Chicken Pau 鸡包
Pau can be eaten at breakfast or at any time. Pau is filled with food items ranging from meat to vegetables to sweet bean paste and that is served as Dim Sum in Chinese restaurant.
I adapted the skin recipe from Cheah of No Frills Recipes. The pau skin is soft and fluffy that I really loved it very much and I will definitely like to make this again with other fillings too. Thanks Cheah 🙂
Prepare Chicken filling
- 500g Chicken thigh without bone & skin ~ cut to strips
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Corn flour
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Cooking wine
- 1 tbsp Ginger juice
- 5 tbsp Plain water
- 4 Hard boiled eggs – cut to quarter or 16 Quail eggs (hard boiled)
- 1-2 stalks Spring onion – cut to 1″ length & some chopped coriander leaves
- Marinade the chicken filling for few hours or overnight before wrapping.
Ingredients for Skin (adapted from No Frills Recipes)
- 500 gm Pau flour/Hong Kong flour
- 2.1/2 flat tsp yeast
- 100 ml lukewarm water
- 125 gm caster sugar
- 5 tsp shortening (I used mooncake shortening)
- 2.1/8 flat tsp DA baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 100ml water + 1 tsp (I used fresh milk)
- Preparation
(A)
- Mix dried yeast with lukewarm water, stir.
- Add in 130 gm sifted pau flour, mix well and roughly form into a ball of dough. Set aside for 15 mins.
- (B)
- Mix the balance 370 gm sifted pau flour with the baking powder, sugar and salt.
- Pour (B) into (A).
- Add in shortening and water sparingly, knead till dough doesn’t stick onto the hands.
- Cover dough with a wet cloth, place in a warm place and let dough prove till double in bulk, around 1 hr to 1.1/2 hr.
- Knock dough to expel some air, knead for some time. Roll out onto a floured board. Weigh out 50 gm dough, roughly form into a ball. While you are working with a ball of dough, cover the rest with a damp cloth to prevent them from being exposed to air and getting flaky. Makes 18 pau.
- Roll out the ball of dough lightly and cup it into the palm of your hand and spoon in some filling. Pleat up the sides of the pau. Put the pau on a piece of greaseproof paper and place them on the steamer rack.
- Set them aside for another 15 mins, and meanwhile prepare the steamer with water.
- Steam pau under rapidly boiling water for 10-12 mins.
- Quickly and carefully remove the steamer cover so that condensed steam will not drip onto the pau.
- Remove the pau from the steamer rack and serve hot.
The drinking of Chinese tea is as important to Dim Sum as the food which is said to aid in digestion.
I bought this beautiful and unique Zi Sha Hu or teapot set (紫砂壶） from JiangShu China when I was China for holiday few years ago. The teapot resembles a lotus flower with movable lotus seeds on the tea cap even the frog eyes are movable.
“One of the best and most renowned materials that teapots in China are made from is called Zi Sha. The most famous source of ZiSha is YiXing city in JiangSu province. There are numerous designs, all of which have many different levels of quality and prices vary tremendously depending on the person who made it.
I actually had 2 chicken pau from a shop today and I wish they were as good as yours. Aunty Cheah is a pau expert!
The chicken buns look really great! I like your zisha tea pot too.
Hey Anncoo,Beautiful chicken pau dear…Love your presentation…Thanx for the entry to my event dear…:)Dr.Sameena@http://www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com
I actually prefer pork of beef in my pau but this looks perfect!
Shortening is not available where I live, what can I replace that with??
Hi Lethenstrom, you can use Criso shortening if you can find.
Hi tq so much fr ths recipe!Done two batches of tausa pao using ur recipe (1 batch i used wheat pao – its ok but not as soft and fluffy) and they turned out perfect (using pao flour) im so happy as im a very pao-fanatic hihi i can ear them anytime!Love &Hugs.
Hi EllSarah, So happy to hear that. I'm sure your friends and family will definitely love all your pao that you made 😀
Hi Ann, do you think I can replace the shortening with vegetable oil? Thanks!
Ann, I was gonna make pau this week too! And I too was gonna use this recipe that I saw from Sonia's post. Looks like it's definitely a must try then, since yours turned out so well. Thanks!
Shall try your recipe….Cheah is expert when it comes to pau and buns 🙂
Ann, I havent had breakfast this morning. Have been wondering what to eat and your pau came so timely …. yum, yum!
我要吃鸡包! Just my sudden urge when I see them here and I am not hiding it!
Wow, I love pau! So tempting and the teapot look so unique :0
looks very juicy! can i have 1 please!
