sheetz

Does anyone use the fraisage technique of smearing the dough on the board?

I received my wooden mooncake mold from wokshop.com yesterday. It appears very sturdy and should last a long time. Does it need to be seasoned before using? Some sources indicate that you should soak the molds in oil before using. The mold I received has no instructions.

How about rose water? I was thinking of using rose water, too. But there's also plenty of other things, like almond and vanilla extract, or various liqueurs.

Alkaline water (very small amount) is used for making the traditional cantonese skin. If you find alkaline water in a paste recipe, like lotus seed paste, it's to help loosen the skin for easy rubbing-off. That is rinsed off. ← I would have thought that it's to make the beans softer. In many bean recipes, baking soda (which is also alkaline) is added to the simmering liquid for that reason.

^ -Noticed you don't use alkaline water for the red bean paste. -I don't think I can get rose jam anywhere, but you've given me something to think about. Thanks!

OK, so it looks like your alkaline water has sodium carbonate (soda ash). I'm guessing the differences between the various solutions won't be that big so I'll go ahead and buy the sodium hydroxide lye water. I don't have an oven fan, so I'll get the round molds. Regarding the red/Adzuki beans, I had planned on passing the paste through a sieve anyways, so maybe the skins won't make much difference. BTW, do you have a good recipe for the red bean paste?

OK, another couple of questions. Is there any particular shape or size of mooncake that is easier to deal with? Do the square ones bake as easily as the round ones? Another one about alkaline water. I was going to purchase lye water from Pacificrimgourmet.com but the type they sell is a sodium hydroxide solution. The type that Chinese typically use is a potassium carbonate solution. Does anyone know if there is a big difference between them? I'd rather not have to ask my folks to ship it to me since it's a caustic chemical. Another option I have is to buy powdered potassium carbonate and mix my own solution. Does anyone know how strong a solution I would need?

I did notice that that the adzuki beans are smaller. But what about the difference in taste? I may go ahead and buy some just to see how much of a difference it really makes.

Traditionally, meat was reserved for very special occasions, which is why banquet menus typically consisted of 80% animal protein.

Red beans for Cantonese cooking are different from adzuki beans. The phonetic for the lye water is kan sui. You can usually find it in the row with bottles of vinegar, etc. or with stuff for baking (like fake pandan flavor). If you are desperate and can't find it, pm me and I'll mail you a bottle. regards, trilium ← Thanks. I've read that adzuki beans were the same as red beans, but if they're not that's no big deal. Regarding the alkaline/lye water I just wanted to make sure what it was so I bought the right thing. If it's kan sui I can just ask my folks to send me a bottle.

OK, I just got back from the local Chinese grocery store and I can get red beans, lotus seeds (a lot more expensive), and maltose. No alkaline water. Questions: 1. Does anyone know if adzuki beans are definitely the same thing as Chinese red beans? Another ethnic grocer carries those for a lot less money than the red beans at the Chinese grocer. 2. Tepee, what exactly is in the alkaline water that you use? Is it a solution made from potassium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, or is it something else?

I went back and looked up that thread. Wow...I would have never even bothered to respond.

Any suggestions as to how to get that translucent skin? My wraps are thin, but never that translucent! Would it have anything to do with the flour mixture? I think it's probably the flour mixture used. Would tapioca starch make it more translucent?

I'll check at my local chinese grocer this weekend but I suspect I'll have to order most of the supplies online. So does anyone know of a single US online source that carries all the necessary molds and ingredients? I don't want to have to order things from 5 different sources because the shipping costs would be too high. I'll need molds, various seeds/beans (lotus seeds, red beans, or any others that would work), and alkaline/lye water.

And I thought Las Vegas was popular with the Chinese because of the gambling...

They can be purchased online. I'm somewhat intrigued by the moon cookie molds, but I don't know how much filling I could put in them. They would definitely make nice gifts, however. Lotus seeds? Not likely. Pumpkin seeds? Yep. Red beans? Maybe, but I know I can get the premaid paste in a can. Maltose? Possibly. Alkaline water? Don't think so. However, I think I can buy most, if not all, of these online. Thanks. I'll take a look at them.

Eating brown rice is very rare among Chinese for a couple of reasons. Yes, polished rice looks nicer, but also the outer hull on brown rice contains oils that go rancid quickly. From a culinary standpoint, brown rice just isn't as useful as polished white rice. With white rice you can make various styles of noodles, dumplings, and cakes, whereas you can't really do much with brown rice.

OK, where do I start? Ideally, I just want to make simple, traditional ones like the ones we buy with lotus seed paste and egg yolks. But I would be willing to try some less popular fillings if they are easy to make and I have access to the ingredients. I live in a small town without a large chinese grocery so I would have to make do with what I have. I happen to be one of those people who loves mooncakes. I could easily scarf off a couple of boxes around Moon Festival time. However, I think homemade mooncakes would make a great gift for over the holidays in place of the more traditional fruitcakes that Americans give to one another. Being an aspiring baker I also know that store bought pastries rarely come even close to the quality of good homemade ones, so I think learning how to make them is definitely worthwhile.

Holy cow, I need to learn how to make these myself! I never buy mooncakes since my folks usually give them to me, (Kee Wah Bakery, I think.) but there's no way it would cost that much if I made them myself.

I can't attend, but you might try posting this in the Chinese Cuisine forum, too.

For char siu bao, I think it's supposed to act as a bleach to make the bread white.

Are you sure you meant "prevent" instead of "encourage"? For me the end goal is always a light yet firmly crunchy, evenly blistered surface. ← sheetz is correct in her use of "prevent" because she is referring to the outer layer of the skin which prevents crispiness. Those da#* relative pronouns. ← Thanks for the confirmation. BTW, did I mention I'm a guy?

Are you sure you meant "prevent" instead of "encourage"? For me the end goal is always a light yet firmly crunchy, evenly blistered surface. ← I probably didn't word that as well as I'd like. I'm saying that the outer layer of skin seems to prevent crispiness.

The only thing I ever bake at 482F are pizzas. But as I said before, I wouldn't dismiss this recipe out of hand (although it does seem odd). I've learned it's always good to be able to think outside the box.

Hmmm, I only tried it once but it worked fine for me. I can't exactly remember what I did, but I'm sure I tried to make the skin as dry as possible. My standard procedure for this type of thing is to leave it in the frig skin side up overnight to dry. Lye water and baking soda water are both alkaline, and I think they help dissolve away the outer layer of the skin which seems to prevent crispiness.