Pineapple Bao

[菠蘿包]

A hugely popular Cantonese delicacy cherished in their native Hong Kong and sold in Chinatowns all across the world, Pineapple Bao is a sweet, brioche-like bun which, despite its moniker, contains no fruit, and is instead named due to the distinct Pineapple-like appearance of its topping.

For the recent edition of our Culinary Journeys series we spoke with Boston-born chef Laurence Louie, who was introduced to cooking at an early age whilst working weekends at his mother’s Chinese bakery: Contempo.

Due largely to their accessibility, Chinese bakeries across the world have often acted as vital meeting points for the local diaspora, places where, traditionally, men would meet to discuss, debate, and philosophise over coffee and inexpensive snacks.

Situated in Quincy, a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Boston, Contempo, which was known for its cakes and baos (and more recently, fried dough and steamed rice noodles), was no different, serving as an important hub for the local Chinese community.

Though traditionally, it was in and around Chinatown where Boston’s Sino population was concentrated, in recent decades, rapidly rising costs had forced many working-class families to uproot and move to more suburban locations.

For these families, Contempo provided a familiar space where they could engage with one another, and eat the food which they had grown up with, thus ensuring that, though forced from the heart of the city, their community would not disappear (the unfortunate fate of many other Chinese communities around the US).

“Pineapple Bao is my Mum's favourite. She would wait for it before eating anything else for breakfast. When they came fresh out of the oven, there's nothing like it in the world. They were soft and warm in the middle, and crunchy on top. The smell was aromatic and filled up the whole bakery. If it came out while a customer was in the shop, they always would buy some.”

Makes 8 buns

Time 1 hour + proofing time

Ingredients

For the roux

20g of white all-purpose flour

100g water

For the dough

280g of white bread flour

2 tsps of instant yeast

40g of sugar

1/2 tsp of sea salt

1 egg

50g of milk

30g of single cream

50g of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

Topping

70g of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

70g of caster sugar

1 egg yolk

100g of cake or white all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 tsp of baking powder

Instructions

Make the roux by cooking 20g of flour with 100g of water in a small pot over low heat until it becomes a smooth thick paste. About 5 minutes.

For the dough, combine flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Separately combine milk, cream, egg. Mix together to form a shaggy dough. Pour out onto your work surface and start kneading into a smooth elastic dough. This will take about 15-20 minutes in total by hand. Half way through, incorporate the softened butter and continue kneading. Place the dough in a bowl, cover with cling film, and let proof for 1-2 hours or until it doubles in size.

While the dough proofs, make the topping. Combine all the ingredients, mix well until a sticky cookie dough forms. Roll it into a log shape, wrap in cling film and let it firm up in the fridge (or freezer if you are in a hurry).

After the dough is proofed for the first time, portion the dough into 8 balls (about 70-75g each). Roll them into a smooth ball and place it onto your baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover with cling film and allow to proof for an additional 30-60 minutes.

While the bao is proofing for the second time, roll out your firmed topping. Cut into 8 equal size portions from your log and roll each one into a smooth ball. Flatten it between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin until you have a 3" to 3.5" disk. Repeat until all the portions are rolled out. Be careful to store them on a non-stick surface while you work through your topping. Try to work quickly as the dough gets stickier as it softens.

Preheat your oven to 175°C. After the second proofing of your bao, brush the top of each one with a basic egg wash (beaten egg). Place a disc of topping on top of each bao and brush the topping with egg wash. Do this until you have all your bao topped with your cookie dough. Be careful not to press too hard and deflate your bao when putting on the topping.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. When done, let cool on a rack for 2 minutes. Enjoy while hot. Great with a cup of coffee or tea!

Read our interview with Laurence. Here.

Poppy MistFebruary 22, 2021