Saturday 30 March 2024

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Homemade Noodles Using Philips Pasta Maker

This recipe is adapted from SoSimYum, Leo's Japanese Dojo and Cooking with Eddy Tseng after several rounds of experimenting.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1. 200g plain flour (I use the organic flour from 365 Supermarket)
2. 60ml egg (an egg is around 55-60ml, I will top it up with more egg to 60ml) + water to 85ml
3. Approx. 1/2 tsp olive oil (2ml) 

Directions:

1. Attach the largest noodle size disc to the pasta machine. 

2. Turn on the pasta maker and gradually add in the wet ingredients. 

3. Run the mixing cycle of 3 mins each for 5 times (total 15 min). The mixture will look lumpy, but do not be tempted to add more liquid.

4. Rest for at least 1 hour.

5. Mix and extrude with biscuit disc or a disc of a bigger diameter noodle size.

6. Return dough back into the pasta machine and extrude with udon disc. Noodles the come out will be perfect, not frayed, not so sticky, a little sticky. Flour with cornstarch in you are keeping them for next time and not consuming them immediately.

7. Bring to boil a pot of water, cook one serving at a time for 10 mins (check for doneness after 7 mins).

8. Drain and rinse under running cold water immediately (optional).

Detailed Directions:

1. Attach disc with the biggest hole to the Philips pasta machine. 

To mix the ingredients:

2. Gradually add in the wet ingredients. The mixture will look dry, but do not be tempted to add more liquid.

3. Run the mixing cycle of 3 mins each for 5 times.

4. Rest for 1-2 hrs to relax the gluten. Cover with plastic wrap over the feeding of liquid opening. I rest it for 1 hr 30 mins.

(These steps above by the pasta machine are equivalent to combing the flour to a hard dough by hand in the noodle making process.)

To knead the dough:

5. Mix and start by extruding the noodles using the disc with the biggest noodles diameter disc to knead the dough - this is so that you won't stress your machine at this point. Cut into small inches size and add them back to the pasta maker. This step is to use the machine to knead the dough.

6. Your dough should not be sticky, doesn't fold easily, but elastic in the sense that when you press it with a finger, the indent is gradual. You don't have to let the dough rest again.

(These steps above by the pasta machine are equivalent to kneading the dough by hand in the noodle making process.)

To extrude the noodles:

7. Change the noodle disc to udon disc (2.5mm x 2.5mm) and select the extrude setting. The noodles should come out looking nice, not frayed and not sticky. It also doesn't break easily. If you are going to store it instead of eating them immediately, flour it with corn starch so that they will stay separate and not be sticking to each other.

To cook the noodles:

You can eat it on its own with a bit of soy sauce and sesame oil, or use it for stir-fry and soup. 

8. If you are eating on its own:

8a. Bring to boil a pot of water, cook one serving at a time for 10 mins (check for doneness after 7 mins).

8b. Drain and rinse under running cold water immediately to stop the cooking, and gently wash and rub away the starch around the noodles with your hands until the water is clear. You will notice that the noodles has pliability, but not sticky. Do not soak in the water for too long, as the noodles will turn soggy.

9. If you are making udon in soup:

9a. Bring to boil a pot of water, cook noodles for 5 mins so it is not fully done. Then drop it into your soup without having to rinse them in cold water.

10. If you are using the noodles for stir-fry:

10a. Bring to boil a pot of water, cook noodles for 5 mins so it is not fully done.

10b. Drain and rinse under running cold water immediately to stop the cooking, and gently wash and rub away the starch around the noodles with your hands until the water is clear. You will notice that the noodles has pliability, but not sticky. Do not soak in the water for too long, as the noodles will turn soggy. If you are going to wait for quite some time before using them, coat them with some olive oil to prevent them from sticking together after some time.

You are ready to use the noodles in stir-fry dishes :-)

If you have followed these steps correctly with mixing, resting and kneading, your noodles should taste firm, but chewy and springy.


Storage:

Stores up to 5 days in the fridge or 6 months in the freezer.

