SUGARCOATED MUNKKI (Donuts)

In Finland everybody's going crazy right now and partying :) not me though. I'm abroad in a beautiful place called Antibes. However, I prepared for the Vappu (Labour day) celebrations a bit beforehand. I've already eaten my share of donuts or Munkki like we call them. Munkki is a bit different to the American donuts and if I'm really honest I prefer these sugarcoated greasy balls of fluffy sweet dough.

We eat these all around the year but I mainly just make them on this day. You can make them into a donut shape, a round ball or a big ball filled with jam or nutella if you like.































Here's how it's done

(Will make up to 30 donuts depending on size, I think I even got 40 since I made them quite small)

This is me a year ago on Vappu making donuts dressed as a fluffy bunny

You will need:

1 l Vegetable oil for deep frying (I used rapeseed)


DOUGH
(Will make up to 30 donuts depending on size, I think I even got 40 since I made them quite small)

5dl milk (42°C)
50g fresh yeast (or substitute with dry yeast in Finland 50g fresh yeast resembles 2 bags of dry yeast)
1 dl granulated sugar
1 dl brown sugar/Fariinisokeri (optional...you can also just use granulated sugar...2 dl in total)
2 tsp cardamom (but if you really love the taste add double like I do)
2tsp salt
1 egg
150g melted butter (add in the end)
15 dl all purpose flour

1) warm up your milk to 42°C
2) mix in the yeast
3) add sugar and spices
4) add the egg
5) add half the flour and knead
6) add the rest of the flour
7) and finally add the butter a little at a time

You will have to knead the dough quite a lot to get all the butter in. It might seem impossible at first but it will mix in.

























8) let the dough rest for atleast half an hour until it has doubled in size. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel or cling film not to let the dough dry too much.

9) when the dough has rested shape the dough into small balls to the size you like. To make donut shapes make a ball and put your finger through the middle and twirl like it was a hula hoop around your finger. Remember to make the hole big enough because the dough will expand and puff up when frying.

10) heat up the oil to 170°C
11) fry the donuts or Munkkis in the oil for a few minutes and turn in between to get them evenly golden on both sides
12) remove from the oil and put on a paper towel to get rid of the excess fat.
13)put some granulated sugar in a bag and throw a few donuts around to get them evenly sugarcoated.

Try also to add some cinnamon to the sugar mix.

The same dough can be made into cinnamon buns or any flavoured buns of your choice if you bake them in the oven on 225°C

Why not make some cute Mousey Donuts as well :)
I got inspired by a pic of Pusheen donuts that I saw in the Fork to Belly blog and had to make my own Mousey version. I will write more about them later. The reason I think the mice are suitable for me is that my mum always calls me Mira Muruhiiri which in English is Mira Crumble mouse (basically meaning sweetie). My friends just call me the mouse (Hiiri) nowadays.

Aren't these just too cute?

AAH! What a better day to make these to celebrate also my name day...I almost forgot!!! Today the reason everyone is celebrating is not only because it's Vappu but it's Mira day as well :)


I Hope you enjoy! Now I'm not going to write anymore because I need to go out and explore the beautiful old town Antibes in the French Riviera! Au Revoir!

MEAD - VAPPU SIMA

Labour day is here or Vappu as we like to call it in Finland. It's a day when most Finnish people get out of their shell and basically dress up and get wasted. The streets are so full of people that I often wonder where they all came from.  No matter what the weather is or how cold it is the Finns gather into parks and have picnics.

It's a two day celebration. On Vappu eve (30th April) after 6 p.m. the streets start to fill up with people wearing their graduation hats. A white hat which you wear on this day from the year you graduated. You can imagine they will not be too white after 50 yrs :) especially if they drink champagne or Mead out of them.

May day is the day for picnics,  brunches and Sillis (the swedes version of a herring brunch) to soothe the feeling of the day after heavy celebrations.

The celebration goes on on streets, in restaurants or at home with friends. It's a happy festivity for both young and old. A celebration filled with balloons, Serpentine paper twirls, colourful wigs, funny sunglasses and loads of good food including the most traditional being the Donuts or MUNKKI.

Also there is no Vappu without Mead, a fizzy sugar drink called SIMA.

