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I have been making theRocket Rollsfor some time now. Their sweet flavour has always made me think of store bought Pork Buns... I have not attempted to recreate them at home...til now that is...and I am happy to announce that I will never go back. They are sure to be a regular staple around here. In fact they were so good to the Bears that PapaBear stole my 2nd one and took it to work as part of his lunch yesterday. Needless to say he heard about that when he got home. I created my Char Siu Pork from scratch using leftover tenderloin we had here in the fridge. I also made my own Hoisin Sauce as I not only didn't have that here in my kitchen but had never heard of it used in a recipe before. If you were to look online for a recipe to make Pork Buns you would come across both of those as list toppers...and I am here to tell you that both are incredibly easy to make. Enough talking I am sure you are anxious to make some of your own so let's get started.
Pork Buns ... Start off with the creation of your Rocket Rolls dough. You will need to start these a minimum of 3 hours before you are needing them so the dough has time to rise. I usually make my dough first thing in the morning so that it is ready for baking by dinner time and the dough has plenty of time to rise.
Hoisin Sauce: 4 TBSP Soy Sauce 2 TBSP Peanut Butter 1 TBSP Honey 2 TSP Rice Vinegar 1 Garlic Clove (I didn't add this as I was using leftover pork and the pork was garlicky enough) 2 TSP Sesame Seed Oil Dash of Pepper Combine all your ingredients into one bowl, whisk until well blended and set aside.
Char Siu Pork ...my way 2 Green Onions (Scallions) chopped EVOO 1TBSP Rice Wine 1.5 TBSP Cornstarch 2 TBSP Water
(there are 2 ways to do this...fresh pork or using leftover pork as I did. If you are using fresh pork you will need to make this sauceand bake it on the pork in the oven. As I was using leftover Pork that already had a lot of the flavours the recipe is asking for I only used the Hoisin Sauce on it in a frying pan to heat through) Chop up your pork...(I had roughly 1.25lb of tenderloin leftover for pork buns use) and toss in to a hot frying pan.
On to that you will pour your Hoisin Sauce and stir until completely coated. I do not have a set time that I cooked it for as I was really just heating it through for the most part. What you can watch for is the pork to start looking caramelized. While your pork is heating through, in another frying pan heat up some EVOO and toss in some chopped up green onions...2-3 scallions worth. Heat them just until they start to look soft and then toss them on to the heating pork and mix. Combine your cornstarch and water together until mixed well...to that add your rice wine vinegar and stir. At this time your pork should be heated through well enough that you can add your rice wine vinegar mix. Stir it in well and cook for another 30 seconds...just to the point where you see it thickening up and remove from the stove. Immediately pour your meat mixture in to a bowl to cool down completely before using.
With your dough divided and on its final rising, your pork chopped, sauced and cooked you are ready to begin the filling stage.
Taking one roll, flip it over and create a little pocket space on the underside...not so deep to cut through the top of the bun but deep enough that you can add your filling to it.
Place 2-3 TBSP of the filling into the pocket and then begin to pull the edges of the dough gently up over the sides covering the meat entirely. Now you should be able to flip the filled bun over and continue to work the top by gently pulling the dough from the top and moving it around the outer edges to the underside. By doing this you will end up with a nice, evenly rounded bun top and a fully covered bun bottom. I found this video here to help you understand visually what I am trying to say. Repeat the step above until you have filled all 12 of your buns ...if you had as much pork leftover as I did you can always toss that in a stir fry, eat it or just freeze it for your next pork bun adventure. At this point with all your buns filled and shaped...you are ready to bake them in a 350ยบ oven for 18-30 minutes. As every oven is different in temperature I just go by the bun itself. If you see it getting toasty brown then they are most likely ready. You could always do a toothpick test if you are really unsure.
Now sit back and enjoy the deliciousness of a HOMEMADE PORK BUN!!!
SOO GOOD! Now Go Be Brave...and make some pork buns for your family today.
