SIOPAO

The February Daring Bakers’ challenge is hosted by Julie of One-Wall Kitchen. She challenged us to an easy, simple filled bun using no-knead dough.  I halved the recipe and decided to do a savory version using a spiced samosa filling.  The girls ended up eating half the filling by itself, before the dough even had a chance to rise!  The baked buns were delicious with a slight crunchy texture on the outside and soft on the inside.  They tasted delicious with some chutney!

{Siopao Dough and Siopao}

Servings: 12 large buns

{Ingredients}

 1/4 ounce (7 gm) (2 teaspoons) active dry yeast (1 packet )

1-1/2 cups (360 ml) warm water

1 tablespoon (15 ml) sugar

2 tablespoons (30 ml) melted butter

1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt

4 to 5 cups  (20 oz to 25 oz) (560 gm to 700 gm) all-purpose (plain) flour

1 egg for egg-wash for the buns

{Directions}

• Mix yeast, water, sugar, melted butter, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
• Slowly mix in flour until it's fully incorporated and you have a shaggy, very tacky dough, but not wet and sticky.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for up to an hour in warm place until doubled. While dough is rising, you can make your filling if you haven't already pre-made it to let it cool (see recipe below).
• Punch down dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Depending on how much flour you added, it will be somewhat tacky to pretty tacky. Fold it over several times and shape it into a smooth ball, then divide into 12 equal pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it intRoll each piece into a ball and flatten it into a disc about 6 inches (15 cm) wide.
• Place a heaping tablespoonful of filling into the center of the disc, wrap the dough around the filling, and firmly pinch it closed over the top of the filling.
• Place filled buns on a baking sheet and loosely cover them with plastic wrap. Let them rest for 1 hour. On the top sheet, you can see where a lot of my dough was too thin. Those were the first siopao I made, before I worked out the technique.
• Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
• Beat 1 egg in a small bowl for egg wash and brush on top of each bun. In the photo, you can see that I decided not to risk baking the busted siopao as freestanding buns, so I put them in a small oven-safe dish to bake up as a loaf.