Pao Pao

Recently i was addicted in making Pao... funny oh~ never imagine I can make Pao also...it seems something difficult for people like me who dont know much about cooking. I got the recipes from aunties and Internet. So far I tried quite a few recipes, trial and error to find out the best way to make Paos. I made them by hands, not using any machine...therefore must get a recipe that is easy to learn. At first, the paos are quite hard and not fluffy... now getting better...at least wont frown when eating my own made Paos :)

Ingredients:

500 g of Hong Kong Flour / Pao Flour

6 g of dry yeast

2 tablespoons of sugar

250 ml of lukewarm water

2 tablespoons of shortening

1/2 teaspoon of salt

Methods:

1) Dissolve the sugar in the water. Then add in the yeast. Make sure the water is not too hot or else the yeast might not work. Let the mixture to proof for at least half an hour until it becomes foamy.

2) Add in the water little by little into mixture of flour and salt, knead until dough is formed. Add in the shortening.

3) Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and light. Let it rest for half an hour. Cover with wet cloth. It will proof until double size.

4) Divide into small portion, around 50g. Make it a round ball and then flatten it. Put in the filling, wrap it and put it on a piece of baking paper.

5) Let it proof for another 20 minutes and steam for 10 minutes. Ready to serve.

I had tried different types of fillings e.g. red bean, green bean, Kaya, green bean+yam, custard, vegetable, tuna, meat and peanut. Among these, I like the vegetable paos and meat paos.

Actually I like to eat buns also....without any filling. You may substitute the water with milk...taste better. I had tried to make wholemeal buns (just add in some wholemeal flour ~ around 30g), sweet potatoes buns (add in 2 medium size sweet potatoes - cooked and smashed), and chocolate buns (add some chocolate paste). The sweet potatoes buns taste the best. Next time maybe can try other fillings e.g. hams, sardin, curry chicken etc....just testing, dont know whether are edible or not.

Thinking to make bread also....how good if I can make bread....I like to eat bread but afraid might get fatter and fatter.... sometimes dont know is a blessing too :D