This
was hubby’s request and that's how the 10 buns came into being. It was a lot of work making everything from scratch but at
least I get to control how much salt goes into his late night snack. If you
have 6 hours to spare, this is a good experiment to undertake.
On
hindsight , I shouldn’t have baked the meat cubes but instead simmer it until
it is soft and succulent. the baking gave crispy edges
to my char siew, hardly the texture I desire for in a bun. Covering it with a loose foil should mitigate this problem, unless you have a thing for char siew with crispy edges in a bun.
If
the tacky crispy topping does not deter you, use any leftover meat filling from
the previous dinner and use it in place of char siew. The pleasure of the snack
is in the crispy topping so I don’t mind
what is in the bun anyway.
Should
you find the crispy topping hard to handle, toss the prepared balls in cake
flour and shake off the excess before flattening it. Mist spray the bun with
water if the topping does not stick well due to the flour.
The
time taken to make these ican be a turn off but all is forgotten once
I sank my teeth into one of these.
Makes
10 buns.
Char Siew:
400g
diced pork cubes ( fatty ones can do )
80g
brown sugar
3g
salt
3
g MSG
1
tsp 5-spice powder
10g
sesame oil
10g
hoisin sauce
10g
oyster sauce
10g
cooking wine
1
tsp egg ( lightly beaten )
Honey
( last stage )
1.
Combine all of the above, mixed and marinate
for 1 hour in the fridge.
2.
Bake on a lined tray for 30 minutes, loosely
covered. Drizzle some honey over the almost cooked meat and toss. Bake for
another 5 minutes.
Char Siew Sauce:
1
Tbsp shallots + 1 Tbsp minced garlic + 2 Tbsp oil
4g
dark sauce
2g
light sauce
4
g oyster sauce
20
ml water
5g
corn starch dissolved on 10g water
1.
Saute shallots and garlic until soft.
2.
Add sauces and water
3.
Turn off the heat.
4.
Stir in corn starch solution to thicken but
not lumpy.
Char Siew filling :
Combine
baked char siew with char siew sauce. Reserve.
Buns:
Roux – 25g of
bread flour + 125 ml of water
1.
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly
until it form lines with the whisk. Cool roux.
The
main dough –
270g
bread flour
40g
fine sugar
1g
salt
10g
milk powder
6g
instant yeast
30g
whipping cream
30g
milk
25g
butter
1.
Combine all of the components for main dough
and water roux.
2.
Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3.
Let it rise until double in bulk, about 2
hours.
Meanwhile, crispy topping :
1.
150g cake flour + 2 g baking soda + 5 Tbsp
fine sugar + 1 Tbsp milk powder
2.
100g cold butter, cubed
3.
1 egg
4.
Except the egg, blend all the contents until
it turns sandy.
5.
Add egg and blend until all comes together.
6.
Chill in a plastic bag for 30 minutes.
7.
Make out 10 equal portions and roll into
balls. Chill again.
Assembly :
1.
Make out 10 equal portions of the dough.
Make balls.
2.
Spoon char siew filling and seal the bun.
Omit the sauce if it gets messy.
3.
In between 2 plastic sheets or silpat,
flatten the crispy topping. I toss the topping in cake flour for easy handling
and shake off excess flour.
4.
Mist spray the bun. Place the flattened
crispy topping on the bun.
5.
Make criss cross patterns with a pastry
spatula.
6.
Bake the buns in a preheated oven at 170C
for 23 minutes.
7.
Cool the buns further on a rack.
That's whole lot of work! Of course it is worth it - 10 delicious buns. I only have the motivation to eat right now :D
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