Chocolate & Cheese Steamed Buns - My First Baos

Finally I did my first steamed buns
I love eating them, but somehow I haven't made them myself, even when I have a long list of steamed bun recipes waiting LOL
For this, I must thank Aspiring Bakers event this month which encourages home bakers to give a try to make homemade steamed buns.
I thought I would miss it, luckily I did not. So happy, especially after I missed two of the earlier Aspiring Bakers recently in February and April this year :)

So many recipes I was confused which one to try first
I decided on straight dough method by Happy Home Baking
Why the filling choice? Just my curiosity. I have never tasted steamed buns with chocolate or cheese. I saw many of my Indonesian home bakers friends make them. I just wanted to know the taste. And I wasn't disappointed at all. Steamed buns with chocolate or cheese filling are not bad at all, in fact they're real good :)

I found the recipe for the steamed buns is pretty good, soft and fluffy, but somehow I and my family found the texture was a little more like bread. And they weren't so soft anymore the next day
I reckoned that I have over proofing the dough during the first proofing
It said to proof til doubled in size about an hour, but I did for 1 hour 45 minutes, cos I had to fetch my girl from school. When I saw the dough, it's about tripled in size :-|

What you need - straight dough method:
(makes 12)

300g Hong Kong pau flour

3g baking powder

3g instant yeast

30g caster sugar

160ml water

15g vegetable oil

enough chocolate chips and grated cheddar cheese for filling

Method:

1. Sieve Hong Kong pau flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add yeast, caster sugar and mix well
2. Pour in water and oil into the breadmaker pan, followed by the flour mixture. Let it knead for 45 minutes. You may continue to do the first proofing in the machine, but I took out and put the dough in lightly oiled bowl and proof til doubled in size (about an hour)
3. Punch down the dough and give a few light kneading to release the trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 portions (about 40g each). Roll each portion into a smooth round
4. Flatten each dough into a small disc with your palm, make the edges thinner and the centre portion thicker. Wrap each dough with 20g of filling. Pinch and seal the seams. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of banana leaf. Cover loosely with cling wrap and leave buns to proof for 25 minutes
5. Place buns in a steamer and space them apart so that they do not touch one another. Steam at medium to high heat for 15mins (make sure the water is already boiling before steaming). Remove immediately and serve warm. Keep any leftovers in fridge (covered with cling wrap or store in airtight containers) and re-steam till hot before serving

This post is for Aspiring Bakers #31 Bao Ho-Chiak (May 2013) hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well in Flanders