Pork Steamed Dumplings – Sala Bao Sai Moo

Cooking time: 30mins

Serves: 8 people

Ingredients

For the dough

Plain flour 380g
Vegetable oil 4tbsp
Baking powder 2tsp
Dry yeast 1pack (7g)
Milk 260g
Baking/Grease proof paper cut 4cm square

For the filling

Minced pork 250g
Salt 1/4tsp
Sugar 1tbsp
White ground pepper 1tsp
Seasoning sauce 1tbsp
Sesame oil 1tbsp
Oyster sauce 1tbsp
Chopped garlic 2 cloves
Chopped onion 1 onion
Corn flour 1 tbsp

Sala Bao are little steamed dumplings and are made with many different flavours, some are even baked rather than steamed. This is a simple recipe with a delicious pork filling that is perfect for breakfast or teatime. They go well with Chinese Dim Sum, or just with a lovely cup of tea.

When I used to live in Phuket, Thailand, they serve these everyday. But since I moved to the UK I haven’t had any. So I thought I would try to make some myself, and they came out nice and soft and full of flavour.

The good Sala Bao you can find probably in China town in London. But as I no longer live anywhere near China town, I can’t find any. Plus during this lockdown time most of the restaurants are closed. Again I have to make this by myself because I miss those Dim Sum basket options.

Its a simple recipe, so I encourage you to try it. Please let me know how you get on in the comments below.

Pork Dumplings Recipe - Thai Food Reciepes

Method

Filling

Mix minced pork, salt, sugar, white ground pepper, seasoning sauce, sesame oil , oyster sauce, chopped garlic, chopped onion and corn flour
Mix it well and put it in the fridge while you’re making the dough

Make the dough

Warm the milk in the microwave or in a pot, make sure it's not too hot. then pour warm milk into a cup add sugar and yeast. mix them a little bit and then leave aside for 5 minutes
Sift the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl
Add the milk and yeast mix, into a bowl with the flour and mix it well. Then add vegetable oil then mix a bit more
Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it with your hands for 5 minutes - make sure to wash your hands first
Use the oil to wipe around the bowl and put the dough to rest for 10 minutes, and cover with cling film
Add a bit of the flour on to the surface before you take the dough out of the bowl and knead it for 1 minute with your hands
Divide the dough into equal portions and make into round shapes
Now take each dough ball and roll them out flat
Put the flat dough in you open hand and add the 1 tbsp of filling
Now start wrapping it by twisting it all around and place on top of the baking paper that you cut into square earlier
Now put it on the steamer and steam it for 10 minutes
Once it’s done take it out of the steamer and let it rest for 1 minute before you eat. It’s best eaten while it’s still warm, but not too hot.
If you don’t want to steam all the buns at once, you can freeze some to eat another day.