Pau Sambal / Burger Malaysia

Ingredients

50ml warm water

1/2 tbsp instant yeast

1/2 tbsp fine sugar

> mix everything together and put aside for 5min till bubbly

2 cups flour

2 tbsp fine sugar

2 tbsp milk powder or condensed milk

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil

50-80ml water

Fillings

sambal ikan bilis

cucumber

salad

Directions

• in a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together and mix well
• add butter and mix using hands
• pour in the yeast mixture followed with water (a bit at a time) and knead till a dough is formed
• cover the bowl and proof for 1-2hr till dough is puffy
• punch down the dough and lightly knead to smoothen the dough
• divide the dough to desired size (44 - 45g each = 10pcs), round and transfer to parchment paper
• cover with shrink wrap and let it rest for another 30min
• lightly flatten before deep fry in very low heat till golden brown (be patient so that the inside is fully cooked)
• once cooled, cut into two and fill with sambal, cucumber and salad

Foodnote: Was thinking of burger but ended up with this Malay burger instead hehe. Turns out very well. I kept some frozen so that I can eat it other day. Yum yum. Craving satisfied. 

The recipe can also be used as donut or fill with peanut paste.

Char Siew Roast Chicken

Ingredients
BBQ Chicken
2 kg chicken breast
7 tbsp dark soya sauce
7 tbsp light soya sauce
7 tbsp oyster sauce
7 tbsp hoisin sauce
7 tbsp honey
7 tbsp sugar or maltose
7 tsp salt
7 tsp pepper
7 tsp vinegar (ACV)
7 tsp 5 spice powder
7 tsp sesame oil
(other ingredients/flavours of choice eg. paprika, chilli powder, garlic, onion, lemongrass etc.)

Directions

• clean and put the chicken in a big bowl
• cook the dark soya sauce, light soya sauce and oyster sauce till fragrant
• pour onto the chicken and add in the other ingredients... mix well
• keep in chiller to marinate for 20min or overnight
• place chicken on a baking tray lined with parchment paper
• bake in 200°C for 18-20min till edge is brown and skin is crispy (10min through baking, pour out excess water and brush chicken with honey or maltose)
• once cooled, cut into tiny cubes and put aside

Ingredients

Char Siew Sauce
650g water

70g sugar

50g oyster sauce

50g soy sauce

50g dark soya sauce

5g pepper

50g sesame oil

50g modified starch (or corn starch)

Directions

• cook dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil till bubble and remove from fire
• in a separate bowl, combine modified corn starch with sugar and water and whisk till mixed
• add all the sauces together to thicken
• mix well with the chopped chicken and add in pepper powder
• freeze the char siew chicken for use as filling for pao

Foodnote: This is a recipe for the char siew chicken pao. The roasted chicken itself is very yummy and juicy. I would like to try and make this and it can be kept frozen for many other recipes and fillings. I might even try it to make grilled fish... yummy!

Mantou Bun & Basic Pao

Ingredients
Sponge (starter)
230g medium protein flour (Prima blue plain flour)
5g high sugar yeast (Bruggeman brown packet)
130ml cold water (5°C)

Pao Dough
fermented starter dough
150g medium protein flour
10g baking powder (Rumford brand)
80g sugar
10g shortening (put in flour dusted small bowl for easy transfer)
40ml cold water (5°C)
1g yeast (optional but can add to speed up proofing)

Directions

• prepare the starter dough by mixing yeast to the flour
• in a mixer with K-beater attachment, add water to yeast and flour mixture and knead on low speed for 4min
• cover the bowl with the starter with cloth and let it rest for 30min
• separately, prepare ingredients for pao dough
• in a bowl mix flour with baking powder and set aside shortening and sugar separately
• after 30min of resting the starter, weigh in the ice cold water and add in to the starter followed by sugar and shortening (add optional 1g yeast here)
• knead on low speed for 2min and after that add in half of the flour to knead for about 30s and pour the rest and continue kneading for 4-5min till dough is soft and smooth
• weigh and divide into 2 portions of dough
• shape the dough (mantou or with filling), place in cupcake paper and let it proof for about 40min
• steam under high pressure for 12min or till you get a whiff of sweet smelling buns

Mantou

• roll out the dough (1st roll must be as thin as possible to remove air bubbles) about 4mm (longish rectangular shape) and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6-8 pieces, proof and steam
• can also deep fry

Longevity Bun (with red bean filling)

• measure 20g of red bean paste, round into balls and put aside
• roll each dough out about 4mm and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6 pieces
• round the dough with a rolling pin flatten it
• wrap the red bean paste in the dough and using both palms, shape it with a pointed top
• using a scraper, create a line vertically
• take some flour, add water and green coloring to form a dough
• roll flat and cut to create 2 long leaves
• use water to stick leaves to the dough
• using a air brush (can also use spray bottle) spray to add red coloring
• proof and steam 

Brown Sugar Pao

• replace the sugar with brown sugar for the pao dough

Green Tea Pao

• add 10g of matcha powder to the flour of pao dough

Charcoal Pao

• add 3g of baking charcoal powder to the flour of pao dough
• add additional 10g water

Pandan or Coffee Pao

• add 10g of essence (paste) and reduce the water to 30g instead of 40g

Tao Sar Pao

• fill the dough with red bean paste (25g)

Char Siew Roast Chicken

• fill the dough with char siew chicken (25g). See here for recipe.

Foodnote: I have always wanted to learn to make steamed pao and finally had the opportunity to learn to make it myself. The best part is this recipe does not use any chemical and the buns are so nice and soft. The actual recipe when we tried in school is using Prima Ivory White flour but that can only be bought in big 25kg. Advice from the chef is that the best alternative is Prima plain flour in blue packaging. The yeast and baking powder... also must use the recommended ones eerr ok ok.

Anyway we made 3 types of pao: plain mantou, longevity bun and brown sugar pao. Shaping the longevity bun is quite challenging and the final shape just look like butt ahahaha. The brown sugar pao was made by just replacing the sugar. 1g of yeast was added to speed up proofing. It tasted... ok lah. Can't really taste the brown sugar hhmmm... 

Okie dokie... can't wait to practice it myself and make varieties of fillings like red bean or curry potato or dry sambal ikan bilis yum yum.