So light and airy, this buns ended up being worth the effort
(Note: information in this post has been updated thanks to my fabulous sister Shannon The Movie Moxie! Thanks for filling in the gaps Shannon!)
I love bread. I am CRAZY about bread. It is my diet nemesis and I do not care. I have given up a lot of foods in my life but refuse to budge on the bread issue. Atkins be damned!
When I lived in Toronto I used to go to an Asian bakery called Yung Sing in a very cool neighbourhood on Baldwin Street close to Chinatown. Our family used to go there and pick up their baked buns all of the time. I tried everything and my favourite was the barbecued pork.
Today, I do not eat pork and came across this recipe for Steamed Pork Buns and got all sad because I no long eat pork (and it has nothing to do with the flu, I just really loved the movie Babe, enough said). Then I’m like, Suzie? What are you thinking? Of course you can do this recipe, just change the filling silly.
Can you tell I am a flavour nut? Look at all those spices!
I sautéed up some spiced chicken, rolled it around in some barbecue sauce and added some minced garlic and lime juice. The filling turned out easy, it was the dough that was ridiculous!
There is something wrong with that dough recipe. Way too much flour I think. I could not get it together by hand so I discarded all the leftover flour, threw the dough in my mixer and let it beat the hell out of it. As a result, I could not get the mixer bowl off when done so I had to take my rolling pin and smack the handle to make it turn counter clockwise to release the bowl! Next time, I will use a different dough recipe!
I was so happy to use my steamer again, it’s been a while, and I got to learn a new cooking technique with it!
One thing I love about this cooking technique is you can make buns without turning the oven on! Perfect for summer cooking ideas. And because the filling is already cooked, you just have to cook the dough on the stove and it only takes 15 minutes. You must let them rest for 10 minutes though which was very hard to do, they looked so yummy.
This recipe makes 10 buns. I divided the dough in half and will use the other half to make a pizza tonight. You cut the remaining dough into five pieces and roll them out, put the filling in the middle and gather up the seams and twist them. Place the buns seam side down and steam.
My only complaint (other than the ridiculous dough recipe) is that the buns need some kind of glaze on them and maybe a few sesame seeds? Perhaps I am just being picky, but isn’t that a foodie’s job?
I hope this inspires you to try something new in the kitchen. I love foodie adventures, don’t you?
So that’s what you were up to with your mixer yesterday! They look amazing, Suzie, and even though I just had breakfast, I’m hungry! 😉
There was a ton of drama going on in my kitchen yesterday and the mixer fiasco was over the top!
I’m glad you like them Kenora, they were quite delish. I could have one for breakfast right now but I’ll be good.
I’m thrilled you found a recipe that hits on the spot for buns!
The bakery was called Yung Sing, and it was (and still is!) on Baldwin Street in Toronto. It’s just north of OCAD and the Art Gallery of Ontario. The street is lined with cool restaurants and cafe’s and is a short walk from Chinatown.
There a few things in life one needs to stand there ground.
I just love things with garlic it just makes a lot of things mighty tasteful.
I live in a very small area and it hard to find any different foods other then American.
But more and more is coming to our food shelves.
Coffee is on.
I love bread too and those pork buns don’t usually do it for me because of their filling. Thanks for the great idea of filling them with whatever we want! Just never thought about making them but yours sound delish. I would probably use the frozen pizza dough from Sobeys and save a step.I’m lazy. Do you think they could be steamed in a colander type steamer? I have one that fits in a pot.Hmmmm.
I love those kinds of buns too! Oh, and they are everywhere in Japan as well. The Japanese have sort of made them their own by filling them with all sorts of crazy things. I believe they call them ‘budamon.’ While we were in Japan we had ones filled with pumpkin (yummy!), pickles, and bean paste, to name but a few. My husband made up a few batches and put in some thai flavoured tuna which turned out pretty good too. I’ll have to ask him about the dough recipe to see if his worked out better.
yumm, i love those buns, the BREAD part! this is a fabulous alternative and one i will definitely try!! thanks for the step by step with pictures, that is so helpful, especially with dough of any kind…i have been cooking for years thus…don’t much like to anymore but baking remains a joy and i will definitely try this!
blessings…
Wow! These look super yummy! I don’t think I’ve ever had a bun like this! I am adding this to my list of “to-try” recipes! (I still haven’t gotten the chance to try my veggie burger recipe! Sheesh!)
Thanks again for the info Shannon! I appreciate it so much.
Peppylady, that’s why I love making my own food, I am very far from that Asian bun shop but I can make my own in my own kitchen! Travelling the world through food rocks.
AliceinParis, you can total use pizza dough, it’s perfect for this kind of thing and yes, just make it your own.
Really Jenn? Pumpkin?! That’s very different but I could see it. Bean paste is so popular in Asian culture, I have never been able to appreciate it but I know it is well loved. Yes, I would love the dough recipe, hopefully it’s a lot easier than the one I tried!
Tammy, these remind me of your meat pastry parcels you made, so similar, just with puff pastry instead. That’s OK, no rush on the cooking, you just got home!
Linda, you are very welcome! Thank you for mentioning that, it’s nice to know the pictures help. It’s quite a challenge to photograph as I cook but if it helps then it’s totally worth it. Plus, it’s fun!
Suzie! You’re back! I just found your blog again yesterday, and I’m so excited you are still cooking and looking after yourself.
I missed you!
These buns look amazing, and I might just have to try them myself. Did you use a regular bread dough recipe or did you have to find one specially adapted for steaming?
Bread is definitely my favorite food. I love making it. Those buns look like they turned out nice.