Bánh Bao Căn Bản (Smiling Pau)

Bánh Bao vốn có nguồn gốc từ Trung Hoa, sau đó đã được phổ biến tại nhiều quốc gia.   Không tính tới sự đa dạng của nhân bánh, chỉ riêng về phần vỏ bánh cũng khá đa dạng, có lẽ vì đã được sự cải biến của nhiều người theo khẩu vị riêng nên cho đến nay có rất nhiều công thức với kết quả khác nhau.    

Trong các bài viết trước đây (Bánh Bao và Bánh Bao - công thức của sis Ngự Bình), Tứ Diễm đã giới thiệu một số công thức làm món Bánh Bao được nhiều người yêu chuộng.    Trong bài viết nầy, Tứ Diễm xin được chia sẻ thêm vài công thức sưu tầm được từ trên mạng, đều giúp chúng ta có thể tự làm ra món Bánh Bao Xá Xíu (Char Sieu Pau) với phần vỏ bột nhẹ xốp nở bung mà có người còn gọi là Smiling Pau.    Mời cùng xem tiếp theo nha



Muốn làm món Bánh Bao cần phải làm phần Nhân và phần Vỏ Bánh.    Phần Nhân bánh tương đối khá dề làm và cũng đã được nhắc đến trong các bài viết trước đây rồi nên trong bài viết nầy chúng ta chỉ chú tâm về các công thức để làm ra phần vỏ bánh nhẹ xốp nở bung tới độ bánh ... hé miệng cười duyên (Smiling Pau). 

Trong bài viết nầy sẽ bao gồm hai công thức (sưu tầm từ trên mạng) chỉ dẫn làm Vỏ Bánh Bao Căn Bản (Smiling Pau) của bà Agnes Chang và của bà Lily's Wai Sek Hong.    Và thêm công thức chỉ dẫn làm món Pork-Belly Bun của David Chang và Char Siew Pau của Jia Lei.   Mời cùng đọc và thực hành thử nha    


Basic Dough For Making Smiling Pau - 3-Day Dough
By Agnes Chang
Recipe taken from her book's Delightful Snacks & Dim Sum Recipes

Day 1 - Dough starter A:

• 50g plain flour, sifted with 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 50ml water

Mix all ingredients. Cover with a damp cloth and proof for 1 day.

Day 2 - Dough starter B:

• All the dough starter A
• 300g plain flour, sifted
• 150ml water

Mix all the ingredients. Cover and proof for 1 day.

Day 3 -

 

Ingredients A:

• 450g of dough starter B (save the remaining 100g, it will act as starter A of your next round)
• 150g castor sugar
• 1 tsp ammonia powder
• 1/2 tsp alkaline water
• 1 tbsp double acting baking powder
• 3 tbsp water

Ingredients B:

• 300g plain flour, sifted with 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp shortening

1. Mix and knead dough starter B with sugar until it has dissolved.

2. Add in the rest of ingredients A and mix well.

3. Slowly mix in B to form into a smooth and pliable dough.

4. Cover with a wet cloth and rest for 15 minutes before going to shaping and wrapping.

(Recipe taken from 'Delightful Snacks and Dim Sum' by Agnes Chang)

 

Note:

• Instead of covering with a wet cloth, it will be better while covering with those plastic food wraps. poke a few small holes.
• The whole recipe yields about 22 paus. If you make half recipe and divide into 40 g portion for each pau, there will be about 14 paus. 

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Smiling Pau

By Lily's Wai Sek Hong
Recipe and Photo taken from http://lilysbest.blogspot.ca/2012/03/smile-paubao.html


How to make the Starter Dough 

• 8 ozs pau flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp fine granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water. 

Mix 8 ozs pau flour with 1 tsp instant yeast, 1 tbsp fine granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water for a start. 

 

Adjust water, a little at a time, until a slightly wet dough is achieved.  Cover with a plastic wrap and prick a few holes on the wrap.  Leave this dough to ferment until FOAMY AND YEASTY. (my starter dough was ready in 4 hrs).

