Gua Bao

Thanks to New York chef Eddie Wong, author of “Fresh Off the Boat,” Gua-Bao has became a foodie favorite in the past few years. And with Chinese New Year fast approaching, this time of year is when these delicious steamed buns are most commonly served.


Bosses in Taiwan are known for being demanding and strict. But on the 16th day of the 12th month on the traditional Chinese lunar year, many bosses gather all of the employees and treat them to an extravagant banquet called a “wei-ya” (literally meaning “the end”) as a way to show gratitude for a year of hard work and dedication.

In the past, some particularly insensitive employers have supposedly used the event as an opportunity to ceremoniously can certain employees by turning the head of the cooked chicken toward the seat of an unfortunate worker who would soon be fired.

However, for the most part, it’s a time to establish rapport between the boss and employees over some delicious traditional Chinese dishes. No wei-ya is complete without a platter of Gua-Bao. Since Gua-Bao kind of resembles a wallet, it’s also said to represent a wallet filled with money to symbolize how much money you will earn next year.

 

When filled with braised pork, the Gua-Bao is also called hu yao zhu, literally meaning “tiger bites pig,” to symbolize the biting of all the bad things that happened in the past year.

Traditionally, a Gua-Bao is made with pork belly and stuffed with sour mustard preserves and sweet powdered sugar, which is not my favorite combination of a bao. So this week I’d like to share with you my own Gua-Bao recipe using five-spice chicken, pickled cucumbers and sweet sesame carrots. To make this even easier to prepare, we are going to be using the slow cooker. The best part about this recipe is that everything can be made ahead of time. This is absolutely one of my favorite things to make for parties and potlucks, and it’s always guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser.

You will need:

Ingredients: (Serves 4 people)

 

For the steamed buns:

4 cups all-purpose flour

1½ Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tsp. instant yeast

1½ cup lukewarm water

For the five-spice chicken:

4 large chicken thighs

4 cloves garlic

3 scallions

1 inch ginger

1 onion

2 dried pepper

1½ Tbsp. soy sauce

¼ tsp. white pepper

1¼ tsp. sugar

½ tsp. Chinese five spice

salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup water

For the filling:

1 cup sliced cucumber

½ tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

½ tsp. sugar

2 carrots

1 tsp. sesame oil

1½ tsp. brown sugar

¼ tsp. sesame seeds

1 tsp. vegetable oil for frying

handful of cilantro

brown sauce and hot sauce to taste

Directions:

Start by roughly cutting up the garlic, ginger, scallions and onion and set aside.

 

Brown the chicken thighs with a little bit of vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet for two minutes on each side.

Place the browned chicken thighs in the slow cooker with all of the five-spice chicken ingredients including the chopped garlic, ginger, scallions and onion. Cook on low heat for 5 hours.

To make the steamed buns, mix all of the ingredients together and kneed for five minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it up and let it proof in a warm and draft-free place in your kitchen for about an hour until the dough has doubled in size.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch the air out of the dough and roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick. 

Cut circles with a cookie cutter or a mason jar lid.

  

Use a rolling pin to roll the circles from the middle out and do the same with the bottom to make sure your dough is rolled out evenly into an oval shape. Brush vegetable oil on the rolled-out dough and fold the dough in half with the greased side in.

 

Place the folded dough in the steamer and let it rest for 15 minutes; the dough will rise again for a little bit but not double in size. Then steam the buns on high heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let your steamed buns sit in the steamer for 5 minutes with the lid slightly open. Press down the bun with your finger and if the bun springs back up, your bun is ready. These buns will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks and in the freezer up to three months; you can reheat them in a microwave and they will be just as soft and fluffy.

To make the pickled cucumbers, slice the cucumbers into thin slices and toss them in rice wine vinegar, hot pepper flakes and sugar while you’re waiting for the buns to be cooked.

Cut carrots into sticks and sauté them in oil, brown sugar and sesame seeds for a few minutes until the carrots are soft. Remove from heat and drizzle sesame oil over it.

Start assembling the buns by placing the chicken, carrots, cucumbers, the scallions and cilantro in the middle of the bun along with a spoon of brown sauce and hot sauce of your choice. 

I have a recipe for homemade brown sauce in the “Beef Stuffed Scallion Pancakes” column on the website, or you can get brown sauce at your local grocery store as well. 

Bring them to your next potluck or make them on a weeknight using the slow cooker for dinner. Happy Wei Yah and enjoy!