Chinese chicken steam buns recipe

If you like duck pancakes, then you'll love these! Forget oily unhealthy takeaways, these steam buns are simple, delicious and great thing to make with the kids. Adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe to simplify and make child friendly, we find these a good way to use up any leftover meats from your Sunday roast. You could swap out the chicken for any other meats you fancy, or use a selection of pre-roasted veggies for a meat-free alternative.

INGREDIENTS:

1 fresh red chilli (optional)

4 spring onions

2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

Small handful of fresh coriander

300g cooked chicken (thigh is best, or leftover chicken from your roast)

4/5 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Juice of 1 whole fresh lime

500g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting

400ml tin light coconut milk (or you could use skimmed milk if you prefer)

sea salt

Toasted sesame seeds to top

METHOD:

Halve and deseed the chillies, cut lengthways then chop in to small pieces and put to one side.

Trim, and halve the spring onions, cut lengthways then chop down to matchstick size and put to one side.

Finely chop the coriander then put to one side.

Peel and finely grate the ginger (watch your fingers!) then put to one side. Shred the cooked chicken into a bowl then add in the ginger, lime juice and hoisin sauce and give it a good mix to ensure all of the chicken is coated in the sauce.

In a separate bowl, place the flour, coconut milk and a good pinch of salt. Bring the mixture together with your hands then transfer on to a flour-dusted worktop and shape in to a long sausage. Cut in to approximately 10 equal sized pieces then shape in to balls and roll in to circles approximately 1cm thick.

Equally divide the chicken mixture in to the centre of the dough circles (you’ll need roughly 1 dessert spoon of chicken per circle), leave a roughly 2cm gap around the edges. Pull and fold the sides over the filling, pinching the edges together to seal. Turn upside down so the smooth side faces up and place the buns in to a double-layered muffin case then in to the steamer – sprinkle over your toasted sesame seeds. (Adults do this bit) Place a flat-based wok or pan on a medium-high heat and fill to approx. 3cm deep with boiling water. Place the steam baskets on top of the water over the pan and cover with a lid. Steam for 25 minutes or until light, fluffy and cooked through (pop a knife inside one to ensure there is no raw dough in the middle.

Carefully remove the buns, take out of the muffin cases then pull apart and stuff with the spring onions, coriander and chillies (if you want them – careful with the kids!). Serve with a bowl of extra hoisin sauce for dipping.

Enjoy!