Southeast Asian Food

Soft and Moist Coconut Rolls (Chinese Bakery Style)

When I was a kid, these buns were my favourite take-home snack after school. They cost me less than one ringgit. Soft and pillowy, they were sold in vacuum-packed plastic, and always came in four pulled-apart buns. I get a little thrill all the time, when teasing apart these golden puffy pillows of deliciousness. I’d line up to buy a packet during recess from the vendor at my school canteen, then store it in my bag so I could enjoy them right after the last school bell rang. The packets are easy to pry open, and once I’ve gained access to the rolls, I’d tear them in half, and another half again before I gobble them up so I could get a little bit of the butter coconut filling and bread in each bite. These rolls also substituted as breakfast on days when I wanted a break from my mother’s oats and milk. I’ve attempted to replicate these buns at home and after a bit of experimentation, I can safely say this recipe is good to go. I live in Kuala Lumpur where it’s hot and humid so I usually make just enough for three days. I used a milk bread recipe as a base and let it rise in the fridge overnight to develop flavour. The dough base is versatile, as you can use it to wrap your preferred sweet or savoury filling (just make sure it can hold its shape at room temperature). My favourite bun fillings include dessicated coconut, coconut jam (kaya), red bean/black sesame/lotus seed pastes and potato curry.

Soft and Moist Coconut Rolls (Chinese Bakery Style)

Deborah, Saveur Malaisie

Here's a recipe for these sweet bread buns with melt-in-your-mouth butter coconut filling. I used a milk bread recipe as a base. The dough base is versatile, as you can use it to wrap your preferred sweet or savoury filling (just make sure it can hold its shape at room temperature). My favourite bun fillings include dessicated coconut, coconut jam (kaya), red bean/black sesame/lotus seed pastes and potato curry. Feel free to adjust the servings—they can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled to make large batches. You can always bake ahead then wrap them individually and freeze for up to 3 months. In room temperature, store them well in airtight containers for up to three days.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 14 30

Total Time 15

Course Breakfast, Snack, Tea

Cuisine Chinese, Fusion, Malaysian

Servings 18 rolls

Ingredients

For the buns

290 g bread flour sifted
40 g cake flour sifted
6 g instant yeast if you're using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast, you may need to activate the yeast first. See my Notes below on how to proof your yeast
240 g cold milk
28 g granulated sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
edible flowers for garnishing (I pressed them a day in advance)

For the coconut filling

2 egg yolks room temperature
45 g granulated sugar
35 g salted butter room temperature
58 g dessicated coconut extra, for garnishing

For the sugar syrup glaze

2 tbsp golden syrup
2-3 tbsp hot water

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, add egg yolks, salted butter, sugar and dessicated coconut. Combine gently with a spatula, then using your hands, knead them until fully incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Combine bread flour, cake flour, instant yeast, and sugar in a bowl and whisk. If you’re using active dry yeast and have already proofed the yeast in warm milk and sugar, you can just add this to a mixing bowl, together with the remaining quantity of milk and sugar (see Notes at the bottom).
Transfer to an electric stand mixer with dough hook attachment. Add cold milk little by little as you knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add oil and continue to knead for another 3 minutes until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough comes together. By this time, the dough should already come together nicely into sort of a round ball and feel soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch. Do the “windowpane” test (see my Notes below).
Lightly grease a container or large bowl with butter or non-stick cooking spray, and place the kneaded dough in the container. Cover with a clean cloth then refrigerate. Allow the dough to rise overnight in the fridge for 12 hours. It will rise to 1.5x its original size.
Remove the dough from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. Flour a work surface and your hands with a small amount of flour, then lightly punch down the dough and knead it with your hands for 3 minutes into a small oblong roll, making sure to tuck in the sides towards the bottom as you go along. Divide into half, then each half equally into 18 pieces of dough balls (35g each). Add 1 tbsp filling then pinch to seal and shape into ball.
Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9x13-inch pan or on a large, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment or lightly greased. Space the rolls about 1/2- to 1-inch apart or if you like, 3-4 inches apart (depending on the size of your baking pan) to give them ample room to rise and expand.
Insert a tray filled with hot boiling water at lowest rung of the oven. Cover the rolls with a lightly greased plastic wrap, making sure it's not pinned under the baking sheet or else the rolls will flatten while rising. Let the plastic wrap gently hang over the sides of the pan to fully cover the rolls but not press them down.
Place baking tray inside the oven, close the oven door and allow bread dough to rise for 45 minutes - 1 hour until double or triple in size. Then remove from oven.
Preheat oven to 150 C. Prepare sugar syrup glaze. Bake the rolls for 30 minutes until golden brown. Halfway through (15 minutes), remove tray from oven, brush the crust with sugar syrup, add edible flowers and dessicated coconut then bake for another 15 minutes. Once done, remove from oven, place on a cooling rack and brush the crust again with sugar syrup for a nice shine.

