Chinese Steamed Buns with Pork Stuffing

For Dough: Mix the sugar and yeast gently with the warm water; when it foams its ready to use. Dried yeast will take a little longer to reactivate. Melt the shortening and mix into the flour, stirring thoroughly to distribute it evenly.

Make a well in the center, pour the yeast mixture into it, and gradually mix into the flour until very smooth and soft. Knead for up to 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a clean damp cloth and leave in a warm place until tripled in bulk (this can take up to 4 hours).

Knock down the dough, knead briefly (the following only applies to plain Steamed buns: and shape into a sausage 1 1/2 inch in diameter; cut into 1 1/2 inch sections and roll each piece into a ball. Press each ball with the heel of the hand to flatten slightly. Place a disk of waxed paper in the bottom of the steamer compartment and place the buns on it. Cover and steam over a gently simmering water for about 10 minutes).

While the dough is rising, soak the mushrooms in warm water for about 20 minutes or longer, until soft and plumped up. Drain the mushrooms, cut off the stalks and discard them. Chop the caps.

Fry the scallion, onion, and garlic briefly, then add the meat and stir-fry; add the mushrooms and stir-fry all together for 5 minutes. Add all the sauce ingredients, stir well, and cook to allow some of the liquid to evaporate; stir in the thickening agent mixed with a very little cold water. Set aside.

Use the prepared dough to assemble and cook the buns, with this filling, as directed:

Roll out the dough into a fairly thick sheet and cut out disks 4-4 3/4" diameter with a plain round cookie cutter. Place a little of the filling in the center of each disk. Bring the edges of the disk up and over the filling pinching them together gently as you do so. Steam these little buns as directed in the recipe for Steamed Buns (above).