Firstly the Lettuce Wrapped Chicken of which the full recipe is on my website (www.julesdinnertable.co.uk) under Main Dishes.
A mound of moist chopped chicken with carrots, spring onions, garlic, water chestnuts, mushrooms, ginger and bamboo shoots heaped onto crispy fried rice vermicelli noodles. Ready to be put into cups of crisp iceberg lettuce with a spoon of plum sauce (or hoisin as I used this particular time). You just pile it in, roll it up and eat!
The other dish was BBQ Pork Char Sui Bao (or Char Sui Buns) which is a steamed dim sum dish of white fluffy dough with a filling of BBQ pork (I heard them called 'clouds' recently). The filling is very quick and simple, but you do need the time to made the dough.
Ingredients: (Makes 24)
For the dough:
1 tsp (7g) dried yeast
1 tsp. caster sugar
4 tbsp. plain flour
4 tbsp. warm water
200g plain flour
110ml warm water
1/4 tsp.salt
2 tbsp. caster sugar
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
24 baking paper cut into 4x4cm squares
Method:
Mix together the yeast, 1 tsp. sugar, 4 tbsp. flour and 4 tbsp. warm water. Mix well and leave to stand for 30 mins.
Then combine the yeast mix with the 200g flour, salt, warm water, sugar and oil. Knead until smooth and leave to prove for at least 2 hours.
Punch down the dough and cut in half - put one half in cling film as you work with the other. Make into a sausage shape and cut into twelve equal pieces. Roll into a ball and set on a small square of baking paper while you make the filling.
For the filling:
240g pork tenderloin
6 tbsp. (any type) Chinese BBQ sauce
2 shallots, chopped finely
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. caster sugar
4 tbsp. chicken stock
Method:
Set the oven to 200 C. Pan fry the pork tenderloin to seal and then pop in the oven for approx. 20 mins until cooked through, but still moist. Leave to cool and then chop finely. Put into a bowl and add the remaining ingredients.
To assemble, get one of the dough balls and roll into a circle. Put a heaped tsp. of the filling in the centre of the circle and bring together the sides. Twist to ensure sealed and put seam side down back on the small square of baking paper. Continue until all the dough has been used. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Either in a steamer or a wire rack over boiling water, place as many buns as are comfortable into the steamer, but not touching. Steam for 15 minutes and continue until all the pork buns are cooked.
Inside the fluffy white dough will be a steaming hot and sticky BBQ pork which is melt in the mouth. Enjoy!
