Home Made French Bread

Not many people actually know I can make bread :P.  But I do :).  I learnt it from my mum while I was a kid watching her making delicious bread for my family.

This is a variant of French bread that I stole a recipe from the net.  It's pretty easy.  Here are the ingredients:

Bread Flour 350gWarm
Water 175ml
Milk 35ml
Sugar 21g
Butter (Unsalted) 21g
Salt 6g
Dry Yeast 5g

Direction is simple.  Make sure all the ingredients are measured properly and you are more or lest successful in making our own bread.  Investing in a good kitchen scale is always a good idea if you plan to bake often :) 

Mix the warm water (around your body temp but not higher or you might kill off the yeast) with Sugar and Dry yeast in a bowl. Let it sit for 10 mins so you can check if the yeast is active.  If its ok and alive, bubbles will form on the top of the mixture and it will give off a strong yeasty gamey smell.

Then pour the measure flour into a mixing bowl with the salt.  Try to stir a bit with your finger to mix the salt with the flour.  Direct contact of salt with yeast will kill the yeast or make it less effective.  Then just throw in the milk and the mixed yeast solution.  Knead with your hands.  If its too sticky, relax and use some plastic knife or even a ruler to scrap off the sticky bits and keep kneading.  Eventually it will slowly become less sticky as the yeast and flour is absorbing all the moisture.  If it's still sticky after kneading for more than 5mins, then you must have placed too much water.  You can powder your hands with some bread flour and try kneading it again.  Vice versa, if its too powderly and won't form a dough, you have too much flour so just lightly spray some water to wet the dough.  Once the dough is not sticky, throw in the butter (soften it by leaving it in room tempreture) and knead again.  Continuce again until it stops feeling sticky and the butter all mixed into the dough.

Let the dough rest in a warm place for the 1st fermentation.  Cover it with a cloth or a kitchen towel and let is sit for at least an hour.  The dough will balloon and become at least twice the size of the original dough.  If it dosen't, just be patience and let it sit longer.

Then pick up the inflated dough and drop it down onto the table on mixing bowl (about 50cm will do) and you will see the dough deflates like a balloon (this is releasing the gas).  Now you can cut up the dough and shape it to whatever shape you like.  If you like to have more crust, then just make smaller buns so you have more crust.  Normally I could make 5 buns (Picture above) about the size of my palm out of it.  After shaping just let it rest again (2nd fermentation).   After an hour, the buns should rise to twice the size again like the previous process.  If you like, you could also place it in the fridge and let it rise for more than 24hrs.  This would make the bread taste better as the yeast taste will not be that strong.  If you like yeasty taste (like beer) then just leave it in a warm place and let it rise even quicker.  After that is just baking.  Conventional oven is 30mins at 200 degrees celcius.  Remember to preheat  the oven first to 200degrees!  If you have a UFO broiler or oven like mine.  The time is 20mins (less time needed).  After baking, let it sit in the oven for 5 mins and viola!  Freshly baked Bread!

If the crust becomes soft, just mist some water on the surface of the bread and bake it again in the oven for 5 to 10 mins at 200 degrees celcius.  It will taste like freshly baked bread.

Try it and have fun!  It's easy :)  Finally, here's a video of my boy eating my bread this morning.  Taken with my new phone :P

This is our future generation....

Its been some time I wrote about social issues in Singapore.

I actually wrote this a few days ago when I saw an article in our ST.  1,500 coke geysers

But I did not have the time to refine it until another article came in and attracted my attention which has the same issue I wish to point out.  YOG caterer acts on food  I  just want to point out to a particular paragraph in this article.

Full-time national serviceman Leslie Wong, 20, who was stationed at the Marina Bay floating platform, said the 15 or so meals he has been given so far were similar to the one that has been criticised.
He said: 'One of the meals was a dry, tasteless piece of chicken with a few slices of carrot and some soggy rice. I ended up throwing most of it away.'
He said that while he had no complaints about the portions, most of his friends on duty at the same venue chose to buy their own food instead of eating the packed meals.

I think by this time you should understand what I am pointing out.  Yes, our future generation does not care a bit about wasting food.  Its scares me because they do not understand the effort and labour to produce each grain of rice. 

I've been to Thailand and Burma and I have seen how the people work in the fields.  I have seen homeless child hunger for food and even water in Thachilek and Maesai and I just find it so revolting that Singaporeans here, wastes food for no reasons other then being greedy and selfish.