Additional Information:

Traditional Udon noodles are usually made without egg, but I like my noodles to be more nutritious, especially for our kids.  Thus, this recipe comes with adding an egg. This noodles only uses 3 ingredients in the making, but the noodles tastes superb, smooth and has a lovely texture. I didn't follow the Japanese recipes of adding a lot of salt into the dough, but it still came out great. I find that adding salt makes the noodles brittle during extrusion, cooking and eating. After the noodles are made, I cooked it in salt water instead and it tasted pretty much like Japanese udon. Daddy FECS gave the thumbs-up.

References:



















Attach the largest noodle size disc to the pasta machine. Turn on the pasta maker and gradually add in the wet ingredients. 

Mix 5 cycles without extruding (After a cycle of mixing, pause and unplug the machine, then plug in and press mix button again for each cycle - each cycle is 3 mins, total 15 mins) until the dough looks like the one above - in small lumps and doesn't stick to your hand.

The mixture should look lumpy like the above. but do not be tempted to add more liquid. The mixture may look dry, but do not be tempted to add more liquid. It will be compact and hold its shape when pressed, but it doesn't stick to your hand.

Cover the openings with a plastic wrap.

I also place a kitchen towel over it. Let it rest for at least 1 hour.

This is how it looks like after it has rested.


Close up.

After resting for an hour, turn on the machine, mix and extrude with biscuit disc or a disc of a bigger diameter noodle size.

Cut or tear the dough into approx. 2 inches each.


Add them back into the pasta maker.

Change the disc to Udon disc. and extrude straight away. If there is left-over dough in the machine, press the "Extrude" button and continue extruding the noodles.

Place them in a plastic container dust with some corn starch, especially if you wish to store it for a few days.

Close-up.

Boil a pot of water, add 1 tsp salt per 1 litre of water. Add udon, or frozen udon and could between 10 mins, checking in between for doneness. If you are using the noodles for soup, don't fully cook the noodles, as the noodles will be soggy when you serve them. Cook for 5 minutes instead and dish it out into a noodle bowl like below and add your favorite toppings.

Homemade udon noodle soup :-)

Tuesday 26 March 2024

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Homemade Cornmeal and Corn Flour

To the right is the homemade cornmeal

To the right is the homemade corn flour after sifting

Ingredients:

Pop corn kernels

Directions:

1. Add the kernels to the blender container until filled about halfway.
2. Blend kernels on HIGH until a fine powder forms.
3. Separate cornmeal or corn flour by sifting it with a sift.

Storage:

Place in an airtight container or plastic zip-top freezer bag, refrigerate and use within several days or freeze for up to six months.

Additional Information:

I can't believe it, after venturing into making my own tortilla, I am now making my own corn flour!! It may sound intimidating, but it's possible to make your own corn flour at home and it is much easier than you think. There is no need to soak and dry the corns. All you need are popcorn kernels and a power blender (such as Vitamx or Magimix), and tada! You get healthy whole grain corn flour within minutes!! It is very fulfilling and satisfying to be able to try making your own flour at home :-)

I use the dry-grains container from Magimix that's an add-on specifically designed for grinding whole grains.

If you coarsely grind it, you get cornmeal. If you finely grind it, you get corn flour.

Corn is a nutritious low-fat food that is high insoluble fiber, contains many of the vitamin Bs such as thiamin and minerals. It a low-glycemic index food. This means it is a food that is digested slowly and doesn't cause an unhealthy spike in blood sugar.

What can you use cornmeal or corn flour for?

Corn flour is a versatile ingredient that can enhance the texture and flavor of many foods. Use it to coat meat or fish for frying, use it in the batter for pancake or waffle for a nutritious breakfast. You can even bake it into breads, muffins, or cakes, although I won't try the latter as I am not a cake fan :-)

You can also combine corn flour with other flours like cornmeal, all-purpose flour, and whole wheat flour for a varied diet and nutrition.

Popcorn is a whole grain and a good source of fiber. According to webmd, "there are a few health benefits to eating popcorn. In addition to being high in fiber, popcorn also contains phenolic acids, a type of antioxidant. In addition, popcorn is a whole grain, an important food group that may reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension in humans."

