gluten-free siopao attempt
I attempted to make gluten-free siopao today. We are trying to save money, so I have been trying to think of lunches to make for us to bring to work during our workweeks. Siopao was a staple when I could eat wheat, and often I made it during long weekends (since it was a 12+ hour ordeal). I did some Googling and stumbled upon this recipe from Gluten-Free Life is delicious. It is for gluten-free bao, but I figured they are similar enough that I could use just use a siopao filling instead.
The dough rose and came together surprisingly well. It cracked when it rose and seemed sticky, but other than that, it is actually pretty good for gluten-free.
But it is definitely not as forgiving as wheat dough. My first steamed batch was a trial and the rest of the batches were adjusted accordingly.
You can see a little bit where they tore when I tried to take them out; they ended up in shreds on the plate with only bits here and there that were actually edible. Here is what I learned:
- Make them smaller; the dough was undercooked in the center, they stuck to each other and the sides of the steamer
- Use less filling
- Space them out more
- Put fewer in at a time
After the first batch, I made them smaller and only added 3 to the basket at a time. The rest came out quite well, though the dough is quite chewy. I doubled the recipe, but it still only made 10 siopao. I think I was too generous with the dough, but that was the only way I could get everything to stick together. The original recipe talks about twisting the tops to close them, but my dough certainly couldn't handle that. I'm not sure why my dough was different, since I used all the same ingredients, but my measurements were not the same, so maybe that had something to do with it.
It was enough of a success that I don't feel like a failure, but not good enough that I would make it again. DH said he would make some rice patties so we could eat the filling like sandwiches, Koja Kitchen-style. Excellent way to utilize the rest of the filling.