The Daring Cooks’ December, 2011 Challenge: CHA SUI & CHA SUI BAO

Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!

I was very excited when I read this month's DC challenge, making Cha Siu from scratch...awesome! However I didnt want to use maltose and artificial coloring for my Cha Siu so I chose Sara's alternative recipe and it came out tasting great!

CHA SIU (Cantonese BBQ Pork)

Ingredients

1 teaspoon (6 gm) salt

1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon (3 gm) ground white pepper
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) sugar
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine
1 teaspoon (3 gm) five spice
*(1 tablespoon=15 ml, 1 teaspoon=5 ml)

Directions:
Trim the pork loin to remove fat and tendon and slice lengthways so you have two long pieces, then cut in half. Place in container that you will be marinating them in.
Combine all the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine.
Cover pork well with ⅔ of the marinade mixture. Marinate for a minimum of 4 hours, I find it is best left to marinate overnight. Place the reserved ⅓ portion of the marinade covered in the fridge. You will use this as a baste when cooking the pork.
Follow the desired cooking method.

*There were several cooking methods suggested and I chose to sear the cha siu on a hot pan and then roasted it in a preheated 350 degrees farenheit oven for about 20 minutes.

STEAMED CHA SIU BAO(Cantonese Pork BBQ Bun)
Makes 20 Servings
Filling Ingredients:
350 grams Cha Siu (finely diced)
2 Shallots (finely diced)
1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1 teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
Heat vegetable oil in wok or pan. Saute shallots for one or two minutes until soft. Add diced cha siu to wok/pan and stir. Add oyster sauce, dark soysauce and sesame oil to the pork mixture. Stir fry for one minute. Mix cornflour and stock together and add to pork mixture. Stir well and keep cooking until mixture thickens, 1 or 2 minutes. Remove mixture from work/pan and place in a bowl to cool. Set aside until ready to use.
Bun Ingredients:
1 cup Milk, scalded
1/4 cup Sugar
1 Tablespoon Oil
2 1/2 teaspoons of dried yeast
3 cups plain Flour
Scald milk and stir in sugar, oil and salt. Leave to cool until it is lukewarm. Once it is the right temperature, add the yeast, leave until yeast is activated and it becomes frothy 10-15 minutes. Sift flour in a large bowl. Add yeast-milk mixture to flour. Mix flour mixture together with your hands. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and slightly elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave to rise until it is doubled in size. This will take 1-2 hours depending on the weather condition. Punch dough down and divide into 20 equal portions. Roll each dough into a 7-8 cm round. Place one tablespoon of filling in the middle, gather the edges together at the top and place on an 8 cm square of baking or wax paper. Repeat until all dough is used up. Cover and let rise for 20 minutes. Place buns in steamer, leaving space between the buns. Heat water in a pan or wok and place steamers one on top of each other. Place lid and steam for approximately 12 minutes.

I made a simple sweet-salty sauce for my cha siu bao. Everyone at home liked them. Thank you Sara for this awesome challenge! Do check out the other Daring Cooks' versions, you won't be disappointed!