"Shopping" has never been a pleasurable passtime for me. It probably never will. Those among you who have the stamina (and interest) to endure hours of aimless wandering through shopping malls and arcades truly perplex me. It's just not in me. Nonetheless, a few days into my Australian adventure I decided to ignore this basic personally trait of mine and set out to explore Sydney's markets. At the top of the list was Paddy's Market, best-known for its bargain basement shopping.
Picture the inside of Paddy's Market as follows: a seemingly endless (un)organized labyrinth of shopping stands, much like the one below.
Surprisingly I discovered that Paddy's actually has a reasonable food market where hoards of locals were pouring over fresh food products, exotic produce and local seafood. It didn't take long, naturally, for me to get hungry (this will come as no surprise for several of you). As Paddy's Market is situtated in the middle of Chinatown, I set out to find some authentic, quick and cheap Chinese eats.
My strategy: follow the locals. Logic: all of them couldn't be wrong.
The crowds lead me to a bakery shop in the heart of Chinatown, loaded with fresh pastries, cakes and sweets. (Dessert for lunch, anyone?) The below Barbecued Pork Buns were tasty, cheap, and hit the spot.
Recipe:Filling:
6 oz Chinese BBQ pork, diced
1 tb Oil
2 ts Water
1/2 ts Salt
1/2 ts Sugar
1/2 ts Thin soy sauce
1 ts Oyster sauce
1 ts Hoisin sauce
2 ts Cornstarch
4 ts Cold water (For thickening)
Mix together the warm water, 1/2 tsp. sugar and yeast in an 8 oz. measuring cup. Let stand until it rises to the 8 oz. level (about 20 minutes).
Sift flour, cake flour, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl.
Add shortening, yeast mixture and mil.
Knead mixture 5 minutes to form a dough. Cover with a damp cloth and set dough in a warm place. Allow the dough to rise for 3 hours.
Heat wok, add oil and stir-fry pork for 2 minutes.
Add 2 tablespoons water, salt, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hoisin sauce. Bring it to a boil.
Prepare thickening by mixing the cornstarch and 4 tablespoons cold water. Stir into the mixture and cook for 1 minute. Let cool before using.
After 3 hours, when the dough has risen, shape into rolls about 2 inches in diameter. Cut each roll into 1-1/2 inch pieces.
Shape each piece into a shallow bowl shape.
Put 1 tablespoon filling in the center, close ans twist dough to form a bun. Put the bun on a 2 inchsquare of white paper. (This prevents the bun from becoming soggy while steaming.) Place 8 buns in a pie pan and allow them to set and rist for 15 minutes in a warm place.
Steam for 25 minutes.
SOURCE: Chopstick, Cleaver and Wok. From Gemini's MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini
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