Crunchy Chicken Bao Buns

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It’s unprecedented times at the moment and a lot of us staying at home, either by mandate or by choice. That gives me a lot of time in the kitchen, but also means everything i make tends to be child-friendly. Bao Buns are a lovely way for the little chefs to get veges in but also allows me to keep on enjoying my favourite Eastern fare.

You can stuff the Bao with anything really, pork belly is common, as is prawns, beef and of course chicken. I throw lots of herbs and vegetables in there, and today used one of favourite condiments, pickled papaya. I’ll pop the recipe for that on another time. Serve these with a hoisin or teriyaki sauce - I make my own, I’ll link to that soon, and a siracha lime mayonnaise.

The bao buns take about 4 hours to make - this is mostly proofing time, but bear that in mind, you can prepare everything in advance, re-heat the buns in a steamer for 5 minutes or in the microwave for 1 minute. You can also deep fry the chicken - I prefer to drizzle it in oil and bake it in the oven.

Enjoy and

Happy Cooking

gill

Crispy Chicken Bao Buns

For the Bao Buns

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  • 500 grams flour

  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar

  • 2 teaspoons yeast

  • 50ml milk

  • 200ml warm water

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Filling

  • 500 grams chicken, sliced strips

  • 2 cups flour seasoned with 1 teaspoon chinese 5 spice, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and salt and pepper

  • 2 eggs beaten well

  • 2 cups seasoned breadcrumbs

  • coriander, thai basil (optional), mint

  • a mixture of some (or all) of the following vegetables - freshly sliced snow peas, capsicum, cucumbers, beansprouts, carrots and spring onions

  • a pickled vegetable/fruit- in this case papaya

  • siracha mayonnaise - 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 2 tsps siracha sauce and juice of a lime

  • hoisin sauce

Method

  1. Mix the sugar, yeast water and milk together in the bowl of a stand mixer (if you have one), let it rest for 5 minutes until it becomes frothy. Add the rice vinegar, vegetable oil and flour to the bowl, stir to mix and then knead for about 8 minutes. Turn into an oiled bowl and rest for 2 hours until it doubles in size.

  2. Punch the dough down. Sprinkle baking powder on a counter and knead the dough on top until the baking powder is absorbed into the dough, roll it into a log and cut into 15 pieces. roll each into a ball. Now take each ball, and roll into a flat oval, spread lightly with sesame oil, and fold in half - the oil keeps the two halves separated, so that you can open it once it’s steamed. Place each semi circle onto a separate piece of baking paper (see pics below). And rest the buns under a soft towel for 45 minutes until they’ve puffed up.

  3. Steam in a steamer for 10 minutes - I used two steamer baskets.

  4. While the buns are proving, coat the chicken in the seasoned flour, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs. Place into a baking dish and spray with oil.

  5. Heat the oven to 190 degrees celsius (375 Fahrenheit) and bake the chicken for 20 minutes, turning once in the middle of cooking.

  6. Assemble the buns, place the hoisin sauce on the bottom, chicken, vegetables, herbs and pickles and top with the siracha mayonnaise. Enjoy.