Page 12 - Cooking away from China - Cookbook by Catherine Liu

Pizza dough

shallow-fried buns

Scheng Gian Bao

This is going to take a little bit of effort and patience, but you will
find everything worths it from the moment your kitchen is filled
with all the aroma.
It's not as difficult as you might imagine, in fact not at all! All the
tricks lie in the preparation, but it is quite fun to make, and you
will be rewarded with an extra sense of achievement too.
Light up your day with these tiny cute buns!

Shanghai cuisine 1 pan & 1 bowl 60 minutes pan-frying

What to Prepare How to Make It

250g pork/beef mince 1. Let's begin with our filling. Trim and dice the spring
1 pizza dough 2. onions, plus corianders for the beef.
Place the minced meat into a bowl, beat the egg into
1 egg the bowl, add soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, ginger
oil and garlic and stir until mixed well.

water 3. Stir in the diced spring onions (reserve some for
sprinkling) and corianders and drizzle sesame oil - I
2 tbsp light soy sauce always love this step - just breathe in all the aroma at

1 tbsp oyster sauce that moment!
1 tbsp sesame oil 4. Now deal with the pizza dough. On a large cutting

black pepper board, sprinkle some cornflour, spread all over the
board with a hand and pave the dough.
ginger poweder 5. Roll the dough with a rolling pin or anything in a
garlic powder cylinder shape (I use the soy sauce bottle!), starting

1 bunch of spring onions from the center, press and push the dough with your
tool to the margin to thin it - the thinner, the easier it
1 bunch of coriander (for will be cooked. Just don't go too far, otherwise your

beef) filling might spill before you cook them.
cornflour (to roll the 6. When you feel like moving on, use anything in a circle
shape (such as a can or jam bottle as mine) to press
dough) and make dumpling (or shall I call it bun) wrappers.
7. To wrap a bun - use one hand to pick up one wrapper,

My final words place it on your palm, with the other hand, spoon a few
filling to apply to the center of the wrapper, and wrap
Don't be afraid to stretch the rim of the it! Never mind the shape, the taste matters!
wrapper if you are not confident it is large
enough to wrap your fillings - the dough is 8. Put a non-stick pan to a medium-high, add oil and
actually quite flexible (see my photo on the gently place the cuties on the pan, let fry for 2 minutes.
next page)! 9. Add water to just cover one-third of the buns, reduce
However - not to discourage you - but don't fire to a medium, cover with a lid, or just the cutting
apply too many filling for the first few buns. board like I do, and let fry for 8 minutes - in fact, if
Never overestimate your wrapping skill, their skins are thin enough, 5 minutes might suffice -
especially if it's the first time you make it.
Besides, the filling would never be enough if they are too small to be fried for any longer!
you fill too much at the beginning! 10. Open the pan-cover, sprinkle the reserved spring
Alternatively, try and add some cornflour into onions and re-cover to fry for a last 2 minutes until the
the water before adding to the pan. You will be water is drained.
surprised by the golden skin at the bottom! 11. The last thing is to enjoy!

12 A Taste of the Home Country