Salted Egg Custard Wholemeal Bao

Makes 20 pieces

I have never thought I could made this yummy Boazi, Salted Egg Custard Wholemeal Bao. I sure will order a basket of Salted Egg Custard Bao when I am at the Dim Sum eateries. I bought a cookbook Y3K My Secret Recipes Series at Popular bookshop few months ago. The author of this cookbook is Coco Kong. She is generous enough to act as a contributor to Y3K recipes. 

Recipes adapted from Y3K.

Dough:
(Mixed instant yeast and water just prior to using)

1 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
150 ml Water (at room temperature)
240g Bao Flour (I used Blue Keys)
30g Whole meal
20g Icing Sugar
1 tsp Double Action Baking Powder (DABP)

Filling:
2 Eggs (Medium size 60g, beaten)
60g Castor Sugar
120g Fresh Milk
40g Wheat Starch
15g Custard Powder
15g Milk Powder
50g Butter (at room temperature)
4 Salted Duck Egg Yolks (Steamed till cooked, mashed whilst hot)

Material:
20 Cupcake liners (Flattened) 

Method:

1. Cook the custard filling accept Salted Egg Yolks over low heat in a pot, stirring at all time till paste has a thickened consistency. Remove from heat, cool well, add in mashed Salted Egg Yolks. Mix well before scaling at 20g each, shape into round balls and put them in the fridge for 2 ~ 3 hours or overnight.

2. Sieve the boa flour, double action baking powder and icing sugar into a mixing bowl, mix well.  Add in whole meal. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, add in yeast mixture, mix with spatula. Transfer dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough until it becomes smooth (about 5 mins). Knead in vegetable shortening and continue to knead for another 10 ~ 15 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Take a piece of dough (about the size of a table tennis ball) and stretch it, you should be able to stretch it to a fairly thin membrane without tearing off easily, if not continue to knead for another 5 to 10mins. 

3. Roll dough into a smooth round, place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with wet kitchen towel and let it proof for 30 ~ 45 minutes or until it doubles in bulk.

4. Punch down the dough and give a few light kneading to release the trapped air bubbles. Roll dough into long strip, cut and weight into 25g each. Roll each portion into a smooth round balls. Flatten each dough into a small disc with a small rolling pin, make the edges thinner and the center portion thicker. Wrap each dough with 20g of salted egg custard filling. Pinch and seal the seams. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of parchment paper. Cover loosely with cling wrap and leave buns to proof for 30 minutes.

5. Place bao in a steamer and space them apart so that they do not touch one another. Steam at medium to high heat for 5 minutes (make sure the water is already boiling before steaming). When ready, remove the lid carefully to prevent water from dripping over the bao. Remove immediately and cool it on the rack. Keep any leftovers in fridge. (Store in airtight containers) and re-steam till hot before serving.