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Chicken bao pie
Serves 6
More effort
Prep:
Cook:
plus rising, cooling and resting
These stuffed ‘chicken pie’ bao buns are packed full of flavour. Serve with an extra drizzle of chilli oil, if you like things spicy.
Skip to ingredients
For the dough
- 300g plain flour
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tbsp dried fast action yeast
For the filling
- ½ tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 2 garlic clovescrushed
- 250g chicken mince
- 50g yellow bean sauce
- 35g hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp chilli oil
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
To serve
- Chilli oil
- Finely sliced spring onions
Method
step 1
For the dough, put all the dough ingredients in a bowl along with 3/4 tsp salt and 165ml warm water and mix together to form a shaggy dough. Tip onto a surface and knead for 15-20mins until completely smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover, and leave to rise in a warm place for 20 mins.
step 2
Meanwhile, for the filling, heat oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the onion and garlic for 7-8 mins, until softened. In a bowl combine the rest of the filling ingredients and mix well. Add the mix to the pan cook for about 15 mins until the chicken is cooked through. Leave to cool completely.
step 3
After the dough has been rising for 20 mins, tip out of the bowl and knead again for 5 mins. Return to the bowl, cover and leave to rise again for another 20 mins. Once ready the dough should have increased in size and be springy to the touch.
step 4
Cut the dough in to 12 portions and gently shape each piece into a ball. Leave the balls on a plate, covered with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out. Using the palm of your hand, squash a dough ball to form a disk, and roll from the middle out, turning the disk with each roll, until a circle has formed. The dough will fluff up when cooked so doesn’t need to be too thick, but you also don't want to go too thin and risk holes. We made them about the size of your palm, roughly 8.5cm. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
step 5
To fill the pies, hold a dough disk in your hand, and place a generous portion of the filling in the middle. Place a second disk on top and pleat the edges together to hold the filling in. Place into the steamer (make sure there are cut pieces of baking parchment under each one to avoid it sticking). Repeat until all the buns are assembled.
step 6
Place the steamer with the buns over a pan of warm water (not boiling) and leave to rise (off the heat) for another 10 mins.
step 7
Put the pan over a medium heat and simmer the buns for 10 mins. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the buns to rest for 2-3 mins (still in the steamer).
step 8
To finish, you can lightly fry the pies on one or both sides in a dry, non-stick frying pan to add a little golden crisp. Serve with spring onions, chilli oil or a sauce of your choice.
