Bánh Bao - Vietnamese Style Steamed Buns

Difficulty: Hard

Many will recognized this bun from the dim sum restaurants, filled with sweet red BBQ meat.  The bun has many different variations as the Chinese migrated out and settled in different parts of the world.  In the Vietnamese variation, pork still takes main stage but takes on a more savory flair.  The addition of peas and carrots may have it's roots with the French colonization.  I love the big fluffy pastry with a hint of sweetness in contrast to the earthy-savoriness of the shiitake mushroom in the filling.

I can imagine wives packing their husbands many little buns for lunch while they work in the rice paddies.  They are easily eaten with one hand.  The modern family can benefit from freezing these buns.  You can individually wrap each bun and freeze them for up to 3 months.  Just zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute (depending on your equipment).

pastry:
4.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp oil
1.5 cup room temperature whole milk

filling:
1 lb ground pork or chicken
8-10 medium or 6-8 large shiitake mushroom diced
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup frozen or canned peas
2 links Chinese sausage
3 or 6 eggs hard boiled eggs

Parchment paper cut into rounds or torn into squares
1/2 cup vinegar (optional)

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix well.  Make a well in the middle and pour in the milk and oil.  Incorporate the dry mixture and work the dough until it comes together.  Pour the mixture out on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough until it come to a smooth texture.  Shape into a ball and place it back into a bowl, cover, and place aside to rest for 1 hour.

Boil eggs until they are hard.  Cut into 4's or 8's depending on how much egg you like in each bao. Reconstitute the shiitake mushroom if you are using the dried version in warm water.  Dice the mushroom and onion in small pieces.  The Chinese sausage can be cut into two ways:
1. slice thinly on the diagonal
2. dicing into small cubes
The traditional way is cut on the diagonal.  I discovered that dicing them into cubes taste better to me.  The smaller cut allows more Chinese sausage per bit and keeps the filling moist because of the fat content.  If you like the taste of the sausage but not the fat, you can render the fat from the sausage first before adding it to the bao.  Mix everything together for the filling, minus the eggs.

After the dough has rested, pour it out of a floured board and knead the dough some more.  Half the dough and then roll it out into a log.  You can cut anywhere between 8-12 pieces depending on how big you like your baos.  You want to cover any pieces you aren't currently working on so it doesn't dry out.  With the piece of dough in your hand, you want to roll it between your palms to make a ball shape.  Flatten the ball and stretch the circular shaped dough by hand or with a rolling pin.  You want to aim for a thick center and thinner edges because you will be gathering the edges together.  Take a tablespoon of filling and place it in the center then top it off with a piece of hard boiled egg.

With the bao in your non-dominate hand, cup the edges of the dough upwards.  With the dominate hand, pinch the dough, like you are closing a taco.  Do the same on the opposite side, like you are making a hobo bag.  You now should have 4 corners on the bao.  Take the opposite pointy corners and pinch them together until you have a rounded pouch.  Twist the top where all the edges meet and were pinched together.  Place the finished bao on the parchment paper.

Heat up a steamer and add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the water when it starts to boil.  Steam the buns for 20-25 minutes.  When opening the steamer, please make sure that the lid isn't dripping water in the bao.  Or you can place a towel under the lid while steaming to catch any evaporation.

I steam them anywhere

Profile of deliciousness.

Thịt Heo Quay - Crispy Roast Pork

Crispy pork cooked on a gas grill. 

Difficulty: Medium

I only make this dish on special occasion because it takes too much effort in regards to watching it when it is cooking.  If you never had it before, it is an absolute treat.  The skin is cooked until crispy and crackling.  The Chinese 5-spice seasoning makes the meaty part just divine.  In the picture above, I tested the pork on a gas grill and it wasn't as easy as the oven version because it kept catching on fire because of the high fat.  The oven method allowed from the pork to cook at more controlled environment and dying out the surface to allow for the skin to crisp up.

1 to 1.5lb of pork belly
1/8 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
3 tsp Kosher salt divided 2 to 1
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1.5 tsp of sugar
2 cloves garlic minced finely
.5 tsp baking powder

Wash and clean the pork belly.  You want to scald the skin side with boiling water and scraping it with the side of my knife and pat dry.  Score diamond cuts into the meaty side of the meat.  You also score the skin side, carefully making sure that you don't cut all the way through to the fat.  You can also stab the skin side with skewers.  Mix together the Chinese 5-spice, 1 tsp of salt, sugar, minced garlic, and black pepper and rub into the meaty sides, making sure that you don't touch the skin side.

Rub the baking soda on the skin and wipe off any excess.  Let the pork belly rest in the fridge for a couple of hours so the meat can marinade.  Heat up the oven to 400-degrees.  Before putting it in the oven, rub the remaining 2 tsp of salt on the skin and place it on a raised baking rack.  Cook with the skin side down for about 35-40 mins.  Take the meat out of the oven and flip the pork belly over and wipe off any excess fat.  You can use skewers and stab any extra holes so that the skin can bubble up and become crispy.  Place the meat back on the highest rack, closest to the broiler element and allow it to cook and dry up.  This step, you want to watch with the oven door open so to make sure it doesn't burn.  If there is a lot of fat, use paper towel to blot off the excess to ensure maximum crispiness.

Once done, let the pork belly rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Cutting tip:  You want to cut through the meaty side first and stop at the skin. Once at the skin, use the other hand to whack down on the knife or otherwise the crispy skin will come off as one piece.