I have shared a few post on Western style doughnuts and in this post I thought I would share some of the Asian style doughnuts in Malaysia that some of you may not have came across with. And that is Ham Chin Peng / 咸煎饼.
Ham Chin Peng / 咸煎饼 is a Cantonese style fried doughnut that usually contains red bean paste in the centre. If I have to direct translate this doughnut, it literally means "Salty Fried Dough" in Cantonese. Commonly consumed as breakfast, this doughnut comes in many variations and one of my most favourite is the ones with glutinous rice. If you are interested in checking that out, you can find the recipe on my Malaysian Glutinous Rice Doughnut Post .
This doughnut is made with yeast, baking powder and bicarbonate soda that gives a light and airy texture and the dough is often mixed with Chinese Five Spice with a sweet red bean paste.
I feel like I am slowly starting to get my list of Christean's Favourite Treat baked in my post and I have to say I am really happy with this particular one. Greg, on the other hand, being born and raised in Australia don't really see much of a big deal but that didn't stop him from eating most of them!
It is recommended that these doughnuts like most doughnuts are consumed on the same day that they are made as they can start to become hard. If you do ended up with some left overs, you can still store them in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days. Simply microwave for thirty seconds to a minutes before consuming for better eating quality.
RECIPE
Yield: 8 Doughnuts
Preparation time: Pre made dough the night before;
2 hours preparation
Dough
Starter Dough
130 g Bread Flour
1 tbsp Caster Sugar
3 g Instant Yeast
130 ml Water (warm not hot) - 35 °C
Dough
100g Bread flour
65 g Plain Flour
7 g Baking Powder
5 g Baking Soda
30 g Caster Sugar / Granulated Sugar
½ tsp. Chinese Five Spice Powder
40- 50 g Water - room temperature
6 g Salt
Qs. Vegetable oil for frying
Red bean paste
150 g Dried Red bean
500 ml Water(A) - for par boiling
500 ml Water(B) - for soaking
1l water (C) - for boiling
180 g Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Tbsp Glutinous rice flour / Corn Flour
Note: There will be leftover red bean paste that can be kept in airtight container for other applications. You need around 200 g- 240 g red bean paste for this recipe.
Method
Note: Before embarking on making the doughnut, give yourself some time the night before to soak the red beans (if you are intending to make your own red bean paste) and to make the preferment and final dough that will need to be rested in the fridge overnight.
Prepare Red Bean Paste
1. Place 150g of dried red bean with 500 ml of water (A) into a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and continue to boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, then strain the hot water. Place the par boiled red beans into a clean bowl then add the 500 ml of cold water (B) over the beans ensuring that the red beans are fully submerged in the cold water.
Leave the red bean to soak overnight or for at least 12 hours.
Next Day
2 Drain the soaked red bean then place the beans together with 1 l water (C) in a deep saucepan. Bring to boil, then reduce to low heat, and simmer for 1 hour to 1 1/2 hour until when pressed between your fingers, the beans crushed easily and is tender. Check the water level every 15-20 minutes to ensure that it doesn't go dry. Top up with more water if necessary.
3 . Once the beans are cooked, strain the beans from the water, then add back 150 ml of the red bean water to the cooked red beans. Transfer into a deep jug then stick blend the red bean mixture until smooth. (You can use a food processor is you have one) Strain the red bean puree over a fine mesh strainer then whisk in the the sugar, oil and salt.
4. Place the red bean puree into a non stick deep non stick fry pan, sprinkle the top with the glutinous rice flour then cook the red bean puree over medium heat until it thickens to a paste stirring continuously to prevent the base of the pan from sticking. This process will take approximately 15-20 minutes. Don't walk away from stirring or the base can easily catch and burn.
5 . Once the red bean paste thickens to a paste, turn off the heat and transfer into a bowl to cool fully wrapping it with cling film touching the surface to prevent it from forming a skin.
The red bean paste can be pre made a day ahead. Simply store in an airtight container in the fridge.
To prepare for the Dough
Starter dough
1. Mix all the starter dough ingredients in a stand mixer bowl and let it rest for 40 minutes to an hour . At this point the starter will rise significantly and be very active with lots of air bubbles. If you get to this stage, it is ready to add the starter dough in the rest of the final dough ingredients. If the starter dough still doesn't look too active at this point, leave for for another 30 minutes to an hour.
Final Dough
2. Place all the ingredients except for the water for the final dough in with the starter dough mixture and mix well at medium speed the gradually add in the water. Adjust the amount of water if necessary. You want the dough to come together to a smooth dough but not dry nor too wet to handle. Once you have added the necessary water, continue to mix over medium speed for approximately 8 - 10 or until the dough starts to come together and pulls away from the side and form in to a smooth dough. The dough should feel pliable and do not break easily when you try to stretch a small piece of the dough.
Cover and let the dough let it rest overnight in the fridge.
Note: If your dough feels too wet, simply add spoonful of flour to adjust. It is recommended that when you add in the water, you stream in some of the water then allow the flour to absorb the water and judge the consistency of the dough before adding in more water.
The dough can be left in the fridge for up to 24 hours or at least 6 hours standing at 5°C.
The next day
3. The next day, remove the dough from the fridge then gently press down to release some of the gas. Divide the dough to eight equal portions of approximately 65 g each. Toll each portion to a smooth ball then cover on the bench and let it rest for 15 minutes.
4. Working with each ball of dough at a time, dust the dough to prevent sticking, then with the palm of your hand press it flat and wide enough to fit the red bean fillings. Make sure the centre of the dough is not too thin.
With a small ice cream scoop or a spoon, place the red bean paste of approximately 25 - 30g in the centre of the dough wrap the dough around the red bean to envelope the fillings then pinch the seam to seal. Dust the ball of dough with more flour if needed then with the help of a rolling pin, roll the dough flat. Lightly spray some water at the top of the HCP then dip into some white sesames. Brush off any excess sesames then place it onto a cut out parchment paper then repeat the same process for each ball of dough.
5. Once all the dough are filled and rolled flat, with the palm of your hand, press the HCP once again to flatten. Cover with a tea towel and let rest at room temperature for 30-40 minutes.
Frying
When it is ready for frying, heat the vegetable oil to 165 - 170°C. Working with a few dough at a time, place the HCP into the hot oil and fry for approximately 2½ minutes, flipping the HCP every 30 seconds until both sides turns golden in colour.
Make sure to monitor the temperature of the frying oil frequently. If the oil is too cold, the HCP will absorb the oil too much and if they oil is too hot, the HCP with brown too quickly before the interior are fully cooked.
Note: It is recommended that you test one and cut it open to see if the inside is cooked then adjust the frying time if necessary.
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