In our home country, there are also a lot of varieties, from texture, taste, and filling. Of course different quality. During my stay in the two countries: Indonesia and Singapore, I have experienced tasting different steamed buns. This is easy food and comforting food for me. It is easy to get also. When I spent my years as a student at NUS (National University of Singapore), I frequently made a trip from my lab to the nearest canteen downstairs for a piece of hot steamed bun or a glass of juice (without sugar).
Here, it is also easy to find steamed buns, but none of them, according to my very picky taste buds is as delicious as the ones back home. And since my children (and husband) love to eat, I am tempted to try making it. The first trial, a couple of weeks ago, is not very successfull. The texture of the buns was not good soft enough and the dough did not rise as much as I would like to see (I compared it to the dough that I usually prepare for sweet bread). The filling was minced pork, prepared with soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper and some oyster sauce with cabbage. So, I tried it once again with some modification after I compared some recipes. This time with char siu filling.
The original recipe is taken from Christine's recipe. And here is my modification.
Steamed (pork) bun
Prepared 10 pieces of square baking paper around 6 x 6 cm.
Ingredients (for the buns)
200-220 grams flour (I used buns flour, you can find it in Asian store. If you use multi purpose flour, the result may be yellowish)
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp instant dry yeast (check the packaging for the correct amount. The original recipe asks for 1/2 tsp but I checked the yeast I bought and I need around 3-4 grams for the flour I used)
80 - 110 ml water
90 - 100 ml warm milk (not more than 40Celcius because the heat can kill the yeast) *note: you can also use water instead of milk
a pinch of salt
For the fillings (cheating method)
150 gr pork meat (cut into small cubes, I used shoulder part for this)
1/3 - 1/2 bottle of char siu seasoning (I used the 1-step seasoning)
1/2 onion cut into small pieces
2-3 tsp water
1-2 tsp corn flour
How to (buns)
1. Mixed the warm milk, yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar. Let it rest until the buble rise, around 30 minutes.
2. Add 200 grams flour, vegetable oil, salt, and 80ml of the water to the yeast mixture. Knead the dough. If you see that the dough is quickly dry, you can add the rest of the water. The important thing is the dough should be kneaded into a smooth dough and does not stick to your hand or the wall of your mixer bowl.
3. Let the dough rest in the bowl, and cover the bowl either with wet clean cloth/napkin or with cling film. Let it rest around 1 hour until it rises at least twice the initial volume.
4. Remove the cling film and punch the dough in the middle.
5. Cut the dough into portions, around 35-40 grams or to your liking.
6. Shape each portion into a ball shape and with rolling pin, roll the dough. The edges should be thinner than the middle part. Fill the rolled dough with the filling and pinch the sides thightly to hold the filling. Put it on top of a piece of baking paper.
7. Prepare steamer and when it starts to boil, put the buns in the steamer and steam the buns for around 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let rest for about 10 minutes before serving them.
How to (fillings - cheating method)
1. Cut the por meat and the onion.
2. Marinate the pork and onion with 1/3 - 1/2 bottle of the char siu seasoning for 30 minutes - 1 hour (while waiting for the dough to rise)
3. Heat the wok and cooked the marinated pork (without oil).
4. Mix the corn flour and water and add the mixture to the wok.
5. Cook until it is thickening.
I could not wrap my buns in pretty way. So, the results are not pretty enough. The first batch of the buns is not successfull enough because when I immediately open the steamer after 15 minutes the buns became smaller altough they have risen quite big. I am not sure whether it is because the skin is too thin, or because I immediately open the steamer. I did open the steamer without letting the buns rest in the steamer because I only have 1 steamer.
But, I noticed that the second and third batches are better in terms of texture and size. I am not sure also if this is the effect of letting the buns rest (while waiting for their turn to occupy the steamer) or because I did not open the steamer immediately, but turn off the fire for a couple of minutes before transferring the buns to the plate.
Anyway, husband and children are happy with the results of the second trial. 10 buns for us are not enough for stocks, though. Although there are only 2 adults and 2 toddlers of (almost) 2 and 4 years old, my children enjoy eating. So, next project is better filling and better buns, and probably the sweet versions (red bean it is).
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