Chicken Chow Mein Manapua Recipe

Chicken Chow Mein Manapua Recipe

Ingredients for insides: Noodles 1 lb fresh Chinese noodles 6 Tbsp oil 1 1/2 tsp shoyu dash of salt Main Dish 1 half chicken breasts 1/4 lb cabbage, sliced thinly ~5-6 medium sized mushrooms, sliced 2 green onions, chopped 2 Tbsp oil 1/2 Cup of water Seasoning 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp shoyu 1 tsp oyster sauce 1 tsp cornstarch pepper to taste Thickening Mixture 2 tsp cornstarch 2 Tbsp water 1 tsp shoyu 1 tsp oyster sauce Procedure Noodles Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil, add the noodles. Return to a full boil and cook for ~2 minutes. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse in cold water. Pan fry ~1/2 the noodles in 2 Tbsp of oil. Flatten noodles into a disk and cook on one side for 4 minutes on medium heat, then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes before sprinkling with 1/2 tsp of shoyu. Remove from heat, place in a large bowl and break disk up. Set aside and repeat with remaining noodles. Main Dish Skin and debone chicken breasts and slice into pieces ~1 1/2" x 1/2". Add seasoning, mix well and set aside. Heat wok and stir-fry cabbage, mushrooms and onions in 1/2 Tbsp of oil for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Stir-fry chicken pieces in 1/2 Tbsp of oil for 3 minutes; add water, cover and cook for 3 minutes more. Add cabbage mixture to the chicken and pre-mixed thickening ingredients. Mix thoroughly over medium heat. Remove 1/2 chicken/vegetable mixture and set aside. Add 1/2 the noodles to the remaining chicken/vegetable mixture in the wok and mix for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cool to room temperature before using as bau filling. Ingredients for Bau part: 1 pkg Rapid Rise yeast 1/4 Cup lukewarm water 1 1/2 Cup room temperature milk 1/2 Cup sugar 3 Tbsp canola oil 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 4 Cups all-purpose flour 2 Cups cake flour Procedure: Take 1/4 cup warm water, a pinch of sugar and yeast package, combine in a small bowl and allow to stand until foamy. In a large bowl place sugar and pour in room temperature/warm milk. Mix with wire whip until sugar is dissolved. Add two cups of cake flour and mix well. Add salt, baking powder and canola oil and mix well. Add yeast mixture and mix well. Slowly add the remaining 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Combine well, but do not knead excessively to avoid gluten formation. Allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. (It takes me ~2 1/2 hours in a closed microwave with a jar of boiling water.) Punch down, cut into ~24 pieces and form dough balls. Allow dough balls to rest for about 15 minutes. Roll out each dough ball to a disk ~4" in diameter. (Mine look like an albino sunny side up egg. There is a large lump of dough left in the center to compensate for all the dough gathered on the bottom when closing the disk around the meat.) Place ~1 heaping Tbsp of filler into center of disk, pinch closed and twist. Set filled dough ball on 2" square of waxed or parchment paper, twist side down. Place bau in large bamboo steamer. (Mine takes 6/layer, 2 layers steamer.) Place in a warm, moist place to rise for about 30 minutes. (Again, I do this in a closed microwave with freshly boiled water in a jar.) Place the covered bamboo steamer over a wok with about 1" of boiling water. The water should be about 2" from the bottom of the steamer. Steam for 15 minutes, then remove from heat. (I do not remove the bau from the steamer immediately. I wait for about 1/2 hour to allow the bau to cool and "set" before exposing them to room temperature. This reduces the thermal shock and seems to prevent the formation of "divots" on the surface of the dough.) Stamp top center gently with rubber stamp and red food coloring. Serve hot or freeze to retain freshness. Frozen bau may be reheated by wrapping with a paper towel and microwaving for 1 minute.