Pork Bao and Grilled Bok Choy

*Post by Angela.

You know what's the best thing about pulled pork? You can make a ton of it at once (you kind of have to), and then you have lunch and dinner for days. You know what's the worst thing about pulled pork? You have lunch and dinner for days. About a month ago, I made about 4 lbs of pulled pork using this recipe (I just doubled the ginger ale), and after about 3 days of pulled pork sandwiches and pulled pork tacos for lunch and dinner, we waved the white flag. With about 2 cups of pulled pork to go, I had to freeze the leftovers to be dealt with another day. And then? A flash of genius. The pulled pork I made sort of tasted like the filling in the pork bao (buns) I grew up eating. The idea of making bao dough was a little intimidating, but I was into it. I sent the call out on Twitter and ended up with this recipe, which worked out wonderfully fluffy. I paired the bao with an insanely good (but a little persnickety) recipe for grilled bok choy.

List of ingredients for the dough:

• 1/3 cup water (lukewarm)
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 cup water (lukewarm)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

First, I mixed together 1/3 cup lukewarm water, 1/3 cup all purpose flour, 1 package active dry yeast and 2 tsp sugar in a big bowl, then let it sit for about 30 minutes.

I sifted together a cup of all purpose flour, 3/4 cup cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp sugar in a bowl, added it into the yeast mixture, then drizzled in the oil (while stirring), then another 1/2 cup of lukewarm water, until the mixture formed a dough. I don't know why you have to use two different types of flour, but, as with any dough recipe, I have no idea what I'm doing so I just do what I'm told.

I kneaded the dough for about 5 minutes, until it was smooth-ish, then placed it in a bowl and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. I walked away and didn't think about it for another 4 hours (letting the dough rise).

Right before the dough was ready, I added a little zing to the pulled pork.

List of ingredients for the pork:

• 2 cups of pork
• 2 green onions, minced
• 4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 teaspoon honey
• 1 teaspoon dry sherry
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five spice

Basically, I just mixed the pulled pork with all the rest of the ingredients. Done.

Okay.

List of ingredients for the bok choy:

• 2 heads bok choy, thick stem removed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
• 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 3/4 tbsp chili paste
• 9 tbsp vegetable oil + 2 tbsp for cooking
• 1 1/2 scallion, chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds
• Salt and pepper

First, I cut up all the bok choy, then mixed together all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. I added about 2 tbsp of oil to my grill pan over medium high heat. Then I threw on some pieces of bok choy and cooked for about 3-4 minutes, turning the pieces over every 30 seconds. You want a nice char and for the pieces to be crispy, but make sure they don't burn (something that can happen with a quickness).

I cooked all of the bok choy and threw it into a bowl as it was done. Then I poured in the dressing and tossed the bok choy well.

Did you forget about the bao? I sure didn't. I sprinkled the remaining baking powder over the risen dough, then kneaded it for another 2 minutes. I separated the dough into 12 equal sized balls and flattened them, then placed a tbsp of the pork in the middle of each pieces of dough.

With each circle of dough, I pulled the four sides up over the pork and gave them a little twist at the top (making sure the meat was completely enclosed). I placed each closed off bun on an oiled sheet (you can also use parchment paper) to rise for another 30 minutes.

Finally, I placed the buns in my steamer (making sure to oil the bottoms so the buns didn't stick) and steamed for about 12 minutes.

These really turned out so much better than I had anticipated! While the meat was delicious, it wasn't exactly right. The dough was spot on. And the bok choy? Completely and totally addictive - I bet it would be even better on a real grill.