Mama Yeow's sweet pork buns

"These instantly transport me to moments spent in front of the wistful gaze of Grandma Yeow encouraging me and my brother to inhale yet more of the buns, among many other treats she had prepared specially for our visit."

Mama Yeow's sweet pork buns Credit: Henry Trumble

• makes

  12

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Ace

I know these are madly cute but, if you're not experienced with yeast, I'm going to advise you to make these without the faces first. The ears and snout are incredibly fiddly and the delay can mean you overprove the buns, which is not worth it! Once you've mastered the recipe, you'll understand where the critical points in the proving are and see how the faces can fit with your time management.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced into 1 cm pieces
• 500 g lean belly pork, diced into 1 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark caramel soy sauce (found at Asian grocers)
• 70 g sugar
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1–2 tsp wheaten cornflour (optional)
• 2 tbsp water (optional)

Bun dough

• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 300 ml warm water
• 360 g plain flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• 25 g caster sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Resting time: 40 minutes

Instructions

1. Combine the olive oil and onion in a medium non-stick frying pan over high heat and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the pork and stir-fry until cooked through. Stir in the light and dark caramel soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper and cook until sticky and caramelised. If there's a lot of excess oil, rest the frying pan, tilted, to see if you can get it to pool to one side where you can scoop or dab it away with paper towel. If the sauce needs thickening and you feel it might dry the meat to keep cooking, mix the cornflour and water, add it to the pan and cook over medium heat until it thickens and coats the pork well. Spread on a plate and cool completely before using.
2. To make the bun dough, stir the dry yeast and sugar with half the warm water in a bowl. Cover and rest for about 10 minutes or until the surface is foamy. Combine with the remaining warm water and dough ingredients in a stand mixer fixed with the dough hook attachment, and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes. Transfer the dough to a well-oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise until it doubles in volume, about 40 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 even balls (see note). Roll each ball with a rolling pin into a 5 mm thick circle. Place a tablespoon of the pork mixture in the middle of a dough circle. Gather the edge into the middle and pinch to seal, then place seam-side down on a 10 cm square of baking paper in a bamboo steaming basket (see note). Repeat with the remaining filling and dough. Put the lid on the steamer, then drape a damp tea towel over the lid and allow the filled buns to prove again until doubled in size, about 20 minutes.
4. Steam for 5–7 minutes on a rolling boil. They can be frozen for up to a month and refreshed with a 10-minute steam. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Notes

• When you graduate to doing the faces, you will need an extra golf ball–sized piece of dough. As for how, I have faith you can figure it out. Use a skewer for the holes and also to secure the ears and snout.

• For calculating how much real estate you'll need in your bamboo steamer, the buns will each wind up about 8 cm in diameter.

Images and recipes from 'What I Cook When Nobody's Watching by Poh Ling Yeow, published by Plum (RRP $44.99). Photography by Henry Trumble.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

I know these are madly cute but, if you're not experienced with yeast, I'm going to advise you to make these without the faces first. The ears and snout are incredibly fiddly and the delay can mean you overprove the buns, which is not worth it! Once you've mastered the recipe, you'll understand where the critical points in the proving are and see how the faces can fit with your time management.