Mead needs to be prepped a few days before to get the yeast going.
Nowadays you can find a lot of different varieties of mead but I prefer to stick to the traditional recipe like I used to have as a kid. I always thought my mum made the best mead...however I found out that it's probably one of the most popular recipes that most mums have made, since its the one on the sugar package :D

How to make your own Mead (from the dansukker sugar package)

4l Water
500g Brown sugar ( refined sugar to which molasses has been added, a sugar with a sticky soft texture)
2 Lemons
1/5 tsp Yeast (the size of a pea)
Raisins

(You can also use only white sugar or make half and have...but I prefer the color and taste with only brown sugar)

Bring half of the water to boil and pour over the sugar. Add the rest of the water and lemonjuice and let it cool until about 37°C (or body temperature). Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of liquid and add to the mead. Let the Mead rest in room temperature for atleast 24hrs. Pour the mead into bottles and add a tsp of sugar into each bottle and a few raisins. The raisins will start to float when the yeast has activated and made it into a fizzy lemonade. The mead will be ready in room temperature after 3 days and in the fridge after a week.

Keep the ready Mead in the fridge and consume within a week.

Make sure not to close the lids too hard in the beginning when the yeast is activating. The pressure can get too intense and cause the bottles to explode.

Try and be experimental with flavouring the Mead. One which is really nice is to add Ginger to it. or why not try seabuckthorne berries with rosemary. Go wild!

HAUSKAA VAPPUA - HAPPY LABOUR DAY!


Check out my Donuts in a separate post!

Lemongrass-Coconut Pannacotta with a Refreshing Fruit Salsa

I didn't use to make a lot of desserts before...but now I've decided not to just buy something readymade in the store. Besides, this way I can make the perfect ending to my dinner parties with the same theme.

So, we have just finished eating a refreshing Vietnamese dinner of Phô, Bò lá lôt and rice paper rolls filled with pineapple and lots of different herbs. To stay with the theme I prepared lemongrass- coconut pannacotta with a refreshing fruit salsa of pineapple, passionfruit and mango. I also had a green sponge...but this was mainly me being experimental (I don't feel this added anything other than color to my dish). I was flipping through a few recipes and fell in love with the playful look of a really vibrant sponge cake...however I quickly realised I didn't have a siphon nor a microwave which was needed to make this cake super fluffy just like one of those wash sponges. I didn't give up and contacted a really good chef who I know makes great desserts. He told me to make a regular sponge but replace the wheat flour with gluten free flour (this will make it more airy). What did I have to loose...nothing. Next time however I will make sure to add some more flavour to it.

The Lemongrass-Coconut Pannacotta

2 gelatine sheets
2dl coconut milk
1 dl cream
2-3 stalks lemongrass
1 dl sugar (I will try to put a bit less sugar next time because it ended up being quite on the sweet side)

1) Soak the gelatine in cold water
2) Beat the lemongrass stalks to release more flavour
3) Heat up the cream, coconut milk, sugar and Lemongrass until the flavour of the lemongrass is strong and the sugar has dissolved
4) squeeze excess water from the gelatine sheets and mix into the hot liquid, mixing until even,
5) strain and cool down a bit, mixing once in a while
6) for into molds of your choice (I used silicone holds meant for making cake pops because I like the small size)
7) Put into the freezer to set (you can also put them into the fridge to set but I find it easier to take them out of the moods when frozen)

You can make the pannacotta days before which saves you the time on the day of your dinner party.

Green Sponge

2 eggs
1.5 dl (90g) powdered sugar (maybe you just call it icing sugar)
100g almond flour
2 egg whites
2 tbsp caster sugar
0.5dl glutenfree flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp melted butter

1) whisk the eggs, powdered sugar and almond powder until airy and light ( I left out the almond flour this time cause I didn't have any)
2) in another bowl whisk the sugar and egg whites to a foam
3) combine the two folding them to keep the air in.
4) strain in the gluten free flour
5) add also the melted butter and mix until even
6) mix in some food colouring of your choice. I put in a drop of green.
7) for the mixture into a cakemold about 3-4 cm high (I might try to bake it in a smaller told next time to make the cake thicker)
8) bake in the oven 200° C until it doesn't stick to a toothpick....if the cake is becoming too brown reduce the heat and bake longer. You don't to loose the vibrant colour.

