Welcome to Sunday Brunch. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new with you. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area I was exposed to some of the best Chinese food in the world. One of my favorites is the steamed pork buns Char Siu Bao. Living in North Carolina I don't have the access to Chinese food and ingredients like I did in San Francisco or Chicago when I lived there. So essentially if I want something other than fast food Chinese I need to make it myself. Fortunately my Chinese friends when I was growing up were more than happy to share the knowledge of Chinese cooking with me so I can cook in a Chinese style.

Char Siu is Chinese Barbecued Pork and I make it usually on a weekend when I don't have as many time constraints as on a weekday. Here is my recipe.

Char Siu - Chinese Barbecue Pork
Serving Size : 10

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2½ pounds Boston butt roast -- trimmed and sliced
3 tablespoons honey
1½ tablespoons light brown sugar -- packed
1½ tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1½ tablespoons hoisin sauce
1½ tablespoons sherry -- or rice wine
1½ tablespoons no salt added tomato paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1½ teaspoons five-spice powder
1½ tablespoons low sodium catsup
1½ tablespoons plum sauce

Mix everything except meat together in a bowl. Pour marinade into a Ziploc bag.

Trim meat and slice about ¼ inch thick and 2 to 3 inches long. Trim of excess fat.

Add meat to marinade and refrigerate for at least 8 to 10 hours turning occasionally.

Heat oven to 375°F.

Place meat on a rack over a roasting pan lined with foil. Cook for 20 minutes on each side.

While meat is cooking place marinade into a small pan and heat to boiling. Stir to make sure everything is dissolved.

Pull meat from oven and raise heat to 425°F.

Brush marinade over meat. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn pork and brush with marinade and cook for another 5 minutes.

Per Serving: 222 Calories; 10g Fat (40.2% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 77mg Cholesterol; 222mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; ½ Other Carbohydrates.

This is a rather labor intensive dish hence it is a special dinner or weekend dish. The first day is cutting up the meat and marinating. To make marinating easy I put everything in a Ziploc bag. The meat I try and get rid of the large fat pockets and make slices as even as I can. I prefer to have larger number of slices so that each piece soaks up more marinade. I get the meat ready to go the afternoon before I make the meal. It rests and marinates in the refrigerator for at least 10 hours. I turn it frequently to distribute the meat and marinade.

I have a large baking pan with a rack. The pan gets cover with aluminum foil for easier cleanup. I lay the pieces out so they are not touching. I let them cook 20 minutes then flip them to the other side to cook. While the meat is cooking I take the remaining marinade and boil it. This makes it safe to use on the cooked meat. You don't want raw marinade of cooked meat because of the possibility of contamination. This also thickens the sauce so It can be use as a sauce on the meat at the end.

The following day is usually starts with cleaning the pan that has been soaking all night. I did mention labor intensive didn't I?

One of my most used appliances is my electric wok. I love my wok. I can't say enough good things about the electric wok especially since without it I couldn't cook stir fry. The Western stove just doesn't get hot enough to cook properly. With the addition of my bamboo steams I can go on to making my favorite dish the Char Siu Bao. My wok makes it so easy to steam. My Char Siu Bao recipe.

Char Siu Bao - Chinese Barbecue Pork Buns
Serving Size : 6

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
Filling
½ pound char siu -- minced -- see recipe
3 whole green onions -- sliced
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon ginger root -- minced fine
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
¼ teaspoon five-spice powder
Char Siu Bao Dough
1½ teaspoons dry yeast
¾ cup water -- lukewarm
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2½ cups all-purpose flour

To make dough put yeast in a small bowl and add lukewarm water. Let proof for about a minute. Whisk in oil to dissolve yeast and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in center and add yeast mixture. Slowly stir making a ragged but soft dough. Gather into a ball and knead until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise in warm place until doubled.

Roll dough into log and cut into 12 even sized pieces.

Mix filling ingredients together.

Roll each piece of dough into a flat circle. Place a tablespoon of filling in center. Pleat dough and pinch top.

Place balls on wax paper and cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

Place balls in steamer and let steam for 10 minutes.

Per Serving: 252 Calories; 5g Fat (18.7% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 309mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2½ Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Now that I have my left over Char Siu from last night all I have to do is make the dough and we will have my favorite Chinese dish for dinner. I also have some Pork Fried Rice to go with it.

So there you go next time you have a couple of days you don't know what to do with you can do like I do and cook.