References:






Magimix dry-grain mill container

Start from setting 1 and gradually turn up to setting 2 all the way to setting 4 and blend for a minute and then rest for a minute to prevent over-heating before blending again for a minute. Repeat these two steps until you have achieved your desired fineness.


To the right is the homemade cornmeal

To the right is the homemade corn flour after sifting

Friday 22 March 2024

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Homemade Mini Whole Grain Corn Tortillas

Recipe adapted from https://youtu.be/FzRgwUO5Gd8?si=Idm1Teuw57o8ovjL

Makes 16

Ingredients:

1. 400ml Masa Harina corn flour (240g)
2. 400ml warm water (approx. 60 degree Celsius)
3. 1/2 tsp salt (2.8g) (optional)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, add warm water, salt and Masa Harina corn flour and knead into a supple and smooth dough.

2. Adjust with a little more water if the dough seems too dry. It feels like play dough and should not stick to your hand.

3. Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes so that it puffs up nicely while cooking. You can let it rest for as long as you want, if you are making them on the same day.

4. Shape the dough into large balls the size of a walnut (28g). 

5. Roll out with a rolling pin or press into thin tortillas using a tortilla press (use 2 pieces of baking paper in the press, so the dough comes out easier). This recipe works with Philips Pasta Maker too. I use the Philip VIVA pasta maker with lasagna die to extrude out the tortillas. 

6. Heat pan on medium-high heat (no.7.5 on my stove). You don't need to oil the pan.

7. Place a tortilla one at a time on the pan and cook for 50 seconds. 

8. Flip over and cook for another 50 seconds. You will see that it puffs up and this is a good sign. If it doesn't, it is also fine.

9. Cover the tortillas with a clean kitchen towel to keep them soft and warm.

10. Serve with desired toppings or melted cheese :-)

Video Demonstration:


Tips:

Crisp up in some fat before serving.  Use the same day and if storing for many hours, wrap them up after they cool completely.

Don’t worry if you made too many tortillas. You can use the leftovers to make totopos for nachos, or strips for a sopa de tortilla, where you also need some stale tortillas for the soup, too. You can also make chilaquiles or pastel azteca with your leftover tortillas, or even use some to make tostadas or as one of your ingredients for a delicious mole.

You can fry them on the stove top with some oil or air fry them to make tortilla chips.

Storage:

Store in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a week. You can also freeze them up.

To warm up, use a skillet with no oil over medium heat for 15 seconds or microwave for 30 seconds.

Additional Information:

Similar to the Indian's chapati, tortilla is a round, thin, flat bread of Mexico made from unleavened cornmeal, while Indian's chapati is made of wheat flour. Traditionally, the corn (maize) for tortillas was boiled with unslaked lime to soften the kernels and loosen the hulls. (This lime was the principal source of calcium in the Mexican diet.) Source: Britannica.

In order for it to taste like tortilla, you need to use the corn flour mentioned above as it has been through nixtamalization. Nixtamalization is an ancient process from Mexico, where you put corn kernels in water with dissolved lime in it. Therefore, the ingredient list must always contain both corn (maíz) and lime (hydrated lime).

This is the recipe found in the flour packaging:

1. 2 cups Masa Harina corn flour (263g)
2. 1.5 cup water (300g) (375ml)
3. 1/4 tsp salt

References:







This is the corn flour Masa Harina. It can be purchased here:



In a mixing bowl, add warm water, salt


Add Masa Harina corn flour and

Knead into a supple and smooth dough. (I use my electric mixing machine).  Adjust with a little more water if the dough seems too dry. It feels like play dough and should not stick to your hand.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. You can let it rest for as long as you want, if you are making them on the same day.

Use the extruder function of Philips to form the think Tortilla.

Place the mini tortilla on a sandwich paper.

Cover with another sandwich paper.

Place another piece of tortilla on top of the sandwich paper.

Heat pan to medium-high (no. 7.5 on my stove). Place a tortilla in the pan and cook for  seconds.

