How to make cane vinegar

Vinegar is a versatile liquid use in some food preparation, as an ingredient and condiment. The key ingredient of vinegar is acetic acid, which gives it an acidic taste. There are many different types of vinegars, depending on what liquid the ethanol has been fermented in, and one of which is the Cane vinegar. Cane vinegar are made from sugar cane juice and one of the most popular in the Philippines, particular in the Ilocos Region of the northern Philippines where it is called Sukang Iloko. It ranges from dark yellow to golden brown in color, and has a mellow flavor, similar in some respects, to rice vinegar, though with a somewhat fresher taste. Contrary to expectation, containing no residual sugar, it is not sweeter than other vinegars. In the Philippines, it often is labeled as sukang maasim, although this is simply a generic term meaning sour vinegar. Cane vinegar is used in dishes with sweet and sour sauces, and surprisingly, in many dishes that are certainly not Philippine in origin. In Philippine cooking, one of the classic dishes is adobo and paksiw na pata, usually made with several cups of this alternate vinegar. Some people like to add a touch to dressings for fruit salads since it will have bite but wont interfere with natural fruit flavors. Moreover, vinegar can be more than an addition to any dishit can be a source of incomea promising business venture for any Filipino who is interested in making more money at home. The Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has packaged a fast, easy-to-follow and cost effective technology on making vinegar. This technology produces naturally fermented sugarcane vinegar from sugarcane juice in just two weeks.

How to Make Sugar Cane Vinegar or Sukang Iloko Materials

Making vinegar provides an avenue for utilizing over-riped fruits, sugarcane rejects, ethyl alcohol rejects and cane by-products such as molasses, bagasse and tops. In the Visayas, southern Tagalog areas and Central Luzon, the most common materials used for vinegar making are nipa palm sap, coconut palm sap, pineapple juice and sugared coconut water. However, in sugar areas where leftover canes rejected by mills abound, it is recommended that these materials be utilized. Young canes may also be used for vinegar making. If the juice extracted is below 15-16 degrees brix, small amounts of sugar are added. Molasses or muscovado can be used instead of sugar.

How to Make Vinegar:

1. Remove trash and wash canes. 2. Crush sugarcane stalks to extract juice. To increase recovery, make two or three passes. Collect juice in earthen jars. 3. Bring filtered juice to a boil or cover the earthen jars (w/juice) to high temperature. One day under the sun is enough to destroy contaminants. 4. Add one-half gram (1/4 of fresh cake) of yeast per liter of juice. Reactivate yeast by hydration before addition. Stir very well. Use only wooden or bamboo spoons. Never use metallic spoons or containers. 5. Allow suspended soil particles and other extraneous materials to flow over for 2-3 days. Use narrowmouthed jars during this period of fermentation. 6. You will observe that a clean amber-colored liquid will remain after suspended dirt is removed. Clean the jars mouths with a damp cloth. Cover jars with katsa or earthen jar cover. Air is not required at this stage of fermentation. 7. Let the liquid stand for another five days. Alcoholic fermentation is a fast process, it is almost complete after 3-4 days.