 

How to Make the Pau/Bao Dough

 

Ingredients: 

• 4 ozs Starter Dough
• 2 ozs fine granulated sugar
• 1 tsp double action baking powder
• 1/2 tsp Ammonium bicarbonate (aka bột khai)
• A tiny drop of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution a.k.a. Kan Sui
• 3 tsp water
• 1 tbsp lard/shortening
• 9 tbsp/80 gms pau flour

 

Method: 

• Weigh 4 ozs of starter dough and add in 2 ozs fine granulated sugar.  Mix these 2 together well until the sugar is dissolved. 

•  Mix 1/2 tsp double action baking powder, 1/2 tsp ammonium bicarbonate, a drop of kan sui with 2 tsp water.  Mix to dissolve and add in to starter dough mixture.  Mix well to combine. 

• Add in 9 tbsp pau flour  and knead to a soft dough.  (a little more water might be needed as it depends on how wet the starter dough is). Add in 1 tbsp lard/shortening and knead well. Flatten dough and spread it out, dissolve 1/2 tsp double action baking powder with 1 tsp water, rub this all over the spread out dough, Fold the dough in and knead well, so that all the baking powder is well spread.  Dough is ready to be divided into 8 - 10 portions, depending on how big a pau/bao you want.

•  Flatten one portion and put 1 tsp of Char Siew Filling.  Pick up the edges and wrap up the filling, make sure that there is more dough on top, it will ensure smiling blossom.  You do not have to pleat just ensure that the edges are sealed well.  Place filled pau/bao on top of a piece of parchment paper, put it onto a steamer and cover with a damp cloth.  Continue to fill up the other portions.

•  Bring the water and 1 tbsp vinegar in a steamer to high boil.

•  Spray the filled paus/baos with water lightly, do not drown them and put to steam for 12 minutes.  Ensure that the water is on boiling high and DO SEAL the edges of the cover with wet towels, to seal in the heat.  The hotter the steam, the better the SMILE.

•  When the paus/baos are ready, remove from the steamer and allow it to cool.  Do not serve them as the smell of the ammonium

• bicarbonate has not dissipate.  Before serving, steam the paus/baos for another 12 minutes.

 

 

Modified Recipe:

 

 

Lily's Wai Sek Hong has edited this recipe by replacing the wheat starch with pau flour as she has found that too much starch makes the pau gummy and sticks to the teeth.

 

Starter Dough:  

• The starter dough started at the marked line.  250 gm pau flour with 125 ml to 200 ml water and 50 gm of leftover starter dough,, to make a soft dough.  Knead dough until smooth and push it down flat onto a straight-sided container.  Mark the height of the dough, cover the container and leave on the kitchen counter. 
• Starter dough has reached double after 2 days/48 hours and is ready.  It took 2 days to reach this stage and it might reach this maturity if you are in the tropics.  Monitor this progress and if it has reached this stage and you do not wish to make any paus/baos, leave this in the fridge.  Bring this back to room temperature before proceeding to make pau/bao.
• Bird's-eye view of surface of ready starter dough, Not much of happening but bubbles can be seen at the sides of container.  This starter is not so acidic and sour, because it is a stiff starter, stiff starter will not be as sour as liquid starter.  Although it does not smell sour, i do use a tiny drop of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution a.k.a.'kan sui' to contra the acidity.  A word of caution though, a little too much, the finished pau/bao will turn brown.

 

Pau Dough

 

Ingredients:

 

• 300 gm Starter dough
• A tiny drop of potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution (aka Kan Sui)
•  90 - 95 gm sugar
• 1 tsp double action baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ammonium bicarbonate
• 1 tsp water
• 2 - 3 tsp shortening
• 5 tbsp pau/bao flour 

Note:

• Pau Flour is a premium flour specially milled for making superb quality Hong Kong type pau/Bao.  Any brand is fine as long as the protein(gluten) is low.  I am using American Rose Cake Flour but any other brand will do. I have even used bleached all-purpose and added wheat starch to lower the protein/gluten.  Although these flours make good white paus/baos,  you must know your flour before starting out with a recipe.  A new batch of flour of the same brand will behave differently as the previous batch of flour you had.  The new batch might not absorb that much liquid, unlike the old batch which has been sitting in the pantry(Colorado has no humidity), is drier and might need more liquid.  It is a good practice to use the amount of liquid in the recipe and adjust accordingly - in this case, the more experience you have in the kitchen helps and to be able to realise the climatic atmosphere of where you are, is vital to good cooking.

