Mantou – AMCARMEN'S KITCHEN

Hello Everyone! Wishing all my family, friends, followers, and passersby a Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year’s break to refresh, rejuvenate, and reflect asides from celebrating. I hope 2022 will be a better year for all of us.

For those who have been following my blog for a while now, you’ll all know that I always set a theme for the year. This year will be a little bit different. I won’t be setting a specific theme only because I have a backlog of recipes that I created last year but did not have a chance to post it on my blog. Rather than have it sit in my archives, I decided that I’ll spend the first few months of the year getting them up on the blog.

To kick off the new year, I will be sharing my recipes that I whipped up for the King Chef 2021 Challenge last year, starting with this non-traditional bruschetta recipe using mantou buns. We could create anything and everything as long as it featured any ingredient/product from Lee Kum Kee and King Chef, from the challenge kits provided.

Like with many of my ideas, this Mantou Bruschetta came into mind while I was in the shower. For those who aren’t familiar with bruschetta, it is an Italian starter dish that consists of grilled bread that has been rubbed with garlic, and then topped with olive oil and salt. There are many variations for toppings, but the most popular and most known one outside of Italy is a mixture of basil, fresh tomato, garlic, onion, and mozzarella.

Traditionally, the best choice of bread for bruschetta is an Italian or French loaf – preferably a loaf of bread that has a thick crust and firm consistency. In fact, the dish was developed as a way of salvaging bread that was going stale. Though mantou buns don’t have either of those characteristics, I thought that I could use them as an option for this recipe. Now, As you can see in my photos, I may have pan-toasted them a little bit too much as they turned out to be darker in colour than I wanted them to be. It all worked out in the end in terms of flavour though; the browning gave the mantou bun slices an extra nutty flavour that complimented the sweetness of them.

Now that I got the King Chef product sorted out, I thought hard about what Lee Kum Kim product to incorporate from the challenge kit provided – between premium soy sauce or hoisin sauce. Since soy sauce is salty in taste, I decided to add this to the tomato topping for my bruschetta. So here’s my Chinese-Italian fusion of Mantou Bruschetta; it’s light and fresh, yet tangy and intense at the same time from the balsamic vinegar glaze. It is also sweet and nutty, making it the perfect antipasto to serve at your next dinner party!

PREP TIME 1 HOUR | COOKING TIME 5 MINS | SERVES 2-3

INGREDIENTS

For the mantou bruschetta

4-5 pcs King Chef’s mantou buns, cut into 1-inch thick slices
Olive oil
Salted butter (or margarine)

For the tomato topping

4 small-sized tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
2 garlic clove, finely minced
1 small red onion, diced
Handful of basil leaves, roughly chopped
Cracked black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Lee Kum Kee’s premium soy sauce

Balsamic vinegar glaze, to garnish

METHOD

Tomato Topping: Add all the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside to chill in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.
Mantou Bruschetta: Melt butter with a little bit of olive oil in a small non-stick pan over medium heat. Toast each side of the slice until browned to your liking. Once done, remove from the pan. Work in batches if needed.
Plate up by topping each toasted mantou slice with about a tablespoon of the tomato mixture. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar glaze, and top each with a small basil leaf. Serve and enjoy immediately.

@amcarmenskitchen

Mantou Bruschetta @kingchefph @leekumkeeph #amcarmenskitchen #KingChefChallenge #100WaysDimsim #KingChefxTastesetters #foodtiktok

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BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

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Hello Everyone! As I said in my very first post for the year, I wanted to see how many of you will be able to guess the theme for this year. As of now, you probably have enough information for an idea, and to be honest, it’ll only get clearer (maybe) in April. So for now, I’ll keep you guys guessing!

Chilli Crab is a Southeast Asian seafood dish, popularised and promoted in Singapore as its national dish. The dish dates back to 1956 where a husband and wife started selling an improvised recipe of stir-fried crabs mixed with bottled chilli and tomato sauce from a pushcart.

Despite its name, it is actually not a very spicy dish at all. It is a dish where mud crabs, or any other species of crab, are stir-fried in a semi-thick, sweet and savoury tomato and chilli based sauce. The sauce is described as sensuous, sweet yet savoury, and fluffy in texture.

When it comes to eating Chilli Crab, forget about cutlery. It is traditionally eaten with bare hands as a means to savour the juicy crab meat. Restaurants that serve this each often provide wet towels or a small washing bowl with lime for diners to clean their hands after their meal. Additionally, don’t be shy. Ask for a bib. Or wear a bib when eating at home. Seriously. It will keep your clothes free from stains and sauce drops.

Chilli Crab is commonly ordered with a side dish of plain or fried rice, vegetables, or other seafood dishes such as fish. Regardless of those, there’s one thing that can’t be left out when you order Chilli Crab that contrasts so deliciously with the sauce: Bright Golden Pillows. Or simply, fried mantou buns. These crispy and greasy little nuggets are used to soak up the sauce from the Chilli Crab. They are sweet, soft, and sinful.

Before we dive into tonight’s recipe, check out the original recipe over on Serious Eats by Yvonne Ruperti.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 10-12 MINS | SERVES 3-4

INGREDIENTS

2 whole Mud or Dungeness Crabs (about 600g – 800g in weight for each)*
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 red bird’s eye chillies, minced
1 half-inch knob ginger, grated
1 large free-range egg, beaten
1 small red onion, minced
1 stalk green onions, thinly sliced
1 shrimp bouillon cube
2 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup hot-sweet chilli sauce
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 2 tbsp of water to make a slurry
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To serve on the side

Steamed rice
Fried mantou (Chinese Buns)**

* Check out this YouTube video by Sydney Fish Market on how to choose, clean, and prepare your crabs; best to keep the fat and creamy part inside the top shell for the extra crab flavour that it’ll lend to the dish.
** You can make your own mantou buns by following this recipe over on China Sichuan Food. Alternatively, you may also find them at your local grocer or supermarket, if available.

METHOD

In a large wok or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium until shimmering. Add in the garlic, onion, ginger, and chillies. Cook until lightly browned and fragrant for about a minute.
Add the crab pieces, water, and shrimp bouillon cube. Increase the heat to medium-high, cover loosely, and bring to a gentle boil. Decrease the heat if necessary. Cook for about 6 minutes, until the crab has turned red and is nearly cooked through.
Stir in the tomato paste and chilli sauce. Simmer for about a minute and then season to taste with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and bring back to a boil for the sauce to thicken.
Remove from the heat and stir in beaten egg. Transfer to a serving dish and top with sliced green onions and fresh chillies.
Serve with steamed rice and/or fried mantou buns. Take care when eating the sauce – it may have bits of shell in it from the crab. Enjoy!