One Good Ritual

Goal

For this week’s meal prep I wanted to iterate on last week’s Beef Stew Hand Pies. The filling was changed to Japanese chicken curry and the dough format changed.

The goal was to make a Chicken Curry Bun, similar to a baozi but with my 00 flour shaped into a wrapper with pleats instead of the hand pie shape.

Process

For the dough, my goal was to achieve a “wrapper” style of dough using sourdough starter for flavoring rather than rise. I wanted to, and forgot, to add curry powder to the dough mix for added flavor and light coloring.

The dough was started the day before the bake at 65% hydration. I kneaded in a stand mixer for about 15 minutes to develop gluten mechanically and then left it to ferment on the counter for about 6 hours. I wasn’t particularly fussed with the overall fermentation since I wasn’t relying on gas retention for rise.

The filling was a mixture of ground chicken, grated russet potato, grated carrot, diced broccoli stem, and minced onion. Topped with chicken remouillage. This was reduced to about 50-75% before adding in crumbled Japanese curry roux cube. This was cooked out for a few minutes before removing from the heat, cooled, and then stored in the refrigerator.

Day of bake, I scooped the filling into about 85g portions. Dough was divided into 75g portions and then rolled flat, filling was scooped in, pleated, egg wash (with turmeric added for coloring) and baked at 425 for about 18 minutes.

Observations

The most notable observation is that my pleating needs work. This was my first attempt at a bao-style pleat, definitely a learned skill. The bake also revealed that bao-style pleats may not actually be necessary.

As the buns baked they flattened due to gravity and the filling settling. This squashed form factor improved the eating experience, creating more homogeneous bites.

The buns leaked, lightly. Originally I thought this would be a problem, however as the curry leaked it cooked into the dough and into the bottom, leading to nice little textural moments and added flavor.

Overall, the dough achieved a crispy bottom with a soft top, making for a nice eating experience.

Future Direction

For the next version of this format, I want to lean into the squashed appearance. Meatball shaped filling was great and allowed the entire bun to settle into a nice shape. The closure will be the primary focus for future iterations. The goal will be more of an envelope style closure which will then be baked on the bottom to hide the seam and make for a more presentable top side.

With the addition of curry powder into the dough and a slightly increased dose of turmeric in the egg wash I’d like to achieve a slightly more orange bake, just as an aesthetic choice.