Asian Cooking Night: Part 1

Last week my friends and I had an Asian Cooking Night. The week before we had a homemade pasta night! Cooking Nights are a really fun idea that I encourage you to do with your group of foodie friends! Pick a theme, invite some friends, drink some wine, cook, and have a fun and delicious night! We made so much great Asian food that I can only do one dish at a time, hence the part 1.

These steamed buns were probably my favorite dish of the night. I had never had them before! The pork filling added just enough of a salty bite to the light and fluffy dough.

Start by making the dough and rolling it out into little disks. Then fill each disk with a spoonful of the pork filling and pinch the sides of the dough together to form a seam on the bottom.

One of the guests had a large steamer, which we used to steam the buns. I found a smaller one from SurLaTable that was $20.00. It is the same thing, but will just take a few more batches!

Don’t forget the wine! It makes every cooking night better!

Ingredients

• Bun dough
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Prepared Pork Filling
• 1/2 pound boneless pork loin roast
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 3 tablespoons shallots, chopped
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Instructions

1. For the dough, mix together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes. Mix in 1/2 cup warm water, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vegetable oil. Knead until dough surface is smooth and elastic. Roll over in a greased bowl, and let stand until triple in size, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Punch down dough, and spread out on a floured board. Sprinkle baking powder evenly on surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 2 parts, and place the piece you are not working with in a covered bowl. Divide each half into 12 parts. Shape each part into a ball with smooth surface up. Let stand covered until double, about 30 minutes.
2. Mix together pork, barbecue sauce, shallots, flour, chicken stock, soy sauce, oil, and sugar. Chill in refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
3.  Roll each dough ball out into a circle. Put 1 tablespoonful of prepared meat mixture in the center of each circle, and wrap dough around filling. Place seams down onto wax paper squares. Let stand until doubled, about 30 minutes.
4. Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium, the water should still be boiling. Place steam-plate on a small wire rack in the middle of the wok. Transfer as many buns on wax paper as will comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam buns over boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes.

This recipe is from Allrecipes website. I am not sure of the exact recipe we used, but this recipe is very similar.

Makes 24 Steamed Buns