Duck Bao, a Soft Pillow Steamed Bun

Method

1. 1

   Prepare the duck. Mix the soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar, five-spice, crushed garlic, grated ginger, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Coat the duck with the marinade and leave it to rest for at least 30 minutes, or preferably a few hours.

2. 2

   Prepare the bao dough. Mix the warm water, yeast and sugar together and leave for around 10 minutes. Add the flour, salt and oil and knead for 5–10 minutes, until you have a smooth and elastic dough.

3. 3

   Let the dough rise. Cover the dough and leave it somewhere warm for around 1 hour, until it has roughly doubled in size.

4. 4

   Prepare the vegetables. While the dough is rising, thinly slice the cucumber and spring onions. Prepare your pickled vegetables and chop the coriander. Set everything aside.

5. 5

   Cook the duck. For duck breasts, place them skin-side down in a cold pan and slowly heat the pan to render the fat and make the skin crispy. Once the skin is golden and crispy, turn the duck over and finish cooking. Alternatively, duck legs can be slow-roasted until the meat becomes very tender. Let the duck rest for a few minutes before slicing it thinly.

6. 6

   Shape the bao. Divide the dough into 8–10 portions and roll each one into a ball. Roll each ball into an oval about 3–4 mm thick. Brush one side lightly with oil, fold the dough in half and gently roll over it with the rolling pin. This creates the characteristic folded shape of gua bao.

7. 7

   Steam the bao. Place each folded bao on a small piece of baking paper and let them rest for another 15 minutes. Steam for around 8–10 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave the lid closed for another 5 minutes before opening it. The best is to use a bamboo steamer but if you don't have one a normal steamer is already doing really well the job.

8. 8

   Build the bao. Carefully open each steamed bun and add a little hoisin sauce. Place in some sliced duck, cucumber, spring onions and pickled vegetables. Finish with fresh coriander, crushed peanuts and a little chilli sauce or chilli oil.

9. 9

   Serve. Serve the bao immediately while they are still warm and soft. The combination of crispy duck, fluffy steamed bread, fresh cucumber, crunchy peanuts and sweet and spicy sauce makes this one of the most addictive street-food dishes from Taiwan.