblong shape dough. Put dough onto a piece of paper. Complete the same for the rest. Leave to proof till double in size [about 30 minutes]. Before steaming, brush dough with rose colour water.
  3. Heat enough water on high heat in wok. When water is boiling, put steamer [I use 2 x 14" bamboo steamer] over the water and steamed for 20 minutes [see above photo].
  4. Off heat and leave steamed buns in steamer [covered] for about 3 minutes before uncovering to remove buns to cool on rack. The purpose is to get a smooth skin bun. If using other steamers be careful of water vapour that may drop onto the buns.
Notes:
  • Can substitute warm water with fresh coconut water, the buns will be even more fragrant
  • Buns can be eaten fresh after steaming or sliced and spread with butter or to wrap roasted pork [siew yoke] or braised soy sauce pork belly.
  • Can leave the bun skin plain if not for praying purpose.

7 comments:

ellie said...

Thank you for posting this! I've been looking for an alternative mi ku recipe because my husnpband complains that my mi ku sticks to his teeth and he refuses to eat them! :( I shall try your recipe soon! :)

Kimmy said...

Hi Ellie, thanks for dropping by. Do try this. I have several posts on Mi Koo. Rest assured that this one won't stick to the teeth. Honestly, I have received all thumbs up for this Mi Koo. It's not difficult to make, you can make into round and leave it plain without brushing with pink colouring.

Unknown said...

Hi Kimmy, some mee koo recipes uses pau flour, what difference does it make to yours? thanks.

Unknown said...

Hi Kimmy, some mee koo recipes uses pau flour, how is that compared to your recipe?
Also they have what its called "starter dough", which seems complicated.
Can I use pau dough? Thanks!

Kimmy said...

Hi Bibiana, traditionally most people will use plain flour but the colour is not as whitish as pau flour. Texture wise I find the one that uses pau flour is more fine than plain flour. Most important is the dough must be well kneaded, proof to double in size and steamed for 20 minutes. Pau dough is softer than mee koo dough if you noticed that the liquid quantity is different. Sometimes, I mix both flours together, the mee koo turns out good too.

Katie Foong said...

Tried your earlier recipe, will use coconut water this time because I like the aroma

Kimmy said...

Hi Katie, if you love the coconut aroma in these buns, you can try using coconut milk powder [about 2-3 tablespoons]. Just dilute the powder with the warm water. I find it more convenient using the powder form cos' these days the vendor will only sell minimum 100 ml fresh coconut milk and that's too much.