Moving can be stressful. And if it in winter it’s all the more a challenge. Unless of course you are moving to a warmer place. It’s been One month, two days and 5 hours that we moved to a different city in Midwest. Life has been crazy. Staying in a hotel for the first few days, finding the right neighborhood to stay, and right school for A has been daunting. It’s a new beginning, fresh start and look forward to every bit life has to offer in this new place.
Anyways now that we are finally settled I should stop complaining and get back to business. I was unhappy to miss the Daring Baker’s January Challenge. Amidst all the packing, unpacking and the last minute changes I just didn’t have the mind space and time for baking. I was hoping to bake in the kitchen in our hotel room but Marriott had everything to offer except the oven.
So finally home sweet home it is! The February Daring Baker’s Challenge is hosted by Julie of One-Wall Kitchen . She challenged us to an easy,simple filled buns using no –knead dough. She pieced these recipes together from http://jinkzzkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/no-knead-pork-asado-buns-aka-baked.html, http://www.food.com/recipe/no-knead-dinner-rolls-201793, her mom’s teachings, and her personal preferences.
Many Asian countries make different kinds of filled buns. According to Julie – In China where they originated have several names for them, including bao (bow, which rhymes with “pow”), humbow, mantou (man-too), and pau (pow). In Philippines, these buns are called siopao (shoh-pow), and while they’re sold as street food, they’re also a home comfort that every home has its own recipe for, and they’re often served with hot noodle soup called mami.
I must say that this challenge was one of the easy ones to make. Julie gave us the option of choosing our own filling. I first though about savory – caramelized onions; but at the last minute change my mind to go with a sweet filling. I had some store bought fruit and peel mix and ended up using that. After baking I realized that the filling was little hard, I should have softened it by soaking it in warm water for some time. Also make sure you wrap the dough around the filling very firmly. Do not make it to thin, if you do it will open up while baking.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¾ cup warm water
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 to 2 1/2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
- 1 egg for egg-wash for the buns
- For the filling:
- 5 tablespoon fruit and peel mix
- 2 tablespoon dry coconut ,grated
Instructions
Mix yeast, water, sugar, melted butter, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Slowly mix in flour until it's fully incorporated and you have a shaggy, very tacky dough, but not wet and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for up to an hour in warm place until doubled. While dough is rising, you can make your filling – Sweet or Savory. For the sweet filling, just mix the fruit mix and coconut.
Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Depending on how much flour you added, it will be somewhat tacky to pretty tacky. Fold it over several times and shape it into a smooth ball, then divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it into a disc about 6 inches (15 cm) wide. Place a heaping tablespoonful of filling into the center of the disc, wrap the dough around the filling, and firmly pinch it closed over the top of the filling.
Place filled buns on a baking sheet and loosely cover them with plastic wrap. Let them rest for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F. Beat 1 egg in a small bowl for egg wash and brush on top of each bun. Bake buns for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm.
http://www.thefoodielovers.com/2015/02/siopao-asian-filled-buns-daring-bakers-feb15-challenge/Julie also suggested to use Pandan Jam which is available in Asian groceries. Pandan comes from a leaf used throughout Southeast Asia for flavoring.
Thanks Julie for the challenge. I am happy to post on time after a long time!
Enjoy!
Nina
