Egg Sandwiches with Homemade Milk Bread

This recipe is a thank-you letter to my mom, since she not only taught me how to make the perfect boiled egg, but gifted me with this super cute bento box, and I have been dying to use it to plate something. Between eggs and the bento, it just made sense to either do something…

Ube Wool Buns

I have always adored the aesthetic of wool bread. The dough is scored repeatedly on one side then rolled up prior to baking to create these really pretty ridges on top of the dough. There is just something about that appearance that takes me back to Asian bakeries. I wanted to make sure that this…

Pandan Melon Pan

Melon pan is probably one of the most iconic Japanese pastries out there. Soft fluffy bread enrobed in a crunchy, cookie-like shell, these breads are just all kinds of textural fun to eat! If you have ever had Mexican conchas or Chinese/Taiwanese pineapple buns, these are quite similar to those. The name “melon pan” refers…

Butterscotch and purple yam wool bread

These have been a brainchild of mine for a while – I wanted to make a fluffy, Chinese-style pastry with a baked yam filling since 2018 actually. But I was lazy. The idea of peeling and steaming yam and then mashing it sounded tedious. But then I realized, why not just microwave the yam? It’s…

Maritozzo buns with cream and Earl Grey tea

I have been wanting to make these buns for what feels like a century(in actuality, closer to 2 months). The idea of these fluffy buns with a perfect line of cream, it just sounds like eating a cloud! For those unfamiliar with what maritozzo are, they are Roman(Italian) bread buns that are stuffed with cream….

Mini milk bread toasts with homemade bread and jams

I just randomly had an epiphany the other day to make mini brick toasts with ricotta and jam. Mostly because I was missing the brick toasts from Sqirl(yes I know that’s controversial to be a fan of that restaurant with all of the moldy jam and recipe-stealing scandals, but you can’t deny that the food…

Milk bread gua bao

So I had been reading the Mr. Jiu’s cookbook recently, and something that inspired me was seeing them take milk bread dough and turning that into buns. I have done something like that before with my “Fred bread”, but seeing it done by a restaurant that I really look up to just validates my decisions…

Thai Tea-Milk Bread Sticky Buns

So this recipe only came about because I had a ton of Thai tea powder, and I had to get rid of it somehow. I brainstormed a bunch of ideas, like macarons, panna cotta, ice cream, basque cheesecake, and pound cake, but then I realized it had been a while since I made anything with…

Pistachio and chocolate milk bread babkas

So when I was making this recipe, I wanted to do something babka-esque, and as I was measuring out the dry ingredients to make a brioche, it dawned upon me that maybe doing a milk bread babka could be a lot of fun! With brioche, it is rich, dense, and buttery. With milk bread, you…

Bright lights: a plated dessert

I really wanted to come up with a dessert that showcases the beauty of dairy and light flavors. Since I was making milk bread, I decided to transform that into something akin to a baba(a brioche that is soaked in a rum syrup), but instead of doing the traditional rum soak, I decided to go…

High tea on high teas: a plated dish

I really wanted to just dabble more with savory cooking, just because I do so much with dessert, and not nearly enough with actual cooking. When I was conceptualizing this dish, I was actually running. Some of the best (or most original) ideas come to me when I’m experiencing an adrenaline high, and everything is…

Tooigai: a fried chicken sandwich

Who doesn’t like a fried chicken sandwich? I know I’ve made my fair share of them in my 24 years of living. For this rendition, I wanted to do a Japanese take on a Southern classic. I went with milk rolls, and karaage styled fried chicken, using mochiko to crust some thigh meat. For the…

Fred Bread Buns with Roast Duck and Scallions

I love making “Fred Bread”, which is my take on Japanese milk bread. I also adore making steamed buns with duck. So I figured, why not combine the two? The end result? A really light, fluffy steamed bun with a buttery crumb. It’s pretty awesome. We made these for new years, and since the recipe…