It’s been a very long time since Kak’mbang and I made pau. Back when we were still living in Terengganu, every so often we would buy boxes of Blue Key flour and make chicken mushroom pau. Kak’mbang made the filling and I was on pau dough duty. Freshly steamed buns would then be sent to friends and relatives for their afternoon snack.
Gosh, that was such a long time ago.
Well, finally we got around to buying a box of Blue Key pau flour recently. Kak’mbang still hasn’t taught me the recipe for her pau filling, but here’s the recipe for the dough. I based it off of the recipe written on the Blue Key pau flour box, and added a few twists based on research on how to get fluffier buns.
For best results, use flours with 8%-10% protein content. Here in Malaysia we conveniently have pau flour, but plain wheat flour (superfine if possible) will do just fine in a pinch, mixed with wheat, potato, or corn starch to reduce the protein content.
Using milk in place of water also results in wonderfully soft and flavorful pau. Since I buy UHT milk in 200ml packets, for each batch of this dough I would use 1 packet of milk and add enough water to make 320ml worth of liquid.
This recipe is written for a breadmaker, with very pleasing results. I’m glad to find another use for it; clearly it is not just for baking Western-style bread. Yum! I’ve also included steps for those of you not using a breadmaker.
Side note: I cannot say enough how convenient my breadmaker has been for me. It is so easy to use, even for the noob-est of noobs. One can argue that it is perhaps designed for the noob-est of noobs, giving everyone access to delicious, freshly baked homemade bread.
Updated the method and ingredients ratio a bit, based on the pau dough recipe by Che Nom and following some tips by What to Cook Today
Jump to RecipeMaking pau dough
In your breadmaker pan or stand mixer bowl, add the water or milk, cooking oil, sugar, vanilla essence if using, and yeast.
Add the flours, making sure to cover the surface of the liquid completely.
Add the salt and baking powder.
Start the machine, using the Dough program.
Once the knead cycle ends, let rest for about 15 minutes.
If not using a breadmaker, using your stand mixer mix and knead at the lowest speed on your mixer until a shaggy dough forms, then increase the speed one step and continue kneading, about 14 to 15 minutes. Shape into a round ball and let rest in your mixing bowl, placed in a warm place and covered with a damp cloth, 15 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a floured surface.
Divide the dough to your desired size. I usually divide my dough into 16 pieces for filled buns. Each piece should weigh around 55 to 57 grams.
Use as required.
Pau Dough
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer optional
- 1 bread maker optional
Ingredients
- 320 grams water OR full cream milk
- 20 grams oil OR fat 1 tablespoon, see Note 1
- 50 grams caster sugar ¼ cup
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence optional, see Note 2
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
- 500 grams pau flour see Note 3 for subtitutes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- In your breadmaker pan or stand mixer bowl, add the water or milk, cooking oil, sugar, vanilla essence if using, and yeast.
- Add the flours, making sure to cover the surface of the liquid completely.
- Add the salt and baking powder.
- Start the machine, using the Dough program.
- Once the knead cycle ends, let rest for about 15 minutes.
- If not using a breadmaker, using your stand mixer mix and knead at the lowest speed on your mixer until a shaggy dough forms, then increase the speed one step and continue kneading, about 14 to 15 minutes. Shape into a round ball and let rest in your mixing bowl, placed in a warm place and covered with a damp cloth, 15 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface.
- Divide the dough to your desired size. I usually divide my dough into 16 pieces for filled buns. Each piece should weigh around 55 to 57 grams.
- Use as required.
Notes
- You can use any cooking oil of your choosing. Depending on your recipe, you can substitute this with more fragrant oils or fats. For example, for my pandan kaya pau I used unrefined coconut oil for a touch of coconutty fragrance, and for my chicken char siu bao I used rendered chicken fat.
- Optional. You can omit this or, depending on your fillings, you can substitute with other flavored essences like rose, pandan, etc.
- If pau flour is unavailable, use any of the following options:
- 250 grams plain flour plus 250 grams cake flour
- 415 grams plain flour plus 85 grams wheat starch OR potato starch OR cornstarch
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