Clutter bug paradox/-/ Hong Kong sausage bun

How many of you have problems with hoarding? No need to be ashamed, I think most of us at one point in our lives have over enthusiastic about an item. Shamelessly bought more than we need because we had to fill that void or have convinced ourselves that we do not have THIS particular one.



While collectors and hoarders do have distinctive properties, the basis of their collecting has to be obsession. I am particularly vulnerable to developing obsessions because I am so passionate about something. “Go hard or go home” is my train of thought whenever I do something; so no half ass attempts for me. Right now I have a hoarding obsession with baking pans especially since I discovered the magical properties of the skillet. My baking pan collection is almost up to 30 but in my defence all of them have been used.





While my problem may not be as serious as those people on hoarders, I do have more stuff than I need. My other family members also share this problem were my dad has something with finical newspapers and my mum tends to by kitchenware. My house may look cluttered and disorganised but we do have a situation of organised chaos. That’s what ever one says right?





Of course my parents know this and their solution to this is to buy more shelves and stuff them with all our extra stuff. The main problem with this is that we have extra spaces which for some odd reasons are refilled again. Press repeat on this process. So you see not really a solution; more of problem to be exact. I really hope that this will not continue as they have learnt the value of donating *fingers crossed*



I think as a food blogger, we all know that styling props especially for photos are key stones to get nice shots. Of course it more complicated than that but they can play an integral part in telling the story. That extra cup or saucer can make a photo, or the baking dish you use can tell a lot about the history behind a recipe. One of the best pieces of food writing I have read is where an heirloom tart tartin dish was used to recreate a food blogger mother’s apple tart recipe. Such a sentimental piece of writing, I can only hope one day will be able to write like that. So it is not always bad to have lots of stuff. Oh the confusion!



Thankfully these buns do not need a lot of props to make them pop. This is a recipe which my mother used to do when she was learning about cooking in Hong Kong. These are those bakery style sweet sausage rolls you often find in the Asian bakery. What makes these roll distinct from the English bakery is savoury and sweet are often mixed, forming that unique flavour. The subtle sweetness in a white fluffy roll is wrapped around a commercial cocktail sausage. The bread is similar to the japan toast bread but is lighter and whiter due the use of egg whites and condensed milk. This may sound horrid to pair it with a salty sausage but it has become one of the most popular buns in Chinese baking.

Mini Hong Kong Style sausage buns.
Makes 18 mini cocktail sausage buns

350g white bread flour

200g all purpose plain flour

5g salt

7g dry yeast

15g coffee whiter (coffee mate)

60g egg whites

200ml full cream milk

30g condensed milk

60g sugar

50g salted butter, soft in cubes of 1cm

18 mini sausage franks


Egg wash: egg plus milk.

Optional sesame seeds


Add white flour, all purpose flour, salt and coffee whiter in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly together.

Warm milk, condensed milk and sugar in a sauce pan till combined. Allow to cool to 30C degrees. Add yeast.

Mix milk and yeast mix into the flour mix. Add your egg whites and kneed in a stand mixer till it forms a rough ball and a medium level of gluten has developed.

With the stand mixer running add your cubes of butter until combined.

Continue to kneed until it passes the window pane test. This is where you are able to pull it to a very thin membrane see through before it breaks. The dough should be very bouncy and smooth.

Cover in greased bowl and allow to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled.

Punch down dough and divide into 18 dough balls.

With each dough ball roll it into a log shape about 30 cm long. Wrap each log around a sausage. Make a seal at the end of each log to keep the bread around the sausage. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Once all balls have been used cover with cling film and allow to rise for 45 minutes.

Pre heat oven to 185c. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle seeds on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Transfer to wire rack once baked.