September 1, 2025

Dutch Apple Pie

Posted by HI Cookery under 09 September, 10 October, 11 November | Tags: , , , |
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Dutch Apple Pie

September/October/November: National Apple Months

Washington State is famous for its apples. We pass by several apple orchards while visiting Highlander’s relatives who live there. His niece and Islander’s brother are alumni of Washington State University, and our goddaughter Mia A. currently resides in Seattle. We never got a chance to pick apples at the orchards there, though.

When we make our apple pies at home, we just pick our apples from the grocery store bins. Most are imported from Washington anyway. It is more labor intensive to cut up the apples, but we prefer it over the canned fruit for our pies (however, we sometimes cheat on the recipe by using frozen, store-bought crust, too). 

As apples are celebrated for three months in the fall, this was a great excuse to make Dutch apple pie (also known as apple crumb pie) often—besides, apple and cherry pies are Highlander’s favorites. 

This is not a pie recipe from the Netherlands, but the word Dutch is derived from Deutsch, which is German. It is the streusel (crumb) topping that was inspired by German desserts that make this pie uniquely delicious. Make the most of National Apple Months and try Dutch apple pie!

Recipe

(Adapted from Pillsbury and Southern Living)

For the streusel topping

  • 1 cup flour, all purpose
  • 2/3 cup pecans, chopped
  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tablespoons sugar, granulated white
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 stick (½ cup / 8 tablespoons) butter, unsalted and melted

For the apple pie

  • 5-6 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced/chopped
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup sugar, granulated white
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch ground nutmeg
  • Pinch ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 deep dish frozen pie crust

Directions

Prepare the streusel/crumb topping first by mixing in a large bowl the flour, pecans, brown and white sugars and cinnamon.

Stir in the salt and melted butter. Mix until the topping resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside to make the pie filling.

Core, peel and slice/chop the apples. Place in a large bowl and toss in the lemon juice to prevent the apples from browning. Add the sugar and cornstarch.

Sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Mix well and mound the filling and juices into the frozen pie crust.

Press the streusel/crumb topping over the apples. The filling will sink in the center when baking so it will be flattened out. Place the pie crust on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes. Loosely place a piece of foil over the topping to prevent from burning and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set the pie over a wire rack to cool completely and allow the flavors to gel. Slice into wedges and serve.

Notes

  • Make sure the filling has set before slicing or it will be too runny.
  • Place a pie crust shield or foil pieces on the rim of the pie to prevent overbrowning of the crust (optional).
  • Search our blog for other apple recipes.
 

February 1, 2024

Char Siu Sou

Posted by HI Cookery under 02 February | Tags: , , , |
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Char Siu Sou

February: Asian Lunar New Year

Kung hee fat choy! Happy Asian lunar new year! For our family celebration, we made delicious dumplings filled with char siu (red roast/BBQ pork). This dish is auspicious in that the color red is lucky and bright, and pork represents plenitude. The filling is packed in puff pastry, like a little purse full of treasures. And that is our wish for everyone in the coming year—that it is filled with the treasures of love, happiness, health and good fortune. Make char siu sou as part of a memorable lunar new year’s meal.

Recipe

(Adapted from Asian Inspirations)

Ingredients

  • ½ – ¾ cup char siu (BBQ pork)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 small shallots
  • 2 tablespoons char siu sauce
  • 5 (4+1) tablespoons water, divided use
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
  • 1 package puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Sesame seeds

Directions

Chop the char siu and shallots into small pieces. In a skillet or frying pan, heat the oil and saute the shallots. Then add the char siu. Stir in the char siu sauce with four tablespoons of water and sesame oil.

In a small cup, mix the remaining one tablespoon of water with cornstarch to make a slurry. Stir into the char siu mixture to thicken the filling slightly. Set aside and cool.

Unwrap a sheet of puff pastry dough and slice into nine squares. Keep the dough cool as much as possible to avoid it being overstretched. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the square. Moisten the edges with beaten egg. Fold the dough over to close. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Place the dumplings on a tray lined with waxed or parchment paper. Brush beaten egg over them and sprinkle sesame seeds. 

Freeze until firm and transfer to a freezer bag or container. When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place frozen dumplings on the tray about two inches apart to allow for the pastry to puff up. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let rest for five minutes before transferring the dumplings to a serving platter. Serve hot.

Notes

  • This is a shortcut version of traditional char siu sou using store-bought puff pastry instead of from-scratch double dough layers. We assembled and froze our char siu sou and then baked them right before our new year’s celebration for an auspicious appetizer.
  • The char siu filling is also good in a baked biscuit as a quick bao. Take canned biscuit (not the flaky layers), separate each piece, flatten the dough, fill with a tablespoon of filling, gather up the ends with a slight twist until it is a ball, place seam side down on a lightly greased baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until golden. Serve immediately.
  • We bought char siu from the Asian hot food counter. Make it from scratch at home with this recipe.
  • Check out our other char siu recipes: baked bao, manapua, fried rice and somen salad (noodles).
  • Search our blog for other lunar new year recipes.

 

May 16, 2017

Char Siu

Posted by HI Cookery under 05 May | Tags: , , , , |
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Char Siu

May 16: National Barbecue Day

Many people think that barbecues involve a grill. This recipe for char siu involves an oven.

Char siu, Chinese-style barbecue pork, is one of Islander’s comfort foods. After church on some Sundays, her family would go to Chinatown in Honolulu and buy a piece of red pork meat hanging by the Peking ducks in the windows of Asian grocery stores. Sunday dinner was simple: char siu, sticky white rice and a vegetable side dish (see Notes). Char siu is also chopped up as a filling in manapua (Hawaiian word for char siu bao—Chinese buns) or sliced as a garnish for saimin and fried egg noodles.

While it may be simple to buy it ready-made at the store, it is quite easy to make char siu at home. Meat is marinated in an auspiciously red sauce (which freaked out Highlander the first time he saw it in our refrigerator looking like something from a horror movie/insane asylum). It is then baked in the oven (which makes this seem more of a roast than a barbecue). Islander especially loves the char in char siu—the blackened parts of the juicy pork from being caramelized!

Try this baked BBQ recipe for Chinese barbecue pork as something different on National Barbecue Day. Char siu is also appropriate throughout National Barbecue Month in May.

Recipe

(Adapted from Foodland and Serious Eats)

Ingredients

  • 3-5 pound pork (loin, shoulder, ribs, butt or belly)
  • 1/3 cup hoisin sauce
  • ¼ cup honey
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons sherry or rice cooking wine
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
  • few drops of red food coloring (optional)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the hoisin sauce, honey, soy sauce and sherry or rice cooking wine.

Stir in the sesame oil, Chinese five spice powder and red food coloring. Mix well. Cut up the pork and place in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate for a few hours (overnight is best).

Remove pork from the marinade and let the sauce drip back in the bowl. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet (easier for cleanup). Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for around 45 minutes or until the pork is cooked through (adjust cooking time for different pork parts). Remove from the oven and let the pork rest for a few minutes. Slice and serve.

Notes