Hong Kong Style Baked Char Siu Bao

For the Char Siu

• 600g piece of pork neck/ shoulder
• ½ thumb-sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon five spice
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 2 teaspoons tomato paste or puree
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon Shao Xing rice wine
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 4 tablespoons honey

For the Bao

• 400g strong bread flour
• 25g butter
• 70g caster sugar
• 2g salt
• 7g fast fast-actionyeast
• 200g warm water (around 30-35°C)

Char Siu method

• Massage all of ‘The Marinade’ ingredients into the pork neck, cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for at least 1 hour or overnight for best results

• Place the meat on a tray, reserving some marinade for basting.

• Preheat the oven to 150°C and roast the pork for 1 – 1 ½ hours, turning once and basting with the marinade throughout the process.

• Chop the pork into small pieces and leave to cool

Bao method

• Measure out dry ingredients along with the butter into a dough mixer, and start to mix at a low speed.

• Gradually pour in the warm water, until all the flour has come off the edge of the mixer. Turn the speed up to a high speed and knead for 3-4 minutes until the dough forms, but is still a little tacky. Once happy with the texture, remove from the mixer and knead by hand for a minute or so before rolling into one large ball and placing back into the mixer. Rub 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil completely around the dough and then cover the mixing bowl with a clean damp tea towel.

• Allow to rise for 1-1.5 hours.

• Divide the dough into 6 balls. Use the School of Wok "pinch pinchy twisty twisty" method to shape the baos, pushing your thumb into the top of the ball, then twisting it around and pinching the dough together again, forming a smooth skin around the bao. Then roll out each one to a round disk. Fill the dough with 1tbsp of the cooled char siu filling then shape and seal the dough. Place the filled buns on to a baking tray, brush each bun with egg wash then cover with cling film. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Once hot - place the buns into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, checking after 15 minutes to see if they are golden brown. If they are, then remove from the oven.

• Best served warm.