Is it true that pork is not suitable for dogs and cats to eat, somebody told me it was dangerous for them to eat?????????  Must admit I have never seen a tin of pork dog meat.

sit down with some salt and some bread and just eat the cold pork! Yes I know it is a bit "homer simpson" but I love cold pork!

I love to use leftover pork in Chinese steamed buns stuffed with pork called bao.  First, make this dough:

1 scant Tbsp dried yeast
1 cup water 110F
4 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp  vegetable oil
1/2 cup boiling water

Dissolve yeast in 110F water.  Add 1c flour, mix, cover and let rise 1 hour. 

Dissolve sugar and oil in boiling water, let cool.  Pour into yeast mixture, add remaining flour.  Knead until smooth (this is a tough dough).  Cover and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours. 

Meanwhile, make pork filling for bao.  You have free rein here.  I just chop or shred my leftover pork and add chinese char shu sauce from a jar.  You can heat pork with scallions, garlic and hoisin sauce (num!).  You can saute pork with water chestnuts, mushrooms, ginger and oyster sauce.  Char shu or hoisin are the traditional filling flavors.  Let filling cool so it's no longer hot.

Punch dough down, knead 2 more minutes, divide into 24 pieces.
Form each piece into a 3inch disc, drop a big tablespoon of filling in the middle, pinch the dough up all around it and seal it at the top. 
Place the bao on something (a leaf, small piece of tin foil or my favorite, a 2inch square of parchment paper) to keep it from sticking. 

EDIT!! Cover them with a towel and let them rise another 30 minutes.  Place the parchment and the bao into a steamer.

Steam over boiling water for 11 minutes.  These are very easy and very delicious!  They reheat very well in the microwave, 20 seconds.  My husband calls them Chinese hand pies.

They are very interesting because they have the texture of bread, not pasta.  I don't make anything else like them where you steam bread.

Last edited by runwestierun (Sun 01 Mar 09 1:55am)

runwestie, have copied that to my recipe files, thanks!  I love that dish, never tried making it.