Booths sticky beef bao buns recipe

Serves: 4 l Prep: 5 hours, 30 mins l Cooks: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the sticky beef

500g braising steak, diced

150g Stokes Korean

BBQ sauce

1 tsp Sambal Oelek

Indonesian chilli sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp honey

4cm ginger, peeled

and grated

1 lime, juice only

3 star anise

500ml beef stock

For the bao buns

20g caster sugar

8g dried yeast

375g plain flour

20g butter, melted

1 egg white

2 tbsp nigella seeds

Extra flour for dusting

To serve

1 carrot, grated

1 beetroot, grated

1 red chilli, sliced

1 tsp sesame seeds

Coriander leaves

Method

1 Cut each cube of braising steak in half and place in a glass bowl. Add the BBQ sauce, chilli sauce, soy sauce, honey, ginger, lime juice and star anise. Cover and marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours.

2 For the sticky beef, place the marinated beef into a saucepan, add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 1½ hours uncovered. The sauce should be reduced, rich and sticky. If the sauce is too thin simmer for a further 30 minutes to reduce. Remove the star anise and discard.

3 To make the buns, place the caster sugar and yeast into a bowl. Add 250g of warm water and stir to dissolve.

4 Place the plain flour into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mix and melted butter. Bring the dough together and tip onto a work surface. Knead for 5 minutes. Dust with a little extra flour if the dough is getting sticky. Shape into a ball and place into a clean bowl. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 1 hour to prove.

5 After 1 hour divide the dough into 12 evenly sized pieces and shape into balls. Place the dough balls onto 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. Cover the dough balls with a damp tea towel and rest for 10 minutes.

6 Brush each dough ball with egg white and scatter with nigella seeds.

7 Steam the buns in a steaming basket lined with baking paper over a pan of simmering water for 15-20 minutes or until the dough bounces back when pressed (allow room for the buns to spread and cook in batches).

8 To serve, cut a cross in the top of each bun. Stuff with grated carrot and beetroot, add a spoonful of sticky beef and top with sliced chillies, a scattering of sesame seeds and fresh coriander leaves.

CHEF’S TIP

Why not swap the beef for pork shoulder for a change? To make these into mini buns, divide the dough mix into 24 pieces, cook for 8-10 minutes, fill and serve as canapés.