“Zach….”, I hear your fictional complaint from here, “You keep giving me ideas, but no recipes. Give me something with a recipe. Decisions are hard!”
FINE! Today we go back to the basics and what’s more basic than BREAD?
“But….I can’t make bread!”, you cry! I hear you, bread is not always the easiest thing to do in the world, but these are pretty easy, I promise. If you have a stand mixer, it’s even easier. If you don’t, I’ll give you a little secret that’ll help anyway. A little practice and you’ll be an old hand in no time.
So what we’re gonna make today is Cantonese style buns. The classic is BBQ Pork or Char Siu, but you can fill these with whatever you want. Sausage, hash, diced vegetables, ground chicken, leftover whatever that thing is in that tupperware that tastes good but in no way resembles what it was yesterday….. the sky is the limit here. Just make sure that it’s something that will form into….heaping tablespoons. That is to say nothing too saucy.
So lets start at the hard part. The bread.
1 package of active yeast
1/4 sugar
1/2 cup warm water.
Throw that in a bowl, give it a stir or three, let sit. Is it foamy on top? Cool, time to use it. give it
a good glug of oil (around 2-3 tablespoons)
1 egg
a healthy pinch of salt and give that a bit of a mix.
I SAID A BIT, BIT of a mix.
Lastly 2 cups of Flour
You’re gonna take your flour and if you’re kneading it by hand, you’ll add the wet to the dry a bit at a time until incorporated and you have a dough. If you have a mixer you’ll add dry to your wet about a quarter of the flour at a time.
Either Way, knead for ~8 minutes. The stand mixer makes this super easy. Using the bread hook attachment just…turn it to medium-low speed and keep an eye on it while you do something else.
If you’re doing this by hand and do not have the arms to knead for 8 minutes, knead as much as you can….and leave it ~4-6 hours or even better, prep just before bed and leave it overnight. If you’re going to do this it’s best if you can use the dough in the morning though. It works. Whichever you do, you’re gonna roll that dough into an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp towel.
No matter which method you used, when it’s ready you’re gonna knock the air back out of the dough and cut it into 10-12 even pieces. The first time you do this, I recommend 10, when you’ve done this a bit and you’re used to the method, 12. Roll those into nice balls and then using a rolling pin, flatten them out, they should be about 3-inch across circles. Now place a heaping tablespoon of your filling in the middle, wrap your filling with the edges of the dough and pinch those together. Don’t worry if it’s not pretty, only that it’s closed, cuz you’re gonna place it’s ugly, pinched side down on a baking tray.
Lastly, slap those guys into a 400 degree oven for ~15 minutes. If you like a bit more crust to your buns, brush them with an egg wash. If you don’t care…don’t.
These guys will freeze for 3-4 weeks with no problem, travel well and just let them thaw and then reheat them in a microwave wrapped in a moist (paper)towel for about 30 seconds. Better yet, throw them into a toaster oven if one’s handy. As we discussed you can make ALL kinds of fillings for these things and leave yourself with variety. Typically 2-3 make a good lunch.
Now you know how to make humbao. You’re welcome.
Ingredient Summary:
1 package of active yeast
1/4 sugar
1/2 cup warm water.
a good glug of oil (around 2-3 tablespoons)
1 egg
pinch of salt
2 cups of Flour