February 24, 2008

ast night my 'Little Sister' and I made Chinese Steamed Pork Buns, which is one of my favorite eats. I have not made them for a long time.

Char Siu Bao (aka Steamed Pork Buns, although I know this food as a word that sounds like 'Ham Bao')

For the filling mix all of the following together and fry up, this is what I used for ingredients last night:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped fine
• 3 cloves  of garlic, chopped fine
• 1 pound ground pork (organic from my pig)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock

For the bun, mix together...

• 2 1/2 teaspoons of fresh yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water
• 4 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 tablespoons sesame seed oil

Knead dough on lightly floured board until smooth. Divide into 12 pieces. Roll out each section into a circle, put filling in the middle and then bring 4 'edges' up and crimp together, then twist. You are supposed to let these rise for 2 hours, but I never do and they seem to do just fine, although maybe not as fine of a 'dumpling' texture as they might be otherwise.

Steam, tightly covered, over briskly boiling water for 10 minutes. You can freeze these. Thaw out in plastic bag and re-steam for 10 minutes.

Picture Above: Freshly made Char Siu Bao before they have risen or steamed.

Picture Below: In the steamer. I like the bamboo steamers like my dad had, but I don't have any here. To make a quick steamer if you don't have one, use a metal strainer over a pot of boiling water (2" or less of water) and put a large lid on top. 

Between the two of us (and she is just learning how to cook), we made all 12 of them, hands on time, in about 10 minutes. We went international for dinner and had tabouli with the Char Siu Bao, which is a middle eastern dish. It used up a bit of leftovers and was yummy. Then I took a break from working and the magazine and we watched "Elizabeth - The Golden Age" on my laptop while we had dinner, since my "Little Sister" has been a gem and traversed all over the countryside with me for my work all weekend as well as help me with chores. I highly recommend the movie.