Makes 12 buns
Best for: Breakfast, Afternoon tea, Snack
How to enjoy this dish
These tasty buns are best served fresh. We normally eat them for breakfast. Because I am normally too tired in the morning to make this fresh, I normally prep for breakfast by cooling these buns down in room temperature after steaming, then put them in the fridge in a container, and reheat them with a steamer the next morning. Texture is not as fluffy but it's still wonderful for a warm breakfast. Some people like to dip these buns with hoisin sauce, but for us we just eat them plain since the insides are juicy and flavorful enough already.
Cookware needed:
- Steamers (Bamboo or stainless steel steamers)
- Rolling pin
- Damp kitchen cloth
Ingredients:
Filling:
- 75g minced pork (I use sagabuta pork from Japan as they are juicier but any type of pork would do)
- 1 cup cabbage (chopped into little pieces)
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 1/2 cup green onions (chopped)
Seasoning for filling: (in order)
- 2.5 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1.5 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon monk fruit sugar (if using regular sugar - reduce to 1/2 teaspoon)
- a small pinch of salt
- 1 tablespoon oil
Dough:
- 400g all purpose flour (unbleached)
- 210g warm water
- 1 teaspoon of instant yeast
- 1.5 teaspoon of monk fruit sugar
- 2.5 teaspoon of oil
Method:
For the filling:
Mix the grated ginger and pork together, then mix with seasoning until the liquids are all absorbed, make sure oil is added to the mix last.
Once the filling is well mixed, add in the chopped cabbage & green onions, mix well. Put to sixde and marinade for at least 3 hours. (Don't marinade beyond 5 hours as the filling may become too salty)
For the dough:
Mix the yeast with sugar and warm water, stir till the sugar and yeast are well incorporated.
Put the all purpose flour in a bowl, add the water mixture and oil last.
Knead the dough mixture together until well incorporated. Texture should still be a bit rough. Put kneaded dough back into the bow, cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.
Once the dough is rested, knead the dough a few more times. Move the dough to the side of the bowl, cover the bowl with a damp towel and let it rise in a 25C oven with a bowl of hot water (or in room temperature if the weather is warm) for around 1.5 hours.
Once the dough has risen, punch the air out of the dough and roll the dough into a long, log shape. Press down onto the dough as you go. Divide the dough into 12 pieces (around 50g each). Cover the unused dough with damp towel.
Once the dough balls are divided up - take out each dough, flatten them with your palm and use the rolling pin to roll out the sides. The dough should be thin on the sides, thick in the middle.
Take a tablespoon of filling, add the filling to the middle of the rolled out dough. Wrap the buns by pleating the dough around the filling. (Please see photos)
Pinch the top of the dough to seal the filling in.
Once the buns are made, line the steamers up with parchment paper with holes in them. Put the buns on top and let the buns rest in a 25C oven with a bowl of hot water (or at room temperature if the weather is warm).
Once the buns are rested, it's time to cook the buns. If you are using a steamer oven - put the buns on top of the rack for the steamer (please make sure the steamers are lined with parchment paper with holes for ventilation). Put the buns into the steamer cold, turn on the steaming function and steam for 20 minutes. Once done, turn off the steamer (Do not open the steamer door yet!) and let the buns rest for 3 minutes, serve hot. If you are using bamboo steamers - Make sure the bamboo steamer is elevated in a wok with a rack, water should be in the wok but at a level that doesn't touch the bottom of the steamer. Put the buns inside the bamboo steamers (make sure the steamers are lined with parchment paper with holes for ventilation), cover the bamboo steamer and turn on the heat to medium-high heat. Once the steam comes out from the side, continue to steam for around 12-15 minutes. Once done, turn off the heat, (Do not open the lid to the steamer yet!) let the buns rest inside the steamer for 3 minutes, serve hot.
Notes:
- Make sure to keep the dough covered with a damp cloth when they are not being worked on.
- The color of the buns should be slightly yellow as that's the natural color of the flour. It will be whiter if you use bleached flour.
- The buns can be kept in the fridge for 2 days max. If you'd like to keep them longer for another day, they can be frozen in the freezer. Simply wait for the buns to cool down, and then freeze them in the freezer. You can keep the buns in the freezer for a few weeks. To reheat, simply put the buns in a steamer for 13-15 minutes in the same fashion as the way you steamed the buns in the method described above.
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