Sweet buns

Today is Chinese New Year and although I am not Chinese I have friends who are. After the record breaking snow day we had on Friday (February 8, 2013) today seems like a good day to celebrate. Happy New Year friends!

On the menu at our place today is Crab curry and baked sweet buns. Mum is the architect of both. I will start with the sweet buns and follow with crab curry since to put it all in one recipe may discourage you from trying it based solely on the length of the recipe. This sweet bun is actually called bierocks. Bierocks is a traditional German dish made out of bread rolls that are stuffed with ground beefm onions and cabbage. They freeze very well - just wrap each bun individually in foil and put them in a freezer bag; when you are ready to eat just thaw them in the fridge then place foil wrapped bun in a preheated (350 F) oven for 15 minutes. Ideal for picnics, long trips and kid's lunches, these can be stuffed with anything you choose - mixed vegetables, cheese, shrimp, ground meat and can be as delicious snack or a meal if paired with soup or in our case eaten like dinner rolls with crab curry. 

And my Chinese twist to this is that it looks rather similar to Cha Shao Boa buns. I am not sure how those are made but they look similar to what you can find at Chinese bakeries where you get a multitude of buns and rolls stuffed with anything from sausages to BBQ pork to coconut. Enjoy ! 


Skill Level: Easy

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp (one packet) yeast 
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup low fat milk  
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs lightly beaten
• 4 cups all purpose flour

For brushing the tops of buns

• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 Tbsp water

METHOD: 

1. Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and alow it to stand for 5 minutes
2. Stir in milk, salt, oil and eggs
3. Add 3 1/2 cups of flour to yeast mixture and stir to form a soft dough
4. Turn dough on a lightly floured surfce, knead until smooth and elastic (aprox. 8 minutes)
5. Add the remaining flour, one Tbsp at a time (until dough does not stick to your hand) 
6. Place dough in a large bowl coated with oil; turning to coat both sides. 
7. Cover and let it rise for 1 hour (dough must be doubled in size) 
8. Gently press two fingers into the dough, if the indentation remains then the dough has risen enough.
9. Punch down dough, cover and let it rest for 5 minutes
10. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle on a lightly floured board
11. Cut each rectangle into 6 squares  
12. If you are doing this with a filling - place filling in the centre and pinch sides together to join. Place seam side down
13. Roll into a ball, cover and let it rise for an additional 20 minutes
14. Uncover and glaze the tops of the buns with egg mixture using a basting brush, 
15. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes