Soymilk sweet-potato pau with fried turnip filling 紫番薯包内陷沙葛炒虾米

This morning, I'm a happy bunny cos I had my first homemade savory pau for breakfast and it tastes awesome!! I also specially made two into lil' fat piglet shape to give to my friend Wendy who's celebrating her birthday today. This was the message I wrote to her, ‘朋友， 我送你两只肥猪仔，

“猪”福你： 猪笼入水，青春永驻(猪）’ 够贴切吧！ 

 

I made these cos I had just enough portion of starter dough left from my previous pumpkin pau, and it is Wendy's birthday and mom's back today, it would be right to make these for them. I'm glad they turn out delicious. It's also my first time making my own 'Ju Hu Char' (fried turnip with dried shrimp), I was so surprised it tastes soooo much like the Ju Hu Char I had at Little Penang. Another pat on my shoulder. Hahaa... sorry if you're reading this, I just gotta be complimented for getting them right the first time.

 

The lil' fat piglet lost weight after its sauna session (after steaming).

 

 

After making my own version of Ju Hu Char, I only read to know that it actually means fried cuttlefish. Funny cos mine hasn't got any trace of cuttlefish in it. But it was alright, I had dried shrimps in mine to give it a similar taste. This is an all-time favorite whenever I frequent Little Penang, the Ju Hu Char is served inside a raw lettuce leaf. I thought I can have leftover after making the pau, but I was wrong. I only had just enough for 16 pau.

 

My Ju Hu Char recipe:

*1 small turnip, peeled and cut into thin shreds, about 2-3cm length (can also grate with cheesegrater)

*1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into thin shreds, about 2-3cm length (can also grate with cheese grater)

*3 cloves garlic, finely minced

*about 1-2tbsp dried shrimps, finely chopped

*2 Chinese mushrooms, washed and soaked (retain the soaking water), finely sliced

*Seasoning like salt, pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce

*Thickener like cornflour in water (I ran out of cornflour, I made do with oatflour, which worked, surprisingly)

 

Instructions:

1. Heat up 2tbsp grapeseed oil in a heated wok.

2. Stir in garlic and dried shrimp.

3. Fry until fragrant, stir in Chinese mushrooms (without the soaking water), carrot and turnip. Fry for about 3min.

4. Season with salt, pepper, soy sauce and oyster sauce. (I cant give the exact amount cos I just add everything by eye ball / by tasting it to get the right taste)

5. Pour in about 1/2 cup water (water used to soak mushrooms). Add in more if seems a little dry.

5. Simmer for about 10min. At the end, if dish is still a little wet, add in thickener. (This is used as pau filling, so it cant be too wet)

6. Leave to cool before being wrapped in pau.

 

 

For the pau recipe, this recipe makes about 20 pau, I made 16 with filling, 4 plain ones for the lil' fella.

I used the previous pau recipe I attempted, but with slight modification.

*Starter dough 100g

*Hong Kong flour 300g

*Instant active yeast 1tsp

*Warm unsweetened soymilk 100g

*Purple sweet potato puree (I used soymilk to blend the steamed sweet potato when making it into puree) 150g

*Brown sugar 20g

*Salt 1/8 tsp (forgot to add this in, so the pau turned out quite bland, but I was lucky cos I made a tasty filling)

*1tsp baking powder

*2tbsp grapeseed oil

 

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients knead. I used a bread machine to knead. Knead until the dough is stretchy and has smooth surface (about 10min in a bread machine).

2. Leave to proof in an oiled bowl till it double its size. (I did this for about an hour)

3. On a floured surface, punch the risen dough to deflate it, this is my favorite step.

4. Divide into small pieces weighing 40g.  

5. Roll into flat round disk (thin on the edge and slightly thicker in the middle).

6. Wrap about 1.5tbsp Ju Hu Char filling in it.

7. Place onto non-stick parchment paper.

8. Let proof for another 30-40min.

9. Steam in vigorously boiling water for about 12min. Wrap the lid with a tea towel to prevent the condensate from dropping back onto the pau, which will uglify the outlook. Do not open the lid right away. Let cool gently so that the skin of the pau wont turn wrinkly.

 

*I did Step 1-7 the night before. Then take them out the next morning to further proof for about 20min in a warm-ish oven.

 

Also need to mention, I came across this cute lil' piglet shape from Happy Home Baking.

 

I am also submitting this soy sweet potato pau and Ju Hu Char recipe to the Little Thumbs Up "Soy Beans" event organized by Bake for Happy Kids, my little favourite DIY and hosted by Mich of Piece of Cake. You can link your soy recipes here.