A Take-out Treat at Made at Home: Steamed Pork Buns

A couple of years ago, I shared a recipe for steamed pork buns with Planet Green readers. Since then I have discovered the wonderful cookbooks of Fuchsia Dunlop. She has a rather different recipe for pork buns, and seeing as it is one of my husband's favourite treats, I decided to give it a try. The results were quite different from the pork buns I have made in the past.

Dunlop's pork buns were firmer, both to handle and to eat. The others I had made had a much softer dough and were much chewier in texture than Dunlop's. The first recipe involved cutting up the pork and marinating it for hours, while Dunlop's used ground pork that you cook right away. They are both delicious, but I think I may end up making Dunlop's version more often because there was less involved and it didn't take as long to make. These are meant to be eaten as is, but I made a dipping sauce of a bit of soy sauce, some sesame oil and some chili garlic sauce.

This recipe is from Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop.

Spicy Steamed Pork Buns

For the stuffing:

3/4 inch piece fresh ginger, unpeeled and smashed

7 oz. ground pork

2 tbsp chopped salted chilies

1/4 tsp sesame oil

For the dough:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, with a little extra for dusting l

3/4 tsp active-dry yeast

2 tsp sugar

4 tbsp lukewarm water

a little peanut oi

1. To make the stuffing, smash the ginger wiht the flat of a cleaver blade, cover with about 5 tablespoons cold water, and leave to infuse for a minute or two. Place the pork in a bowl. Add the ginger-infused water (straining out the ginger). Use your hand to mix the water into the pork, picking it up and slapping it against the bottom of the bowl to encourage the meat to absorb the water. Add the chiles and sesame oil and mix well. Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, to make the dough, place the flour in a bowl. Mix the yeast sugar with the water and stir to dissolve. Add the yeast mixture to the flour with enough lukewarm water to make a stiff but moist dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured countertop and knead for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and glossy. Cover with a wet cloth and set aside at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

3. Roll the dough into 2 long sausages, each about 1 1/4 inches thick. Break or cut this dough into about twenty 1 1/4 inch pieces and dust very lightly with flour.

4. Smear the bottom of a steamer with a little oil to prevent sticking.

5. To fill and shape the buns, take a piece of dough and flatten it slightly with the palm of your hand so you have a plump disk. Then use a rolling pin to roll it out to 2 3/4 inch circle. It is best to make small rolling movements toward the middle of the circle, turning it as you go, so you end up with a disk that is slightly fatter in the middle. Cradle the disk of rolled dough in one hand, and add 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle, smoothing it down with a knife blade. Then use your other hand to make small pinching movements around the edge of the filling, turning the dumpling as you go. You should end up with a ball-shaped dumpling with a whorl-like pattern on the top.

6. Place the finished dumpling onto the oil steamer. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. When the dumplings are ready, set aside for 20 minutes at room temperature until the dough has risen.

7. Finally, steam the dumplings over a high heat for15 minutes, by which time they should be cooked through. Break one in half to make sure. Serve immediately.