Chinese Baked BBQ Meat Buns

I made these for Carlos before I left for New York a few months ago. He loves these little BBQ pork buns. When he comes home from work he can just warm it up in the microwave oven and eat it with his salad. These types of buns are very popular at dim sum restaurant or Chinese Bakeries and it is filled with succulent sweet and savory BBQ pork filling. For these buns, I used some leftover BBQ/Char Siew that I made some time ago but you can always buy some BBQ pork from the Asian restaurant here in the US.

For these buns, instead of using my regular Japanese Sweet Bun Dough I used the recipe from Lena’s of Frozen Wings .

Ingredients for dough:

240gm bread flour
1 tbsp custard powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
50gm sugar
135ml water + 1 tbsp
30gm butter/shortening
1 egg – for egg wash

1. Fit the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Combined bread flour, custard powder, sugar, salt and yeast in the mixing bowl. Mix well until well combined. Turn on the mixer and over low speed slowly pour in the water and knead them until it come to a rough dough. At this stage if the dough is too dry you can add an extra tbsp of water to it.
2. Add in the butter or shortening and continue to knead until they become smooth dough. It will take about 15 minutes.
3. Remove dough out from the mixing bowl and give it a final few kneading by hand. Form it into a round ball and let it to rise until double in size in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel or cling wrap (It took me an hour to proof the dough but it all depend on the weather and environment on the day you make the bread.
4. Punch down the dough gives it a few knead and divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Shape them into round balls and let it rest for 20 minutes.
5. Take each ball, flatten them and shape into a circle and put in the fillings, seal tightly. Do the same for the rest of the buns and cover them and let it proof in your baking tray for another 30 minutes. Brush the buns with egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 375 degree F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients for the fillings:

400 gram BBQ meat/Char siew
1 clove garlic - chopped
1 small onion – finely chopped

Seasonings:

1 tbsp of hoisin Sauce
2 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp of sugar
Pepper to taste
Salt - optional

For thickening the sauce:

2 tsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water

1. Heat up about 2 tbsp of oil in wok, add in the garlic and onion and stir fry until lightly brown and fragrant.
2. Add in the BBQ meat and all the seasonings. Give it a few toss and add in about ¾ cup water. Bring it up to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce nearly dries up.
3. Add in the thickening and bring it up to a boil again. Check seasoning and see if it needs any salt or sugar. Dish out and cool the filling for several hours in the refrigerator before using it.