Nikuman (Steamed Buns) Made Quick and Easy From Food Storage Ingredients

I love to visit Japan.  When I am there, everything is an adventure.  Communicating, navigating an unfamiliar environment, experiencing a new culture and especially tasting new and delicious foods are great fun for me.  The first time I visited Japan, my mother-in-law worried about what Japanese food I would enjoy eating.  She went to the store and brought back a little box filled with nikuman.  You may have seen them if you have ever visited a dim sum restaurant.  They are steamed buns usually filled with meat, sweet beans or custard.  Variations of them are found all over Asia.  Needless to say, I fell in love with the taste of the little buns and they are a treat I search out on all of my visits to Japan.

Nikuman are a little hard to find in the U.S.  Therefore, over the years I have always been keeping an eye out for a place to purchase them.  Many years ago, I experimented with recipes to make nikuman.  However, making them seemed to take more time than I had to spend in the kitchen.  Since I have been associated with Shelf Reliance Thrive Foods, I have been experimenting and have found a delicious and time saving method to make them out of my food storage ingredients.  They are versatile and can be filled with sweet or savory fillings. They are great for lunch or a quick snack.  Try packing them in a lunchbox.  Make up a batch and freeze the leftovers for use in the future.   The following recipes using food storage ingredients make it possible to cut the preparation time by a significant amount without taking away from the taste.

First, I will give the recipe for the bread part of the Nikuman.  I adapted this recipe from one given for Nikuman (Baozi) taken from http://norecipes.com.  All of the ingredients with the exception of cake flour are normally found in most pantries.  All-purpose flour can be used but the result is a little bit heavier bread.

Nikuman or Steamed Buns

Ingredients

18 oz. cake flour  (all purpose is ok but finished product is heavier, also use a little less)

3.5 oz sugar

2 tsp. yeast

1.5 tsp. baking powder

2 T. vegetable oil

1 C. water, luke warm

Instructions

1. Mix sugar, yeast, oil and luke warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture becomes bubbly or frothy.  Add cake flour and baking powder, then turn on stand mixer. Mix for at least 5 minutes.  Dough should pull away from the bowl and form a ball.

2. Place ball of dough into a greased bowl and cover.  Place in a warm place and let rise for 1 hour.

3. Punch down the dough and roll it into a log.  Cut the log into 16 even pieces and form each piece into a ball.  Cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.  Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

4. Roll out each piece of dough until it is thin and round.  Spoon about 2 T. filling onto the center of the dough.  Pleat the edges together, bringing them together to close the opening.  Squeeze the dough together closing the hole in the bun.  Place bun on 3” x 3” piece of parchment or waxed paper.

5. Steam in steamer for 10 minutes.  Let cool slightly and serve.

Now for the fillings, the first is savory and the second for your sweet tooth.

Chicken Filling for Steamed Buns

Note:  This Filling also makes wonderful lettuce wraps.

Ingredients

1 T. oil

1 ½ C. freeze-dried chopped chicken

2/3 C freeze-dried mushrooms, rehydrated and minced

3 T. freeze-dried onion, rehydrated

1 tsp. minced garlic
1 C. water chestnuts, minced

4 T. soy sauce

4 T. brown sugar

1 tsp. rice wine vinegar

3 tsp. water

1 tsp. cornstarch

Instructions

1. Rehydrate chicken, mushrooms and onions in water for 10 minutes and drain well.

2. Add oil to frying pan and stir-fry chicken, mushrooms, onions and garlic until warmed through.

3. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, water and cornstarch toge3ther and add to chicken mixture in the frying pan.  Heat until sauce thickens.

Pastry Cream From Food Storage

This may not be quite as rich as regular pastry cream, but it is delicious, quick and easy. 

4 T. instant milk powder

2 C. water

¼ C. white sugar

2 T. whole egg powder

4 T. water

¼ C. cornstarch

1/3 C. sugar

2 T. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1. In a heavy saucepan, stir together the instant milk powder, C. water and ¼ C. sugar.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together whole egg powder, remaining 1/3 C. sugar and cornstarch.  Wisk in 4 T. water until all are mixed well. 

3. When the milk mixture comes to a boil, slowly drizzle small spoonfuls into the egg mixture while whisking.  Be sure to whisk constantly to prevent the egg from curdling and be careful not to scorch the milk mixture.  Do this until about half of the milk mixture has been whisked into the egg mixture. 

4. Then, while whisking, return all of the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and slowly bring back to a boil.  Mixture will thicken.  Remove from the heat and stir in butter and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour mixture into a heatproof container and cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the to p of the mixture.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Give these recipes a try.  I am sure your family will enjoy them.  You may already have all of the ingredients in you food storage pantry.  If not, these ingredients are great to have on hand.  They are convenient, versatile and make preparation fast and easy.  They also have a long shelf life.  All of these ingredients and many more can be purchased through my Shelf Reliance website.  Just click the link below to go directly to my website where you can purchase a wide variety of Shelf Reliance Products that will be shipped directly to you.

