Chase Center Eats and Treats: Bao Buns

Chase Center executive chef Chad-Jan Neuman provided the instructions to make bao buns. Here is the recipe for the dish.

Slow Cooked Pork Belly Ingredients:
• 2 lbs pork belly
• 4 ¼ cup chicken stock
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp rice wine
• 1 tbsp sugar

Directions:
Add the pork belly, chicken stock, ginger, garlic, rice wine and sugar in to a stock pan. Bring to a boil. Place a lid on the pot and turn down to a low heat. Let simmer for 2 hours. Then turn off the heat and drain the pork. Chop the pork into bite sized chunks.

Pork Belly Glaze Ingredients:
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 red chili
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp of pepper
• 1 bunch of chopped green onions (optional)
• Sesame seeds to sprinkle on top of buns(optional)

Directions:
• In a small bowl, whisk together 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, ginger, red chili, honey and brown sugar and set aside.
• Add the additional 1 tbsp of vegetable oil to a frying pan. Heat the oil on high, 20 seconds. Add the cooked pork, salt and pepper. Fry until the pork turns a golden brown.
• Once golden brown, pour the glaze over the pork and continue to cook until the pork is dark and sticky, 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat and place in a serving bowl.

Bao Buns Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp yeast
• ½ cup warm whole milk
• 1/3 cup warm water
• 4 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder

Directions:
• In a small bowl, whisk together the water, milk, yeast and 2 tbsp of sugar until the yeast dissolves. Let the mixture sit until the yeast starts to get foamy and bloom, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the oil and set aside.

• Meanwhile, sift the flour, salt, the last 2 tbsp of sugar and baking soda together in a mixer. Using a dough hook, mix the dry ingredients on a low speed. Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on medium for 5 minutes. If the dough looks sticky, add 1 additional tablespoon of flour at a time until it is less sticky.

• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth. Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest until it has doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours. Punch the dough down to flatten it.

• Portion the dough into balls that are 2 inches in diameter and let rest for 5 minutes. Flatten each ball into a disk 3 inches in diameter. Or you can roll out the dough and use a 2-3” round cookie cutter to create your disks. Feel free to combine the scraps to create more buns if you decide to use a cookie cutter.

• Add some olive oil on top of the circles.

• Fold circles in halves and use the rolling pin to help with folding each bun in half.

• Place 4 buns in each bamboo basket and steam until the buns have expanded, 10 minutes.

• Add your filling and serve.