Chinese Bakery Style Ham, Cheese, Mayo Buns (with Poolish)
Course: Bread
Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Prep Time: 40 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 20 minutesminutes
Prepare poolish, proofing:: 10 hourshours
Total Time: 1 hourhour
Servings: 12small buns
Calories: 206kcal
Author: Marvellina
Learn how to make Chinese bakery-style soft and buttery buns filled with cheese, ham, and green onion and topped with bacon bits, ketchup, and mayonnaise. It's a kind of savory bun that most Asian kids grew up with
2TbspKewpie mayoregular mayo works too, more as needed
Instructions
Prepare poolish (the day before you plan to make the bread):
Mix all ingredients for poolish and let it sit for 8-10 hours. You can even put this in the fridge until the next day when you are ready to use them. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Simply let it comes to room temperature for an hour or so before using
Prepare the dough:
Put all ingredients for the dough and the poolish in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a dough hook attachment
Start the mixer on low ("stir" on KA) and knead for about 2 minutes. It should come to a rough dough. If it's too dry, you can add a bit more of the egg. Once you get a rough dough that is slightly sticky, increase speed to 2 and knead for 7-8 minutes, the dough should be smoother and a bit stretchy at this point, but the dough will tear if you pull it. Add the softened butter and continue to knead for another 5-6 minutes until you pass the windowpane test. When you stretch the dough thinly, it won't break. You can stop kneading at this point
First proofing:
Oil the bowl and cover and let the dough rise at temperature about 77-86 F (25-30 C) until they are double in size. This may take 1 hour or longer depending on the temperature. If it's really warm where you are, it may not take that long
When you poke the dough with your lightly oiled finger, the indentation stays. This means the proofing is done and the dough has doubled in size
Filling and shaping:
Lightly oil your working surface and your palms. I use non-stick cooking spray and deflate the dough, pushing out all the air. Divide the dough into 12 smaller doughs, about the same size. Cover and let them rest for 15 minutes
Work with one dough at a time and keep the rest covered. Take one dough and roll it out into about 7-8 inches long oval shape. Place half slice of cheese, a piece of ham (cut to fit into size), and some sprinkles of green onion. Roll it up from the side near you and then pinch both ends to seal. Place this on a large muffin or cupcake paper liner and arrange it on a baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling
Second proofing:
Cover and let the shaped buns proof again at a warm place until it doubles in size, about another hour, depending on how warm or cold the temperature where you are. When you gently press on the dough, it should bounce back slowly and feels lighter too. It means that the dough is done proofing.
10 minutes before the end of proofing, preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional bottom heat only oven. For convection top and bottom heat, lower the temperature by 20 degrees
Transfer about 1-2 Tbsp of ketchup and mayo into separate plastic bag, pushing it to one corner and then snip the corner of the bag with scissors so you can squeeze the sauce out to decorate
Decorate the top of the bun with some ketchup and mayo (as shown in the photo above). Top with some bacon bits if you like
Baking:
Bake in the preheated oven, middle rack, for 15-20 minutes or until nicely golden brown
Serving:
The buns are best served warm as the cheese is melty and gooey. The cheese will harden as it cools down completely, which is normal. A few second in a microwave will warm it back up
Storing:
Let the buns cool down completely. Wrap with a cling wrap and store them in a fridge. When ready to serve, warm them up in the microwave for about 10 seconds or until warm through. You can also warm them up in the oven at 350 F (180 C). Loosely wrap them in foil. Reheat for about 5 minutes in a preheated oven and then open the foil and reheat for another 2 minutes