• Wheat starch is the by product/leftover starch from making wheat gluten, or 面筋. The wheat gluten bunches up when you wash the dough. The starch falls out of the dough and sinks to the bottom of the bowl.  The water is removed and then the starches are dried. I use this wheat starch to lower the protein level further.  Cornflour is a good substitute but i prefer cornflour for cakes and for pau which white is so important to maintain, wheat starch is perfect

• A Starter Dough is made by mixing yeast, flour and water then leaving it covered in a warm place to ferment,  Once it ferments, becoming foamy, bubbly and smelling sour and yeasty, it is ready.  The first batch of breads that you make using new starter dough may not be as flavorful.  But, the longer the starter dough has been maintained, over time, the dough will become more stable and sour, adding flavor and texture to the paus/baos  In the Dim Sum restaurants where starters are used daily, a larger portion will be made and the remainder of which is constantly replenished by regular scheduled additions of flour and water, making it ever ready when needed.  Usually, 50 grams of starter dough is left behind and replenished by mixing in 600 grams flour and 300 ml water(more might be needed to make mixture into a wetter dough).  Leave to ferment another 12 hours OR UNTIL FOAMY and YEASTY.  If you are not planning to use the starter dough within the next 24 hours, refrigerate it.  It will keep for up to 2 months.  To use, remove from refrigerator ahead of time and leave at room temperature until the starter has lost it's chill.  Again, know your climatic atmosphere as it will affect the readiness of the starter dough, it might take longer for me and faster for friends in the tropic.  It also depends on the amount of yeast used too, I am very impatient, and if i used the least of yeast, it will take me 4 days before it gets foamy and yeasty.  So, I used 1 teaspoon and added 1 tablespoon of sugar, yeast is so much in love with sugar and my starter dough was ready in 4 hours.

•  potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution (aka Kan Sui).  Còn gọi là Lye Water hay nước tro tầu

 

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Pork-Belly Bun

By David Chang
Recipe taken from http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-Belly-Buns-240258

Trong một bài viết về món bánh bao, trong phần comment sis Jill đã giới thiệu công thức nầy nên Tứ Diễm cũng xin mạn phép tác giả để mang vào đây để vị nào ưa thích tìm tòi học hỏi các công thức mới có cơ hội thử nghiệm.   Xin cám ơn sis Jill đã chia sẻ và cũng xin cám ơn David Chang đã chỉ dẫn cách làm.   Theo phần comments, một độc giả đã nhắc đến món bánh nầy được bán tại David Chang's Momofuku restaurants ở Manhattan, NỴC   Tứ Diễm xin đăng lại nguyên văn công thức và cách làm. 


We knew Chang was something special the minute we tasted his signature dish. He plays with the classic Chinese pork bun, retaining its pillowy white wrapping, adding crisp cucumbers and scallions, and transforming it into an American original with pork belly. Make them at home, and the first bite will prove they are worth the effort.

 

 

Ingredients

For pork

• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 1/2 cups water, divided
• 2 1/2 lb skinless boneless pork belly, cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

For buns

• 1 cup warm water (105-115°F), divided
• 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons sugar plus a pinch
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dried milk
• 3 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• Canola oil for greasing and brushing

• Equipment: a deep 12-inch skillet with domed lid or a 14-inch flat-bottomed wok with lid
• Accompaniments: hoisin sauce; thinly sliced cucumber; chopped scallions

Preparation

 

Brine pork:

• Stir together kosher salt, sugar, and 4 cups water until sugar and salt have dissolved. Put pork belly in a large sealable bag, then pour in brine.
• Carefully press out air and seal bag. Lay in a shallow dish and let brine, chilled, at least 12 hours.            

 

Make dough for buns while pork is brining:

• Stir together 1/4 cup warm water with yeast and pinch of sugar. Let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, start over with new yeast.) Whisk in dried milk and remaining 3/4 cup warm water.
• Stir together flour and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a bowl, then stir in yeast mixture (do not add baking powder yet) with a fork until a dough forms.
• Knead dough with your hands in bowl until all of flour is incorporated. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, dusting surface and hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth but still soft, about 5 minutes. Form dough into a ball.
• Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 2 hours.

