Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for "It's Delicious")

Siopao Asado

Siopao is a Hokkien term for baozi which means steamed buns. In Thailand it is called salapao and in Philippines its called siopao.  It is a very popular street food in Philippines which was definitely influenced by the Chinese.  There are a lot of variants of these wonderful steamed buns and the most common one is the char siu bao (barbecued pork).  In the Philippines the most common one is the Asado Siopao (Sweet Pork), Chicken Pao (Minced Chicken), Bola Bola (Minced Meat) and the special Siopao (mixed meats with duck eggs), for vegetable lovers there are also options like cuapao (Meat with Vegetables) and something like this delicious gourmet pao from Munchy Crunchy’s Blog.  But Pao’s are not limited to savoury types there are also the sweet types like the mung bean paste steamed buns and lotus seed steamed buns.

I love siopao and I can eat this every day, I remember when I was a child I always ask my mom to buy me some siopao after her work which she indeed almost every day.  I guess it’s not just me but most of the kids in the Philippines do like this, I am saying that because it’s common to moms in the Philippines to tell their children that the meat in this delicious treat is made out of stray cats meat so they would avoid asking for it.  This was the equivalent of hamburger during my time, when McDonald’s haven’t dominated the streets of Manila yet.

I miss siopao specially the Kowloon House Jumbo pao which consists of mixed meats (Chicken, Pork and Beef), Chinese sausage and salted duck egg, I can say this was the best siopao I had ever tried and to prove it to my taste buds ,when I used to stay in Hong Kong, I tried a lot of different type of steamed buns almost every day, I know they have great steamed buns there but still I crave for the Kowloon House Jumbo pao.  Well this recipe is not for that type of steamed bun, as I had tried doing it before and I failed so I will opt in for a simpler version which is called Asado Siopao.  The filling is nearly similar the pulled pork but the sauce is Asian inspired.   A bit time consuming to make but it is definitely worth the effort and wait.

Ingredients (Bun)

6 cups flour
1 pkt active dry yeast (that’s equivalent to 2 1/4 tsp)
6 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup white sugar
2 tsp cooking oil
1 cup lukewarm water

Ingredients (Filling)

3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1/3 cup water
4 cloves garlic, minced
700g cubed pork loin
2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
2 cups pork stock
salt

Method

1. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl then set aside.
2. Get another bowl and dissolve yeast in lukewarm water then add 1 cup of the flour mixture on step 1, Mix thoroughly then cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for 1 hour.
3. On another bowl, dissolve the white sugar in the boiling water.  Stir well and make sure everything is dissolves then let it cool.
4. Pour into the yeast mixture together with the rest of the prepared flour mixture.  Mix well.
5. On a floured board, knead the flour mixture for 3 minutes until it has a smooth texture.
6. Place ball into a greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth.  Let it rise for 2 hours until it doubles in size.  (Note: you have to turn the dough once on the first hour)
7. On a pan add oil and sauté garlic then add pork, stir fry pork for 3 minutes.
8. Add pork stock, light soy sauce, brown sugar, oyster sauce, salt, hoisin sauce and 5 spice powder.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat breaks apart, mixing occasionally to prevent burning, add additional water if needed.  Let it cool then set aside.  If you need the sauce to be thickened you can add the dissolved cornstarch mixture and simmer further until sauce is thick.
9. Going back to the dough, remove from the bowl and knead again for 3 to 5 minutes in a floured board.
10. Divide the dough into 24 pieces then rolls each piece into a ball using your hands then flattening it to make a circle shaped dough.
11. Add meat mixture in the middle, and then gather sides of round pinch together and twist.
12. Now get some parchment paper, then place the siopao pinched side down.
13. Place into steamer container, cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 1 hour.
14. Steam Siopao for 20-25 minutes.