8. Test alcoholic fermentation with a hydrometer. If brix is zero, proceed to acetic acid fermentation, If you have no hydrometer, just take note of the movement of gases in the liquid. Once there are less gases produced, proceed to the next step. 9. Transfer or siphon the liquid to wide-mouthed earthen jars. Do not include the yeast sediments. Mix four parts of the liquid with one part of good unpasteurized vinegar (mother liquor). 10. Stir thoroughly. Cover with a clean piece of cloth. Repeat mixing at least twice a day. Use only wooden/bamboo ladles. Do not fill the jars up to the brim. Leave some air space. At this stage, oxygen is required by the fermenting organisms. 11. Allow the liquid to ferment until acidity is strong enough (4-6% acetic acid). In one to two weeks, the vinegar is ready for bottling. Test liquid for acetic acid content in the laboratory for quality control. 12. Siphon into bottles and pasteurize at 60-70 deg. C for 20 minutes, to arrest further fermentation. Label. 13. Retain 1/5 of the fermented vinegar in the wide-mouthed jars for the second batch. 14. Continue with the procedure a long as there are no contaminants. As soon as abnormal smell or growth of other organisms is observed, clean the jars very thoroughly and use another batch of mother liquor. If there are only a few contaminants, boil the fermented liquid and test it if it can be pasteurized and used as vinegar. Soy Sauce Ingredients: Soybeans Brown sugar 20-22% Salt solution Sodium benzoate as preservative Monosodium glutamate (MSG) Bacteria (Lactobacillus delbrueckii) Equipments: Fermenting Vessels/Vats Pressure cooker/Horizontal retort Filter press (Stainless steel) Funnel/Liquid filling machine Procedure on how to make Soy Sauce: Pretreatment of Soybean Soak soybeans in water overnight, then wash and drain. The soaked beans are steamed with water for one hour at 15 psi. The beans are allowed to cool. Inoculation The cooled beans are inoculated with yeast after spreading evenly on a tray or bistay. Incubate for 24 hours at room temperature by covering with cheesecloth. This is used as soybean broth. The beans are coated with roasted flour and are subsequently inoculated with mold and bacteria starters. Mix thoroughly and incubate at 30-40oC for 24 hours. The mash formed is transferred into fermenting vats and mixed with 20-22% saltsolution. The vats are covered with thick plastic sheets. Fermentation is completed after three months. Improvement of product Pasteurizer/Kettle Frying pan Mixer Bistay/Trays Yeast (Hansenula subpellicullosa) Sugar molasses Flour water kaolin Mold (Aspergillus oryzae)

The mixture is clarified with kaolin overnight. The fermented mash is filtered and the brew is pasteurized at 8085oC for 30 minutes. Caramelized brown sugar is added to improve flavor, color and viscosity of soy sauce. Sodium benzoate is added as a preservative. The product is bottled.

How to make monay:

Ingredients: 1 (14-oz) can of evaporated milk 1/2 cup white sugar 1 tsp yellow food coloring (optional) 1 egg yolk 1/3 cup butter 1 (0.25 oz) package active dry yeast 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp baking powder 4 cups all-purpose flour Instructions: Heat evap milk to 80-100 deg F. Melt butter. Combine sugar, melted butter, yellow food coloring, egg yolk and evap milk in the mixing bowl. Stir in yeast and let proof. Meanwhile, measure and put together in a bowl the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt and blend well. On stir setting of the mixer, gradually add the flour (placed at the sides of the bowl) until all is used up. Stop when dough pulls together and leaves only a small amount of flour at the sides of the bowl. Transfer to a lightly greased and lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8-10 minutes. Grease a bowl big enough to accommodate double the dough. Place the dough in the greased bowl, then flip over (this way, all sides of the dough is greased). Cover lightly with cling wrap and let rise for 1 hr. [Take note in the photos above, the dough just before baking has the characteristic monay shape that we know after I let it rise for 1-1/2 hrs...but I should have baked these before the dough looked like so, because when I baked them, the puffing of the dough in the heat made the slit almost disappear...so I edited the time of rising here to be only one hour, and hopefully it will give you and I baked monays that have that slight dip at the middle...] After one hour, take out the dough onto a greased and slightly floured surface. Grease your rolling pin. Flatten the dough with the rolling pin, then fold the dough, and repeat the flattenfold-flatten-fold cycle until the dough is smooth and dense (about 8 minutes). If it becomes too sticky, very lightly flour the surface. With dough cutter, cut into 3-oz pieces (if you did not cut the right amount, you can either cut off or add small pieces and press together to make 3-oz piece). Shape into round rolls and place on greased baking sheet (preferably aluminum). If you prefer smaller monays, make them 2-oz each. I am cutting here based on how I remember them during those days I

