Hi there
Soft and fluffy buns filled with juicy Char Siu Pork. Using pre-cooked belly pork from the supermarket to make Char Siu Bao. oh no, it’s not cheating, it’s being smart! These are still soft even the next day!
Today, you can buy at Char Siu Bao frozen from the supermarkets. I’ve tried some of and they’re not bad. In Japan in winter, you will see steamed pork buns everywhere in convenience stores, supermarkets, and small pop-up stands.
Convenience store’s steamed pork buns are ready to eat and lot of people buy them for lunch or dinner or snacks. Also, there are lots of different kinds of steamed buns at convenience stores, such as pork char siu, pizza, sweet azuki, cheese, curry, teriyaki chicken, chocolate, custard cream etc…everyone loves steamed buns so if you have chance to go to Japan in winter, check them out!
About Char Siu
This time I used already cooked belly pork from Coles, easy to use and saving your time as well.
About Buns
• Using more plain flour than bread flour will make your buns softer.
• No special ingredients required, pretty much ingredients you most likely have at home.
• Recipe says rice oil, but you can use vegetable oil instead.
Tips for make fully and soft buns
• When you make Yeast mix, add sugar and warm water to the dry yeast because fermentation takes less time and effort. Sugar will help the yeast to rise.
• Take out the milk from refrigerator about 15 minutes before using. If it is too cold, it may affect the fermentation/rising of the dough.
• Dough should be kneaded until the surface is smooth.
• On cooler days I put a container of boiling water in a covered/insulated shopping bag with the dough. The temperature inside should be about 27-30 degrees C to help the fermentation process and allow the dough to rise.
• Check to see if the dough is ready to go. To check, poke your finger in the centre of the dough and if the hole does not return, the first fermentation is complete.
After dividing the dough into 12 pieces, roll the dough until the surface of the dough is smooth, cover the dough to prevent the surface from drying out, and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. This action called bench time.
Bread dough is tight immediately after it is rolled. If it is left as it is, it cannot be shaped properly. The purpose of bench time is to loosen the dough and make it easier to shape during the forming process that follows the bench time.
When the dough is tight, it does not stretch well when you try to roll it out or shape it with a rolling pin. By allowing the dough to rest on the bench, the gluten is broken off and the dough becomes loose. The dough becomes softer and easier to shape.
Bench time allows the dough to rest for easier shaping. Since the purpose is not to ferment the dough, there is no need to control the temperature and the dough can be left at room temperature.
After filling the dough with the Char Siu, cover the dough to prevent it from drying out and allow it to rise for 15-20 minutes.
How to eat left over Char Siu Bao next day
Place to Bao on plate and cover with plastic then 10-15 second in the microwave.
How to Make Char Siu Bao for Busy People
Equipment
- 1 Steamer
Ingredients
For Bao
- 200 g Bread flour
- 100 g Plain flour
- 3 g Dry yeast
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Rice oil or vegetables oil
- 55 ml Milk not too cold
- 110 ml Warm water 36-40℃
For Char Siu filling
- 400 g Pork belly bites from Coles
- 90 g Spring onion
- 30 g Ginger
- 20 g Garlic
- 2 tbsp Soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Sake
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tsp Gochujang
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- ½ tbsp Starch
- 1.5 tbsp Water
Instructions
Making Bao
- Put yeast into a bowl, add warm water and sugar, then mix well.
- Put plain flour, bread flour, salt, rice oil, milk and the yeast mixture into a mixer’s bowl. Use a dough hook and set the mixer to a slow speed then mix until the dough is completely combined.
- Knead for 5 - 6 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.
- Remove the dough from the hook and form the dough in to balls. Put the dough balls back into the bowl, cover with plastic, and place it in warm place. (I used a shopping bag with a zipper and put a jar of boiling water next to the dough).
Making the char Siu filling
- Cut the pork belly bites into small pieces.
- Chop spring onion.
- Grate the ginger and garlic.
- Pour the sesame oil into a pot or frypan and turn heat to mid.
- Add the spring onion and stir.
- Add the ginger and garlic then stir.
- Add the pork and stir.
- Cook the pork until soft then add soy sauce, sake, Gochujang, sugar, and honey and stir well
- Once all ingredients are mixed well, put the starch into a bowl, add water, and mix well.
- Pour the starch mix into the pork mixture and stir well. (When doing this the ingredients are bubbling.)
- Once the ingredients have combined, turn off the heat and place the pork mixture on a tray to cool down.
- Back to the dough, check the dough, if the dough’s now twice its original size and you can put a finger in middle of the dough and the hole doesn’t close, the 1st Fermentation/ raising of the dough is done.
- Remove the dough from the bowl and make 10-12 portions. (45-50g)
- Roll up each piece into a ball again and cover, with plastic, and leave for 15minutes.
- After 15mins, dust your work bench and press each of the dough balls down with your palm. Then, using a rolling pin, flatten the dough so it’s 7-8cm in diameter.
- Put the filling on middle of the dough and pinch the dough together to form folds. Pinch the end of the dough and twist slightly to close the dough tightly.
- Lay baking paper in bamboo a steamer and put tin he Char Siu bao. (Don’t put too close together because they’ll stick together during steaming.)
- Cover the bao and leave 15-20mins for 2nd fermentation.
- In the meantime, in a pot bring water to the boil. After 20mins put the bamboo steamer with char Siu bao on the pot and steam for 15mins.
- After 15mins, remove from boiling water.
- Place the Char Siu Bao to a plate.
Video
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