EVERYBODY NEEDS A LITTLE RAIN SOMETIME

今天下午这场雨下得真够力!

豪雨，好大 。
窗外一片模糊。
街景变成一幅油画。

街上没有行人。多半向我一样躲在室内吧?

雨天。午后。咖啡。

PSI 323

Some time ago, I posted photos of the views from my apartment windows.  Here's what I'm seeing this morning.

It's a sad state of affairs. Frankly, I'm all choked up.

EPIC SMOG

For those of us who live to tell the tale, the last few days have been rather dramatic for Singapore.  Fast-food deliveries have been cancelled, the army has suspended field training, and face masks, air purifiers and eye drops are flying off the shelves. The smog, caused by the illegal burning of forests on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, is a persistent problem for us every year.

This year's smoke haze, however, might well be chronicalized.  Yesterday at 1PM, our pollution standards index (PSI) soared to a smothering 371. We all held our breaths and wonder if the number will rise further.  Today at 12PM the reading breached 400. If the air quality value is considered hazardous at 300, then what of 401?

It is time to shop for important things.

ROUX STARTER (TARO PASTE)

I yam what I yam, and what I yam is a taro.

One thing is for sure.  I won't be able to make bread for a living.  After an afternoon of toiling, I churned out only six buns.  Six!  If my life depended on it I'd be dead by now.

Today I made bread with a taro filling using Showa HI-NEON bread flour and taro paste that I bought from Taipei. 

I began by making a roux starter.  Mashed taro, flour and water were stirred over low heat until the water was reduced and the ingredients came together to form a paste.   It was then placed in the fridge for about 60 minutes before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

For the filling, I mixed a little butter into the taro paste to give it an extra creamy texture and rich flavor.  Since the store-bought taro was quite sweet I didn't add more sugar.  

Roux starter: 20 grams store bought taro paste, 10 grams Showa HI-NEON, 50 grams water

Bread dough: 210 grams Showa HI-NEON, 3 grams instant yeast, 20 grams caster sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 100 grams water, 15 grams butter

Filling: 150 grams taro paste, 15 grams butter

Finish: Egg wash

Crumb topping: 10 grams all-purpose flour, 15 grams almond meal, 10 grams granulated sugar, 10 grams salted butter

MY PIECE OF RAINFOREST

I'm so lucky that my desk is parked right next to this amazing view.

The sun came through the trees into my office window today.  Ignore the traffic below and I could well be in the middle of a rainforest. 

ANPAN BUNS AND RAISIN BUNS

A couple more experiments using Custard Roux Starter.

First I made some Anpan.

Then I made some raisin buns with a super fluffy interior.  The raisins had been plumped with Cointreau.

ROUX STARTER (CUSTARD)

Other than laziness, I cannot think what prevented me from using a Starter before this.

Adding a roux starter to the bread dough really boosts the moisture and flavour of the bread.

Akan datang for more bread adventures.

*****

Custard roux starter: 1 egg yolk, 10 grams caster sugar, 15 grams Showa PROMINENT, 65 grams milk

Bread dough: 250 grams Showa PROMINENT, 40 grams caster sugar, 4 grams instant yeast, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 50 grams water, 50 grams milk,  25 grams butter

Filling: 200 grams red bean paste

Finish: egg wash