was helping in my Tatay's bakery in shaping them to round rolls. Before the final rising, using swift smooth motion, make deep slits at the middle of the pieces, leaving only about 1/3 of the bottom dough uncut. You might have to do this twice, since the first cutting motion gives you only good cut at one side of the pieces, so that you will have to turn the pan around and make second cuts along the same line to achieve uniformly deep slits. If the cut portions tend to stick together, gently separate them with the blade. Cover lightly with greased cling wrap. Let rise for 40-60 minutes. [Don't wait for the unbaked pieces to look more like the monay you are used to, because if you do, you will end up with overpuffed middle like I did. I should have baked these earlier (my total final rising time was 1-1/2 hours; maybe 1 hr would be enough). The middle of the pieces should still look a tad lower than the baked monay you are used to seeing. The oven heat will puff up the middle some more. Monay characteristically has a bit low dip at the middle (the slit) of the two cheeks. Well, you know what the connotation of "monay" is among Filipinos when they do not refer to these rolls.] For putok, cut dough pieces about 1.5 to 2 oz each and shape into round rolls. Snip in a cross manner at the top to give you a crown. After the rising period (I suggest only 30 minutes because puto is characteristically very very dense and hard), brush the crown part with milk and sprinkle with sugar crystals. Bake at 350 deg F for 15 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Enjoy with ice cream filling while hot. Cool on wire rack. Place in ziploc bag as soon as cool enough to do so without sweating inside.

How to make pan de coco

INGREDIENTS: Prepared dough (any sweet bread recipe; I used same dough as in siopao, but I have also tried Buttery Sweet Bread recipe using bread machine) grated coconut (either bought frozen, or grate your own; see my palitaw post in old kusina) white or light brown sugar (Note: I had about 2-1/2 cups of mixed coconut-sugar, proportion of 1 part coconut:2 parts sugar) Buttery Sweet Bread recipe (dough cycle only; I used 1-1/2lb loaf to make 21 pcs)1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup water 1 large egg 1/4 cup butter or margarine, cut up 1 tsp salt 3-1/3 cup bread flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 tsp BM yeast To prepare Buttery Sweet Bread dough: Warm all liquid ingredients to room temp (80-100 deg F) and place in BM pan. Then place all dry ingredients. Run on dough cycle (about 1.5 hrs)

INSTRUCTIONS: The night before you serve, mix grated coconut with granulated sugar (white or light brown), 1:2 ratio (i.e., I had 7 heaping tbsp of grated coconut which I mixed with 14 exact tbsp (not heaping) of sugar (you may want to taste first then adjust; really , it is up to you). Let this sit in a covered container in the fridge, so that it draws out moisture from the coconut and creates a wonderful caramel-y coconut-y taste. If you plan to bake right away, at least prepare this before your dough so it will sit for sometime before baking. Also, prepare the dough (you may want to use Parker House Rolls; see my beef asado siopao post) and leave it in the fridge overnight. You may also use the Buttery Sweet Bread recipe as above on the day you are going to bake. Pinch off dough about size of pingpong balls and place on greased baking sheet to let rise for about 10 minutes, covered with greased plastic. Proceed with filling the buns the same way you would the siopao. Place on parchment paperlined baking pan. FLATTEN a bit. See slide show. Allow the filled buns to rise for 30 minutes, in a warm place free of draft (on top of a flat stove covered with damp flour sack or greased cling wrap, or inside a warm oven). Bake in 400 deg F for 12-15 minutes (it browns quickly). Brush with softened butter as soon as they come out. Let cool about 1-2 minutes before eating, or about 10 minutes those you will not consume right away, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely before storing in ziploc bags. When I removed these from the oven, some of the coco-caramel oozed out of the buns and made a somewhat chewy caramel film on the paper, which I detached and savored. Yum! Vengie, the hostess, asked me to bring pan de coco next week (the real schedule), as she has some Filipino friends who will be coming over from NY. Oh, and she requested to have some yeast rolls baking session with me in the near future (I feel flattered and honored!). She loves baking muffins and cakes, but does not know how to deal with yeast rolls. I love yeast rolls, because I grew up with such (typical ordinary) bakery goodies in PI. Back then, cakes and muffins were more expensive and bought only from SM or some specialty bakeshops, and what I had for ordinary snacks were mostly yeast rolls and breads, in the likes of pan de sal, pan de coco, monay, patigas, "tasty" (American pan bread), spanish bread, ensaymada, pan de regla (we at my father's bakery called them "pula"), etc., and I was lucky to have had any of these fresh and hot out of the oven before they even made it to the display area of our store. Now, I am getting more and more comfortable baking them, and loving the nostalgic trip as I knead and shape the dough. My husband happens to love yeast rolls as well, so although it is quite laborious and more time-consuming than muffins and cakes, I do enjoy making them.

