Saw these yummy buns on Facebook and traced it to Alan's blog to drool over his lovely buns! I nearly fainted when I saw the mile long ingredients and even longer instructions! Somehow I read it all and though the instructions were miles long, I reckoned it was do-able. The tricky part of it was frying them! I burnt the first batch and forgot to prepare the water mixture for the steaming part....I did it for the 2nd batch but somehow the mixture became too thick and I had to add more water to lighten it and had to fry the buns longer than as stated in the instructions to allow the water to evaporate, ending with extra dark bottoms too! haiz! Nevertheless, the taste was delicious and we ate it with finely sliced ginger in black vinegar/soya sauce.
Shanghai Pan Fried Steam Buns
adapted from
Skin Ingredients
250g plain flour
135g water
1 tsp rapid rise yeast
15g fine sugar
1 tsp cooking oil
Filling Ingredients
500g minced meat
1/2 head of cabbage
5 sprigs of spring onion - omitted because I do not have any !
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp cooking oil
knob of ginger, finely grated
Others
2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds - omitted, too eager to eat!
100 g water + 1 tbsp plain flour
1 tbsp black vinegar + 1/2 tbsp light soya sauce + 1 tsp chili oil as dipping sauce
Method for filling:-
First prepare the cabbage by chopping into very small pieces. Add a pinch of salt and give the cabbage a good rub in a bowl. Leave and set aside for 15 min. If possible, give the chopped cabbage a toss with a fork every 5 minutes or so.
Chop spring onion and set aside.
Put minced pork together with all the other ingredients, except spring onion in a food processor and mix well at high speed for 10-15 seconds.
Transfer meat to a bowl with a cling film and refrigerate to marinate for later use.
Squeeze out as much water from the chopped cabbage and drain in a sieve. Mix with chopped spring onions and set aside for later use.
Method for dough:
To prepare dough skin, mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until a smooth dough is formed.
Cut the dough into halves and then quarters. Cut each quarter into 4 or 5 equally sized pieces. You may wish to weigh out the dough pieces if necessary.
Rest the dough pieces for 10 min covered with a piece of damp cloth.
Meanwhile, take the meat filling ingredients out from the fridge and stir in chopped cabbage and spring onion until just well mixed.
On a working surface lightly dusted with low gluten flour, roll out each dough piece into flat circular or oval discs. The rim should be thinner than the centre.
Place a generous spoonful of filling in the middle of each dough piece and proceed to plait the edges in a circular fashion.
Place the bun in the middle of a greased non-stick flat pan.
Repeat the process to make more buns and arrange them in the pan outwards. When the pan is filled almost to the perimeter, leave a small allowance between each bun for expansion during proofing and steaming.
Leave the buns to proof briefly in the pan, covered with lid for 10-15 min.
Turn on flame to medium low and pan fry the buns covered for about 4-5 min until the base turns a beautiful golden brown. If need be, shift the pan around so that the perimeter of the pan gets uniformly heated.
Open the lid and pour the flour and water concoction onto the base of the pan, which would be sizzling and bubbling like madness by now. Cover quickly and let the buns steam for about 10-15 min, or until some "cracking noise" is produced from the wok, indicating that all the water has totally evaporated.Partially open the lid to allow some steam to escape first before opening completely. This prevents the fluffy buns from deflating from a temperature shock and helps to keep the surface soft and smooth. Sprinkle generous with toasted sesame seeds and serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest #10 Aug 2014 : Taiwan hosted by travelling-foodies.
This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs Up organised by Bake for Happy Kids and My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Diana from the Domestic Goddess Wannabe.
