If you love Filipino cuisine and dim sum, chances are you've already tried siopao. It is an exquisite steamed bread usually stuffed with sweet and sour meat or meatballs and eggs. Make a simple dough and let it rise while you cook the stuffing made from shredded pork (asado) or meatballs and eggs (bola bola). Roll out the dough to form small circles and garnish with the filling. Wrap the stuffed buns and steam them. The meat should cook completely, while the dough should become soft.
Ingrediants
Dough from Siopao
- 250 ml of warm milk (5-15 ° C)
- 6 g of instant dry yeast
- 25 g of sugar
- 3 g of salt
- 500 g of all-purpose flour
- 10 g of baking powder
- 100 g of sugar
- 30 ml of vegetable oil
- A few drops of lime juice (optional)
- 30 ml of vinegar (for steaming)
Sufficient doses for 10 units
Asado stuffing
- 15 ml of oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- 450 g of pork neck or shoulder cut into large pieces
- 530 ml of water
- 120 ml of soy sauce
- 60 ml of oyster sauce
- 40 g of sugar
- 2 pieces of star anise
- 10 g of corn starch
Enough doses to fill 10 units
Stuffed Bola Bola (Meatballs)
- 230 g of ground pork
- Half a finely chopped onion
- 1 g of finely chopped garlic
- Half a grated carrot
- 3 g of salt
- 0, 5 of ground pepper
- 1 small egg, beaten
- 5 hard-boiled and shelled quail eggs
Enough doses to fill 10 units
Steps
Part 1 of 4: Making the Dough
Step 1. Beat the warm milk with the baking powder, sugar and salt
Take a bowl and fill it with 250ml of warm milk. Incorporate 6g of instant dry yeast, 25g of sugar and 3g of salt by beating them.
The milk temperature should be between 5 and 15 ° C
Step 2. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes
Set the bowl aside for 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast. If activated correctly, the mixture will become foamy. While the yeast is being activated, take advantage of it to mix the dry ingredients.
If no foam forms after 10 minutes, the yeast may have expired. Start over with a fresh product, otherwise the dough will not rise
Step 3. Mix the dry ingredients with vegetable oil and lime juice
Take a large bowl and pour 500 g of all-purpose flour into it. Add 10 g of baking powder and 100 g of sugar by whisking them. Add 30 ml of vegetable oil and a few drops of lime juice. Keep stirring until the oil is incorporated.
Lime juice helps make the siopao dough whiter
Step 4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients
Pour the activated yeast over the dry ingredients and knead for 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle a handful of flour on your work surface and spread the dough over it with the help of a spoon. Knead it or spread it out using your palms until it stops being sticky. It should become smooth within 3-5 minutes.
Step 5. Let the dough rise for 2 hours
Put it in a bowl and cover it with a sheet of cling film. Place it in a warm place and wait for the volume of the dough to double. This should take about 2 hours.
Step 6. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10 pieces
Sprinkle a handful of flour on your work surface and lay the dough on it with the help of a spoon. Roll the dough with the palms of your hands until you get a long log. Take a knife or scraper spatula and cut it into 10 evenly sized pieces.
Step 7. Roll each piece of dough into a ball
Place a piece of dough between your palms and roll it into a ball. Place it on your work surface and repeat the process with the remaining pieces.
Step 8. Cover the balls and let them rest for 30 minutes
Take a damp cloth and spread it over the dough balls. Let them rise slightly as you prepare the filling.
Part 2 of 4: Prepare the Asado Filling
Step 1. Heat the oil, then chop the onion and garlic
Heat 15ml of oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Peel 1 small onion and 2 cloves of garlic. Chop the onion and chop the garlic with a sharp knife.
Step 2. Saute the onion and garlic for 5 minutes
Place the onion and garlic in the pot, then stir them while you toss them. Cook them for about 5 minutes, in order to let the onion wilt.
Step 3. Add the pork and sear it over medium-high heat
Cut 450 g of pork neck or shoulder into pieces of about 5 cm. Put them in the pot you cooked the onion in. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. The meat should brown on the surface, while the inside should not cook completely.
