Mini Char Siew Paus [Sponge Dough Method]

The palm sugar char siew filling was simple to prepare and yet so tasty for my baked sweet buns.  Thought it would be good for steamed paus, too.   I love using sponge dough method for my  flour dough which I believe it yields bread or paus that stay soft for longer time.

The original recipe is from Lily Ng [Tien Tsin Pau].  Since I was planning to make small paus, I used only half the quantity.  With this portion I made 20 small paus.  For the palm sugar char siew filling [please refer here].

Ingredients

[makes 20 paus]

Ingredients for Sponge Dough

200 gm all purpose flour [remove 2 tbsp and replace with 2 tbsp wheat starch/tung mein flour]

3/4 tsp instant yeast

120 - 150 ml water

1. Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl until soft and smooth.  Cover and leave aside to rise for 40 minutes.

Sponge Dough

Pau Dough

Ingredients for Pau Dough

50  gm all purpose flour [remove 1/2 tbsp and replace with 1/2 tbsp wheat starch]

3/4 tsp double action baking powder

1.5 tbsp castor sugar

1/2 tsp shortening

1. Mix all the pau dough ingredients [except the shortening] to the sponge dough.   Knead to mix from low speed to medium speed until soft and smooth.  Add in shortening.
2. Knead well until dough is soft and pliable.  Shape into a ball and cover to rise for 20 minutes or double in size.  Dough weighs about 400 gm.
3. Punch out dough and roll into a log.  Cut into equal portions [about 20 gm].  Roll out all portions into circles.  Then use each circle to wrap prepared filling.  Shape into pau and seal the edges well.  Do the same for the remaining dough. Let rise for a further 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, bring water to a rolling boil.  Steam paus for 12-15 minutes.  Off fire and leave paus in the steaming tray for 2-3 minutes before uncovering [this is to prevent wrinkle skin].

Note:

The pau skin doesn't look all that white probably because I used unbleached all purpose flour.  May be different if I were to use pau flour [Hong Kong flour].