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Tuesday 25 February 2014

A Sweet Treat of Hong Kong ~ Pai Pau


If one were to stroll along the streets in Hong Kong, one is bound to come across glass cupboards that are filled with a wide range of Hong Kong style pastries.  These cupboards are commonly placed near the entrance to the many cafes, restaurants or bakeries, making it convenient for customers who choose to grab a bite on the go instead of dining in.  Snacking is quite a culture there.  Well, of course looking won't do both you and them justice! Pick a traditional cha chaan teng (aka tea restaurants), order a few of these pastries and a cup of milk tea to go with them for a true Hong Kong experience :)

Chinese pastries with British influence is one of the must try food when one visits Hong Kong.  Among them egg tarts, pineapple buns, cocktail buns and pai pau. 

Pai Pau literally translates to row buns just like how they are made longish and baked closely together in a row.  Nothing big to shout about, these are typical Asian style plain sweet buns but they are cottony soft, creamy and milky.  You could eat them just like that which is how i prefer them.

If you look at the recipe, it's a no brainer why these buns are so soft, creamy and milky.  4 types of milk goes into it, cream, fresh milk, powdered milk and condensed milk!  Pretty high in fat content, huh?  I have made them on rare occasions only, mostly when i am trying to finish off some cream.  And for this time around, the other reason would be to support the Asian Food Fest blogging event, featuring Hong Kong and Macau for this month.


Recipe
Reference: Do What I Like

Ingredients
  • 250g bread flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 5g instant yeast
  • 2 tbsp powdered milk
  • 45g sugar
  • 1 egg yolk + milk to make up 120ml
  • 75ml whipping cream
  • 1 tbsp condensed milk
  • 50g pre fermented dough
  • 40g butter 
Method
  1. Place all ingredients in the bread pan of the breadmaker (according to the recommended sequence stated in the instruction manual of the breadmaker).  Select Dough function.  Once the cycle completes, let dough rise until double the size.
  2. Remove from bread pan then punch down dough to release trapped air.  
  3. Divide dough into 6 portions (around 93g each).  Shape into round balls and let dough rest for 15 minutes.
  4. Roll out dough  into rectangular shape of around 18cm * 5 cm. Roll dough up from the long side.  
  5. Place in a greased pan (The size of my pan was 23 * 28 cm).  
  6. Let dough rise until length is around 80% of pan. (I covered the pan with a tray to prevent it from rising in height.)
  7. Brush with egg wash (I used the remaining egg white plus 1 tbsp of milk).
  8. Bake at 190C for 18 minutes. 
  9. Brush with some butter for a nice glossy look and let it cool on rack.
Pre fermented Dough
  • 63g bread flour
  • 40ml water
  • 1g instant yeast
  1. Mix all the dough into a rough dough and let if proof for at least 2 hours.
  2. The above amount will produce 100g of dough. 
  3. Wrapped up the remaining portion with cling wrap and freeze for future use.
  4. The frozen dough must be brought to room temperature before using.
Note:
I have incorporate my slight variations into the recipe above which include using a breadmaker to do the kneading and dividing the dough into 6 portions instead of 8 as recommended in the original recipe.

Updated on 27 Feb 14 - My apologies for missing out step 6 in the original post. 



I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest: Hong Kong + Macau  hosted by Annie from Annielicious Food 

23 comments:

So beautifully golden brown and soft! Love these sweet bread.

Ive made pai pau before but I never knew it was also a famous food in HK too. I always love homemade bread.

I am so craving to have some of these pai pau right now!

Ade , you've baked this bread perfectly and looks just like the ones we have here :D Though I haven't eaten it for quiet sometime :P

Your pai pau look so good. I love sweet milky bread, I can have it just on its own.

With so much calories, better be good huh! looks so soft and fluffy, I'll pin this for my next bake:D

I have been eyeing to bake pai pau but didn't have the time to bake them yet :( Yours look wonderfully soft and professional made. Bookmarked this recipe!

This bread looks soft and yummy. Thanks for sharing!

Haha you know what - I love breads with high fat content... so I'm going to try this! Hehe ;)

@Angie: Thank you for dropping by and the kind compliments :)

@Mel: Yes, homemade always the best although they might not be as tasty sometimes :)

@Phong Hong: Err...this will ruin your diet though :)

@Anne: Thank you for the kind words, so happy to hear that mine has the looks :))

@Vivian: Thanks for dropping by and the kind compliments :) Like you, i like eating them on its own too.

@Jeannie: Yes, it spells calories :))

@Zoe:Thanks for dropping by and the kind compliments. Hope you give it a try someday :)

@Cheah:Thanks for dropping by and the kind compliments :)

Ma che meraviglia..non vedo l'ora di provarlo..
Piacere di conoscerti..:)
Buona serata
Passa a farmi un saluto, ne sarei davvero felice.
buona serata.
Incoronata

I have all milks but except milk powder, since my kids don't consume milk anymore, hahaha..anyway, this bread look really soft !

@Lnco: Thank you for visiting and the the kind compliments, nice to see you here!

@Sonia: My kid is grown up too but there is milk powder at home, the calcium enriched type for overaged kids, lol!

Me encantan los panes de leche se ven suaves y algodonados gracias por compartir los harè pronto,abrazos.

Hi, this is my all time favourite pai pau. Yours look so beautiful, love the texture and colour.

Have a nice day.

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