Chinese New Year is upon us again and chances are that if you are in any of the main UK supermarkets this weekend looking to stock up in time for 5th February (the official start of the year of the pig), you will be buying food made by our own fair hands.
Preparation for the 2019 Chinese New Year actually began in the development kitchen over a year ago and we’re already planning, believe it or not, for 2020. A year’s a long time in new product development!
But, back to this year.
Year of the pig
Apparently, if you were born in 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2017 and 2019 (all years of the pig) you are in for an unlucky 12 months, but on that basis, let’s not put our fate in the hands of the zodiac and just concentrate on the food shall we?
Whether it’s dim sum, spring rolls, wontons or even the curry that you actually only get in UK takeaways and restaurants, you know, the one with chicken, creamy sauce and peas, there’s so much to love about Chinese food.
Like much food that originates overseas, in some cases it has been adopted to satisfy our western tastes. For example, in China among the most popular dishes are ‘delights’ such as tuna eyeball which comes with severed muscles and fish fat, bird’s nest soup which contains the saliva the birds use to make the best and chicken testicles, well we don’t think this needs any further explanation.
But, to be fair, we are sure there are many English dishes enjoyed by people in China, but ask them to eat haggis, black pudding, jellies eels and mince pies and they may well opt to pass on these strange delicacies.
Luckily for you, we’re keeping our Chinese New Year recipe nice and on trend this year, but for our 2020 blog, we may well make Balut (Google it!!!!)
Crispy char sui pork bao buns with pickled red onion and chargrilled Asian veg
Ingredients:
For the buns:
- 300g strong flour
- 245g 00’ flour
- 120g warm water
- 215g milk
- 15g veg oil
- 40g caster sugar
- 18g fast acting dried yeast
- 5g salt
Method:
Put a bamboo steamer on a pan of boiling water on your stove ready to steam.
In a kitchen mixer, mix all ingredients on medium for about 15 minutes until a silky pliable dough is formed. Leave to rest somewhere warm with a cloth over until it’s doubled in volume. Once doubled tip out on to a floured surface and roll out to 1 cm thick. Then cut out with a round disk cutter to about 75cm circumference. Fold the disk in half and press together the edges where they meet, leave again somewhere warm till it rises, about 15 minutes, then steam for about 10-12 minutes until cooked.
For the picked red onion:
- 100g white wine vinegar
- 75g sugar
- 3g chilli flakes
- 10g salt
- 3 sliced red onions
Bring to the boil all the ingredients. Cover and leave to cool.
Char Sui Sauce:
- 20g garlic puree
- 20g ginger puree
- 60g mushroom oyster sauce
- 110g of light soy sauce
- 140g light brown sugar
- 70g readymade hoisin sauce
- 52g rice vinegar
- 150g ketchup
- 1 chicken stock cube
Put all the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes then take of the heat and leave to one side
For the Asian vegetables:
- 1 packet of tender stem broccoli
- 1 pack of baby corn
- 1 pack of mangetout
- 1 pack of radishes
- Sesame oil
Prep the veg with a sharp knife slice the mangetout length ways to give a cross section appearance. Toss in a little sesame oil and chargrill to till tender
For the crispy pork:
- 4 pork loin chops sliced in to strips
- 10g garlic puree
- 30g light soy sauce
- 10g brown Sugar
- 1 box of cornflour
Marinade the pork loin in the garlic, soy and sugar for 30 minutes. Then cover in cornflour and deep fry till the pork is crispy and juicy.
To serve:
Warm the bun in the microwave for 30 seconds until warm, Fry the pork till crisp and juicy and then coat in a little of the char sui sauce .
Place a piece of pork in a bun with a pinch of the pickle and enjoy with the vegetables.
About Neil Shaefer
Marketing & Communications Executive of SK Foods.
Your food. Our Passion.
