Afternoon Tea ~ 喝下午茶 ^^

Bao Ingredients:

500g Bao flour

11g instant yeast

100g castor sugar

50g Crisco shortening

250g water

Filling:

3 chicken whole thigh, debone

1 tbsp chopped garlic

some oil

Marinade:

4 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp abalone sauce

Prepare Filling:

1) To prepare the Marinade, Combine dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, pepper, sugar, sesame oil and abalone sauce in a bowl and set aside.

2) Marinate chicken in mixture for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator.

3) Drain the meat and reserved the Marinade. Use a thick bottom sauce pan without oil pan fry the chicken till it is cooked. It maybe a little burnt but that is fine. Leave cooked chicken cool a little before cutting chicken into bite-sized pieces, set aside.

4) Meanwhile, place the chopped garlic in a wok with a little oil, fry a while and pour in the Marinade and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-5 mintues. Lastly pour in a little corn starch (1/2 tbsp corn flour add 1 tbsp water) to thicken the sauce.

5) Mix the Sauce with the chicken, stirring until all are well mixed.

Prepare for the bao Skin:

1) Mix all the bao ingredients in a mixing bowl, then knead the dough with hand for 10-15 mintues or (If you are using a breadmachine, mix all until it is smooth and extensible, approximately 20 minutes.

2) Take out the dough, scale the dough at 35g each, round it and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes.

3)Flatten the dough(the centre of the dough have to be thicker then the side, so that when you wrap in the filling, the bao will not be too thin at the bottom) and place the filling at the centre of the dough. Wrap up the filling by folding the edge of the dough with desired design. Place each wrapped dough on a small piece of round or square parchment paper.

4) Cover the bao(wrapped dough) with a piece of dry cloth and allow it to rise(proof) for 15-20minutes.

5) Lined the steaming rack with a piece of wet cloth, place all the bao on the lined rack and steam in rolling boil water for 10-12minutes.

Note: You may not be able to place all the bao all at once in the steaming rack, so you can divide them into batches. But, do remember, not to proof the bao for too long or it will not be spongy and soft.