Grocery Shopping and Craving Banh Tieu

This is my favorite Vietnamese snack and today I discovered it at Manila grocery store. Yay!  I always crave for this and besides trudging all the way down to San Jose, this is my best alternative. Yes, it was frozen but after heating it up for one minute, it was edible again.

It taste great but not as fresh if you get it straight from the oven. In case you have no idea what I'm referring to, it's  a hollow bread with sesame seeds sprinkled on top, fried and crunchy (see picture above). Did I mention I'm a lover of all things doughy? 

So while I was eating this yummy bread, I use my friend Google to search for the recipe and behold stumble across Ch3rri Blossom's blog.  She have great recipes to share on Vietnamese cooking. I plan to try this one day and update you on the progress later.

Here is her recipe:

Ingredients:

290 g bread flour (2 cups)
150 ml water
100 g sugar (about 1/2 cup, add another tbsp for sweeter)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp baking powder
Sesame seeds

1. Take 50 ml water and microwave for 20 seconds or until the water is warm. Add in 1 tbsp sugar and the instant yeast. Let the yeast double or bubble up. Should just be a couple minutes.

2. Mix the left over sugar with 100 ml and stir until the sugar dissolve.

3. Mix the baking powder with the flour and salt. Then mix in the sugar water and then yeast water. Knead into a soft dough. If it's too dry then add in just a little bit more water.

4. Cover and let the dough rest for at least couple hours (3-4 hrs) or overnight until the dough double or triple in size. If you want it to prove faster, put it in the oven with the oven light on. Remember you must cover the dough.

5. Take the dough out and knead for one minute. Then divide the dough into 10 balls. The balls should be a little larger than a extra large egg. (Cover those that is not being used.)

6. Dip the ball in the sesame seeds on both sides. Then coat with some extra flour and roll the balls into flat circles. The flatness should be less than 1/2 inch. If your circles are thicker then you'll have a thicker filling. If it's too thin then you'll have nothing in the middle.

7. Heat a frying pan with enough oil to fry. Slide the flat dough into the oil and it will start to float. Gently try to push it with your chopstick and it should puff up. After it puff up then flip to fry the other side. Fry until golden. Frying should be quick so don't leave it alone or it'll be black!

Note: The longer you prove the dough the easier it will puff. Try to wiggle the flat dough when frying in hot oil. This will helps it puff.