Mabuhay!

Welcome to the first Filipino recipe of curating time! And how lucky — it’s two recipes in one!

I think my family must have made hundreds of Siopao growing up. We’d make them from scratch for our school international fairs, spending the Saturday before cooking Adobo or Asadao, then that Sunday making the buns, steaming them by the dozen. We’d hand Siopao out to students during the fair that Monday, one of my favorite parts of high school. Different families would come together, cooking dishes from their respective cultures, and sharing them with the rest of the school. I think it’s something every school should do to foster curiosity and community, but anyway…

I filled this Siopao with Chicken Adobo, the unofficial official dish of the Philippines. The dough is so simple and perfect that it’s hard to mess up! I used the bao dough recipe from The Wok of Life, a great Asian cooking blog that gets it right. 

I understand that recipes from other cultures can seem intimidating, so please, ask me any and all questions!

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Siopao

I used the dough recipe from Woks of Life, a great Asian cooking blog run by an entire family! 

Servings 10 siopao buns

Ingredients

for the dough

• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 5 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder

for the filling

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp crushed black pepper

Instructions

• In the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment (you can also knead by hand in a mixing bowl), dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Sift together the flour and cornstarch, and add it to the yeast mixture along with the sugar and oil. Turn on the mixer to the lowest setting and let it go until a smooth dough ball is formed (approximately 2 minutes). Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let it rest for 2 hours. 
• While the dough is resting, make the Adobo.

  Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or similar pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken and brown in batches, removing the chicken once browned. Turn heat down to medium and sautée the garlic until golden brown. Add the chicken and its juices and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil then simmer over medium-low heat for 1 1/2 hours.
• After your dough has rested for 2 hours, add the baking powder to the dough and turn the mixer on to the lowest setting. Gently knead the dough until it becomes smooth again (approximately 1 minute). Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for another 15 minutes. In the meantime, cut parchment paper into ten 4x4 inch squares. Prepare your steamer by bringing the water to a boil.
• Roll the dough into a long tube and divide it into 10 equal pieces. You can also weigh the dough and divide it equally that way.Press each piece of dough into a disc about 5½ inches in diameter (it should be thicker in the center and thinner around the edges). Add some filling and pleat the buns until they're closed on top.

  Place each bun on a parchment paper square, and steam for 15 minutes over high heat. I steamed the buns in several batches.

When I Used To Be A Cook

We’d listen to NPR on an old, dough’d up bluetooth speaker. The morass of dish water would turn cold as we laughed, of what, I can’t recall.I lost weight from standing, cooking, for hours, and eating only farm eggs. I procured parallel scars running up my arms from when sheets singed skin, a semaphore or such for carelessness, caprice.There are moments I remember from my time working in the kitchen of a coffee shop, and there are moments that I don’t. But there are two things that have forged forward, subsumed into my now every day.

There is Taylor, a woman and friend whose soul I imagine could swell and save just about anyone. And there are biscuits.

We’d bake trays and trays of them — the hours in a lifetime spent deep in flour and cold, cold, butter; salt and buttermilk, sour and thick. Lined up in the oven, they’d stretch up and out each morning with a croon. We must have baked thousands.

One day my hands will be petal-textured and roiled. I will look at them with wonder at all they have done. I will remember waking before the sun and baking biscuits with Taylor in our own trove of flour and steel, forted by bags of beans rising to roast.

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Ham & Cheddar Biscuits

Servings 18 biscuits

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs. (5 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 10 oz. (2 1/2 sticks) very cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 2 cups cold buttermilk
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1/4 cup ham, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1/4 cup scallions, chopped thinly

Instructions

• In a food processor, pulse together your flour, baking powder, and salt. Add your butter and pulse 3-4 times. You'll want your butter to be the size of peas and just incorporated into the flour. Pour the mixture in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, and pour the buttermilk in, folding it into the flour with a rubber spatula. 
• Once the biscuit batter just begins to form into one mass, flip it onto a heavily floured work surface. Begin to fold it until it comes together. With a rolling pin, rolls it into a 2" thick rectangle. Spread half the cheddar, ham, and scallions on top. Fold the dough in half, and then roll it out to another 2" rectangle. Spread the remaining cheddar, ham, and scallions. Fold the dough in half, and then roll it out to another 2" rectangle. Using a biscuit cutter (see note), cut your biscuits and lay them on a baking sheet lined with a silpat baking mat or parchment paper. Put the tray of biscuits into the freezer and freeze for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Take the biscuits out of the freezer and place them directly into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until they just begin to turn golden on top. 

Notes

• I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I just use the opening of a sturdy glass. Be careful if you do this! I've broken a glass or two pressing too hard.

Nooks and Crannies

An English muffin split in half. Butter melting, settling into the refuge of warm, toasted crevices. There’s a trickle of Tennessee honey, a few slivers of salt. 

It’s a simple but spirited breakfast like this that has always served me best. It’s what the first thing you taste every day should deliver. There’s a life blood to it, and it elevates.

This recipe is from the cookbook Baking with Steel. Andris Lagsdin has revolutionized the pizza/bread/overall cooking game with Baking Steel, and if you haven’t already, definitely check him out!

This recipe is very simple and straightforward, and one of the easier bread recipes I’ve come across. Bread can be daunting, but I’ve learned as long as you’re patient with it (it’s alive and it takes time, so always treat it with care), you’ll be fine!

Zoë François, one of my favorite recipe developers, has a great step-by-step walk-through of these English Muffins in her Instagram stories. Definitely refer to it if you want a safety net!

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English Muffin

This recipe is from the book Baking with Steel.

Servings 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients

• 550 grams (4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 20 grams (4 tsps) kosher salt
• 20 grams (4 tsps) granulated sugar
• 1 gram (1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 20 grams (3/4 oz.) unsalted butter, melted
• 350 grams (1 1/2 cup) warm water (105° F)
• 1/2 cup semolina flour
• clarified butter (see note)

Instructions

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.
• On a separate bowl, combine the melted butter and warm water. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix with a wooden spoon to combine.
• Lightly flour a work surface, turn the dough out onto it, and knead by hand for 4 minutes (see note), until it forms a smooth dough. Cover with saran wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Lightly coat a baking sheet with semolina flour.
• Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (~82 grams each).
• Palm a portion of dough in your hand, and and rotate it in a circular motion while pressing down on the dough, creating a ball with no seams. Place it on the sheet tray with semolina. Repeat with the remaining portions of dough. 
• Cover the tray with plastic wrap and let the dough proof for at least 2-3 hours. The dough balls will double in size. Do not rush this step!
• Position a baking steel griddle or cast iron pan on the stovetop. Preheat on medium heat until droplets of water sizzle when dripped onto the surface. 
• Pour some of the clarified butter over the surface of your griddle/pan and be generous! The butter should begin to lightly bubble as soon as you apply it to the surface. 
• Place the dough balls on the griddle/pan, a few at a time, and cook for 4 minutes. Once golden on the bottom, flip, adding more clarified butter as needed to allow the dough to swim slightly in butter. After you flip, gently press down on the dough with your spatula to flatten into the signature English muffin shape.
• Once the second side is golden, remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Do not cut the muffins until they cool, or else they'll be gummy! 

Notes

• I used regular butter instead of clarified butter (which worked just fine!). Clarified butter is butter that has had its milk solids and water removed, giving it a higher smoke point. You can make it at home or buy it at most grocery stores.
• Don't over knead the dough! Heavy kneading will develop too much gluten, and you won't get those signature open structure everyone loves.