Baked Chicken Buns

We have some family that came over from the U.K. and today, along with my Mom, went on a road trip to Canada. A whole day of driving and filling up on junk fast food isn't the way to go so we decided to make a hearty snack for them to munch on. Well, from the last update, all the buns were gone before they even crossed over to Virginia. Note to us: double the recipe for the next road trip.

Growing up, one of my favorite snacks were steamed buns called Siopao which is basically the cousin of the Chinese Dim Sum staple, Char Siu Bao. This one is the baked version of this delicious snack. The steamed buns are usually stuffed with a savory sweet pork braise but the request from mom was to make it with chicken so that's what we did. These buns turned out great and the best part is that the recipe for the stuffing can be as versatile as you want it to be. Omit some of the ingredients you don't want and substitute ones that you love.

Baked Chicken Buns

Click below for the Sesame Buns Recipe

Sesame Buns Recipe

Chicken filling Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast boiled and shredded
1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots parboiled
1/2 cup diced russet potato parboiled
1/4 cup raisins
3 cloves garlic minced
3 tbsp Oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
pepper to taste

Procedure
-sweat the garlic then add the chicken, peas and carrots, potatoes and raisins and saute for 5 minutes or until the chicken has a bit of color
-add the rice wine, soy sauce and Oyster sauce and pepper then saute for another 5 minutes then transfer to a tray to cool the mixture for stuffing

-following the instructions for the buns, once the dough has been kneaded and has rested for 10 minutes, divide the dough in to 12 equal pieces stuff them each with about 2 tbsp of the Chicken filling. Pinch the bottom of the dough to seal in the filling.
-once they are all stuffed, place them each in a cupcake liner and proof until the dough has doubled in size. about 45 minutes to 1 hour
-preheat oven to 375 then egg wash the tops of the buns and bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until golden brown.

                         


Enjoy!

Beef Tapa Sliders with sauteed Baby Bellas and onions with Sriracha Aioli

As often as I find myself trolling aisles of the supermarket, every time I look at the meat section, I get sticker shock looking at beef prices. The price alone can make you start thinking about being a vegetarian... or at least eat a whole lot more chicken. We all love working with the sexy and exotic ingredients, but realistically, lots of people will be filling their carts with the family packs of chicken thighs, pork shoulder or beef chuck. Fortunately, along with being the less expensive cuts of meat, they're also packed with flavor. We just have to be creative in working with them. I would love to use Wagyu brisket to make these sliders but for all intents and purposes, $4.99 per pound Chuck steak will work for us working class folk. :)

Steak Sliders with sauteed Baby Bellas and onions topped with Sriracha Aioli 

1 lb Chuck steak sliced thin

3 cloves garlic minced

3 Calamansi or 1 lime

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp brown sugar

pinch of black pepper

marinate the meat for at least an hour

1 cup Baby Bellas or Button mushrooms sliced thin

1 yellow onion sliced thin

saute and set aside

Sriracha Aioli

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1-2 tbsp of Sriracha 

1 tsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of honey

1 tbsp green onions sliced very thin

Sesame Bun Recipe

*a very sharp knife and cutting against the grain is the way to go

*make sure that the pan is very hot when you cook the beef. cook to your desired temp, although well done and with nice caramelization is the way to go.