Stuffed Shrimp Buns (Mantou)
Filling:
Sweet potato tater tots - thawed and mashed roughly
Sriracha pickle - chopped
Bok choy - roughly chopped, salted, let sit to extract liquid, then squeeze out
Jalapeno - chopped
Shrimp - chopped
Pork Belly - chopped and fried
Cheese crackers - crushed
Soy sauce
Ginger - chopped
Mantou:
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. yeast
1-1/3 cups very warm milk
Combine milk and yeast then stir in flour. Knead until thoroughly combined, adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking. Cover and let rest 40 minutes. Knead again, then roll into log. Slice log in half then roll each half into smaller logs. Cut each half into roughly 7 pieces. Shape into flattened balls, then roll into rough circles. (Amoeba buns, anyone?) Place a portion of filling in each pancake of dough, then pinch the edges together to close.
To cook the filled mantou, if you have a steamer, place each on a square of steaming paper or parchment paper. Place into steamer, bring water to boil and steam for 15 minutes. Turn heat off and let rest 5 minutes before removing from steamer. If you don’t have a steamer (and have a ghetto kitchen, like I do), place the buns into a greased 13x9 pan. Heat the oven to 350F and place another pan with boiling water into the lower rack. Place the pan with mantou into the top rack and bake until done. How long until "done"? Well, I cooked them for 20 minutes, checked, then decided to leave them in longer. Didn't set the timer, so your guess is as good as mine!
Teriyaki sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon cold water
Combine cold water and cornstarch and set aside. in a saucepan on medium heat combine remaining ingredients until the sugar is dissolved. Heat on medium high and add cornstarch mixture. Simmer until thickened.
To serve, drizzle teriyaki sauce over mantou.
Filling combined:
Hey, if JayT can make amoeba pizza, I can make amoeba mantou!
Before cooking:
Teriyaki sauce:
Actually, the flavor of these was spot-on, just the texture was lacking. Plus these came out way smaller than they should have been. Amongst other things I think it's time to toss my jar of yeast and get a new one. They were a little crusty on top, a little doughey on bottom, and not at all bread-like. These are supposed to be bread, not like potstickers. Next time I'll go with my original idea on cooking method, and not let the impatience of my helper influence me. But, admittedly, I was getting a bit impatient, too.