Step 4. Stir in the seasonings and water, then bring to a boil
Pour 500ml of water into the pot, then add 120ml of soy sauce, 60ml of oyster sauce, 40g of sugar and 2 pieces of star anise. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Step 5. Turn down the heat and simmer for 1 hour
Lower the heat to simmer the liquid. If foam forms on the surface, you can remove it and throw it away with a spoon. Put a lid on the pot and simmer until the meat is completely tender. Allow about 1 hour.
Step 6. Shred the meat
Remove the cooked meat from the pot and let it cool slightly on a cutting board. Once it has cooled down enough that you can grab it without burning yourself, take 2 forks and fray it.
Step 7. Heat the frayed meat in the pot
Transfer the liquid from the pot to a measuring jug. Pour 120ml of liquid into the large saucepan. Then, take a small saucepan, pour 250ml of liquid into it and set it aside. Move the frayed meat to the large pot and set the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil.
Step 8. Dissolve the cornstarch and mix it with the meat
In a small bowl, whisk 10 g of cornstarch with the remaining 60 ml of liquid. Pour half of this mixture into the pot of meat and stir for 1 to 2 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly. Turn off the gas.
Step 9. Prepare the sauce for dipping the siopao
Place the small saucepan over the heat setting it to a moderate temperature and stir in the other half of the dissolved cornstarch. Continue cooking and stirring until the liquid comes to a boil and thickens. This should take 2 or 3 minutes.
The final product is the sauce in which to dip the siaopao
Part 3 of 4: Prepare the Bola Bola Filling
Step 1. Cook the quail eggs for 3 to 4 minutes
Fill a saucepan with about 5-8 cm of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Cook 5 quail eggs and lower the heat to simmer until firm. Cooking should take 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pot with a slotted spoon and shell them.
Set the eggs aside while you prepare the rest of the filling
Step 2. Cut the onion, garlic and carrot
Take a medium bowl. Peel half an onion and a carrot. Use a knife to finely chop the onion and chop a quantity of fresh garlic to obtain about 1 g. Put them in the bowl. You will also need to grate half a carrot inside.
Step 3. Add the ground beef and seasonings
Pour 230 g of ground pork into the bowl you mixed the vegetables in. Also add 3 g of salt, 0.5 g of ground pepper and 1 small beaten egg.
Step 4. Mix the ingredients and work them to form balls
Mix the meat and vegetables until smooth. Divide it among the 10 balls of dough and cut the hard-boiled eggs in half. Take a portion of meat and press half of the egg in the center. Wrap the meat around the egg until you have a ball. Repeat the process with each serving and set aside.
Part 4 of 4: Form the Sandwiches and Steam Them
Step 1. Roll out each ball of dough until you have a thin circle
Sprinkle a handful of flour on your work surface and place a ball of dough on it. Roll it out with a rolling pin until you get a very thin circle. Make it as fine as possible.
Step 2. Pour a tablespoon of filling in the center
Take some of the asado or bola bola filling with a cookie dispenser or spoon and place it in the center of the circle you formed with the dough.
Step 3. Gather the dough around the filling creating a spiral
Hold the dough with the topping in the palm of one hand and use the fingers of the other to grab one edge of the circle. Twist the edges of the circle and join them by bringing them towards the center of the bun. Squeeze and close the top (where the edges meet) tightly to make sure the filling stays inside the dough. Place the siopao on a square of wax paper. Repeat the process with each piece of dough.
Step 4. Let the filled rolls rise for 10 minutes
Place each single stuffed siopao on a baking sheet. Spread a damp cloth over the buns and let them rest for 10 minutes to let them rise slightly.
Step 5. Prepare the steamer
Take an electric or stove steamer, then fill the bottom with water (calculate about 5cm) and 30ml vinegar. Bring the water to a boil as you arrange the sandwiches, creating a single layer in the basket.
Step 6. Steam the buns for 15-20 minutes
Place the lid on the steamer and cook the asado-filled sandwiches for 15 minutes, and allow 20 minutes for the bola bola-based sandwiches. Make sure the filling is completely hot before removing them from the steamer and bringing them to the table. Serve them with the sauce you made.
