Ham Chim Peng is a very popular street food sold in Malaysia and Singapore. Along with other varieties of pastries, HCP is sold by hawkers or road side vendors. I’ve always preferred You Char Kway (chinese cruller) and Mah Kiok (butterfly buns) when I am home, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the five spice powder was not too overwhelming when I tried this.
Munching on the HCP brought back memories of home. Cue Ratatouille. Most of all, the HCPs were a hit with both my roomates and that makes me the happiest!
70g sugar
5g dry yeast, activated in 100g water and 5g sugar
5g bicarbonate soda
7g salt
250g all purpose flour, low gluten
1 tbsp five spice powder
2 tbsp sesame seeds
Oil for deep-frying Combine activated yeast with water, sugar, bicarbonate soda and salt. Lightly fold the flour in to get an evenly distributed dough. Lightly knead the dough. The flour will still be sticky/wet but don’t worry about the texture. Sprinkle some flour on top of sticky dough and try to form it into a ball. Leave to rise for 30-60 minutes, covered. Roll dough into a rectangle, about 1.5cm in thickness. Sprinkle the five spice powder on top, making sure it is well covered. Roll dough into a log and let stand for 10 minutes. Using a dough scraper, cut dough into 2 cm pieces. Lightly shape each piece into a round disc and brush a bit of water on one side. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Sprinkle some flour on top of sesame seeds. Leave on for 30 minutes, uncovered. Heat cooking oil in a deep wok. Flatten bread dough to 1 cm thickness and drop into medium hot oil. Do this one at a time. The dough will drop to the bottom of the wok. When it floats right back up, flip over. Continue flipping three or four more times to get even golden color. Remove from wok and drain on paper towels. Serve warm.
Ah, so this is how a HCP looks like. Believe it or not, I have no idea these are called HCP. It is just one of the things that I sometimes get on the side of the YCK
What I really want to know is what those doughnut shaped ones are called. The crispy ones that look like YCK but is sweeter, but with the hole in the middle.
Omg these little things look so delish!! Yah I’m a big fan of mah kiok as well but my canteen aunty at work does yummy HCP with red bean or green lotus filling (in addition to the plain five spice ones). You should try to make some with filling next! :D
That should have been “pandan lotus” and not “green lotus”. Green lotus does sound super weird :p
hahahaha i don’t know what green lotus or pandan lotus is…i only knew there is HCP with five spice powder, red bean paste and the sticky rice. I want to try making butterfly buns next! Have to look for recipes! Or maybe you can express courier it to me from Malaysia. And courier yourself too!
It’s pandan flavoured lotus. Not all that common though as only my canteen aunty makes HCP with this filing. Butterfly buns = mah kiok = crispy sweeter YCK-looking doughnuts. They’re all the same dough but in different shapes :) If I were to courier myself (and the mah kioks), who’s going to pay for shipping?!
Thanks for sharing this HCP recipe whc is simple and not too mind boggling. I look fwd to try it. Would u also hv the recipe for making the Butterfly bun (sweet and wt sesame seeds) – not too sure what the chinese name is but maybe “Mahkiok”. Thks and best rgds.
Hi. I have to ask a Q. How much ml is 60g water. TQ.