Char Siew Bao (Yeast raised)

A FB group member shared this recipe and I decided to try it.  After all, it been a while since we last had Char Siew Bao (叉烧包).

I tweaked it a little as I found that the water for the sponge was very dry.  The process is long but we ended up with gigantic fluffy bao! 

Learning experience: 

It was still soft after it has been cooled.  Even after a night of storing inside a fridge, it still yields a fluffy soft texture. 

For this attempt, I used 45g dough, I must reduce this next time because it really doubled in size after proofing. 

It didn't have that snow-white appearance and my pleats actually disappeared.  As compared to my other previous experiences, I will definitely keep this recipe.

Definitely need to space out more during steaming as the size continues to increase during the process, resulted in some baos touching each other.

If you are looking for a bao like texture, this is not the same.  It has a light and fluffy texture.  It is also not like bread or mantou. 

Overall, despite me being a little heavy-handed on the salt for the fillings, my family ate all 19 pcs of big bao.

For a small family, I would advise to half the recipe.

What you need:

Sponge

375g cake flour

10g instant yeast

10g sugar

205g water

Dough

150g cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

40g water

75g sugar

1 tsp salt

45g vegetable oil

Method:

Sift cake flour and baking powder together.

Dissolved sugar and salt in water and then add to flour, mix well.

Add in sponge and mix well. 

Add in vegetable oil.

Knead until dough is elastic.

Rest for 10 mins and divide the dough and shape into ball.

Rest for another 10 mins and add in fillings.

Proof until double in size and steam for 20 mins.

Dough weight: 30g


Have fun!