Char Siew Bao

Ingredients

Buns

8g	instant dry yeast
160ml	lukewarm water
½ tsp	white vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
280g	low-protein flour aka hong kong flour
100g	wheat starch
90g	icing sugar
30g	shortening or vegetable oil
10g	baking powder
10ml	cold water

Filling

250g	char siew (Follow link for recipe)
	char siew sauce (see char siew recipe)
½ tbsp	vegetable oil
1	small onion
1 tsp.	sesame oil
1½ tbsp	corn flour
100 ml	water

Instructions

Dough for the buns

1. Sift together flours and icing sugar. Place sifted flour mixture in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle.
2. Fill well with lukewarm water, vinegar and yeast. Use a spatula, gently stir the water to dissolve the yeast then slowly bring together flour mixture.
3. Add in shortening or vegetable oil and knead for 10-15 minutes until soft dough is formed. It should be smooth on the surface.
4. Cover dough with damp cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes or until it is doubled in size. I used bread maker’s dough mode to prepare my dough up to this step.

Filling

This recipe assumes the char siew and the sauce are also home made followining this recipe

1. Heat oil in pan, sauté onion for 1 to 2 minutes. Add in all other ingredients except for the water and corn starch, stir fry for 1 minutes.
2. Mix together water with corn flour, add mixture into the pan and stir well. Simmer until gravy is thickened.

Making the buns

1. Dissolve baking powder in cold water, sprinkle over dough and knead until well combined. Divide dough into 16 equal portions and flatten with a rolling pin to make a 3” circle. Then place a heap teaspoon of filling in the middle, wrap and pleat the dough to seal. Place it on a 1.5” square parchment paper, seal side up.
2. Arrange buns into a steamer, leave about 3 cm gap in between buns. Spray water mist over buns, and steam in a preheated steamer on high heat for 12 minutes. Remove buns from steamer and cool on rack.