Bangkok trip part 2 and Heart shaped Nutella rolls

Continuing on my Bangkok trip, we went to Chinatown and Terminal 21 on the 2nd day. Usually I don't drop by Chinatown as the traffic jam is quite bad and there is no direct BTS. 6 years ago, a friend working in Bangkok showed me another way to get to Chinatown. Since my mum is with me for this trip, I thought I would attempt to use this route to Chinatown. When we arrived at the Central pier (Saphan Taksin BTS station), I wasn't too sure which boat to take and ended up following all the tourist by taking the 40 bhat per trip tourist ferry and alighted at Pier 5. We exited the pier and walked along the main road and saw the accessories wholesale market which I visited 6 years back. There were so many varieties of necklace, earrings and rings that I had a hard time choosing them.
After making my purchases, we walked along the shops and came across other wholesale shops selling ribbons, party decorations, toys, bags, kitchenware, etc. I bought very pretty foldable luggage bags, recycle grocery bags, aprons, bath towel and bath sponge.

As it was nearing lunchtime, we exited the wholesale market and walked towards the main road, Yarowat. Mum was very happy to see dried food stalls and fruit stalls. She bought 1 kg of cashew nuts and 2 guavas. I had to stop her from buying more as I was worried about the load. There were numerous roadside food stalls and we even saw Chwee Kueh, Thai style.

We found a nice restaurant across the road and had a good lunch of roast duck, claypot glass noodles with prawns and spinach. The roast duck in Bangkok is moist and tender and I love the chilli sauce they have to go with the duck. I was very tempted to order another serving but restrained myself.
On our way back to the pier, we came across a traditional Teochew pastry shop. There were many local Chinese ladies there buying the pastries. It was very nostalgic to see many traditional pastries.

That evening, I brought Mum to Terminal 21 as she hasn't been there before. She was impressed with the travel theme of the mall. We tried a new restaurant, Reflections and I finally had my steamed fish with lime and chilli and my curry crab!

Look out for my next post on my last day in Bangkok.

Today I decided to bake Nutella bread as I had a bottle of Nutella expiring this weekend. I tried the recipe that was posted on Everyone eats well in Flanders but decided to shape the bread similar to Cinnamon rolls. This is the 2nd time I tried the recipe. I spread too much Nutella the first time round in bid to finish the Nutella and the buns were pretty greasy. Since Valentine's day is round the corner, I used my heart-shaped Chiffon pan today for the rolls.

Heart-shaped Nutella rolls (recipe adapted from here)

450g bread flour
70g sugar
2 eggs yolks
2 tsp instant yeast
250ml warm milk
30g unsalted butter
a pinch of salt
6 tbsp Nutella

1) Put all the ingredients (except Nutella) into a mixing bowl. Using a dough hook, mix all the ingredients till it forms a dough.

2) Continue beating for about 10 minutes till the dough becomes elastic and non-sticky.

3) Remove the dough, grease the mixing bowl and return the dough to the bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and allow the dough to prove in a warm place till double in size. (I switched on the oven to 60 deg C and left the mixing bowl on the door of the oven to shorten the time).
4) When the dough has risen to twice the size, punch out the air and let it proof it again in a warm place. (It took 45 mins to double in size)
5) Divide the dough into 3 portion so that it's easier to handle.
6) Flour the work area and roll out 1 portion of the dough into a rectangle.

7) Spread 2 tbsp of Nutella on the dough and roll the dough up like a swiss roll. Using a pastry cutter, cut the roll into 2 inch size and place them on a greased heart-shape pan (or any other pan of your choice). Remember to leave space between the cut rolls as they will expand.

8) Pre-heat the oven at 180 deg C. Leave the rolls to proof for another 20 mins in a warm place. Brush on some egg whites to glaze the buns.

9) Bake them at 180 deg C for 20 mins till golden brown.

10) Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Note: I used 2 portions of dough for my 21 cm heart-shaped pan and put the 3rd portion into a 16cm chiffon pan.

I love the texture of the bread. Its soft and fluffy and goes very well with coffee or tea. Do bake them for your love ones this Valentine's Day.

I am submitting this post to "My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies (Jan/Feb)" hosted my Miss B of Everyone Eats Well in Flanders and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House