I have an affinity towards Asian Flavors… that and Tacos! I love incorporating as much Asian flavorings as I can in a meal. Here in my small town in Georgia, its not always easy to get some of the Asian ingredients that I became used to getting in California, but thank goodness for Amazon! Right? I know your probably an Amazon junkie just like I am! Any who, I took a 4# Wild Boar Boneless Shoulder, slow cooked in it my crock pot for 24 hours. Yes, Chefs are allowed to use Crock Pots as well! I placed about 4 pieces of Benton’s Bacon on the bottom of the Crock Pot. (If you don’t know what Benton’s Bacon is, then you are totally missing out, its only the BEST Bacon in the WORLD! So click HERE to find out more on Bentons.) Then I place the Boar shoulder on top, seasoned it with salt and pepper, then filled the pot about half way with homemade chicken stock. Then I added in 2 chopped onions and about 3 carrots peeled and chopped as well. I kept my flavors simple on the boar so that I could use it for more than one meal. Which is a very handy tip when cooking large pieces of meat! That way you can make and Asian dish one night and maybe a BBQ dish the next night. And your not committed to having the same dish for the next 4-5 days.

The next day when my boar was still cooking I went ahead and made some Chinese Steamed Buns. These steamed buns are light and fluffy, with a slight chewy texture. They really make the ingredients inside them shine. These will take you awhile to make, but you can also freeze the ones you don’t use.  The process is not cosmic to make these, they just take time because of the yeast. But I recommend putting in the effort, because these are perfect with BBQ as well! If you want to change up the flavorings of these buns, make the pork the same way, and try topping them with Kimchi or BBQ Sauce!

Chinese Steamed Buns:

• 1 Cup Warm Water

• 1.5 tsp. Instant Yeast

• 1 TBS. Vegetable Oil

• 3TBS Sugar

• 4 TBS Milk Powder

• 3 Cups White Lily All Purpose Flour

• 1/4 tsp. Salt

• 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

• Grape Seed Oil

In the bowl of a stand mixer place the water and the yeast in the bowl. Let the mixture set for about 5 minutes till the yeast is bubbly. Then place the rest of the ingredients into the bowl, the vegetable oil, sugar, milk powder, flour, salt and baking power. Then using the dough hook for the mixer, place the bowl on the mixer and mix on the lowest speed possible for about 10 minutes. The dough will come together nicely. 

Once the dough is done kneading, take the dough out and place it in a mixing bowl that has been slightly oiled. Cover with a clean dish cloth and let rise for about 1 hour and 20 min. To help the yeast out, I slightly preheat my oven to the lowest setting, then turn it off about half way through the pre-heat. Then I place the mixing bowl with the dough in the slightly warm and dry oven to proof.

Once the dough has done its first proof. Punch the dough down and place on a clean work surface. Divided the dough into 4 equal pieces. Then roll those pieces into a log. Then proceed to cut little pieces off the log, they should be about 25-30 grams each in weight. Roll them into a ball and place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Covet them with plastic wrap and let them rise for about 30 more minutes. 

Once they have gone through their second proof. Keeping the rest of the dough balls cover in plastic wrap, take a dough ball and roll it out into an oval about 4 inches tall. Brush the dough with a little bit of Grape Seed oil. Then take a chopstick and gently lay it in the middle of the oval, wrap the other side of the dough over the chopstick so that you make a little sandwich. Then place the dough on another sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Remove the the chopstick once the dough has been placed on the sheet tray and cover with a clean dish towel. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls. Let them rise one last time for about 30 minutes. 

Once the dough has gone through its final proofing, they are ready to be steamed. Using a Steam basket, line the basket with parchment circles. Place about 5 buns on each steam rack, depending on how big your steam basket is. Steam the buns for about 8-10 minutes each. Repeat till all the buns are steamed.

Wild Boar Shoulder:

• 4 # Wild Boar Shoulder, Boneless

• 4 Pieces of Benton’s Bacon

• 2 Onions, chopped

• 3 Carrots, chopped

• Chicken Stock, as needed

In the bowl of a crock pot, place the bacon strips on the bottom, then place the boar on top. Season the boar with salt and pepper. Add the onions and carrots to the bowl and fill half way up with chicken stock. Cook on low for 24 hours. Once the boar is done, drain the liquid and shred the boar meat.

Ssamjang Sauce:

• 1/2 Cup Grape Seed Oil

• 1/2 Cup Sherry Vinegar

• 3 TBS Ssamjang

• 2 TBS Gochujang

In a bowl whisk all the ingredients together! You will have plenty for left overs!

To Serve:

• 1 Head Napa Cabbage, sliced thin

• 4 Green Onions, sliced

To serve, fill the warm steamed buns with some of the pork, top with the sliced cabbage and green onions and finish with a generous helping of the Ssamjang Sauce!!

Then be prepared for the Wild Boar Steamed Buns to disappear!