Daring Bakers: Baked Pork Siopao
I do not know where these tasty meat pockets have been all my life! When I first saw this challenge at the beginning of the month I was a little bummed since I much prefer sweet to savory when doing a Daring Bakers challenge. But I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome and I encourage you to try these. You won’t be disappointed. Especially with the meat! I would’ve eaten it plain from the pot and not even have made the dough if I didn’t have a post to write! It is very, very good.
The February Daring Bakers’ challenge is hosted by Julie of One-Wall Kitchen. She challenged us to an easy, simple filled bun using no-knead dough.
These siopao make a great meal. You can make them ahead of time and all you need is a side of veggies and you’re good to go. While these are traditionally steamed, this version is baked.
As I said before, the meat is to die for. So good. For real. My house smelled heavenly while it baked. DO NOT leave out the star anise! It’s subtle but adds so much. I scored 2 in the bulk section of my grocery store for $0.20!
After a slow roast, chop it up and return it to the juice for an overnight mingling of flavor. This may not be totally necessary, but I think it made the meat more flavorful and juicy. Lots of fat will harden on top if you chill it, so remove what you can (this was tricky and disgusting for me so I gave up quickly) then slowly heat it just to get everything back to a nice juicy state. Drain the meat and onion and reserve the juice. It makes for a crazy good sauce later. Also, a nice layer of fat will form on top of the reserved juice. Remove it or pour the juice slowly into your saucepan and the fat should stay in the container. Sorry for all the fat talk.