I love chicken pau… we call it siopao in the Philippines. I have never made homemade ones though, which I would have to try someday.My sister in law serves it to her kids for breakfast though, which came as a shock for me initially but now that you mentioned, I guess some people eat siopao for breakfast then.
I love baozi! And yours look perfectly soft and fluffy. I've been wondering for a while…what exactly is pau flour? I know it's softer. Does it have baking powder in it as well? Anyway, great job!
I love the chicken buns! It looks very nice and yummy! The zishahu is so special!
They sell paus everywhere over here except it's usually pork filling and way sweeter.I love collecting Yi Xing teapots. I'm partial to the smaller and simple ones or the ones with inscriptions even though I can't read nor understand them.
Wow, not only are u good at baking, seems like u are very good at cooking too! the paos look so wonderfully comforting. I wish i could have one fresh from the steamer now!
wah! nice pau! I must try ur recipe one day.
Nice Pau! I really love this recipe and your pau with chicken fillings really looks tempting..yummy!
I want a chicken pau from you. That's a nice tea pot set.
Ann, sorry….do I replace 5tsp of shortening with 5tsp of vegetable oil? If not, how much vegetable oil must I use? Thanks!
Hi, Oh you bought the same tea pot? I bought mine at Wuxi. Don't quite remember how much in RMB but I paid around S$600 for the whole set.
Hi Ann,surprise that you bought the same tea pot set that my wife bought it when we were visiting the place in China back in Spring 2009. we paid a few thousand RMB.
Ann, much appreciated!!!
Ai Li, no, you only make the hard boiled before you want to wrap the pau. The pau is already cover with the lid, so no need to use the damp cloth. This will make the pau more fluffy. (actually I not an expert in making pau, you can ask Cheah) 🙂
Ann, do I add in the hard boiled eggs, spring onion and marinate with the chicken overnight? Another question : after I put each pau onto a greaseproof paper and to leave aside for 15mins in a steamer, do I have to cover them with a damp cloth? Are they expected to grow in size if not then what is the purpose? Thanks!
Sorry I meant the dough was easy to follow…..
Hi Ai Li, yes use the same measurement as shortening. I also suggest you buy the pao flour from PH, the flour is whiter.You can take a look at Happy Home Baking's post. She used vegetable oil for her bao.http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.sg/2010/02/fun-with-steamed-buns.html
Ann,I made this today. The dough was easy to easy…phew! It was my greatest worry actually. But I think I rolled it too big so my end product is even bigger. Oh yes, the pleating is difficult (to me) and messy but nonetheless it looked like pau. The overall taste and texture are good except I may have put too much oyster sauce so its a little salty. Thanks, Ann for sharing this recipe. Not sure if I will do it again….its a BIG step for me!!!
Ann, to me you are the expert in this area because you are always so willing to help. I have already bought the Hong Kong flour from PH yesterday so I am going to do this very soon……Thanks!
Sorry Ann, more questions…..how to knock dough to expel air? How long must I knead after knocking the air out? How to roll out on the floured board and yet weigh out 50gm of dough? Sorry if I am asking too many questions again….Thanks!
Thank you, Ann for the link. Will use vegetable oil instead of shortening. Thanks!