Spanish Bread

Labels: Filipino, kids-approved, Spanish bread, sweet breads, yeast rolls

I managed to take photos the last time I made spanish bread, so here goes the step-by-step how-to's. For some reason, my computers (both PC with Windows XP and laptop with Linux) do not currently work well with slide.com. I have not had the gumption to make a new account with Flickr to attempt making slide shows, so I resorted to posting a series of photos here instead. This is another kid-favorite rolls, they like these more than they do ensaymada, although I made both using the same dough (see my posts on Ensaymada). RECIPE: I used the BM ensaymada recipe for the dough. If you have a bread machine, make sure you use the recipe that your BM bucket can accommodate. Check your BM manual for instructions. Mine says to place room temp liquid ingredients first then the dry ingredients, then run on dough cycle. Once the dough cycle is over, proceed to the instructions below for making the spanish bread. Ingredients (3-lb dough): 1 cup milk 3/4 cup water 1 egg 4 egg yolks 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 2 tsp salt 6-3/4 cups bread flour (plus some more; see note above) 3/4 cup sugar 2 tsp BM yeast (2-lb dough) - [This yielded 9 ensaymadas and 12 pcs spanish bread] 2/3 c milk 1/2 c water 1 egg 2 egg yolks 6 tbsp butter 1-1/2 tsp salt 4-1/2 c bread flour 1/2 c sugar 1-1/2 tsp BM yeast For the filling of butter-sugar mixture: 1 stick of softened butter (1/2 lb) + 1 cup white sugar. Instructions: Prepare the dough. Divide into portions the size of a golf ball. Mix sugar (your choice: brown or white. I prefer white.) and softened butter/margarine (I can't specify the proportions because I approximated. I just kept adding sugar and mixing until I got a consistency that was gritty yet spreadable.) Flatten each piece with a rolling pin as shown. Go ahead, don't be afraid...Start from the middle outward up and down, especially adding pressure at the ends so they stick to the table. That way, they don't roll back or spring up. Spread a good layer of sugar-butter mixture. Avoid the ends so you can seal properly. Roll tightly. Make sure end seals.

Coat with breadcrumbs. Place on baking pans with seam side down. Cover with plastic. Let rise for 15-30 minutes (depending on what yeast you used and the humidity/temperature of environment). Bake at 350 deg F for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. (If you have too much for one-time serving and want to reheat these in the future, bake only for about 10 minutes initially, so when you reheat they won't look burnt. I reheat 2-3 pieces for merienda in an oven toaster at 350 deg F for about 3 minutes or so.). Transfer to cooling wire rack right away. STORING: When you cannot eat all freshly baked spanish bread, after cooling in the wire rack for about 30 minutes, they should be warm (not hot) or almost room temp. That is the perfect timing to place them in ziploc bags and close. Observe after several minutes if they sweat. If they do, open the bag and let the excess moisture evaporate some more, wipe the sweat inside the bag with paper towel. Whey they do not sweat anymore, close bag tightly. When done at the right timing, your spanish bread will remain soft for 3 days without having to reheat them. But then, I myself prefer heating them up in oven toaster for about 3 minutes. And these do not last more than 3 days (or even a day!) for my family.