 

Roast pork while dough rises:

• Preheat oven to 300°F with rack in middle.
• Discard brine and put pork, fat side up, in an 8- to 9-inch square baking pan. Pour in broth and remaining 1/2 cup water. Cover tightly with foil and roast until pork is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Remove foil and increase oven temperature to 450°F, then roast until fat is golden, about 20 minutes more. Cool 30 minutes, then chill, uncovered, until cold, about 1 hour.
• Cut chilled pork across the grain into 1/4-inch slices. Chill slices in pan juices, covered, while making buns.

 

Make buns:

• Punch down dough, then transfer to a lightly floured surface and flatten slightly into a disk. Sprinkle baking powder over center of dough, then gather edges of dough and pinch to seal in baking powder. Knead dough with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking until baking powder is incorporated, about 5 minutes. Return dough to bowl and cover with plastic wrap, then let dough stand 30 minutes.
• Cut 16 (3- by 2-inch) pieces of wax paper.
• Form dough into a 16-inch-long log. Cut into 16 equal pieces, then lightly dust with flour and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Roll out 1 piece of dough into a 6- by 3-inch oval, lightly dusting surface, your hands, and rolling pin. Pat oval between your palms to remove excess flour, then brush half of oval lightly with oil and fold in half crosswise (do not pinch). Place bun on a piece of wax paper on a large baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Make more buns with remaining dough, then let stand, loosely covered, until slightly risen, about 30 minutes.
• Set a large steamer rack inside skillet (or wok) and add enough water to reach within 1/2 inch of bottom of rack, then bring to a boil. Carefully place 5 to 7 buns (still on wax paper) in steamer rack (do not let buns touch). Cover tightly and steam over high heat until buns are puffed and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer buns to a plate with tongs, then discard wax paper and wrap buns in kitchen towels (not terry cloth) to keep warm. Steam remaining buns in 2 batches, adding boiling-hot water to skillet as needed.
• Return buns (still wrapped in towels) to steamer rack in skillet and keep warm (off heat), covered.

 

To Serve:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Heat sliced pork (in liquid in baking dish), covered, until hot, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Brush bottom half of each bun with hoisin sauce, then sandwich with 2 or 3 pork slices and some cucumber and scallions.

 

Cooks' notes: ·

• Pork belly can be brined up to 24 hours.
• ·Pork can be roasted and sliced 2 days ahead and chilled (in liquid), covered.
• ·Buns can be steamed and cooled completely, then chilled, wrapped tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap, up to 1 day or frozen up to 1 week. (Thaw wrapped frozen buns in refrigerator.) Reheat buns, wrapped in a dampened kitchen towel and then tightly in foil, in a 350°F oven until soft and heated through, about 15 minutes.

(Sưu Tầm - Recipe by David Chang)

 

---oOo--

Char Siew Pau

By Jia Lei
Recipe taken from Jia Lei Confectionery & Training Centre book - Pastry and Snacks for Beginners
Ingredients For Filling

• 800g char siew
• 4 pcs garlic
• some parsley
• 1 tsp Chinese Wine
• 3 dsp oil

 

Ingredients For Seasoning:

 

• 1 bowl water
• 3 dsp oyster sauce
• 1 dsp sesame oil
• 2 dsp soya sauce
• 30g sugar
• 3 dsp cornflour
• 1 tsp char siew powder
• a little pepper
• a little ginger juice

 

Method

• Mince garlic and chop parsley. Cut Char Siew into cubes.

• Heat oil and fry minced garlic. Add seasoning and cook till boil, adding char siew, stir fry. Add Chinese wine and parsley. Mix well, and you may keep it in the refrigerator overnight.

 

 

Ingredients For Yeast Dough 

• 370g Hong Kong flour
• 220g water
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp yeast

Mix and leave it to prove for 12 hours.

 

Ingredients For Skin Dough 

• 750g Hong Kong flour
• 400g icing sugar
• 45g shortening
• 150g water
• 40g baking powder
• 10g ammonia

 

Method

 

• Mix yeast dough with flour, sugar, water, baking powder and ammonia. Add in white butter and knead to form a dough, divide into small portions.

• Take one portion. Flatten it and sthingy filling on top. Fold the sides to form a pau. Stick a piece of white paper under the pau. Steam for 10 minutes .

 

 

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