Home made cha siu bao with MP

It seems appropriate to begin this journey with a home made attempt. I take absolutely no credit for this effort - apart from being number one taster.

First the pork neck is given the treatment.

The neck

The recipe - thank you Gourmet Traveller.

The surgeon begins

We need several long 2cm-thick pieces. Then stab it a few times to let the marinade soak in.

The red fermented dofu paste

...pungent...

The red fermented bean curd is smooshed together and combined in a bowl with hoisin sauce, honey, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, five-spice powder and a large pinch of white pepper.

the other ingrediments

a good dollop of hoisin

into the ziplock baggie with the meat 

The whole thing now goes into a ziplock bag and into the fridge for a couple of days.

Into the oven for an hour and a half...

ohh baby - lookin' good!

The final product was completely awesome. We have eaten it in stirfrys and on its own...but of course it is also the central plank of the cha siu bao.

Now to the BAO...

The main event - the bāozi....

The nomtastic cha siu is now encased in lovingly crafted dough and steamed to perfection.

MP 'cheated' just a little - she made the dough with a (gasp) packet mix.

A quick perusal of the ingredient list on the packet quickly discloses that this is still the real deal. so corner cutting is forgiven in the interests of expediently getting the bao into the plate...

portion out the dough

craft into discs of dough

envelope the delicious filling 

begin the tricky folding manoeuvre

...carefully...

...almost there...

ready for steaming

off we go...

TA DAAAAAA - the finished product

...and the verdict? hěnhǎo chī 很好吃 thơm ngon ...delicious.

Proof is in the tasting - mmmmmmm baotastic!  We're off to a great start!

However - will these be the best? Let's make our way hither and yon - I'll be the judge of that...