bao buns with char sui pork & asian slaw

30 mins

4

Easy

Delicious flavours and tangy tastes. Asian style buns with sticky pork and a zingy Asian slaw.

The Ingredients

Ingredients for the buns:

250g white bread flour

25g caster sugar

2g salt

2g baking powder

3g fast-action/instant yeast

75ml tepid water

70ml milk

Ingredients for the pork:

2 pork fillets

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 thumb ginger grated

2tbsp Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

2tbsp hoisin sauce

5tbsp soy sauce

5tbsp liquid honey

1tbsp brown sugar

1tsp five-spice powder

Ingredients for the slaw:

½ kohlrabi, julienned

1 carrot, julienned

¼ red cabbage, julienned

1 chilli, julienned

1 small bunch coriander chopped

Lime juice to taste

Ingredients for the glaze:

2tbsp runny honey

1tbsp soy sauce

1tbsp oil

Ingredients for the sauce:

100ml mayonnaise

1tbsp chilli sauce such as siracha or Gochujang

Lime juice to taste
 
Ingredients Notice
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The Method
  1. To make the slaw: Add all the ingredients in bowl and mix well.
  2. Method for the pork: Mix all the marinade ingredients together and warm through in a saucepan until the sugar has all dissolved. Pour the warm marinade over the pork and leave for at least 2 hours in the fridge.
  3. Once the buns have rested, place into the steamer, evenly spaced" you may need to do this in batches" and steam for 15-20 minutes, or until swollen, smooth and when resilient to a gentle prod. Remove from the steamer, allow to cool.
  4. To make the dough simply toss together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and yeast, then add the water and milk and bring together into a soft dough.
  5. Place into an oiled bowl, cover with oiled cling and allow to rest until doubled in size" roughly an hour.
  6. Divide the dough equally into 7 portions weighing 60g.
  7. Grease the ovals with oil and fold them around a chopstick.
  8. Place well-spaced on a baking sheet, cover with a light cloth or lightly greased cling and rest for 20 minutes.
  9. Transfer the meat to a plate, empty the tin of water and line it with foil. Place the meat and rack back on the tin, then brush it liberally with the glaze and put it under the grill for about five minutes, until the glaze is glossy and starting to catch at the edges.
  10. Turn the meat, glaze again and put back under the grill until the other side is also glossy and starting to caramelise.
  11. Tip onto the countertop and knead by hand for a good 10-15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and no longer sticks to the worktop. Once doubled in size, remove the dough from the bowl and roll into a fat sausage. Roll these portions into tight balls, then flatten into neat ovals, rolling with a pin to flatten. Any dough you do not want to steam now can be frozen at this stage.
  12. Prepare a steamer (bamboo or regular): set it over a pan of barely simmering water and ensure the base is lined with a sheet of lightly greased baking paper.
  13. To cook the char Siu, heat the oven to 210° C and place the meat, basted with some of its marinade, on a rack over a roasting tin with a couple of centimetres of water in it. Roast for 8 minutes, then baste again on both sides, turn the meat over and roast for a further 5 minutes.
  14. Now thinly slice the pork and keep warm. For the sauce, combine all ingredients.
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