Water Fried Buns

About water fry--Baking makes food crispy but dry; steaming makes food moist but mushy; water fry gets all the benefits.
Let's see the end result--very moist and tender buns with lacy and crispy crust. Talk about yummy!

A good water fried bun should have this lace.

The buns are so tender and soft, even toothless people can appreciate them!


It's a little labor intensive, but the heavy snow made me leave work early. I got plenty of time on hand..

First, combine warm water, eggs,oil,sugar, salt in the bread machine.
The portion is the same as Chinese soft buns.


Put in the flour and yeast


Choose "dough" for the machine


After the cycle completed, the dough would almost triple in volume.

Ok, now let's make the filling.
Combine 2 eggs, one TBSP water and 1/4 TSP salt, and beat. Then use 1 TBSP olive oil to cook the eggs.

Chinese chive flowers


Finely dice them


Wood ear mushroom


Chop them..


Use a little hot water to soak the bulgur. Let it undercook and still have some bite.


Mix all the ingredients and add some ground white pepper. The filling is done!
Make buns the size you like and let them sit for an hour.
Now the water fry.
Heat 1TBSP vegetable oil in a pan, and carefully put the buns in. Swirl them so that the bottom is well greased. Don't crowd the pan, otherwise the water won't distribute evenly and the buns may burn or get soggy. Put 1/2 cups of thin corn starch slurry in, and cover. Use high heat to boil the slurry, then lower to medium heat until almost all the liquid has evaporized. Then turn to low heat until you see a thin layer of starch paper. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 2 more minutes. Don't try to open the cover during the cooking because the buns would shrink!

Put a place over tha pan and carefully slip the buns out. Now you get it!

Comments

Cynthia said…
Man I'd give anything to taste those water fried buns. Your step by step photos are informative and instructive.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and helping me to discover yours. I look forward to seeing you around.
cheese puff said…
Yes, they are unbelievably delicious! Hope you can try them and enjoy the fresh water fried buns at home~ :)
Andy Dubbya said…
Oh man. Those look super tasty. I might have to take this recipe for a test drive!
Nick said…
It looks like you used a non-stick pan. Any chance that I could get away with a regular stainless steal bottom? My intuition is that the result would just be a mess of cooked on starch.
cheese puff said…
Nick, you are right--I used a nonstick pan. I think a cast iron pan is OK for this recipe, but I am not sure about regular stainless bottom. If you are fearless, give it a try and please let me know the result. :)
Anonymous said…
I always wondered about that lacy layer. One of my local Chinese cafes does pan fried dumplings this way. They are one of my all time favourite foods. Thanks for solving the mystery.
Tofu said…
Those looks absolutely amazing! I'm getting hungry~~ I've always wanted to try making water-fried buns, and I'm going to try your recipe in the very near future (tomorrow?) :] I hope it turns out as well as yours!