Mini char siu buns



Reporting from Fa Yuen Street Public Library ! No internet at home so , I'm taking advantage of the free 2-hour internet usage at the library ......  

How's life in your side of the world ? Hope everything is well and good ! 


Anyway , I've been checking out some bilingual cookbooks last week when I stumbled upon this book . It contains most breads that you can find in bakeries here and one particular recipe that I was keen to make is char siu bao . So keen that I made 3 batches of it ! No , there's nothing with the recipe . Blurry photos are the culprit *sigh* Note the different color of the char siu filling ?! Don't worry about it , it tastes awesome , different colors aside lol 

All dough recipes in the book are made using the dough hooks of your electric hand mixer , the contraption that most avid bread bakers won't ever touch hee hee ! Yeah , it was my first time using those hooks though I only used it for mixing the sponge as it was so sticky to knead manually ( this from somebody to manually kneaded all her baked breads lol )

These buns are very easy and straightforward to make but a bit time consuming . The char siu filling takes less than 5 minutes to make and can be made a day or 2 before using . If you want to try this recipe , I recommend that you double or even triple it . I've consumed the 1st and 3rd batch all by my lonesome , you know shhhhhh ! 


Recipe adapted from Jolly Kitchen Series : Homemade Professional Bakery-Style Bread by Charles Ho

For the char siu filling :

Char siu ( Chinese barbecued pork ) , diced
8 grams unsalted butter
1/2 shallot , diced ( I used 20 grams )
10 grams oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
15 grams caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon chicken powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper
50 grams water

Cornstarch mixture :

10 grams cornstarch
20 grams water ,
5 grams rice wine

* In a hot pan , place butter and shallot and cook for 1 minute . Add water , oyster sauce , sesame oil , dark soy sauce , sugar , chicken powder and pepper ( you can combine these ingredients beforehand ) . Stir well and bring to a boil .

* Add in the cornstarch mixture and stir well . Add in diced char siu and mix thoroughly , transfer filling in a heatproof bowl . Let cool and keep in the fridge until needed .

* You need 160 grams ( 20 grams in each dough ) char siu filling in this recipe .

beaten egg for egg wash
some honey , for glazing

For the buns :

Sponge starter :

20 grams egg
40 grams fresh milk
2 grams fresh yeast ( I used 1 gram instant yeast )
5 grams milk powder
70 grams bread flour

* Place ingredients into the bowl and use a the dough hooks of an electric hand mixer , ( or use a wooden spatula )  mix over low speed until it forms a rough dough . Form into a ball and place into a lightly-oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap . Let starter ferment to 2.5 times / about tripled in size , takes about 60-80 minutes , depending on the warmth of your kitchen / place .

Dough :

2 grams fresh yeast ( I used 1 gram instant yeast )
25 grams caster sugar
1 grams salt
15 grams water
50 grams bread flour
15 grams unsalted butter , at room temperature

* Combine dough ingredients together with the starter dough and mix either by electric hand mixer ( low speed ) or manually . Knead until dough is smooth and elastic or do a window pane test . Let dough rest , ideal temperature is 28°C , until doubled in size .

* Divide dough into 8 pieces at 30 grams ( for my doubled recipe , I divided the dough into 35 grams each and used 25 grams char siu filling )  , depending on your final dough , form into small balls and let rest , covered , for 15 minutes .

*  Flatten dough , about 3 inches in diameter ,  the middle part should be thicker than the sides . Place 20 grams char siu filling on top and wrap the dough , firmly pinch the edges to close the bottom and the top should be smooth and tight . Place filled dough , seam side down on the baking tray and continue with the rest .

* Spray water onto the top of the filled dough pieces . Let proof at 36°C until almost tripled in size , about 30-40 minutes . When surface is dry , brush top and sides with egg wash .

* Preheat oven at 150°C . Adjust to 180°C and place buns into the middle rack , bake until top of the buns starts to turn lightly brown then lower the temperature to 150°C and use top heat only . Bake until done , overall baking time is 15 minutes . I preheated the oven at 180°C and baked the buns at the same temperature for 15 minutes .

* Remove buns from the oven and brush tops with honey . Serve warm or at room temperature .



Comments

  1. This is totally droolworthy! Soft buns, savoury cha siu filling...heavenly, Anne.

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  2. Hi Anne, how you doing? Hope you get back your internet connection soon.
    Your char siew bun look very good, well done! Very professional, 2 thumbs up for you.
    Great to go with coffee.

    Have a nice week ahead,regards.
    Amelia

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  3. Looks like a perfect char siu buns for me.... I'm really want some...I must get round to make some of these soon..it's no use drooling. Thanks for the recipe and encouragement Anne:)

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  4. Anne, your char siew buns look so yummy! Nice colouring too.

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  5. Sono meravigliosi..Complimenti per il blog.
    E' stato un piacere conoscerti

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  6. Good day Anne ! Gosh, your char siu buns looks really tempting. Wish I can have some for my brunch. Yummm...
    Have a lovely day dear.
    Blessings, Kristy

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  7. Char Siew Bao! Will love to go with chinese tea.

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