Notes

How to perform the windowpane test:

Grease your fingers with a little oil. Pinch a tiny amount of dough the size of a ping pong ball with your fingers. Hold the dough between your two thumbs on the top and gently tease and stretch the dough until you get a thin, translucent membrane. It might leave some sticky residue on your fingers, but if you can roll it into a smooth ball without it sticking to your hands in a shaggy mess, you have a perfectly floured dough. However if it tears easily while you try to stretch it, it means the gluten (protein in the flour) isn’t developed enough. Just stick it back with the rest in the mixer, and knead for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until you get the ‘windowpane’.

How to tell if your active dry yeast is working:

Check proof your yeast to find out if it’s still active. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast to 1/4 cup of warm water. Wait for 10 minutes. If the mixture bubbles and develops a yeasty aroma, the yeast is still good.

A guide to the optimum temperatures for proofing yeast: shorturl.at/rAKN6 via bobsredmill.com.
The Spruce Eats has a great guide on proofing yeast: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-proof-yeast-1388313

Keyword Bread, Chinese Bakery, Coconut Buns, Coconut Rolls

If you made this dish, let me know by tagging @saveurmalaisie on Instagram!

saveurmalaisie
Culture, Food, Recipes
Apr, 20, 2021
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Stir Fry Prawns with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

Stir fries are special to Cantonese families, like mine. They’re also a great way to repurpose leftovers in the fridge. I found some small portions of greens and prawns so I decided to re-make my mother’s stir fried prawns with garlic and oyster sauce. Growing up, this is a dish that I will find sitting on our family’s dining table for lunch or dinner, regardless of which day of the week it was. I never figured how to cook it, but lately when I discovered the recipe, I realised it wasn’t so hard to make after all. It’s true when they say the simplest dish is often the hardest to cook, for the smallest ingredients do make a big impact on the final product. My mother didn’t use any greens in her dish but I added them to boost the flavour profile. I was also very excited to try out this new carbon steel wok that I bought for a steal on Shopee! Over the weekend my dad visited us and he helped me pre-season it. With a sharpening stone, he carefully sand down the sharp edges of the wok, rinsed it in water then wiped clean with a cloth. Afterwards he heated the empty wok on a stove over high fire until the inside of the wok turned from a light steel grey to a darker shade, almost black. It’s left to cool on the stove. Cooking oil is poured lightly into the wok and with a kitchen towel, he coat the inside until all surfaces are covered in oil, then leave to dry overnight. Dad told me that carbon steel woks are prone to rust, so I should never let it air dry, neither should I use soap and scouring pad to clean it. Just use oil to coat it after each usage. “After you cook, just let it soak in water for 5 minutes. Then wash with hot water with a bamboo wok brush lah,” he says nonchalantly.

Stir Fry Prawns with Garlic and Oyster Sauce

Deborah, Saveur Malaisie

This is a perennial favourite in my family when I was growing up. My mother didn't use any greens in her dish but I added them to boost the flavour profile. Glazed in tasty garlic and oyster sauce mix, garlic shrimp stir fry is also one of the easiest meals you can make at home!

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Cantonese Food, Chinese, Malaysian, Southeast Asian

Servings 4 people