Miku (Festive Pau)

Before steam

After steam

Yesterday, I had written a new chapter in my "Baking History Book". I had tried out something different which I never do before. Let me introduce to all of you my first "pau" in my life, teochew festive pau, we called it "miku" in hokkien. I do not follow the traditional miku which is red in colour, I just want my miku remained in plain colour. Another reason is because I do not have red colouring at my home, so....hehehehe..

Again, I used my smart bread maker to knead the flour. After everything was done, I just steamed it for about 20 minutes. My heart filled with joy and satisfactory when I saw my miku successfully came out from wok, the joyful and happiness that hard to describe. That's also the reason why I like baking so muchhhh ...hehehe, was extremely happy leh...yeh pah!!!!

Next time, I wish to try with other types of pau, erm...kaya pau? char seow pau? chai pau (vegetable pau)? siew long pau? jagung pau? hahahahaha...don't know yet, but I am sure that this is a good start for me to make another better pau in future. 加油吧 Ah Shui !

Below is the miku recipe from Agnes Chang.

Ingredients:
A:
500g pau flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp instant yeast
100g castor sugar
240ml water
3 tbsp shortening

B:
1 tbsp double-action baking powder

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients A together. Knead into a smooth and elastic dough.
2. Cover with wet cloth and leave to prove until it has doubled its bulk.
3. Sift B on top of the dough and knead well to distribute the baking powder until the dough is smooth again.
4. Cover and allow dough to rest for 15 minutes before shaping.
5. Divide dough to small portions, shape into ball and roll to oval shape, press lightly.
6. Put aside to prove for 20 minutes and steam with high heat for 20 minutes until cooked.

You may add some red coloring to make the miku look nicer.