Flip over and cook for another seconds. Look how nicely it puff up. Too high a temperature, it will not rise. Too low a temperature will also not work.

Cover the tortillas with a clean kitchen towel to keep them soft and warm.

Now the mini tortillas are done. Eat with melted cheese or any desired topppings.

Sunday 17 March 2024

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Homemade Macaroni

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:

1. 350g Semola flour
2. 50g Graham flour or other wholewheat flour
2. 3 eggs + 1 tsp olive oil (5ml) with water (if required) altogether to total 180ml

3. 2 tsp salt (when cooking)
4. 2L water for boiling the pasta

Directions:

1. Add 400g semolina flour into the Phillips Pasta Maker. 
2. Beat 3 egg and water together to 180ml.
3. Gradually add in the egg-water mixture into the machine.
4. Make the noodles using the Phillips Viva Pasta Machine using the Angel Hair mold from Pastidea
5. Let the machine knead the mixture for 3 minutes (this means one round in the Philips Pasta Maker) and extrude without resting the dough.
6. Boil a big pot of water, add 1 teaspoon salt per litre of water.
7. Add macaroni and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute (do not overcook).
8. Rinse under cold water to avoid over-cooking after dishing out and drain (optional).
9. Ready to be eaten or used in other dishes :-)

Additional Information:

Durum flour is high in protein and well suited to making pasta. because they are more easily stretched into long pieces without breaking. The Italians use them to make pasta. According to Nutrition Over Easy, “Durum” is a strain of wheat that is used mostly for pasta, due to its higher protein content. (Think of “Durum” as its first name and “Wheat” as its family name.) But unless it says “whole grain” you can assume that it is refined, which means that the nutritious germ and fibrous bran have been removed.

The word “Semolina,” on the other hand, refers to the fact that the durum wheat is coarsely ground–again, in order to produce good pasta texture. 

Durum semolina flour contains 15g of protein per 100g of flour, higher than normal flour.

Below is the original recipe. The one shows above is of the same proportion.

1. 250g of Semolina flour (Semola mel)
2. 1 egg with water totaling 110ml (or 95ml water without egg)

3. 2 tsp salt (for cooking pasta)
4. 2L water (for cooking pasta)

Additional Information:

Trying out a new mini macaroni pasta die today :-)

Added 12.5% whole grain for nutrients and 3 eggs.
C likes to eat it plain before any sauce or ketchup. Power packed with eggs (protein) as much as possible in pasta and no preservatives, I can rest a little easier if she eats it plainly without any meat 😅 

C said it tasted exactly like store-bought ones.
It takes about 30 seconds to wash the die after it’s fully dried, definitely less than a minute.
Cultivating our children to eat fresh pasta instead of store-bought ones surely takes hard work. Once eating habits are fixed, it’s hard to change… such as white rice… etc.

It’s for our children I chose to be a full-time mom.
So much fun, so much hard work, so much fun.
All rolled into one
How long will it last?
Cherish it, treasure it, while it lasts.
Motherhood is a calling, 
A high calling.
Giving it my very best 💪💪
No regrets ❤️ 
In God we trust ❤️

P.S. The badly cut macaroni was C’s work in training.

P.P.S. If you are using only Semola flour without adding the Graham flour, use 3 eggs and 1 teaspoon of olive oil with water (if required) to total 175ml (not 180ml).

References:


Use Durum Semolina flour.

The Durum Semolina flour is available from Føtex Supermarket. It is not available in Meny or Netto.

Graham flour from Føtex Supermarket


Our new macaroni pasta die from BNN 

Add 3 eggs, 5ml olive oil with water all together in total 180ml, beat eggs and mix well.

Add 400g semolina flour into the Phillips Pasta Maker. 

Gradually add in the egg-water mixture into the machine.

Let the machine knead the mixture for 3 minutes (this means one round in the Philips Pasta Maker) and extrude without resting the dough.



Boil a big pot of water, add 1 teaspoon salt per litre of water.

Add macaroni and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute (do not overcook).

Ready to be eaten or used in other dishes :-)

17 March 2024 (7Y10M2D): C likes to eat them on their own.
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