Smilling Char Siew Pau/ Starter Dough Method(Traditional Way)

It has been a long journey for me to get these smiling char siew pau with traditional way. My family consume a lot of steamed buns for the past 2 weeks :D Too much until my elder son complaint too much for him :p The efforts are pay off after seeing all these steamed buns with big smile :)
 
First I like to thanks Lily's Wai Sek Hong for her recipe. Thanks for her efforts of showing step by step pictures tutorial on making smiling steamed buns in professional way.

Pau dough recipe adapted and slightly modified from Lily's Wai Sek Hong
Ingredients:

Char Siew Filling

* more than enough for one batch of steamed buns

~Char siew filling with homemade Chinese roasted pork (char siew)

(A)

300g char siew, dice

 

(B) Thickening sauce

120ml water

5 tbsp homemade char siew sauce(from roasted pork)

1 tbsp tapioca flour

1 tbsp corn flour

½ tbsp all-purpose flour

Mix all the thickening sauce till well combined. Bring to simmer at low heat by stirring continuously till thicken. Off the heat and add in the diced char siew. Stir till well mix. Cover and keep in fridge to set for several hours before use.

* Do not skip the thickening sauce as this will create the ‘sauce’ while having the hot char siew pau.

Or

 

You can replace with ordinary pork meat and cook as below.

~Char siew  filling with ordinary pork meat

(A)

300g pork loin(梅花肉)‏, dice

1 onion (dice)

2 tbsp oil

(B)

Seasoning: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 3 tbsp soya sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp sesame oil

Thickening sauce: ½ cup water, 2 tbsp cornflour, 1 tbsp plain flour (mix and set aside)

Heat up the wok. Add in oil and fry the onion till fragrant. Add in the diced pork and cook till turn white and cooked. Pour in the mixture of seasoning and cook till become thick sauce. Off the heat and dish out the filling. Cover and keep in fridge to set for several hours before use.

Pau Dough

* yield about 8 pieces of steamed buns (about 38g each)
~Starter dough (yield about 350g;only used 150g for this recipe;keep the rest for other batch)
250g pau flour
1 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
130-150ml water
 
~Main dough
(A)
150g starter dough
50g castor sugar
 
(B)
1 tsp double action baking powder
1/2 tsp Ammonium bicarbonate
A tiny drop of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution a.k.a. Kan Sui (<1/8tsp)
3 tsp water
 
(C)
5 tbsp pau flour
4 tbsp wheat starch
 
1 tbsp lard/shortening
 
 
Methods:
~ Starter dough
Knead all till form into dough. Put inside a container and flatten the dough. Cover with wet cloth. Leave to rest overnight at room temperature.

* As you can see the dough has double in size. I left mine about 12 hours.
* Inside turns foamy and yeasty.

~ Main dough
1. Weigh 150g of starter dough and add in the sugar.  Mix until the sugar has dissolved. 
* I mix with scraper as the mixture is sticky to handle.
 

2. In a small plate, add 1/2 tsp double action baking powder, 1/2 tsp ammonium bicarbonate and a drop of kan sui with 2 teaspoons water.  Stir to dissolve. Add into starter dough mixture.  Mix well to combine.
 

3. Add in the pau flour and wheat starch. Mixing with scraper till most of the flour form into lumps. Transfer to working surface and knead with hand to soft dough.  (a little more water might be needed as it depends on how wet the starter dough is).
* I added about 2-3 teaspoons. One teaspoon at a time.
 

4. Add in 1 tablespoon lard/shortening and knead well.
*At first it might seems very oily. Don't worry as the dough will absorb as you knead.
 

5. Flatten dough and spread it out. In a small plate, dissolve the remain 1/2 teaspoon double action baking powder with 1 teaspoon water. Rub/spread all over the dough. Fold the dough in and knead well, so that all the baking powder is well spread.  Dough is ready to be shaped.
 

6. Divided into 8 portions (about 38g each). Shape all into balls.
 
7. Flatten one portion and put the Char Siew filling.  Pick up the edges and wrap up the filling. Place the bun on parchment paper. Repeat till all finish.
* Do refer Christine and dim sum chef video on how to pleat steamed buns.

8. Bring the water in a steamer to rapid boil. Steam the buns for 10 minutes.  Turn the heat (stove) to lowest and steam further 1 minute. Off the heat and leave the buns inside for few minutes before open the lid.
* This process is to avoid sudden decrease pressure inside steamer which can cause shrinking.
* If the ammonia smell is too strong do steam 2nd time for few minutes. This will get rid of the unpleasant smell.

I'm sharing this post via Muhibbah Malaysian Monday.