Sardine Bun

When I saw Victoria Bakes' cute little chilli crab bun, I knew I wanted to learn how to do that.

Since I am not going to make a trip to the gourmet shop to get the canned crab, I shall make do with sardine.

For a change, we had a savoury bun and I can tell, it was a good decision.

Learning experience:

My flour absorption was not good, I had to add in 20g of extra liquid for me to get a smooth dough.  Initially, I was worried that it might be too wet but surprisingly after resting the dough, it was manageable.

The shaping was fun to do, I couldn't really catch on the video so I actually had lesser strips to braid.  Though I have a girl, I am lousy with braiding her hair.  I rather have her sleep an additional few minutes than doing her hair.  So it was at a much later on, that I learnt how to braid her hair.  So for this buns, I was like going for a refresher course.

Even though I had 1½ tsp of sardines, my hubby felt it will be nicer if there were more fillings.

Maybe I should have roll the disk bigger than 11 cm so that I can get in more fillings and also to "balance" it to be in the centre.

Adapted (for a better illustration how to do the braiding)

What you need:
yield : 6 pcs (71g)

1 tsp minced garlic
200g sardine with sauce removed, roughly break them into pieces
40g sardine sauce
Starch solution (2 tbsp potato starch+2 tbsp sardine sauce)
lime juice

Method:

Heat up a wok with a little oil, add fry garlic until fragrant.

Add in sardine, sardine sauce and bring to a boil.

Stir in starch solution and fry until it is semi dry.

Season with lime juice to your liking.

Set aside to cool.


Bun

260g bread flour
3g salt
20g sugar
1 tsp yeast

50g egg
100g whipping cream
90g milk

Method:

Combine all ingredients and knead until window pane stage.  Shape into a ball.

Proof for 45 mins.

Degas and divide into 6 portions.  Bench rest for 10 mins.

Flatten dough into a disc and roll out to 11cm.

Cut into quarters leaving 1 cm in the centre.

Place sardine in one of the quarter, fold the opposite quarter down and seal the sardine.

Make three cuts (leaving ½ cm in the centre) on each of the remaining quarters.

Lay one strip across the sardine quarter and do likewise for the opp. Overlapping each strip like in a braid.

Cover and let it proof for 30 mins.

Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 180°C for 15 mins or until golden brown.


Enjoy!