Vietnamese BBQ Pork Steamed Buns

So I did some late night grocery shopping on Thursday night by myself, once Super-J came home from work... I had forgotten how peaceful and enjoyable it can be when you don't have little ones in tow pulling at you and asking to hold every little thing you put in the cart (many an odd lime has had to be forcibly purchased after Mini-V has insisted on holding it through the entire shopping experience and then refuses to let it go as checkout... I don't think they want it back with teeth marks anyway!).

Well, you know what happens when you shop alone? You roam down the aisles you really don't need to go down (just so you can prolong the "alone time") and you end up discovering all kinds of exciting ingredients. Then, you have a false sense of time and buy everything you really don't need, thinking oh yeah, I will make that on the weekend.  I had one of those moments on Thursday night and purchased a mysterious packet of Vietnamese "mixed flour" labelled Bot Banh Bao.  OMG steamed buns!! I love those at Dim Sum, really how difficult can it be!?!?

Let me tell you.... 6 hours of cooking later and I made them!!! They were delicious. I am adding this to my new section called "What's Cooking" because I love to cook and know you will love to see what I make!

First, I had to roast the pork. I looked up 'Chinese BBQ pork' on the internet and found this amazing recipe.  I varied it to only use the marinade. I didn't marinate it overnight and I did omit some of the ingredients, it turned out great. Here's how I made the sauce -

Combine -

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Chinese five spice
1 garlic clove chopped
3 Tbsp ketchup
3Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar (I didn't have the white wine the recipe called for)
2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp Honey

 After mixing this, I smeared it all over boneless country style pork ribs and put it in an 350F oven for about 2 hours, turning it over every now and then to check.  I admit, you can cook it for less if you want but I wanted the sauce really caramelized and pork super tender.

Once the pork was cooked, I started on the Bot Banh Bao dough. I really wish you can make the dough ahead of time because having to wait for the pork to be done first adds so much time to the cooking process. Unfortunately, it is one of those sticky doughs that has to be mixed, rested, then re-kneaded and finally rolled and steamed immediately. Time consuming (especially with two small kids).

I followed the instruction on the packet. Basically, you have to mix the packet of "mixed flour" with 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 Tbsp vegetable oil. The instructions said to hand-mix for 10 minutes. No way I was doing that, so I put it in my Kitchen Aid and set the dough hook on low for 10 minutes.

Then you have to let the dough rest for 15 minutes (this is when I took a break to have my lunch, which might I add, I did cook simultaneously!). After 15 minutes, I used the suggested 2 Tbsp of reserved mixed flour to flour my board and then you have to knead the dough for ten more minutes. Let me tell you, the dough is sticky so make sure you reserve more than the recommended 2 Tbsp of mixed flour.

After kneading, I cut out little squares of waxed paper (approx. 3"x3") to place under each steamed bun.

Then you roll the dough into a log and supposedly divide into 12 equal portions according to the recipe. I use the work supposedly because think I actually yielded 16, not 12.

I found the dough quite sticky by this stage so between two pieces of waxed paper, I then rolled each portion into flat circles to make each bun.

I had Super-J chop up my BBQ pork (not all made it, some had to succumb to his mouth, I don't blame him, it really was good!)

After rolling out the circles, I placed about 2 Tbsp of the chopped pork in the center and pinched up the dough to enclose the mixture.  Make sure you have enough pork or you will just be eating bun, but also don't overfill or it may open out during the steaming process!

Place the finished bun onto a square of waxed paper.

uncooked

Place the prepared uncooked buns in a steamer. I used an All-Clad double boiler.  Steam for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, this is how it looked - I have to admit, they came out great and they tasted very authentic!! Labor intensive but not difficult and very satisfying after!!!

Tips:

• Reserve more than the recommended 2 Tbsp of mixed flour for the kneading process of the dough. As I have mentioned, it is sticky and I found I needed more flour for my board
• In hindsight, I would have added a little of the BBQ sauce from the pork into each bun, just for a bit more moisture. I was worried it would compromise my steamed bun, as I had never made them before, so I held off on this, but after making the buns I now realize it can take a little sauce inside without an adverse results
• work quickly through the steam bun-making process, the dough tends to get stickier and harder to work work the longer you take. If you can enlist some help, I recommend it. By the time I got to the last 5 buns, my dough was sticking even to the waxed paper and I was having more trouble bunching it once the filling was added
• Don't overcrowd the steamer, I did 2 batches and my first batch (photo above) was a little crowded and when I had to remove them, they stuck to each other a little - not a huge problem but you can see in the picture where it stuck. My second batch did not do this.
• Store in an airtight container and simply microwave to re-heat.  I think you could probably freeze them in zippered bags too.