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

Mother's Banana Bread with a Twist, Freeze-Dried Bananas

My mother made the most delicious Banana Bread.  There was only one thing better than the aroma of those freshly baked loaves coming out of the oven, the taste.  It was sweet and buttery with the delicious taste of bananas and my mother could hardly prevent us from devouring it before it had cooled.  I have loved that recipe all of my life as does my own family. 

I decided to experiment to see if I could actually make this recipe from food storage ingredients.  I usually always have flour, sugar and soda on hand.  Now I also have Thrive Freeze-Dried Bananas and Thrive Whole Egg Powder.  Basically, the only fresh ingredient I used was butter.  The process of making the batter was fast and easy and the finished product was amazing.  To my surprise, I received even more compliments than when I made the original recipe. The texture was very even and fine, but the flavor was the most remarkable part.  The freeze-dried bananas make the banana flavor incredibly vivid.  This is the first thing that those who taste the bread notice.

This is the recipe and the process I used to make the banana bread from food storage ingredients.

Ingredients:

½ C. Butter                                                      
1 C. Sugar
2 C. Thrive Freeze-Dried Bananas                    

1 tsp. Soda

2 C. Flour

2 T. Thrive Whole Egg Powder                                                         
4 T. Water

Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or spray an aluminum bread pan. 

1.  Cream butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy.  

2.  Place the freeze-dried bananas into a blender or food processor and process until bananas are powdered.  

3.  In another bowl, add banana powder, flour, soda and whole egg powder and mix well.  Add the mixed dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture.  

4.  Add the water and stir well until all of the ingredients are incorporated into a smooth slightly thick batter.  

5.  Spoon this batter into the greased loaf pan.  

6.  Bake for 1 hour.  

7.  Check for doneness with a toothpick.  When toothpick comes out clean, the bread is done.  Cool on a cooling rack and watch out for those who are looking to snitch a piece.

If you like nuts, it tastes great with about 1/1/4 C. chopped walnuts added to the batter.  Also, if you are looking for a special treat, frost the banana bread with cream cheese frosting.

Now, why use freeze-dried bananas and whole egg powder?  First, although they cost a little more initially, if I use freeze-dried bananas, I don’t have to make a trip to the store specially to get bananas.  This usually saves money, because not only do you save gas and time, but also you prevent yourself from impulse buying in the store when you only went there for bananas.  Not only that, but it is common for us to waste bananas because they get too ripe before we get them used.  Then, no one wants to eat them.  I end up throwing them away and wasting the money I spent on them.  As for the eggs, they are handy, handy, handy.  They come in powdered form and last for at least 6 months after you open the can.  They can be used in anything that you bake or cook that calls for an egg.  Exceptions are that you cannot make a boiled or sunny-side-up egg.  However, you can make scrambled eggs.  Both of these ingredients are handy, convenient and result in a superior quality, great tasting product.  They prevent waste and are fast and easy to use.  I highly recommend using these and other Thrive Freeze-Dried fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses along with their other food storage foods.  For more information or to purchase Thrive products, please visit my website at:

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com

   

Homemade Egg Noodles from Food Storage Ingredients

Here is a recipe that you can use to make delicious egg noodles and rotate your food storage in the process.  Not only does it produce wonderful noodles but it is fun to make with your family.  I have converted this recipe from a traditional recipe that has been handed down from my great grandmother. 

The ingredients are simple and basic. 

The original recipe used fresh eggs.  Substituting Thrive Whole Egg Powder in the recipe makes it very convenient.  I never have to worry about having fresh eggs on hand and the noodles come out tasting wonderful.  

As children, my brother, sisters and I loved to help my mother make this recipe.  It was our job to unroll the noodles and break them into noodle sized pieces to dry.  We especially loved to sample the raw noodles.  I always worried about my children getting Salmonella from the raw eggs, so my children missed out on the tasting part.  When I use Thrive Whole Egg Powder, I don't have to worry about that.  Now, my grandchildren are enjoying the noodle making process, especially the tasting.

Watch this tutorial to learn how to make this delicious recipe.

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/4 C. flour (start with 1C. that is enough in most cases)

3 T. Whole Egg Powder

6 T. Water

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix and roll out as shown in the above tutorial

I hope that you will try this recipe.  I am sure that you will like it.  You can use the noodles immediately  or you can freeze them for use in the future.  I usually make chicken noodle soup with them, but they are very versatile.  In my extended family, the chicken noodle soup made with these egg noodles is considered a comfort food.  To make the soup, just use chicken broth, chicken, onion, celery and carrots.  Cook until vegetables and chicken are done.  Add the noodles to the boiling soup a handfull at a time.  Cook for about 4 minutes and it's done.  To make cooking fast and easy, just use Thrive freeze-dried vegetables and freeze-dried chicken.  You will be enjoying your chicken noodle soup before you know it.

If you would like to purchase Thrive Whole Egg Powder, freeze-dried vegetables or chicken, visit my Shelf Reliance website at:

susansakurai.shelfreliance.com