Steamed Pork Buns and stuff

I cannot believe I have never attempted to make these before. I have seen these on numerous sites and in restaurants but never thought twice about them. I have cooked these twice in the past two weeks. The first time was more of a tryout to see what I could do with them. Now that I "think" I have mastered the basic technique I can play around with the recipe some more. I guess what originally piqued my interest was hearing about the pork buns they serve at Momofuku Ssam Bar. Funny enough between the two tastings ,Octobers issue of Gourmet featured the very recipe(not online yet) which is much different than what I did. I am happy with the way they turned out and once you prep all the ingredients it is really an easy dish to pull off. You can also freeze the un-steamed buns in advance. I followed this recipe pretty closely except for the sauce seasonings. For the sauce I made a chinese style BBQ sauce consisting of tomato paste, thick soy sauce,hoison sauce, sriracha chili sauce,garlic, one beer and salt and pepper. I also added diced sauteed zucchini to the buns as well.

You can find the original steamed pork bun recipe here

For appetizers and general menu accompaniment I had recently read about some out there recipes that looked like they would go well with the pork buns. The first is a edamame appetizer that is sprinkled with a smoky tea salt. I read about this recipe in a recent food and wine article ( actually Jan 2006). All you do is steam the unshelled edamame in the microwave for 5 minutes, drain the water they produce and combine them with a little olive oil and the salt mixture. Instant hit :) Now I could not find the exact tea the recipe called for so I used a black chai mixture instead.

The other recipe I did was from the Star Chefs website. I found it a couple of months ago and seemed the most accessible out of the collection. Smoked pears with wasabi and black salt. The only thing I would have done different is to use a drier end product of wasabi as the paste I used was a little overpowering for the pears and the black salt. Even though the wasabi was strong these were a real crowd pleaser and the flavors worked well together.

Oh and one of the pictures shows what happens when you take your child to Petco on a Saturday.

Comments

[Deborah Dowd]

Wow, I love the slide show format! And all the dishes look and sound delicious. I have never made steamed buns (with six kids its usually my buns that are getting steamed!), but have wanted to try them. As for the Petco aftermath... I am not sure which is cuter the boy or his dog!

[Rhea]

I grew up kosher. But it's recipes like this that make me glad I eat pork today.

[Rhea]

I grew up kosher. But it's recipes like this that make me glad I eat pork today.

[chadzilla]

I just made the steam buns also. It's curious that they do not come out looking like Chang's steam buns which appear very smooth and were actually very light with no chewiness. The ones I made from the recipe came out looking more like the Gourmet picture at the end of the magazine which I assume was made in their test kitchen... so I am assured that I duplicated the recipe accurately. Still good, but rougher looking and a bit more chewy. I reserved half of the dough in the fridge for a day, and they were much more tender after sitting the extra time. I made plain steam buns, the oval ones he made, and a version of Vietnames banh bao with duck, chinese sausage, and boiled egg. Not bad.
I have Fabian's recipe for the olive oil cake and will post it in a couple of days for you.