Bacon bao for breakfast

I made bao buns at the weekend, trusting to the advice of 2014 Seren.  I'd forgotten what an absolute faff they are to do, especially given that we have a tiny steamer in which only two at a time will comfortably fit.  Fortunately, I had nowhere else to be and not much else to do, so I cranked up Pick of the Pops and bimbled away in the kitchen while steaming each pair of buns.  The result: a steamy kitchen and 16 of the puffiest, fluffiest buns you ever did see.  2014 Seren did not steer me wrong.

You can, of course, buy bao now far more easily than you could even just five years ago.  When we had them in New York they were quite the novelty.  Now, if I'm ever seized with a craving I can pop along to Little Bao Boy here in Leeds who currently serve their wares in North Bar's latest venue.  And very good they are too - although I can't help thinking mine were a little bit better.

For reasons best known to myself, I decided to make three different fillings all of which worked well.  The first tranche of buns were filled with cauliflower florets, breaded and baked until crispy then dunked in a Korean barbecue sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Like Korean Fried Chicken but cauliflower.  And, er, not fried.  It was very good - the recipe I used is here and it's well worth a look!  Even D, who was exceptionally sceptical, thought it was nice (although he has requested that I try it again with chicken).

Then we moved on to a fish course.  I blitzed eight raw prawns (two large ones per bun) up with a tablespoon of cornflour, salt and lots of black pepper and then formed them into moist little cakes.  These were then fried in plenty of oil and served with shredded lettuce, spring onions and mayonnaise spiked with sriracha. 

Finally (and we head into fusion (or confusion?) territory here): hard boiled egg, chopped and mixed with a bit of mayonnaise and a good squidge of wasabi was squished into the buns alongside a slice of seared fresh tuna. 

I would say that I was hard pressed to pick a favourite of these, but the best was yet to come.  On Sunday morning, as an homage to those served by the aforementioned Little Bao Boy, we had bacon bao for breakfast.  The streaky bacon was baked until crispy then snipped into bun sized pieces and drizzed with still more sriracha.  Look at this - doesn't it look amazing?

I am determined not to leave it so long until I make these again - which means coming up with some more filling ideas!  I'd love to come up with some variations that put a bit of a spin on the classics - as ever, suggestions on a postcard!