Steamed bun/ pao chicken filling with a twist (Aspiring Bakers #31)

I thought I could take a longer break from steaming more buns.  I had not the clue when I posted my last post Bakpao in Mini Cupcake Cases when Miss B from Everybody eats well in Flanders came ‘knocking’ at my blog wall and invited me to take up yet another challenge in the world of steaming hot buns!!  The last challenge I took up was here.

In my last post, I left you with a promise that I would invest on time and patience to make steamed buns the way they should be.  No more ready mix flour, but just pure patience and time management 😀

The real McCoy?

Actually I bought a bag of 1 kg Bapao Wheat Starch (Bapaomeel) Double Rings Brand. I bought the flour because of the word “bapao”; however, there were no instructions on how to use the flour.  Furthermore, I was blurred and blinded by the Chinese scripts all over the bag. It’s all Greek to me 😦  To add salt to injury (yep, that bad, really), there’s no picture of steamed buns on the label, BUT, pak choy (Chinese cabbage)!  And I thought I just hit the nail and bought a bag of the real McCoy!!

Then help came.  I am so grateful to Miss B. She came buzzing my way, sending me links and recipes, AND, the most unforgettable moment was meeting Miss B face-to-face last Saturday at our housewarming!  So good to meet you and your family, Miss B 😀

I got, among others, a bag of Red Lotus special flour and a tin of all-vegetable shortening (CRISCO) from Miss B. She also brought her delicious rice-cooker steamed moist banana cake, pandan kaya butter cake and homemade kaya coconut egg jam.  I was really pampered that day.  Thanks ever so much.

Being a rather visual person, I was so glad to see graphics of steamed buns on the bag of the flour.  Yay, the real McCoy, at last!   But was it?  The instructions were in Thai script (sunskrit) and I was completely lost.   The quest continued. Then I remembered seeing this bag of flour sold at an Asian store, owned by a Taiwanese couple. I did not buy the flour, but took a snapshot of the label at the back of the flour bag. LOL!

What’s she up to now, you may ask?

Because, it’s not Thai or Chinese or Greek, but a language I could decipher 😉

The recipe at the back of the flour bag – with a few moderations – became the basis of my journey to steaming more hot buns!

Ingredients (Pao Dough)

400 g flour

210 ml water (I used lukewarm water)

100 g sugar (I used 14 tsp, which is about 50 g)

50 g shortening (I used 2 Tbsp CRISCO all-vegetable shortening)

13 g instant dry yeast (I used 1 sachet of 7 g instant yeast from Dr. Oetker)

8 g baking powder (I used 3 tsp of normal baking powder, following Miss B’s simulation and equation of 2 tsp DABP)

1 g improver (I did not use this)

A pinch of salt (this was not on the recipe label)

Method

1. Sift the flour and baking powder directly into the mixing bowl of the electric mixer. Place the pinch of salt on one side of the flour and the sugar on another side. Add the instant yeast in the centre followed by the lukewarm water and gradually combine together with a wooden spoon.  Add the shortening and knead the dough using the dough hook, first on minimum speed and gradually increasing to “1” (Kenwood Major).  Mix the dough for 12 minutes or until a smooth and non-stick dough is formed.

2. Remove the dough from the electric mixer and place the dough in a slightly greased large bowl.  Cover the dough with a cling film and proof for 30 minutes or more.  I placed the bowl just above our slightly warm radiator and covered the bowl with a clean kitchen towel.

3. While waiting for the dough to rise, start your steamer.  I used my multi-purpose soup pot with the 3 steamer inserts I bought at IKEA.

4. After the first proofing, I divided the dough into 16 balls.  At this point, I had wanted to add the fillings, but I kept murmuring to myself “Patience! Patience!”.  I rested the 16 pieces of dough balls for another 15 minutes, covering them with a cling film over my warm radiator.

5. Flatten each ball into a disc-like shape and fill the dough with the filling.  Some pieces were proofed and some not.  You will see the difference later, hence, read on…  The ones I proofed, I let the buns rise for about 15 minutes or more.

6. Steam the buns for 15 minutes on high.

Ingredients and method (Chicken filling with a twist)  – own recipe

8 rotisserie chicken drumsticks – yes, the ready-cooked ones!

(Remove as much meat from the bones, diced)

In a bowl, add the following and mix to combine –

1 Tbsp (Kikkoman) soy sauce

1 Tbsp Oyster sauce

1 Tbsp Shaohsing rice wine

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp sugar

White pepper

4 cm ginger, grated

3 coriander roots, minced 

Add 2 Tbsp corn oil in a pan and sauté 2 cloves garlic, minced with some coarse sea salt until fragrant. Add the above mixed ingredients and sauté further for a few seconds.  Thicken the sauce with 2 Tbsp water and 1 tsp cornflour. Once the sauce has thickened slightly, add the diced cooked chicken, 1 grated carrot and 2 spring onions (cut diagonally).  Stir and combine the mixture, making sure that the chicken meat is coated completely with the sauce. Refrigerate to cool before scooping 2 tea-spoonful of the chicken filling onto each dough piece.

Kenwood and me

By the way, my brand new Kenwood Major has been standing in the corner of our kitchen since New Year’s Day 2013!  I got this as a gift from my other half.  I have been procrastinating with all the bakes. I’m glad I’ve found a useful task for my Kenwood – finally 😉

David and Goliath

I wanted to show you the difference of the end result of my steamed chicken buns. The one on the left was not proofed and the one on the right was left to rise for the last time for 15 minutes before going to the Steamer.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

I am submitting this entry to Aspiring Bakers #31 – Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders

Miss B, it was definitely “bao ho chiak”.  Breakfast was never the same again!

Oh by the way, I have a little surprise next post…. so stay tuned.

Cheers!