Char Siew Pau or BBQ Chicken Bun

Morning / Afternoon Tea: 12-Jan-2010

I feel inspired to make char siew pau today, using the recipe that was given to me by my sister's MIL, A Margaret... I couldn't remember the exact recipe & so decided to wing it a bit... A. Margaret, hope I've done it some justice, & will pass your standards... :-) 


This time around though, I thought I'd try out my mum's recipe for the bread part... hopefully it'll turn out nice... :-D Hmmm... I think it didn't turn out too nicely... I must experiment a bit more before I put my mum's recipe down... I think the dough didn't have too much elasticity for some reason... not sure why. Anyway, I have decided to go with A. Margaret's bread recipe instead, which is really just from the steam bun cake flour packaging...  


(Great discovery there A. Margaret... :-D)...


Ingredients:

For Meat filling:
1. approx 1 kg skinless boneless chicken thigh fillets (you can use pork too) - cleaned, fat removed & diced to quite small pieces (this part took me the longest so I relaxed in front of the TV & watched a show whilst cutting *hehe*)

2. 1 x onion - diced to small pieces

3. approx 3 - 4 tbsp fragrant chinese sesame oil

4. 2 tbsp olive oil
5. 3 tbsp light soy sauce
6. 3 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce
7. approx 6 - 10 tbsp dark soy sauce (to taste)
8. 1 tsp 5-spice powder
9. approx 1 - 2 tsp pepper (to taste)
10. 4 tbsp raw caster sugar (to taste)
11. 1 x 340g (drained weight) can whole water chestnut (ie. 1 x 567g (nett weight) large can) - drained & diced to small pieces & set aside
12. approx 3 tbsp sesame seeds - lightly fried & set aside

For Bread/Pau:

1. 1 x 397g bag Rooster brand steamed buns cake flour (has a picture of the steam bun in front & red print) - as pictured on the right.
2. 1 cup fresh milk (I used long life low-fat lactose free milk - also, 1 cup was rather wet, so I would put 1/2 cup in first then add in more if too dry)
3. 1/2 cup sugar
4. 1 tbsp cooking oil
5. Grease proof paper (or medium sized plain greaseproof cup cake cases - I was too lazy to cut little squares out... LOL!)


Method:
For Meat filling:
1. Heat up olive oil in large frying pan then add onions in. Fry onions till soft (but not brown).
2. Add chicken & brown lightly.
3. Add sesame oil, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, vegetarian oyster sauce, 5-spice powder, pepper and caster sugar to meat & mix well. Make sure meat is properly cooked & is to taste.
4. Add in water chestnuts, mix well.
5. Allow to simmer, occasionally mixing, until liquid has reduced.
6. Once cooled, add sesame seeds and mix well just before making buns.

For Bread/Pau: 
1. Remove 2 tbsp of flour from the packaging & leave aside for later use.
2. Mix the remaining flour in the package with 1/2 cup of fresh milk & 1/2 cup of sugar.
3. Knead dough well for 10 mins (adding more milk if necessary - up to 1 cup milk total, add the previously set-a-side-flour if too sticky) and then add 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Continue to knead again. Leave aside to stand for 30 mins.
4. Divide the dough into 12 parts.
5. Roll each piece into small, flat circular sheets.
6. Place filling into the centre of each rolled out sheet & fold the sides over the filling to enclose filling within.
7. Place each bun on a piece of paper/cup cake case.
8. Place the steamer filled with water on heat & boil well, add 2 tbsp of vinegar into the water to whiten the buns.
9. Steam for 10 mins, lift off the cover to remove any condensed water. Continue to steam for a further 10 mins.

10. Remove buns from the steamer & enjoy your hot delicious & ready to eat buns!! Yummy! :-D

Note: I have a metal Bellini electric steamer which I use instead & it works well, but will need to increase the time to 15 mins each time instead.

Char Siew Pau or BBQ Chicken Bun