My mother-in-law recently visited us here in uk and wanted to make kuih koci - a traditional malay dessert, but I did not have a steamer. So when she went to Asda, she got me one. Now that I have a steamer, I have no reason not to make 'steamed food'.


The thing with Pau, or also known as steamed buns, is that I have always thought that it requires a special type of flour. And it does!

But there is definately no reason to try other wise. Instead of using Hong Kong Flour (i have no idea what the difference is to tell you the truth), i used plain white flour. Guess what! It turned out anyway. although it didn't turn out as white as the usual Pau's sold in shops, it was still soft and fluffy.


Ingredients:
For the Dough:
240g Hong Kong Flour (here i used plain white flour)
1 tsp baking powder
25g vegetable fat (I used vegetable oil)
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
100mls warm water
30g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vineger

Method:

1. sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the yeast and salt and mix. add in the vegetable fat and rub together until it resembles bread crumbs.
2. in a seperate bowl, mix together water, sugar and vinegar and mix until combined.
3. turn on the mixer (using a dough hook) and slowly add the water mixture. continue mixing until it binds forms a soft dough ball.
4. remove from mixer and knead for a short while by hand. place in a greased bowl and allow to rise until double the original size. once risen, punch down to remove air and devide into 10 small balls (approx- 40gm each). knead into balls and flatten on palm. (although here i rolled out the balls into flat circles because it was easier to gather later on)
5. fill with 1-2 tbspn of filling and gather the edges, reforming a well shaped ball.
6. place on a greaseproof paper square and allow to rest for 20-30min. mean while, prepare the steamer to ensure it is very hot before steaming the buns.
7. steam the buns for approximately 12 minute.