steamed buns

If you’ve been following me the last few days, you know that I began the week making pork belly and took almost an entire day to make steamed buns. I also celebrated my daughters first birthday and, moments ago, watched her take her first steps. It’s been a week!

And what better way to cap it off than by eating the mother of all meals: Momofuku pork buns. Worth the days of prep and the hours of cooking? How do you say HECK YES in Momofuku?

I’ll show you how to put these little lovelies together and make Chang’s recommended accouterment: quick pickled cucumbers. Ready?

Grab a cucumber. Chang recommends Kirby’s (pickling cucumbers) which aren’t in season right now. So I used a regular one.

Slice thinly.

There are few veggies I love more than cucumber. And cucumber water on a hot summer day? Perfection.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar mixed with one tablespoon kosher salt…

…and mix together. Cover and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes or up to…whenever. I found that they only got better as the days went by. Chang says that if they taste too strong you can rinse and pat dry.

To assemble, re-steam the buns for a minute to re-heat and pan-fry slices of pork belly to warm. Spread a little hoisin sauce on the inside of the bun and…

…melt. Just melt.

There have been few things that I have made from a cookbook that have tasted this amazing. The pork is rich with a touch of sweetness, the cucumbers crisp and salty, the buns soft and sweet, and the hoisin tied it all together with a pretty hoisin bow.

I encourage you, nay, I plead you: make these soon. The pork is super easy, and the buns you can buy at a local asian grocer instead of taking all day to make them. Husband, who is not one to go ga-ga over food without a dang good reason, called these things “one of the best things I have ever eaten.” And he’s a tougher critic than I am.

Have a fantastic weekend! I’m off to scribble down my little walker’s feats in her baby book.

-RDG

On monday I told you about my religious pork experience. It was heavenly. It was sweet and salty and fatty and insanely scrumptious. But it was naked.

Until I made these little puppies to stuff the pork into. Using David Chang’s Momofuku steamed bun recipe, I embarked on a journey. A journey to make homemade steamed buns. And it was a long one.

And fair warning—this may be the world’s longest post because this is one of the world’s longest recipes. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and marvel and how freaking long it took me to make these suckers.

It started with a bowlful of crazy measurements: 4 1/4 cups bread flour, 6 tablespoons sugar, 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 cup vegetable shortening.

I then stuck the dough hook on my mixer…

And dumped in 1 1/2 cups of room temperature water and 1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon active dry yeast.

For some reason it always creeps me out that yeast floats. And that it’s alive. And could eat me.

Next, Chang told me to dump in the bowl of dry ingredients and start mixing. And when Chang tells you to do something, you do it.

Keep the mixer on low for about 10 minutes. The dough will begin to clump…

…then to form a ball…

…and finally, it will form a big ‘ol mass that is weirdly not sticky.

Turn the dough into a greased bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, and stick in a warm place for a little over an hour or until doubled in size.

Never underestimate the importance of a warm place when you need something to rise. Seriously.

Doubled! Punch it down and turn it out onto a clean cutting board.

Slice in half…

…and then cut each half into 5 (roughly equal) pieces.

Roll each piece out…

…and then slice that piece into 5 pieces.

If you’re any good with numbers at all then you just figured out that this recipe makes 50 buns. Yep. 50. Five. Zero.

Roll each piece into a little ball…

…and place them on a baking sheet.

On the bright side, after all of your hard work you now have a small army of dough balls that will always have your back. They excel at street fighting, shanking and parkour. Don’t ask me where they learned it.

Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut out 50 squares of parchment paper and grab a chopstick,

a rolling pin, and some more shortening.

After the half hour is up, you now have a stronger and more robust dough ball army.

Grab one of your little soldiers…

…and smash him down with your palm.

Grab your rolling pin and roll that little puppy out until it’s about 4 inches long.

Grease your chopstick with the shortening, lay it in the middle of the dough oval…

…and fold over.

Place the bun on a parchment square and remove the chopstick.

Eventually I got into assembly-line mode and rolled three at once.

It still took forever.

But it was a little fun sticking the chopstick into the shortening. I found it helpful to grease it often so nothing stuck.

After you’ve rolled all 50, cover and let them rest for 30-45 minutes.

Ready to steam? Woo hoo! Almost done! I just used my veggie steamer, since I don’t own any other kind. Place a few in the steamer, cover tightly, and steam for 10 minutes.

If you’re doing 5 at a time, it will only take you about two hours. No biggie.

Pouf. Steamed buns.

Let them cool a while before storing in an airtight container or freezing.

Or, if you’re going to eat them right away, they’re ready to go.

They were, for the record, worth the day-long prep time. They were soft, chewy, moist, and completely yummy.

Will I make them again?

Umm…probably not. I’m so glad that I did, but they were a little too labor intensive for a lazy gal like me. Plus, a little bird told me that you can buy them here.