Polo salted yolk custard buns

I am late on the salted egg yolk custard bandwagon. But I am glad this plain porridge side dish is now elevated to posh status and assimilated in all sorts of dishes around Singapore. The grainy texture of steamed salted yolk is indescribable and every mouthful still brings me to childhood days when a meal of plain porridge and salted egg is a luxury for most households.

This recipe is lengthy but the end result is satisfying. The most handy tool here is my trusty silpat and my breadmaker dough function. Read through the instructions and visualize the process before starting.

I used some leftover salted butter which is too savory for my liking on the first try. My friends liked the custard filling but could feel the denseness of the bun because I didn't wait for them to rise enough the second time. There is still room for more tweaking of bake temperature and duration so that the bun is cooked but the awful explosion of custard 

can be avoided.

Mostly adapted from yellowfingers

Yolk custard :

50g butter, room temperature

40g caster sugar

30g whipping cream

7g corn starch

3 salted egg yolk, steamed and mashed to tiny bits

25g custard powder

30g milk powder

Whisk the butter followed by sugar.

Add cream, yolk and whisk.

Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk to combine.

Portion out 12 portions with a piping bag on a plate.

Flatten the custard with a wet finger to make it as uniform as possible.

Freeze until solid.

Polo topping :

20 g butter, softened at room temperature
25 g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp whipping cream

60 g cake flour
8g milk power
1/8 tsp baking powder

Whisk butter followed by sugar.

Add yolk and cream. Whisk.

Whisk in the rest of the dry ingredients. It should hold together when pinched with 2 fingers and not fall apart.

Transfer to a silicon sheet and roll into a tube. I used a sushi bamboo sheet to ensure uniform thickness.

Chill until very firm.

Tangzhong / Roux :

10g of bread flour

50g of water

Combine the above ingredients in a pot. Whisk to combine.

Whisk over medium heat until the roux forms streaks.

Remove immediately from the stove.

Cool.

It should yield 60g of roux.

Bun dough:

175 g bread flour
20g caster sugar
2 g salt
25-30g egg white ( leftover from polo topping )
10 g milk powder
3 g instant dry yeast
60 g tangzhong /roux
60 ml milk
15g butter, softened at room temperature

Method :

The dough is on the wet side and it is more manageable using a kitchen aid.

Combine bun ingredients in a kneading machine.

Knead until the dough is elastic and not sticky, about 10 – 15 minutes. If dough is wet and unmanageable to come together after 2 minutes in the KA, sprinkle in 1-2 tsp of bread flour.

Leave it to rise until double in bulk.

Portion out 12 buns. Rest the dough for 5 minutes.

Encase the frozen custard with the dough.

Cut out the (tubed) topping, 12 portions. Flatten between 2 silpat sheets.

Drape the flattened topping over the bun.

Leave to rise, 15 minutes, until it is doubled in bulk, 30 min.

Glaze with egg wash.

Bake the buns at 220C for 8 mins and until the buns are lightly tanned.

A number of buns burst with flowing custard due to uneven thickness around the custard so ensure the frozen custard is as uniform as possible for even coverage all around.