Chicken Dumpling (鸡肉包)
We eat these on a daily basis in Singapore. It is sold literally everywhere. When I was teaching in SMU, I used to arrange my classes back to back, in that I taught continuously for six hours with just a 15 minutes’ break in between. On days I did not pack a lunch, my students would buy me a bao. I don’t like to buy chicken bao from the stalls because I feel that they are low quality. But at home, it is simply great.
I use only the thigh meat, and I cook it like a pork bun. Since we don’t eat pork these days, I have made the chicken bao in the way I like my pork bao. You cannot really tell if this is chicken or pork. I mince the chicken from thigh filet meat in a blender.
Recipe
Chicken Dumpling
- Prep
- 0 min
- Cook
- 0 min
- Total
- 0 min
- Serves
- 0
Ingredients
Dumpling skin (everything must be white, except the yeast)
- 400 gHong Kong Flour
- 40 gCorn Flour
- 1 gSalt
- 60 gsugar
- 1/4 teaspoonof baking powder
- 20 gvegetable shortening or coconut oil, white-translucent in color - can omit
- 190 mlwarm water at 40C
- 7 gInstant yeast
Filing
- 400 gChicken thigh meat, minced in blender, Thermomix #6 for 20seconds, reverse #2 for 2 minutes
- 2stalks spring/green onions, thin slices
- Ginger juice from one thumb size ginger, pound till fine, then squeeze juice
- 1 TbspOyster sauce
- 1 Tbspsesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoonpepper
- 1/2 teaspoonsalt
- 1 teaspoonlight soya sauce
- 1 teaspooncorn flour
- 4hardboiled eggs, divide into eighths (optional)
Method
- Filings
- 01First mince the chicken in a blender. If there is a reverse in the blender, put the rest of the ingredients for the filing, (except the hardboiled eggs) in and reverse beat it for another 3 minutes. Otherwise, do this manually: place all the ingredients in a big bowl, and use a pair of chopsticks and stir in one direction until the chicken meat is 'springy'. It takes about 5 minutes of stirring.
- 02Divide them equally to 30 portions. Wrap each portion with a slice of hardboiled eggs.
- 03Freeze till the dough is ready.
- Dumpling Skin
- 04Place everything in a mixer and mix in medium speed for 5 minutes. (Thermomix knead, 5 minutes)
- 05Let it rise for 30 minutes, Covered.
- 06Then, shape them into 50g each.
- 07Roll the sides till thin, then put in a portion of the meat, and then pinch it up. Put the buns over a piece of paper. I just use cupcake liners.
- 08Let rise for 20-30 minutes, or until the dumpling doubles its size.
- 09Steam for at least 15 minutes.
- 10Let it sit in the steamer for another minute before removing.
- 11Serve immediately.