Tropical Fruit Salsa


1 Slice of pineapple (approx 2cm thick)
1/2 mango
1 passion fruit
1/2 lime
1 stalk lemongrass
mint leaves
sugar if needed

1) Dice the fruits into small equal side cubes
2) add lime zest and juice
3) chop the lemongrass finely
4) slice the mint finely just to add a bit of colour and hint of flavour
5) add sugar if needed

I like the salsa to be refreshing and not too sweet to accompany the other sweet components.

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

This is one of the easiest and most fun meals you can serve at a dinner party. You can keep it as simple as you like or complicate it with loads of different dipping sauces and condiments.

You can buy the rice paper rolls in most Asian stores and even in some supermarkets. What you want to wrap into them, is all up to you and your friends.

What I had on my plate

Pre-cooked rice noodles
Pineapple
Loads of herbs ( ex. coriander, mint, thai basil, noo gai)
Scallions
Chili
Ginger
Lemongrass
Beansprouts
Cooked tiger prawns

You can use your own imagination. As I had this as a side dish, I didn't want to overcomplicate it. If this is the only thing you are serving you can add other proteins of your choice ( fish, chicken, beef).

Just set all the ingredients on the table. Have a bowl of water in the middle o the table to make the rice papers soft. You don't need to soak them. Just dip them in for a little while to make them easier to work with.

The rest is up to your friends. Let everyone dip their own rice paper in the water and add the ingredients they like.

You can eat them like so or dip them in a variety of sauces (ex. peanut satay sauce,  chili fishsauce, sweet child sauce etc.)

My favourite is just a simple sauce made of soy sauce, fishssauce (half and half), chili, lime zest and juice and sugar. You can make the sauce as spicy, salty or sweet as you like.

Fill, Roll, Dip, Bite =YUM

Also these are nice as a snack at a buffet or a picnic if you roll them in advance. Really easy to eat on the go :)

Bò Lá Lôt - Beef Wrapped in Betel Leaves

Bò Lá Lôt


Bò lá lôt is beef wrapped in leaves and served on a skewer. I had tasted these before in a really good Asian restaurant (Farang) in Helsinki but didn't know their origin then. I got really excited when I saw a man selling them from his bike in Hoi An and hoped they would be atleast a bit similar to the ones I had eaten... and they were :)
Normally the leaves are grilled, but can easily be made at home in the oven (you won't even need skewers).
They are really tasty and easy to make. I'm already looking forward to making these in the summer on the grill.

You will need

20 Lá Lôt leaves also known as Betel leaves. You can find these in Asian shops.
Pick the leaves leaving a bit of the stem (2cm). Wash the leaves and tap dry with a kitchen towel.

Filling:

250g minced meat (I used about 150g beef and 100g pork)
2-3 lemongrass stalks finely chopped
1/2 garlic clove
1 spring onion chopped
Mix together.
Add fish sauce and soy sauce enough to add the salt amount you like. Mix together with your hands and leave to rest.

Take one leaf at a time and put a small sausage like roll of minced meat inside and roll. Have the green side of the leaf towards the table so you end up having the nicer looking side upwards.
Roll into a small package. With a toothpick make a hole in the leaf so you can insert the end of the stem to keep the roll closed. This way you don't have to leave a toothpick (except for puncturing a hole)) to hold it in place.
Put onto a lined baking tray and brush with vegetable oil. Place in the oven 180 degrees for approximately 15-20 mins until they've gotten a bit of colour.

Chop some roasted peanuts and sprinkle on top.

Eat the rolls like so or dip (chili, fishsauce dip).


I'm sorry about the pics not being the most appealing but I couldn't have my guests wait too long  :D

Phô Noodle Soup

PHÔ- Noodle soup ( I served 5 people with this)

Phô is a really delicious and light noodle soup from Vietnam. What makes this soup special to other noodle soups is that most of the flavour comes from all the herbs you add in the end according to your liking, which makes this a really refreshing and healthy soup. It consists of a meat broth, rice noodles bánh phô, meat (beef or chicken), beansprouts, lime and lots of herbs.

