Three cheers for chicken buns!
Top: cherries, strawberries, homemade hoisin-chicken bun
Bottom: yakisoba with carrots, Chinese broccoli, red bell pepper, and scallions
Inset: mini-Totoro container with mini-choux a la creme pastries, melon-flavored ramune (click pic to enlarge)
Quickie bento this morning as I didn't have much time. I added fresh veggies to the yakisoba noodles and flavoring that came from my freezer. I also baked up hoisin-chicken buns from the batch that I made and froze on Sunday. I just ate it and it's delicious -- I guess that answers my question of whether those buns would freeze well. (>.^)
HOISIN-CHICKEN BUNS
Ingredients
3/4 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1/4 cup thinly-sliced scallions
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
frozen dinner roll dough pieces, thawed (use white dough)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
cooking spray
rolling pin Steps
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray, and add chicken thighs. Cook until done, flipping midway through, about 4 minutes on each side (I like mine lightly browned). Remove from pan.
- Using two forks, shred the chicken thighs and place them into a bowl. Mix in the scallions, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and vinegar.
- Lightly flour your hands, a rolling pin, and the surface. Roll a piece of dough into a flat circle, about 4" wide. Spoon some of the chicken mixture into the center of the dough, about a heaping tablespoon (maybe more if you're awesome). Visualize your dough piece as a globe -- pull the N and S points, and then the E and W points, towards the center and pinch together. You will have gapsin the dough to the NE, SE, SW, and NW. Pull those corners in towards the center and pinch to seal the filling in.
- Place the bun, pinched seam down, on a baking sheet lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise for 20 minutes. (You can also spray the buns before putting on the plastic wrap, but I did not find this necessary).
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Uncover the buns. Gently brush each with the egg and sprinkle evenly with toasted sesame seeds (toast your own seeds for best results).
- If eating immediately, bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
- If storing, bake for 12-13 minutes, or until a very light brown. Remove from oven and let cool. Freeze in a single layer - once frozen, you can store the buns in freezer bags. To reheat, thaw the buns in the refrigerator overnight, then bake at 375° for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and let the buns remain in the oven with the heat off to ensure they are hot all the way through (drop the heat to 350° if using a toaster oven). You can also reheat straight from the freezer by baking at 300° for 10 minutes, or until heated through and golden brown (keep checking to ensure the buns don't burn).
© Cooking Cute