Kitchen Capers

[Favbabe]

hi there everyone. i just wanna let everyone know that i've tried this recipe again and it was a success! thank u gina for posting the recipe. initially when i first started trying this recipe again yest, again my starter dough did not prove :( after an hr after noticing the starter dough did not prove, i started another starter dough. i was out of yeast and i only put like 1 tablespoon instead of 2 as stated in the recipe. to my surprise, my dough began to grow! i was so shocked and shiok....hehehhe....i dunno wat i did rite....but the dough, both the starter and main dough was really dry. i had to add more water than what it was called for in the recipe. i had to use lukewarm water instead of tap water (which did not work for me in the begining). anyways, in the end, my pau smiled nicely at me and i'm very happy. however, my last few pau(s) ...about 4 of them didn't smile as much. but all of them tasted really good! i will definitely try and make it again

[Gina]

got pic to show..?
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Gina

The Lord is my Shepherd. I have EVERYTHING I need. Psalms 23:1

[Favbabe]

here u go

[asan]

WOW, your paus really smiled at you! Question for you: did you steam your paus using more than one rack/tier on the steamer? The reason I am asking is: I recenly made some taro and sweet potato Fat Koh and used two tiers of steamers...the sweet potato fat kohs on the lower tier did not rise as much and did not 'smile' while the upper taro fat koh rose higher and 'smiled' a little.....I am not trying that recipe again as the fat koh tasted more like kueh than fat koh BUT I am just curious if different tiers would produce different products. I used high heat but home gas stoves here just will not produce heat as high as those in the resaturants' kitchens.

Gina, any comment or suggestions?

[Gina]

favbabe

wah..swee leh! don't worry about how it looks. As long as it doesn't have yeasty smell and it tastes as good as store bought ones, you are right on track. You are getting there on this..
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Gina

The Lord is my Shepherd. I have EVERYTHING I need. Psalms 23:1

[Gina]

[Favbabe]

thanks gina and asan! i was really happy with the outcome except that my pau look a bit cacat lah...need to work on the pleats but it smiles at me, so i'm happy! asan, actually i use those bamboo dimsum kinda "loong" to steam my pau. so i can only steam like 3 at one go. when the paus expanded in the "loong", it was so "congested". my kitchen is actually not very well equipped....i dun have those regular steamer but i was too anxious, wanna faster learn how to make smiling paus, so just make do with what i have i'm wondering if i left the uncooked pau outside (waiting to be steamed) for too long, hence the no smile? but 4 out of like 12 din smile, it's ok lah for me....heheheheh

[asan]

Gina, thanks for the explanations...I used plain flour...Florence's recipe. I did like the taste of the taro ones but not the texture. Other blogs use eno which is not available in the US....do you have a fool proof recipe?

Favbabe and Gina, most of us will not have more than one steamer at home....so what are we supposed to do when we could only steam one batch (max of 6) of paos each time? I had this same dilemma whenever I made paos....the second batch would have proofed too long.

[MistyK]

Gina, Instant yeast is different from Active dried yeast, right? So how much of Active dried yeast do i put in place of instant yeast, please? Thank you!!

[spiritbloom]

KWF your yeast may not be active anymore Throw i away the dough starter and try to make another batch again with just yeast and water. You must wait for bubbles to appear and looks as though it's fermenting,only then you start mixing in flour for the starter.
Hope this helps. I do this at times when I notice my yeast is not activating.