Ai Li, yes can use shortening instead but very sorry, the process is quite complicated for me to explain. There are pictures tutorial at Christine Recipes, you can check with her as she an expert.http://en.christinesrecipes.com/2011/01/steamed-pork-buns.html
我记得小时候我父亲也很常做这款包子给我吃,现在也很怀念。真的谢谢你让我解决了我食欲。
looks very good … "pau" hao chi! hehe
Hi Ann, thanks for the reply. I used the skin for vegetable paus but will be attempting the chicken paus the next round. Thanks for the advise. I hope I can pleat the paus as nicely as you one day 🙂
Ann, your pau looks wonderful! I bought 2 kgs of Hongkong flour when I visited but have not made any pau yet. Will have to make it soon.Love your Yixing teapot 🙂 I have a lotus one but not as pretty as yours. I have been drinking a lot of tea as the weather is so cold but I have to use bigger teapots 😉
哇!你真的好幸福,你的父亲会做包子,好羡慕。
Thank you everyone for your lovely comments.Hungry tummies ~ Hahaa..Aunty Cheah's pau is very popular, there are few bloggers already tried her recipe.Dr. Sameena ~ You're welcome. Thank you :)Little Inbox ~ You must try this pau skin from Aunty Cheah, very nice.Crustabakes ~ Thank you for your compliment.The Kitchen Masochist ~ You're saying cha siew pau. This is savory pau and you can use pork too.I love teapots collection too and this zhisha teapot comes with a certificateXiaolu ~ Pau flour is Hong Kong flour (水仙面粉)it is whiter than any type of flour and you must use double action baking powder for pau so that the pau will increase to double volume.Malou ~ Siopao sounds exactly like a Fujian dialect. Chinese people usually likes to eat pau or dim sum in the morning especially in Hong Kong, they called it Yum Cha meaning drink Chinese tea with dim sum. Jess ~ sorry 吃完了。 :))Muimui ~ Thanks!Tigerfish, Chris ~ hehee…will make another batch.Elin ~ I also saw many bloggers tried this pau recipe from Cheah.Gert ~ Thank you.Jude ~ Oh..I forgot to add mushrooms. Thanks for reminding :)Cheah ~ Thank you for sharing your recipe. The pau skin is perfect :)Sweetylicious ~ Thank you. Best to use chicken thigh, nice and tender.BeeBee ~ Must try this pau skin recipe, you won't regret it.Christine ~ Thanks! The 紫砂壶 is only for taking pictures. 舍不得用because it is very expensive.Jess ~ So must start to make this weekend for your daughter. She'll sure to love it.Maameemoomoo ~ I'm not sure but you'll get butter smell if you use butter and the pao will becomes yellowish in color.Angel ~ Yes, sometime when I said one day means many days… ;DDDG ~ Start making this weekend.Thank you Lequan. I always love to read your comment.
Lazaro Cooks ~ Thank you :)Talita ~ So nice to hear that you're interested in Hanzi.Kimba ~ hahaa..I'm flattered by your nice comment. I am only using a compact Canon camera and I used natural light to take pictures and of course a little editing ;))Wiffy ~ 'hao chi'hor…please take one 😉
Thanks for the link-up Ann! Your pau looks great too and also love the tea set, very cute!
Wow, this would make a perfect lunch or dinner for me! Yum!!
BEAUTIFUL! i like chicken pau! but what they sell outside are not really fresh good chicken meat used. definitely going to try this for m family! thank you! (:
Ann, I was gonna make pau this week too! And I too was gonna use this recipe that I saw from Sonia's post. Looks like it's definitely a must try then, since yours turned out so well. Thanks!
WOWWW not only do these paus look amazing, your photos are INCREDIBLE!! Like a full-on studio production, so clear and so vibrant. What camera are you using??PS If I don't get to visit your blog until the new year (because I'm going away for the holidays and therefore will be offline), have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and happy holidays and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
très appétissant ta théière est sublimemerci pour ces superbes photosbonne journée
Beautiful 紫砂壶, Ann. How enjoyable it is when having soft and delicious chicken pau with a lovely tea pot as such.
the pau looks so yummy! I always wanted to make pau too especially chicken pau since is my daughter's favourite, Ann, you are making my hand itchy now heeheehee…
Looking at those paus really make me craving for one too.
Gorgeous!!We are pao-family-lover! :)Do u think it will be ok to do away the shortening in the pao ingredient?Or can i substitute it with butter?
Pau is one of my favorite things my mother makes! Now I have a recipe of my own to make them any time I want! Thanks for posting!
This looks so so good, I am thinking of trying it, but filled with mushrooms! 🙂 Your gorgeous photos make everything look even more amazing.
I love to eat bao whenever I don't feel like to take my lunch or dinner. Thanks for sharing on how to make it, although I will be too lazy to make one by myself hahaha … You are always so great lah 🙂
Ann, your pao really look soft & fluffy, the meat look juicy & yummy too. You really made me craving for it.
Your pau looks delicious, Ann. I love the use of quail egg in pau as it looks unique to me. This makes such a convenient breakfast, lunch, or snack. I love your tea set. It is so gorgeous and the design is beautiful. You have great taste, Ann.
I too bookmarked Cheah recipe to try out but have yet to do so. Seeing yours makes me wanted to try it out soon. By the way, your paus looks really great and love your unique teapot too.
I'm quite hopeless in pau making…got to try this recipe. Love your collection of teapot…they are very nice 😀
How lovely pics! Love to see and try to read Han Zi. The pau looks really yummy!
Fantastic dish and amazingly vibrant photos. Great job with the new look of your blog, very clean, bright, and beautiful.
Two thumbs up!
I would like one of your chicken pau for breakfast! Yum! How do you get ginger juice?
I absolutely love the teapot! How cute is that with the frog on top! Love it!