My Black Belt Buns

I have to admit, I am no good in photography. Whenever I see other bloggers with all those lovely photos in their posts...I felt mine is such an amateur work, hahaha! I'm not sure is it the lighting, the props used or simply how I "dress up" the food itself. I'm no good in either one! I don't choose the time to take pictures, I just take them when my food is ready! Whether it's 5pm in the late afternoon or even 10pm at night! And then props. What props? Hahaha! I don't shop around or even take out from my store room those pretty dishes or table linens to help accentuate the looks of the food. I simply use what I can grab closest or convenient. And I am seriously no good in garnishing the food at all! Lol!

So my dear readers, what you see is really what it is, my simple homemade food presented in it's most humble way. :) Plain and simple. But of course, I hope in the future I will have the leisure to be able to be better in my photography "skills". :)

Okay, enough said. I want to present to you a bread recipe that I made a week back. It's Black Belt Buns...Hai-Yah! Lol! Okay okay, I shan't confuse you, it's actually Luncheon Meat Buns with Seaweed wrap. :)

This is a really simple recipe, I bet anyone that love luncheon meat will love this recipe. Okay, I know, we should all avoid processed meat if possible...but come on, live a little, I'm not asking you to make / eat this everyday/ every week right? ;) Besides, you can simple replace the luncheon meat to anything you fancy, maybe otah? Yum!

Hahaha, sorry, I can't help poking fun of the photo because that luncheon meat sticking out looks too much like a tongue! Now you see why I can't be good in photography?! Lol! Okay okay, silliness aside, lets talk about this recipe. I used a recipe from the book 65C 湯種麵包 by Yvonne Chen. I figured after baking that 17hour pre fermented dough method for several times now, I should revisit the tang zhong method. :)

Recipe for Luncheon Meat Bun with Seaweed Wrap: (Makes about 8 buns)
Tang Zhong: 100ml water 20g bread flour

• Mix bread flour into water in a heat proof saucepan and whisk till no lumps. Place saucepan over heat and cook mixture over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Once the mixture thickens and leaves ribbons when the whisk lifts its batter, remove from the heat and let cool completely before use.

Set A:
195g bread flour
90g cake flour
6g instant active yeast
6g salt
30g caster sugar
12g milk powder

Set B:
60g whole beaten egg
65ml water
75g tang zhong mixture

Set C:
45g unsalted butter, room temperature

Filling/topping:
Sliced luncheon meats
Seaweed sheets used for sushi, cut into thin strips
Mayonnaise for tasting (Optional)

Method:

• Mix all dough ingredients except for butter together in a large mixing bowl to form a soft dough. Place on work area to knead or mixer to do the kneading. Knead the dough till it is not sticky, about 20 minutes.

• Add the unsalted butter in and continue to knead till the dough is shiny and elastic. To test if the dough is ready, pull a small piece off and stretching it with your fingers. If dough is very elastic and pulls to almost see through without breaking, then it's done.
• Place dough in a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof for at least 90 minutes to 2hrs.
• Once it's doubled, punched out the air and divide the dough to 65g portions, roll round and cover to let rest for 10 minutes before shaping.
• Fill the dough with luncheon meat slices or any desired filling. Then wrap the buns with the seaweeds strips. Let proof for another 20 mins, brush with egg wash. Bake @ 175C in a preheated oven for 15 to 18minus till golden brown.
• (Optional) Once cooled or when about to eat, squeeze some mayo into the cavity of the buns.
  

You can choose to give the luncheon meat a fry on the pan to make it a little crisp, but I prefer a softer, melt in your mouth texture. :) The bread turned out soft and delicious which went very well with the savory meat and seaweed wrap. My kids loved it very much!

Okay folks, hope you all will give this recipe a try and let me know how it turns out. I'm gonna go now to try out another great cake recipe now *excited*..will keep you all posted! Hope you all have fun too! Cheerios!