بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم

Oven Bao Buns With Sweet & Spicy Chicken

There is always that one recurring dish that is found at every family gathering. Honestly, any excuse to make it. For the past few years in this household, it has been ”bao buns”. I love trying out different recipes and especially those from other cultures. SubhanAllah, food is so inspiring. The variety of ingredients and recipes across cultures stuns the mind. Allah SWT has created Mankind unique and special. Food is also a way to bring everyone together. My love language is cooking. There’s just something about my loved ones enjoying the food I poured my heart into, their faces breaking into a smile at the first bite. Not to mention, the reward I’m getting from Allah SWT for each bite, Alhamdulilah. Well, back to the recipe, this dough recipe is from @ataleofsauceandspice. You can watch videos from @joshuaweissman for tips and tricks. Give it a try, you won’t regret it! May this recipe brings joy to you and your family, the same way it brings to mine.

Ingredients for Buns

3 cups all-purpose flour or cake flour

2 tsp yeast

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil

2 tbps softened butter

+-1 cup of warm water mixed with water to make the dough

Instructions

Combine all your dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour in oil, milk and water. Mix until a shaggy dough forms.

Transfer to a surface and knead the dough until it comes together in a ball. If it’s dry add in a little water. We don’t want a dry dough, but a pliable dough.

Flatten and stretch the dough, add butter and fold the sides. Knead until smooth and elastic. When you add the butter, the dough texture will feel a bit weird, DO NOT PANIC! Trust the process and knead that dough.

Roll the dough into an oval shape. Lightly brush it with some oil and fold it in half. Repeat with the remaining dough. Place the buns in your baking tray and cover them. Let them rise for 15 minutes. While waiting, pre-heat the oven to 180°C /350°F and prepare all your ingredients for the filling and pre-cut the toppings that you would like to use for garnish.

Once the dough has risen, place the bao buns in the preheated oven for 5 minutes then lower the temperature to 150°C/300°F and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until done.

*How will you know that the buns are done? Good question. The buns should have puffed up and should remain white. It shouldn’t be brown, but sometimes, they do get a little brown at the top. That’s still okay because they still taste amazing, so just make sure you keep your eye on the oven.

Chicken Filling

Sweet chilli sauce

Mustard sauce

Barbecue sauce

Ketchup

Chilli sauce

Dunya chutney (optional)

3 tbsp butter

Cook together in a saucepan on medium-low heat until the sauce becomes thick and sticky.

Chicken Marinade

Ginger garlic paste

Garlic salt

Black pepper

Portuguese spice

Lemon pepper

Sweet chilli sauce

Soy sauce

Cut your chicken into strips or cubes. Let the chicken marinate in the above for an hour or overnight.

Coat the chicken in corn starch or flour. *Lazy tip: I don’t coat them individually because that’s time-consuming! I sprinkle corn starch straight into the bowl of chicken and mix it all together.

Now fry the chicken! Once golden and cooked through, toss the chicken into your sticky sauce. Cook the chicken in that sticky sauce for 5-6 minutes. Let the chicken sit and absorb all of that delicious goodness!

Assembling time:

Add toppings of your liking. For example, carrots, coriander, lettuce, cilantro, purple cabbage, the list goes on.

Say Bismillah and enjoy! Let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments below!