Panfried Pork and Scallion Mini Buns (Sheng Jian Baozi)

On Saturday I told Alex that we should take a break from making so much Asian food and try some other cuisines.  I know that back in November I promised to make more Asian recipes, but maybe I took it a little too far...  So now I am going to try to make more varied cuisine - next up on deck are some Italian and American meals.  And then maybe more Middle Eastern and who knows what after that?  Anyway, to celebrate this resolution, I decided to go all out and make one last Chinese meal using my new Andrea Nguyen cookbook - Panfried Pork and Scallion Mini Buns.  I will go on record and say that this recipe is crazily labor-intensive.  It took hours for us to make the filling, then make the dough, then wrap the buns, and finally cook them.  It didn't help that there was about an hour of rising time for the dough.  Anyway, if you are going to make this dish for dinner you really want to start by 5 pm, rather than doing what we did by starting at 7 and finally eating at 10 pm.  Otherwise you get hungrier and hungrier while folding the buns and you start to feel like you won't be eating the buns for dinner, but for breakfast the next day.

So it was a bit of a late dinner, but it was totally worth it.  These buns are awesome - much better than the version I had last at Vanessa's Dumpling House on the LES.  I will probably roll the dough a little thinner next time because some of of the buns were a little doughy, but seeing as this was our first attempt at the buns, I think we did a darn good job.  Alex said that the buns were "kind of awesome" and I honestly agree with him.  They remind me of the buns I used to eat in China.  The filling was tasty and juicy, the dough fried up very nicely, and all together it made for an excellent meal.  We served the buns with some baby bok choy we made like the Chinese Broccoli in Oyster Sauce.  What a wonderful way to end to a fantastic streak of Asian meals!

Recipe after the jump

Panfried Pork and Scallion Mini Buns (Sheng Jian Baozi)

Adapted from Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More

By Andrea Nguyen

INGREDIENTS:

For filling

10 oz ground pork (you want ground pork on the fatty side if you can find it)

2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 cup scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp light soy sauce

2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp water

For buns

1 1/4 lbs Basic Yeast Dough (see recipe below)

3/4 tbsp canola oil

1 tbsp ginger, peeled and finely shredded

1/4 cup Chinkiang vinegar (or other Chinese black vinegar)

light soy sauce

hot chili oil

Combine pork, ginger and scallions in a bowl.  Stir to combine.  Add s&p, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, and water.  Stir vigorously to combine.  Cover filling with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.  Return filling to room temperature before assembling buns.

Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface.  Gather into a ball and pat to flatten into a thick disk.  Cut the disk in half and set one half of the dough aside in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap.

Roll dough into a 12-inch to 14-inch log.  Cut the log in half, and then cut each half into 8 pieces for a total of 16 pieces.  Lightly roll each piece of dough into a ball, then flatten into a small disk.  Using a rolling pin, roll the pieces into circles, each about 2 1/2 inches in diameter.  If the dough sticks, dust with a little flour.  The rim of the dough circles should be thinner than the center.  Lay the finished circles out on the work surface. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour.  Set aside.  To assemble the buns, hold one dough circle in a slightly cupped hand.  It helps to hold the dough in your non-dominant hand.  Drop about 2 tsp of filling into the center with a spoon, pressing down lightly on the filling with the back of the spoon to flatten it out.  You need to keep 1/2 to 3/4-inch of dough clear around the sides.  Using your thumb of the hand holding the dough, as well as the thumb and forefinger of the other hand, pleat and pinch the dough together to form a purse/satchel shape with a small opening at the top.  Pinch and twist the dough around the opening together to close the bun and cover all of the dough.  Place completed buns, pleated side down, on the baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling.  Loosely cover the completed buns with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes.  They will increase in size, so don't put the buns too close together.  Meanwhile, repeat with remaining dough and filling.

To cook the buns, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Add canola oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the buns one at a time, pleated side up.  The buns need to be placed about 1/2-inch apart because they will expand while cooking.  Fry the buns for 1-2 minutes, until golden on the bottom.  Add about 1/4 cup of water to come up about 1/4-inch up the side of the buns.  Cover skillet with a lid or aluminum foil.  The lid should be slightly ajar, allowing steam to escape.  Continue to cook the buns until the water is mostly gone, about 6 minutes.  Once you hear sizzling noises, most of the water will have cooked off.  Remove the lid and allow the dumplings to fry for one additional minute, until the bottoms are browned and crisp.  Flip the buns over, frying the pleated side for until golden, about 45 seconds.

Turn off the heat.  Once the buns stop sizzling, transfer the buns into a serving plate.  Stir together ginger and vinegar and serve alongside buns.  Mix the vinegar with soy sauce and hot chili oil to taste to form the dipping sauce.

Basic Yeast Dough (Famian)

Adapted from Asian Dumplings: Mastering Gyoza, Spring Rolls, Samosas, and More

By Andrea Nguyen

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 tsp active instant dry yeast

3/4 cup lukewarm water

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Combine yeast and water in a small bowl.  Set aside for 1 minute.  Whisk in oil.  Set aside.

Combine sugar, baking powder and flour in a food processor.  Pulse ingredients to combine.  With the motor on slowly stream in yeast mixture.  Continue to run the motor for about 20 seconds.  Dough should begin to come together in a ball.  If not, add lukewarm water by the teaspoon until a ball starts to form.  Continue to run until the dough has been kneaded into a large ball, an additional 45-60 seconds.

Lightly oil a clean mixing bowel and add the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise.  In about 45 minutes, the dough should have nearly doubled in size and will be ready to use.