Pau '包' - Lotus Paste with Spicy Dried Shrimp (Sambal Udang Kering)

Decided to make pau '包' with combination of sweet and spicy filling for Sunday breakfast using few ingredients available in the fridge, such as for pau (beet root, molasses sugar) and filling (lotus paste, sambal udang kering).

Using mixture of lotus paste and sambal udang kering, with fried shallot is something exotic and wild. My parents and husband like it! But not for my daughter...

Ingredient (pau):

• 300g Pau / Hong Kong flour


• 5g Instant Yeast


• 5g Baking Powder


• 35g Molasses Sugar / Castor Sugar


• 25g Olive Oil


• 170ml Beet Root Juice (Filling Lotus Paste Sambal Udang Kering
  (cooked till dried, discard oil)


• Fried Shallot
  

Method:

1. Combine all "filling" ingredients. Weight (~18g each) and shaped into round.


2. Mix all pau ingredients and knead till a smooth dough. Portioned the dough into ~25g each.


3. Rounded each dough and flatten with fingers. Roll with rolling pin, thick at the middle and thin at the side.


4. Wrap in filling and make into round pau shape with opening facing down.


5. Rest for ~30minutes.


6. Steam over high heat for 10 minutes.

Point to consider:

• The proportion of filling ingredients is up to our own taste.


• Spicy Dried Shrimp: The same recipe as posted ealier, but pounded dried shrimp coarsely.


• I sometimes use muffin paper cup to hold pau, just to add some color/fun to the presentation.

An ideal outdoor or traveling food, good for pot-luck as well!