Hello and Nyob Zoo Foodies!

STEAM BUNS! One of my guilty pleasure because one is never enough! 🙂  There’s so many ways to make steam buns and so many versions all over the world. Today, I’ll be showing you how I like to eat steam buns and the filling I enjoy making. In Hmong, we like to call these Kas Las Paus or in Laotian, Galabao. A great snack or appetizer for a party, picnic, road trips, and so many other events. Instead of the yeasted dough you may see a lot of people making, I’ll be doing a baking powder bun version since I like the fluffiness and rise of the dough when it comes out of the steamer. The textures also goes well with the filling. The filling is going to be chicken instead of pork since it’s a lot lighter. But you can make it with whatever protein you like. As long as you get the bun down, you can go crazy what your filling flavor. The steam buns I grew up eating had pork filling with a slice of Chinese sausage and hard boil egg. I love Chinese sausage, so instead of adding a slice of Chinese sausage, I’ll be chopping the sausage into small bits and adding into the filling so you get a bite of it in each bite. YUM! I won’t be adding hard boil eggs since I’m not a big fan of it. But you have the option to do so. I think this version is super easy and super delicious. So give it a try and see if this version is to your liking. What do you like in your steam bun?

Happy Cooking! 🙂

-Main Ingredients-

Buns

Unbleached All-Purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, and milk.

I like to use a 1:1 ratio of AP flour and cake flour. Cake flour is great since it’s low in protein; meaning it has less gluten. It will help create a soft bun. AP flour is added in to help create a little gluten so that we have structure to work with when we will it in. If you decide to use just all cake flour in this recipe, the bun will remain super soft, but it may be hard to work and fold in the dough since there isn’t much structure. Cake flour has a unique taste since its bleached. I’m not fond of the taste so I don’t prefer to make steam buns with all cake flour. AP flour helps balance the flavor and structure.
Mixing the dough Portioning the dough into 12 equal balls

Rolling each portions: Make the center of the dough is a little thicker to balance out the thickness on the top. You can see a little indentation in the center here:
Making the filling  Fill, fold, and ready to steam Steam Serve YUM!

ENJOY!

-CHawjCreations

Steamed Buns: Kas Las Paus (Galabao)-[Non-Yeasted Version]-

Serves: 12 Prep Time: 20-30 minutes Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes 25-30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

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Ingredients

• ---BUNS---
• 2 cups unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 2 cups cake flour
• 2 Tbsp double acting baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cups sugar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 ⅓ cups milk
• ---FILLING---
• 1.5 lbs ground up chicken thigh
• 1/2 cup wood-ear shroom (chopped)
• 6 Chinese style sausages (chopped) [use less or more depends on you]
• 8 shiitake mushroom (chopped) [use less or more depends on you]
• 1 onion (diced)
• 1 cup green onions or garlic chives (chopped)
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp soy
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp white pepper (you can use add another tsp of black pepper if you don't have white pepper)
• ---MISC---
• 12 small square parchment paper
• Steamer

Instructions

1) BUNS

• In a mixing bowl, add in the all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix well. Then add in the milk and oil. Knead for at least 5 minutes. You can knead with your hands or use a dough mixer. Once knead, cover with plastic wrap and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. The longer the more relax the dough will be, which will be easier to work with. In the mean time, make the filling.

2) CHICKEN FILLING

• MUSHROOMS: If you are using dried wood-ear shroom and shiitake, soak them in hot water for 30 minutes before using them. After blooming them, drain the water and rinse the shrooms well. Chop them to your liking and set aside.
• In a bowl, add in the ground chicken thigh, chopped Chinese sausages, onion, green onions, shrooms, and all the seasonings. Mix well and set aside.

3) CUT PARCHMENT PAPER INTO 12 SMALL SQUARES & SET ASIDE

4) FOLDING & STEAMING

• After resting the dough for 20-30 minutes, separate the dough into 12 equal portions ( if using a scale, each portions should weigh about 3.3 - 3.4 oz).  Put some flour on the board so the dough doesn't stick when rolling it out. Roll out each ball big enough to be able to fold and cover the filling. When rolling the dough, make sure the middle part is thicker than the outer parts. Roll the outer parts a little bit thinner so you can be able to cover the filling and allow the bottom to be thick enough to support the filling. Since we're folding most of the outer part of the dough to the center, it's best to have it be thinner so when it meets, it will even out in thickness with the bottom thickness.
• Scoop filling (just enough for you to be able to fold the dough to cover) into the center of the dough and crimp the sides around the filling until all the dough covers the filling. Seal the top and then place it on the square parchment paper. Repeat until all the buns are filled.
• Set up your steamer and steam the buns. Steam for at least 30 minutes or until the filling is cooked (internal temperature should be around 165-170' F). Take it out of the steamer and let it rest for a good 10 minutes before enjoying it. Steam buns are best fresh and hot.

-CHawjCreations

Notes

You can wrap each buns in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for 3 days or stick it in the freezer for a good 3 months. Re-steam the buns to warm it back up. Filling can be made with pork instead of chicken.