Banh Bao Vietnamese Steamed Pork Buns Recipes

BANH BAO (VIETNAMESE STEAMED PORK BUNS)

Steps:

• Combine the flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl then pour in the water and milk. Mix it in until incorporated then let it rest for 3 hours so the yeast has time to activate.Note: Depending on where you live, you may need to let it rest for another 1-2 hours. The warmer the climate, the quicker the yeast will activate.
• Pour the remaining flour, self-raising flour, sugar, lemon juice, egg white and oil into the activated mixtue and knead it until a smooth dough forms.
• Let the dough rest in a bowl for 30 minutes with a cloth or glad wrap over the top.
• Meanwhile, combine the pork mince and pork paste along with the pepper, chicken bouillon powder, salt, sugar, oyster sayce and fish sauce.Tip: Use a pestal and mortor to mash the ingredients together which helps to give it a smoother consistency.
• Mix in the wood ear mushroom, water chestnuts, shallots, fried onions and spring onions.
• Roll about 1/4 US cup of the pork mixture into a ball, flatten it in your palm and place a quail egg in the center.
• Wrap the mixture around the quail egg and roll it to form a sphere then push a sliced Chinese sausage on the surface.
• Leave it to sit on a plate as you roll the rest of the mince. Depending on each ball size, you'll get roughly 6 balls.
• Cut 15 cm x 15 cm (6″ x 6″) squares out of baking paper.
• Divide the Banh Bao dough into equal segments and roll them into balls. Cover using a cloth as you work on each to avoid drying.
• Flatten each ball into a circle approximately 20 cm (8″) wide using a rolling pin or a smooth cup.
• Place a meatball in the center of the flattened dough.
• Bring the top and bottom parts of the Banh Bao dough in and pinch to stick together over the meatball.
• Repeat the same steps with the left and right sides of the rolled dough.
• Where the openings are for each corner, push the tips in to form a heart shape. You'll end up with four hearts.
• Pinch each heart's tips to close the openings.
• Hold one pinched tip and pull it to the center, pinching it with the dough in the middle to allow it to stick. Repeat with all pinched tips.
• Give the center one final pinch to seal all the dough.
• Place the wrapped bun on a baking square.
• Set up your steamer to a boil and steam the baos for 30 minutes or until the meatball is cooked.Note: Alternatively, steam the meatballs before wrapping and steam the whole bao for 10 minutes or until the Banh Bao dough is cooked.
• Serve fresh as is or with a drizzle of Sirarcha!