Mini BBQ Pork Manapua Recipe

Mini BBQ Pork Manapua Recipe

Mini Manapua are just regular manapua made 1/2 sized. They are perfect for pupus because you can fit more on your plate (especially the manini size kine plate) and they're more fun to eat. However, they are harder to make because the dough is smaller and you have to make twice as many.

Ingredients for insides: 4 Cups finely chopped chasiu 2 Tbsp oil 1 Tbsp hoisin sauce 1 Tbsp dry sherry 2 Tbsp oyster sauce 1 Tbsp catsup 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1/2 Cup light brown sugar, lightly packed 1/2 tsp white pepper 1/4 tsp 5 spice powder 1 small yellow onion; minced 3 Tbsp cornstarch 1/2 Cup chicken stock Procedure Heat ~1/2 Tbsp oil and saute the chopped onion until almost transparent, brown on the edges and soft. (If you don't cook them completely, they will be crunchy in the final product.) Remove from heat and place in a small bowl. Heat remaining oil in a large pan and stirfry chopped chasiu until soft. Meanwhile combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and stir until mixed. Add sauce and onion to sauteing charsiu. (Warning: quality/taste of sauce in almost completely dependent upon the individual ingredients.) Heat and stir until homogeneous and bubbling. Combine the 1/2 Cup chicken stock with the cornstarch in a jar, shake to completely dissolve. Add to the hot meat mixture, stir until thickened. When the mixture is thickened, remove from the heat. Set aside to cool, then refrigerate or use immediately. Don't fill bau with hot or cold meat mixture! Use it at room temperature for best results. Ingredients for the 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 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 ~48 pieces and form dough balls. Allow dough balls to rest for about 15 minutes. Roll out each dough ball to a disk ~2" 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 ~1/2 heaping Tbsp of filler into center of disk, pinch closed and twist. Set filled dough ball on 1" square of waxed or parchment paper. Twist side down. Place bau in large bamboo steamer. (Mine takes 12/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. You can immediately open the steamer and set them on a rack to cool. Stamp with red food coloring while still warm. Serve hot or freeze to retain freshness. Frozen bau may be reheated by wrapping with a paper towel and microwaving for 1 minute.