Steaming My Buns

I finally had time to pull my head up out of the gin barrel and steam some buns. These things are great and I've been meaning to do an at-home batch for a bit, but they take a some time with the dough prep and such. I managed to get home yesterday at a reasonable enough hour to give it a go. Frankly, I had it in my mind to do it either way, but that is the way of the world.

I used the bones of a recipe from Chowtimes.com for the dough. I cut the recipe in half and used the basic recipe, though with water, coconut milk, and butter in leiu of milk and margarine and ditched the egg entirely. Simple stuff. Mix it up, then knead into a smooth ball and let it sit, covered.



Meanwhile, I mushed up some ground pork, red cabbage, and spring onion with sesame oil, soy, pepper, salt, a pinch of sugar, curry powder and a touch of smoky bbq sauce and let that stew in it's own uncooked juices while waiting for the dough.

When the dough ball was ready to go, I followed the Chowtimes plan and rolled it out into a longish log, then cut the log into pieces. I got about 9 out of it, if I recall correctly. These small pieces are then rolled into rounds, thicker in the middle. I dropped some filling in the middle of each and pinched them up....or stuffed 'em, or zipped 'em shut...something. I'm not sure what happened. It was inelegant and the buns were not uniform in size or shape. Who cares? I was starting to faint from hunger and knew it was going to be a while yet. Plus, the dog was looking at me sternly and threatening to piss the floor.

I moistened those buns and dabbed them in some sesame seed, then put those bad girls in the steamer on a tiny scrap of parchment paper. They took another 30 minutes to rise while the dog and I lounged outside.

After steaming, I can say those buns were really tasty. I will do this again. Probably try the half steam, half fry version to get a crispy outside. I also want to do the soup buns. Primarily so I can say "aspic" repeatedly. Say it with me...assssspiK.

Don't judge my lumpy looking buns, they are soft, warm and tasty. You like big buns and you cannot lie. And I know you wan't some of that hot sauce on one of my buns.