Steamed Buns with Pork

Ingredients:

2 tsp melted lard
12 oz. flour (flour for bread and for cake mixed in the proportion of 3 to 2)
2 tsp dry yeast
1 tsp baking powder

Ingredients for filling:

½ lb pork flank

Seasoning for filling:

2 tbsp sweet soy bean sauce
1 tsp hoisin sauce
1/3 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ tsp MSG
½ cup green top of scallion, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
½ cup chicken stock

Cooking methods:

1. To prepare the dough. Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the lard and yeast dissolved into ½ cup of like warm water (86°F) and mix well. When the stiff dough is formed, place in a bowl, cover with a dampened cloth and set in a warm place (104°F) for 3 to 4 hours during the summer and a day during the winter.

2. To make the filling. Dice the pork into ¼” pieces and place in a bowl. Add the seasonings except for scallion, ginger and chicken stock and mix well until it becomes sticky. Pour in the soup little by little. Since the mixture becomes too soft to handle right away, cool it in the refrigerator for a while.

3. To make the buns. When the dough becomes fermented, place on a board and add the baking powder. Knead well buy pressing it down, pushing it forward, then turning it back on itself until it becomes as stiff as your earlobe. Flour the board and roll it into a cylinder of 1-1/8” in diameter. Slice the cylinder into ¾ inch thick rounds. Flour the board. Flatten each piece with the palm of your hand and roll it with a rolling pin into a disc 2 ¾ inch in diameter, making the center mound up a bit.

4. To wrap the filling. Hold a round in your left hand. Scoop the filling with a knife and place it on the center of the round, leaving 1/4 inch from the edge. Gather the sides of the round up around filling with your right hand, the folds meeting at the top.

5. To steam. Coat the bottom of a steamer with cooking oil and arrange the buns. Steam for 10 to 12 minutes over high heat. The buns should absorb the liquid of the pork mixture, making the filling somewhat smaller.