PUTO PAO

A newly popular Filipino food made in combination of a sweet puto (steamed flour buns) and siopao (steamed dough with meaty filling). Basically it's just a siopao filling inside a puto with an egg on it inside along with the meat filling called "asado" and topped with cheese. It is a sweet, meaty and delicious special delicacy in the Philippines. You can find this food at few Filipino snack restaurants in the Philippines This recipe is among my neighbors and friends favorite snack. Have a try over this recipe posted below.


Ingredients                                                                                                                                         
Meat filling / Asado :  
           Ground pork or chicken                       1/2 kilogram
           Salt                                                       1/2 tsp
           Ground black pepper                            1/8 tsp
           Garlic ( finely chopped )                      3 cloves
           Onion (chopped finely)                        1 small piece
           Soy Sauce                                             5 Tbsps
           Eggs                                                      3 pcs
           Cooking Oil                                          2 Tbsps
           Water                                                    1/2 of a cup
           Cornstarch                                            2 Tbsps

Steamed flour buns / Puto:
           All - Purpose Flour                               2 and 1/2 cups
           White Sugar                                          1 cup
           Coconut Oil                                          3 Tbsps
           Water                                                    2 and 1/3 cups
           Baking Powder                                     9 tsps

Procedure:

1. Boil the eggs until they are well cooked. On another cooking utensil, heat the oil and set the fire at low heat. Then saute the onion and garlic until the color becomes light brown. Turn the fire to a medium strength and add your meat and salt. Keep stirring the meat for 8 minutes.
2. Now, add the soy sauce and black pepper. On a bowl, mix in the water and cornstarch, until the cornstarch is well dissolved. After a couple 2 minutes add the cornstarch-water mixture. Then turn it off and cool it down after it thickens enough or probably about after 2 to 3 minutes.c
3. On a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients of the steamed buns, then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix it thoroughly using a beater or hand mixer until the batter has no more little round flour particles.
4. Turn the fire on to a medium heat. With water in your steamer, bring it to a a boil. Using a large plastic puto / steamed bun molder, fill it halfway with the batter mixture or just about 2 tablespoon full and steam for about 8-10 minutes.
5. Using a smaller molder, use its bottom to press lightly against the puto or bun, until the bun forms a hole to which you can put the filling. Put a teaspoonful of filling and a little cut or fraction of egg. Then fill it with  batter mixture until nearly full.
6. Steam the buns for about another 8 to 10 minutes. Put a little piece of cheese over the top of the bun and let the cheese melt for about a minute or two.
7. Let it cool and remove the buns from the molder by sliding a pointed tip to use or a pointed stick along the edges of the buns to loosen the them. Finally flip them off the plate and serve.

I hope, you would try this recipe and continue following this website for more of the best delicious foods we have here in Philippines.

Delicious Buko Pandan Tart

Today, I will share to you one my favorite snack ("merienda" in Filipino dialect) recipe, the buko pandan tart. I learned the recipe several years ago from a Filipino nurse colleague.

This recipe makes about 24 regular cupcake sized buko pandan tarts

Now, the following are some of the equipments necessary:

·        2 large bowls

·        pizza cutter

·        rolling pin

·        clean smooth flat surface board

·        cling wrap

·        7 cm and 8 cm diameter round bowls

As for the ingredients, there will be 2 main parts of the tart, the dough crust and the buko pandan filling.

Let's start with the dough, we will be needing the following:

·        2 and 3/4 cups of all purpose flour

·        1 and1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

·        1/2 of a cup - granulated white sugar  

·        1 piece of a medium sized egg

·        2 to 3 tablespoons of water

·        1/2 of a cup - margarine

·        1/2 of a cup - lard  

Next, for the buko pandan filling, we need:

·        2 cups of buko pandan meat

·        1 cup of buko pandan juice

·        1/2 of a cup - white sugar

·        1/2 of a cup - evaporated milk

·        1/3 of a cup - pure cornstarch

And one last thing, we will need another egg to make an egg wash and brush the top our tart before we put it into the oven.

If everything is all set and ready, we can start making the buko pandan tart.

Procedure:

1. In a large bowl put the all-purpose flour, then add the sugar and baking powder. Mixed thoroughly then add in the margarine and lard. Cut the lard and margarine chunks using a fork until they look tiny like little stones in the sand.

2. Beat the egg and add it into the dough crust mixture. Mix it well. Add 2 tablespoons of water and knead it well. If the texture still needs a little moisture add a teaspoon full until 3 teaspoons. Knead well, wrap it with a cling wrap then refrigerate while you make the buko pandan filling.

3. To begin with the filling, dissolve the cornstarch in the evaporated milk. Set the stove to medium heat. Heat up the buko juice for 1 to 2 minutes then add the buko meat and sugar. Cook for 3 minutes, while continuously mixing it to dissolve the sugar and prevent burning your buko.

4. Next, add the evaporated milk-cornstarch mixture. Keep mixing constantly until it thickens, approximately about 5 to 10 minutes. Cool it down a bit.

5. Take the dough and divide into 4 parts. Flatten the single portion of the dough to about 1/8 cm. flat. NOTE: A quarter potion of the dough makes 12 pieces of round flat dough.

6. Using the 8 cm diameter round bowl, firmly press it over the dough to make a round shape mark. Carefully remove the extra outer portion of the round flat dough and transfer the round dough into the cupcake molder holes. Make sure the entire molder was well covered with the dough.

7. Puncture the dough in the molder with the fork just about 3 to 4 times to make mini wholes to prevent air formation at the buttom

8. Put some filling just about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons for every tart. Then using the second portion of the dough mixture, cover with 7 cm diameter  flat round dough and puncture the top with a fork,. This step is optional, based on how you want to design the top of your dough. Another option on covering your tart is you can also make long stripes using a pizza cutter and make a weaving design just like a making pie. Alternately placing stripes of dough  horizontally and vertically.

9. Preheat the oven and set it at 180 degrees celcius centigrade.

10.  Lastly, make sure to seal the edges well by lightly pressing the edges of the dough. Before you put the tart in the oven, brush the top with your egg wash mixture to make a brownish top crust. To make an egg wash just put 1 tablespoon of water into an egg and beat it. Put the tarts in the preheated oven and cook it over 45 minutes.

After cooking, this is how it looks like. Try it out and see it for yourself. Sure, this is an enjoyable dessert for everyone to share!

BUKO PANDAN TARTS