The Stock

1l beef or chicken stock preferably homemade or buy good quality one not cubes(I already had some in the freezer from before).
To add some flavour just chuck some of these ingredients in to your liking and let simmer for a while.

3 star anis
3 coriander roots
1 nub of ginger approximately 3x 2cm
3 stalks of lemongrass
splash of fishsauce (everyone can add this to there liking later on as well)
splash of soy sauce

just make sure the stock is not too salty...it's easier to add the soy and fishsauce later than remove any...however if you do feel like it's too salty just add water or if you have unsalted beef or chicken stock.

Other ingredients for the soup

Flat rice noodles banh phô for Phô soup. You can precook the noodles a bit beforehand and cool them of. They will become hot from the broth anyways when poured on.

Meat to your preference: Chicken, beef or pork.
I used a really nice piece of marbled beef. Slice it thin and boil it in the stock just before serving the soup.

For the garnish or actually the main ingredient that everyone adds themselves.

Lime wedges
Ginger cut into thin slices
Spring onion sliced into thin slices
Beansprouts
Chili
Lots of Herbs: including Mint, Basil, Noo Gai, Coriander, and whatever else you want to add.

How to do it all.

This is actually the best part of it all....You can prepare everything beforehand:
the veggies and garnish can be washed and cut up and arranged nicely on one plate.
The noodles can be precooked and cooled of.
The stock can be made way before.
And the beef sliced and ready to go. You just need to cook it for a few minutes in the hot broth.

Once your guests arrive and you're ready to serve just put the plate of herbs and veggies in the middle of the table. Bring the stock to boil.
Put a handful of noodles in each serving bowl.
Cook the meat in the stock and place the pieces on top of the noodles.
If you like you can decorate each plate with some greens but otherwise it's up to everyone to help themselves and pick the ingredients they like in their soup.
Just pour on the broth and Voilá!

                                                             Really easy and FUN!

Back From My Holiday

It's already been a week since I got back from my trip...which was amazing by the way :) and I already feel a bit guilty about not posting anything new. I've been cooking quite a bit and have been taking pics but with all the millions of pictures from my holiday in Tokyo, Vietnam and Hong Kong I feel like I don't know where to start...and then I get nothing done as usual :D
I'd love to tell you about my trip in detail but I think there's so much to tell that for now I will try to keep it short.

Tokyo: amazing, quirky, cool, yummy soba noodles, sushi, yakitori etc. It was more than I could ever have wished for so I think I will definitely plan a new trip there...and next time stay a bit longer. When I arrived I was surprised that the streets were so empty, but it all changed as soon as everyone got off from work. Also I was surprised that not every corner was filled with sushi and Harajuku girls. For the latter I was a bit disappointed so I ended up atleast wearing a Lolita wig for the last night :) (everyone who knows me knows that I love dressing up and sometimes I wish I lived in a place where nobody thought I'm weird for doing that on a regular day. Anywhooo...enough about dressing up! The food was awesome....I especially loved the yakitori places hidden away on small side streets and the izakayas.

Next stop...

Vietnam....Hoi An was beautiful with the yellow houses by the river lit up with chinese silk lamps...just magical :) but what I enjoyed the most was sitting on the small stools like they were made for kids and eating the most delicious noodle soups ever....and did I tell you about the herbs....OMG! I was in herb heaven. Even in the small street stalls you got a big a bunch of fresh green leaves that you could pick from and add to your soup....YUMMYYYY.

Riding a Waterbuffalo

HuTieu at a great Street Food Stall



Next we went to Phu Quoc island just to relax on the beach.

 Phu Quoc Island Sao Beach

I think I'll tell you more about my trips in separate posts once I get a Travel folder and get all my pics sorted :)

Once back...guess what the first dinner was all about? YUP! Vietnamese night. My friends wanted to try something Vietnamese so I made Phô, Bò Lá Lôt, rice paper rolls and a lemongrass Pannacotta.

For an evening like this your best bet is to hit the Asian stores to get all the best ingredients.

I will post all the recipes in my following posts :)


PHÔ, BÒ LÁ LÔT, RICE PAPER ROLLS