Char Sui Bao ( Chinese BBQ pork buns)

Char siu bao are Cantonese-style sweet barbecue pork buns. They usually have an almost cake-like bun and are very fluffy and sweet. Unlike most steamed buns, they are made with cake flour rather than bread flour to achieve that cake-like texture. These buns are a dim sim house staple and a street food favorite. I prefer my steamed buns to taste more like a bun rather than a cake, so I've come up with a bun recipe that keeps the light and fluffy texture of the original char siu bao, but with a regular bun-like texture and flavor.

Ingredient: 

Yields 2 people

For the bao (bun) 

1 1/2 ~ 2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup warm water
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 Cup warm water

For the fillings

1/2 lb pork
1 Tbsp honey
2  tsp soy sauce
2 1/2  tsp oyster sauce
1 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp Chinese Five Spice
2 scallions
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion
1 tsp corn starch
few Tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

Direction: 

Start by dicing the pork into small pieces. When you choose your pork, try to get it some that has fat on it. This will give your bun a very juicy filling. Mix all of the filling ingredients (except the onion and corn starch) and add 1 Tbsp cold water. Marinate for an hour.

Mix the bun dough and knead it until smooth and elastic. Baking powder and baking soda seem like pretty unusual ingredients to put in the bun, but these two ingredients are what are going to make your bun light and fluffy and burst the top of the bun open. Let the buns rise in a warm, draft-free place for an hour or until they double in size.

In a sauté pan on medium low heat, cook the onion with a few tablespoons of vegetable oil until caramelized. Once the onion is caramelized, turn the heat on high and toss in the marinated pork. Cook until the pork is cooked through. Mix 1/8 C cold water with the corn starch in a separate bowl right before turning off the heat. Whisk in the corn starch mixture with the pork. This will thicken up the juice and keep the filling moist in the bun.

Once the dough has doubled in size, shape it into a log and cut it into 6 or 8 pieces. Roll the individual pieces into a round disk with the middle thicker than the edges.

Here's a tip to rolling out the buns: Roll your rolling pin back and forth with your other hand spinning the dough counter clock wise. Make sure the rolling pin is only touching the edges of the dough. By doing so, you will keep the middle of the dough thicker, which will hold your fillings together nicely. Keep doing the motion until you get a flat disk about the size of your palm.

Once the dough is rolled out, place about one table spoon full of filling in the middle of the dough and pinch to seal the buns together.

Steam the buns on high heat for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, turn the heat off and crack the lid of your steamer open slightly. Let the buns sit for five minutes.

The top of the buns will burst open. That is also one of the signatures of a good char siu bao. But since this isn't the original cake-like bun, it will not burst as dramatically as the original char siu bao.

Anytime I make or eat char siu bao, I think of the char siu bao song in the film God of Gamble II starring Stephan Chow:

Kimch and Kimchi Dumplings

 

The end of Summer is usually the time to freeze and can all the vegetables from your garden. Here's a fun way to "can" your cabbage without all that heat in your kitchen.

As a half Korean, I grew up with always having Kimchi on our dining table almost every single meal — from my grandmother’s Kimchi to my mother’s Kimchi and now coming up with my own. Here’s my Kimchi recipe followed by a very simple way I use it to make dumplings.

You will need:

For the Kimchi:
Yields 1 quart jar
1 Napa cabbage (1.5 to 2 LB)

1 Gallon Water
1/4 Cup Salt (plus a little more to taste)
3 Tbs Koren pepper crust /powder (or dried pepper flakes)
5 Cloves Garlic
1Tbs Ginger
1Tbs Sugar

For the Dumplings:
Yields for 4 to 6 people 
1/2 Cup Kimchi
4 Scallions
1/2  Onion
1 Pack Ground pork (16 oz)
4 head Shiitake mushrooms 
1 pack Wonton wraps
1/2 bunch Glass noodles (bean threads)
2 Tbs Soy sauce
1 Tbs Sesame oil
1/2 Tbs Vegetable oil (plus more for pan frying)
1/2 Tbs Cold water
1 Tbs Corn starch
2 tsp Sugar
Salt & pepper

Directions:

Clean the cabbage and cut into bite sizes and soak it in a gallon of water along with the salt for 5 to 6 hours until it shrinks down to half the size. You can also use regular cabbage with this recipe.

Rinse the cabbage and mix in the remaining ingredients plus a little more salt to taste. You can find the Korean pepper crust in Asian grocery stores or online, but you can absolutely substitute regular dried pepper flakes if you have those on hand.

Note: If you are not used to eating spicy food, you can cut down the amount of pepper flakes in half or to your taste.

Mix until all is combined and seal it with plastic wrap and let it sit in room temperature for 2 to 4 days; time may vary depending on the temperature. Stir it around every day and taste it; it will get more and more sour as it ferments. Let it ferment to the taste you desire and transfer it into a jar and keep in the refrigerator. This Kimchi will keep in the refrigerator up to 3 months.

You can eat this Kimchi on rice, in sandwiches or just on its own. However I’m going to share with you my recipe for very simple Kimchi dumplings (pot stickers) which would be perfect to bring to parties or potlucks.

You want to start by soaking the dried shiitake mushrooms in boiling hot water for a few minutes until they soften; if you have fresh Shiitake mushrooms, you can use those too. Cook the glass noodle in a sauce pan for 2 to 3 minutes, drain them and then shock them in cold water. Dice up all the ingredients into small pieces and mix well to combine. The water and the oil will keep your fillings moist and juicy when you cook them. Here I’ve also added some extra garlic and ginger because I like the flavor, but since the Kimchi already has a really strong garlic and ginger flavor, you can leave them out.

For the sake of this simple dumpling recipe, we are using store-bought wonton wrappers. In a future column, I will show you how to make your own dumpling skins. The only wonton wraps I was able to get in the local store come in this square shape; they are great for folding into wontons. It was a little awkward to make into a dumpling shape, but it did work out fine. Place about a teaspoon full of filling in the middle of each wrap and brush the edges with some egg wash; fold them in half and squeeze out any air bubbles and pinch the edges to seal them. Add some vegetable oil to a large, no-stick sauté pan that’s on high heat. Fry these dumplings for a minute or two on each side until golden brown, and then add a few tablespoons of water in the pan. Cover with a lid and steam for 3 to 4 minutes — this will make sure the filling is cooked through.

I like to dip my dumplings in a mix of soy sauce and vinegar with a little bit of dried pepper flakes — it’s a little something I learned from my mom — but you can pretty much serve them with anything or just on their own.

 

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Welcome to The Way Rice Should Be

Hi, my name is Hanji Chang and I am Korean Taiwanese — born and raised in Taiwan. I’ve lived in Maine for about six years now. I am an artist and animator, but I also have a huge passion for food. 

I  love living in Maine but the only thing I miss is real Chinese food. Besides having to take the Concord Trailways bus down to Chinatown in Boston every once in a while to get my dose, there really is no other way but to make the food myself. So I want to share with you how you can make real, affordable, healthy and authentic Asian meals, and I guarantee you can find all of the ingredients at your local grocery store, farmer’s market and even discount stores and your garden!