That 1500 bottle of coke can be donated for a better cause.  The experiment is already well-known, why is there a need to re-enact such an experiment in such a grand scale?  Just to beat the world record while another part of the world is starving?

The young man in NS, who is supposed to protect our motherland complains about the food he was provided (yes its bad for SFI to do that) but just threw it away recklessly.  Its just soggy rice!  Its not rotten or contaminated.  Its just plain food to keep you FULL and from hunger!  I remember the MRE (meals ready to eat) packets in army days and the rice was like cake and I just ate it even if it taste like shit.  If not, I just don't take it.  Thats the problem with Singaporean, We take and grab things that are free without thinking we ever need them .. The kiasu syndrome.

It so wrong to do such things.  So much injustice is done to those farmers who grew each grain of rice. 

Trust me, what goes around will come around.  We import our food and we don't grow them.  When world food shortages comes (and its already starting).  WE will be the first one to feel the impact.  And THEN you will STARVE.  And THEN you will feel what is it like to be hungry.

Here's a stark reminder to those who waste food and one of my favourite journalistic photograph.  A picture of a starving child in South Africa in Sudan by Kevin Carter.

Getting Cheap food in Suvarnabhumi Airport.

A friend recently complained to me that the food at the airport is bloody expensive.  Especially true in the transit lounge or at the waiting areas in between the depature and arrival hall.. (not too sure what they called it though).  If you have not checked in or you have plenty of time after checking in to your flight.  Then you may try this option.  I always do so as I fly budget and dinner is not served on the plane. :P

Since I am waiting for my flight,  I decided to compile this little FAQ (I have bloody 5 hours to wait).  First you need to get to the ground floor.  There are multiple ways to get there but this is by far the shortest path to the Magic Food Point.  No, The food is not MAGICally tasty and good. Its up to standard but defintely not the best in town.  Not sure why they called it that, maybe its because the price is "Magically" cheap compared to the 120baht Kway Teow in the depature hall restaurants. :P

Just go to arrival hall level and walk along the gates till you see gate 7 (beside the DTAC shop).  (See Pic.)  Take the escalator down  and viola, you get to the public buses area. And on your left is the entrance to Magic Food Point.  Price range from 30Baht to 60Baht.  Its like our Singapore's Food Court except you need to purchase coupons.  Normally I would change 100baht which is more than enough for food and drink.  They Hor Fun Here is pretty good.  So is the Pork Knuckle Rice (Teochew Style)  Noddle and Kway Tiao So so.  The fried chicken hidden at the corner is not too shabby too.  Don't worry if you can't speak thai.  All the food are labeled in numbers and have english translations, so just shout out in english the number you want and pay the person with the coupons you bought. 

Utencils stations are located along the center columns and you can dip them in the hot water to "sterilise" it.  (Like it will really help... :P) Do eat fast and don't hog the seats as the working Thai people are having their quick breaks there and they might give you a dirty look if you do so. (Speaking from my own personal experience :P)
 
And for your info.  Taking a cab at this level sometimes is cheaper then those above.  For those on free and easy trip, you can also walk out to get the airport express buses which will go to Sukumvit, MBK, Central World (or what;s left of it since it got burned down) and other various tourist hotspots (just check at the bus counter) Bloody cheap 150 baht one way if I remember correctly and its as fast as the taxis.  It also stops at some major hotels on the way and you can tell the driver where you want to drop off.

So if you get stuck at the airport while waiting, do try this little spot where you get to see the locals eat and chat.  Time to board my plane....... 



虾一碗 (Prawn One Bowl)

The English Name is just a literal translation of my good friend's stall. hahaha.. Anyway, he's a good pal of me and had just started this business a few months back. His stall is at Chinatown Complex. If you happen to go there (its a bit hectic there so you may need to follow my instructions below), do visit him.

Instructions to get to his stall -
From the main escalator (which they have only one), go up the escalator and immediately turn right. Walk a few steps to the first junction, turn left and walk straight down and you should see his stall on your right hand side.

More Huattt Ahhh!!!

Last night went for the Qin Gong Yan Dinner at Ling Zhi restaurant with my Lion Dance pals... Just a movie here to show th occasion....

More Yu Sheng Fun.. from leejiing on Vimeo.