Pork Floss Bun

What is pork floss bun?

Growing up, my parents always bought me different type of bread for breakfast. Don’t confuse it with the western bread, the western bread are more hard and dense compare to the Asian version. In Asian bakery, you will find all the bread are individually portion and you can find different type of baked or steamed sweet and savory type of bread. Not only that, you can also find different tarts, layers cake that are stacked with cream and fruits.

This pork floss bun is inspired from a bakery in my hometown called BreadTalk. One of my favorites are this Pork Floss Bun. If you don’t know what a pork floss is, it’s basically pork (or you can use any type of meat) that you cook until it’s fully dried and turn into a coarse cotton. Pork floss is a very versatile toppings, you can eat it with bread, rice, congee, tofu, etc. When you combined it with bread, you can taste a slight sweetness from the bread and saltiness from the pork floss. Definitely a must try!

Tips

• Even when using instant yeast, I always activate my yeast just to ensure they are still alive. To activate yeast, just use lukewarm water/milk, add instant yeast and 1 tsp of sugar. Leave it for 10 minutes! A healthy and active yeast will start to pop at the top and bubble and turn into foam like. If the yeast sunk into the bottom of your container, it means your yeast are dead.

• Only add the toppings if you are intended to eat it on the same day. The pork floss bun will not taste good for more than a day because the floss will get soggy from the mayonnaise.

Pork Floss Bun

Recipe by Catherine RicardoCourse: SnacksCuisine: AsianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

8-12

servings

Proof Time

2

hours 

Cooking time

30

minutes

A slightly sweet bread with a salty pork floss topping that is so perfect for breakfast or tea time!

Ingredients

• 3 3/4 cup or 500g bread flour

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 large eggs

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 3 tbsp dough improver (optional)

• 1 cup lukewarm milk

• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast/active dry yeast

• Egg wash

• 1 tbsp milk

• 1 large egg

• Topping

• Pork floss

• Sesame seeds (optional)

• Seaweed strip (optional)

• Mayonaise

Directions

• Activate your yeast by adding the instant yeast/active dry yeast and 1 tsp of sugar to lukewarm milk. Leave it for 10 minutes, and you should start to see foam arise.
• In a mixing bowl, add 3 3/4 cup bread flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and dough improver (optional). Stir until combined.
• Add 1 large egg, milk and yeast to the dry ingredients. If using stand mixer, using a dough hook and low speed knead until the dough is almost incorporated.
• Once the dough almost incorporated, slowly add your butter in 2-3 batches and knead until the dough become elastic. It will approximately takes about 7-10 minutes until the dough is elastic.
• Take the dough out from the mixing bowl, and knead for an additional 30 seconds and form the dough to a ball.
• In a clean mixing bowl, grease your bowl and add your dough. Cover the bowl and leave it to proof for 90 minutes or until it’s doubled in size.
• After 90 minutes, take your proofed bread and press the dough to ensure some of the bubbles are out of the dough. Knead the dough into a long dough (think about baguette)!
• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Cut the dough into 8-12 smaller dough.
• Shape the individual dough into a round or oblong shape dough and place it into sheet pan.
• Proof the bread for 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes has passed, brush your bread with the egg wash mixture.
• Bake the bread for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let the bread cool to room temperature. Once it cool, brush your bread bun with mayonnaise and top it with pork floss.

Notes

• Only add the toppings if you are intended to eat it on the same day. The pork floss bun will not taste good for more than a day because the floss will get soggy from the mayonnaise.