Yield: 20 buns
Time: 3+ hours including rising time for the buns; does not include overnight marinading time for the pork
Ingredients:
Char Sui (pork)
- 1 pork tenderloin (1-1.5 lbs)
- 4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 TBSP peanut oil
- 3 TBSP honey
- 2 TBSP hoisin sauce
- 2 TBSP soy sauce
- 2 TBSP oyster sauce
- 1 TBSP sherry
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
- 1 TBSP sesame oil
Pork filling
- 12 oz char sui, finely diced
- 2 green onions, finely diced
- 2 TBSP soy sauce
- 3 TBSP oyster sauce
- 1 TBSP sesame oil
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 TBSP vegetable oil
(The original recipe was for 1 TBSP soy sauce, 2 TBSP oyster sauce, 1/4 cup chicken stock and 1 tsp cornstarch but I felt the filling was too dry so I added additional quantities as per the list above)
Bun Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup of milk, scalded
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 TBSP vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
- 3 cups plain flour
- Parchment paper
- Steamer (original recipe called for bamboo but I used metal in my wok)
(The original recipe called for 1 cup of milk but my dough would not come together so I added another 1/2 cup as per the list above)
Method:
Char Sui (Pork)
- Trim tenderloin of fat and silver skin.
- Cut into 4-5 equal pieces.
- Mix remaining ingredients together. Reserve 1/3 of mixture-place in fridge.
- Marinate pork in remaining mixture overnight or at least 4 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat grill to med-high and clean and oil grates.
- While grill heats, remove pork from marinade and pat excess marinade off with paper towels.
- Remove reserved marinade from fridge.
- Grill for 2 minutes each side to get a slight char and then reduce heat to medium, baste with reserved marinade.
- Grill for an additional 10-12 minutes until center is just barely still pink.
- Remove and rest/cool while preparing dough and filling.
Pork filling
- Heat vegetable oil in skillet over med-high heat.
- Saute the green onion for 2 minutes until soft.
- Add diced char sui and stir to combine.
- Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil; cooking stirring constantly for one minute.
- Mix cornstarch and stock together and add to the meat mixture, stirring well until mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes.
- Remove from pan and allow to cool.
Buns
- Stir sugar, oil and salt in to scalded milk and allow to cool to lukewarm.
- Once cooled, add yeast. Set aside until frothy, about 10 minutes.
- While yeast develops, sift flour into a large bowl then add milk/yeast mixture.
- Mix together briefly with hands and turn out on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth.
- Let dough rise until doubled (1-2 hours).
- Punch dough down and divide in to 20 equal pieces.
- Roll or press with hands each piece in to 2-3 inch circles.
- Drop 1 TBSP of cooled filling in center of a dough circle, gather the edges together and twist to seal. Repeat with all dough pieces.
- Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
- Place each bun on a piece of parchment paper slightly larger than bun (buns will enlarge as steamed) and place a few at a time in steamer over boiling water in wok (don't crowd them).
- Cover wok and steam for 12 minutes.
- Serve warm. They keep well in fridge and freezer. To reheat thawed buns, steam for 5 minutes (or as Mr. ELEB did-nuke in microwave for 15 seconds).
