Monday, 3 October 2011

Dragon's Eyes aka Longan Muffins


Dragon Eyes, the literal translation for the name of a small brown, juicy exotic fruit from the lands of Asia, known as Longan in Chinese.  It is so named because the fruit when shelled, resembles an eyeball (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris).  

The Chinese believe there is medicinal values in longans.  We eat them fresh and in dried form too.  In its freshest form, its flesh is sweet and juicy.  In its dried form, they are mostly used as ingredients and boiled to become  drinks, soups or desserts.  I thought the idea of using them in bakes was interesting.  The first time I came across them in bakes was when  Lavender Bakery introduced their Longan cupcake.   The longan aroma was prominent and it was slightly chewy.  I used to buy them for little one.   I searched around for a something similar and found a few.  I followed a longan muffin recipe.  The recipe looks pretty simple.  Just like any muffin recipe, it was mix wet ingredients with dry ones.


Verdict?


The batter was a little runny, which is quite unlike muffin batters that I am used to.  I was a little intimidated by the runny batter which saw me scrutinizing the recipe again to see if I got my measurements wrong, which I did not.  However, they rose well and was quite flavorful coming from the longan juice ( water used for soaking the longans) and the longan flesh.   I threw in some sunflower seeds to add an extra crunch.  I am not too sure if I did anything wrong but it was not up to my expectations.  There are spots which are dense, probably I overmixed it.  Gosh, I hate those air tunnels !!


3 comments:

  1. hi, did you use the longan from the can or dried longans cos i see that you mentioned the water for soaking the longans? i do like they way your muffins rose and the blooms. now, you made me wonder why in malay they call it 'mata kucing' ..meow ngan??

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  2. Hi, This is my first time visiting your blog and would love to follow you for more lite and delicious cooking.

    These logans muffins are very innovative muffin ideas. From your picture, I think your muffins rose very well and look very delicious to me. But if you are critical about the tunneling, I think it is due to over-mixing and over-working the gluten in flours.

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  3. @Lena: Thanks. I used dried longans. Meow ngan? I prefer the dragon :)

    @Zoe: Hi! Thanks for introducing yourself, i would be missing out a lot from your blog otherwise. And thanks for sharing your thoughts on the air tunnels, will remember to be gentle in future :)

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