The Broth Gelatin 1 tablespoon of unflavored
gelatin
1 or 2 kg of Chicken bones
Boil the Chicken bones to make soup.
When the soup is ready. Scoop 2 or 4 cups of the soup to
flavor the
Gelatin. Save the rest of the soup for dinner..
Heat 2-4 cups of the chicken soup in a pot. When just about to boil , turn
off the heat and add
gelatin.
Whisk for 2 minutes until all the powder is dissolved. Pour broth
into a plastic container.
Refrigerate
until set, about 3-4 hours.
Method
1. Take out the
broth gelatin prepared earlier, you can either run a fork through it, with criss-cross
motion, to break up the gelatin into very small pieces and add about 1 1/2
cups of the broth gelatin to the mixture. Mix well
or
2. Cut the gelatin into 1/4" and wrap the minced meat round it.
( I used this method cos it is not so wasteful on the minced meat)
3. Refrigerate until ready to use.
The Fillings
You can use any fillings of your choice creation. I used minced meat mixed with carrots and mushrooms.
Make the Bao skin
(makes about 40 dumplings)
400 gm of all-purpose flour
180ml boiling hot water
60ml cold water
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Method
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Pour hot
water in the flour about one third at a time and mix well.
Add cold water and
oil to form a smooth
cohesive dough. * The ratio is about 2 parts of water to 1 part of
flour very much similar to making chinese
pot sticker- 锅贴.
Leave it alone for 20 minutes. Giving it 20 minutes rest will break
down the gluten and when you start to knead, you will get a
smooth dough in no time. Then knead for about 10 mins
If you are kneading by hand knead for about 20 minutes
with a 10 minutes rest time in between until it becomes soft, smooth and bounces back slowly when
you poke with your finger.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest
for another 50 minutes or 3 to 8 hours or overnight. The longer you
rest the dough the softer the wrapper skin.
* If you are in a hurry, you can cheat by adding 1 or 2 tbsp of
low gluten flour like Cake flour or Superlite flour. Remember they
do not have such processed flour in the old days.
Shape dough into balls. Put each ball on a wax paper square. Roll
each ball out into a circle. Put 1 tablespoonful of prepared
meat gelatin mixture in the center of each circle, and wrap dough
around filling.
Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium; the water
should still be boiling. Transfer as many Bao on wax paper as will
comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the
baos. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and
the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam for 15 minutes.
The Dipping Sauce
2 tablespoons of sambal (hot chili & garlic sauce)
1/2 cup black vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon of shaved ginger