Meat Filled buns

One of my favorite things is meat filled buns. Particularly bbq pork buns. there is such a fullfullment to know you can make your own bread. It's not the easiest thing to do. (because you really have to invest the time to wait for the dough to rise) but smelling them coming out of the oven and seeing them all golden is heaven!!!

you'll need:

2 tsp instant yeast  (if you are buying packets, 1 packet is 2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/8 cup water
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour sifted (reserve 3/4 cup.. for adding to batter gradually)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup butter (1/3 of 1 225gram block)

egg wash (1 beaten egg)

filling

1. dissolve yeast in warm water. it should NOT be too cold or too hot or your yeast will die. If you have a thermometer, it should read 110C (lukewarm if you put your finger in it). set aside (about 5-8 mins) till it becomes bubbly

the yeast below has bubbled.. sign that you are good to go

2. mix 3 3/4 cup flour, sugar and salt in a separate bowl. when your yeast is ready, pour the flour mixture in. Use a dough hook (see picture) and mix at medium speed. add the eggs, butter and milk and mix again. If your dough is wet, add more of the reserved flour. By this time, your dough should be coming together to form something like a ball (left right picture)-- if it looks too wet, you can add flour 1 tbsp at a time

3. after about 5 minutes, the dough should be a little sticky but not dry. take it out of the  bowl and form into a ball. Oil the same bowl with a little oil (to save on washing a new bowl) and put back the dough. Cover with a wet towel and let rest until doubled in size (30 mins- 1 hour ). TIP: you can shorten the time by making a proofing area in your oven. take a bowl, fill with boiling water and put inside your oven. put the bowl with the dough beside it and close the door. check after 30 mins

doubled in size

4. punch down the dough and divide into 4 (for better handling). divide the 1/4 into sections and form into balls. (flour the work surface) using your hands or a small rolling pin, flatten it and put in your filling. (I ad leftover chicken adobo- taken off the bone and flaked/chopped). fold the sides and twist to seal.

5. put the sealed side down on a prepared pan (sprayed with pam or greased with butter/margarine). cover with wet towel and let rise again (30mins- 1 hour)

5. preheat oven 350F or 180C. when your dough has risen, brush with egg wash and bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until golden

finished product

asado filling

You can actually put any filling you want. left over corned beef, bbq pork, ham and cheese. The possibilities are endless. Doing bread takes practice and patience. But the smell of it baking is something so wonderful to experience.

The rolls stay good room temperature for about 2 days. They are fluffy and soft. You can also actually make this without any filling at all. You can also opt to halve the recipe just to try it out at first because these make quite a lot of buns (unfilled)

The recipe is adapted from the Goldilocks cookbook (the proportions I found as per the cookbook, turned out a very wet dough -- something that would not form into a ball at all)

also, if you don't have a mixer with a dough hook, it would really take you quite some time mixing this to get to a solid dough. Maybe 10 minutes hand kneading. (knead it inside the bowl)

Hope you try this! enjoy!!!