Bao Buns with Spicy Pork
I’m a big fan of Chinese steamed Dim Sum and Buns but have never plucked up the courage to have a go myself, it all looked a bit too complicated! Anyway this weekend I took the plunge and invested a few hours in a flurry of flour dust, kneading, proving and rising!
I usually just throw things together when I’m cooking but when it comes to baking you need to be a bit more precise so I found this recipe to follow http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bao-buns-spicy-pork .
So in the beginning there was flour, sugar, baking powder, milk powder, warm water, yeast and vegetable oil.
Then there was a mess in my kitchen, ten minutes of mixing and kneading. This resulted in a neat ball of dough.
I left this to prove for a couple of hours in a warm place while I got on with making the filling.
I diced up the pork and cooked for around five minutes in a little oil before adding some spring onion and cooking for a further minute or so. Then all the good stuff was added. Hoisin, soy, honey, five spice, chill and sesame oil. I also added some cornflour dissolved in rice wine to help thicken the sauce. This then bubbled away for five minutes before I took it off the heat and allowed it to cool.
After two hours the dough had doubled in size and was light and fluffy. I knocked this back and kneaded for a minute or so before dividing up into portions for filling with the pork mix.
To begin with this was a little messy but you soon get the hang of it. Then it was time for a second half hour prove for the filled buns. In this prove they went from this…….
To this…..
Then it was into the steamer for around ten minutes. After steaming the buns were fluffy and not at all sticky any more.
I served then with some chilli sauce and soy and rice vinegar dipping sauce. They were quite delicious and although fairly labour intensive to make the quantities in the recipe would easily make enough for six for a starter or more as a snack.
Foodies 100
Rowanwood Kitchen 