Do you know that saying 'A day late and a dollar short'? I think that's my motto. I seem incapable of getting anything done on time. Completely done is more accurate. This challenge was made and it was only the photo (and the dreaded write-up) that were missing (for the third challenge in a row). So, what do you get? A short post and a photo of a 4-day-old steamed bun. Merry Christmas!
I love barbequed pork and steamed buns, but I had few of the ingredients to make these. So, I went over to a friend's place. She has a cupboard full of Chinese cooking ingredients and has taken cooking classes in Beijing. In fact, she had made this exact dish there. Unable to follow a recipe to the letter, I combined a few different recipes to make the marinade for the pork. The most interesting ingredient was fermented tofu marinated in rice vinegar and ground red rice. We didn't need any food colouring with this, and you can see that the pork was quite pink. I assure you that it was cooked. I also used pork shoulder, as tenderloin can be dry, being the boneless skinless chicken breast of the pig world. The picture above is of the very end piece, which was fattier than the rest. The meat had a great texture and flavour. For the buns, we boiled the marinade as a sauce, adding a bit more of this and that to make it delicious.
This was a fun and tasty challenge, and it really wasn't that much work, so I urge you to try it. Thanks Sara of Belly Rumbles! Check out what the rest of the Daring Cooks made in the slideshow. Find the full challenge and recipe pdf here.
Our Daring Cooks’ December 2011 hostess is Sara from Belly Rumbles! Sara chose awesome Char Sui Bao as our challenge, where we made the buns, Char Sui, and filling from scratch – delicious!
12 comments:
When I have the occasional meat craving, it' almost always for pork. This looks great! I'm starving for some lunch right now, so I wish I could have some. :D
Don't feel bad, Mary. I'm running behind on all my baking this month too. 0-o
I really wanted to do this month's challenge, because I love char siu, and have always wanted to make bao... but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Looks like I'll get started on these challenges again with the new year. Your pork looks mouth-watering!
First off, your buns look stunning! Great pleats! Secondly, it's now ok when pork is a little pink. The FDA changed the temperature guideines, although I can't remember at the moment. I knew it was ok because I can't tell you how many times I ate pinkish pork as a kid and never got sick. Also, love how you changed the marinade to your liking - that's the sign of a true, talented cook, add this..add that, a pinch of this/that etc :)
Wow Mary, so impressed! I haven't even had the energy to post ANYTHING since last months bakers challenge AND I am planny on skipping this months as well!!
Hope you have a great holiday!!
Best, Sandie
I hear you on 'the dreaded write-up' - we always procrastinate on that too.
love the pretty pleats on your buns!
How fun that you made it with an expert! :) Your bun looks deliciously perfect. Awesome job, as always! :)
Love how your ingredients included a bit of this and that to make it delicious. And if you hadn't told us we'd never know that bun was 4 days old.
I didn't even manage to do the challenge this month, but I know what you mean about writing up. Some months the words flow and others its like blood out a stone.
That's a beautiful bun and the sauce/marinade sounds delicious! I like the idea of using a fattier bit of pork. I did actually have a go at the char siu using loin and it was surprisingly moist, but I'm a fan of the fattier cuts, so I'll try that next time. :)
Wow quite the exotic mix of flavoring there, it makes me even a little doubtful but it looks fabulous
I knkow what you mean about the writitng up.I keep postponing it till the night of the reveal!
Your buns look great and it is wonderful that you got to do it with an expert
I knkow what you mean about the writitng up.I keep postponing it till the night of the reveal!
Your buns look great and it is wonderful that you got to do it with an expert
Great job on the buns - and I too agree about the write up :-) I couldn't do it this month - family emergency took me out of town near the reveal date. Life. Oh well, Happy Holidays to you and I look forward to reading your efforts in 2012!
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