Chinese Steamed Pork Buns

1. Eschalots are the small onions which are finer than ordinary onions. Even brown onions or the white part of shallots/scallions/green onions will do here.

2. Use store bought or homemade Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu).

Quick Chinese BBQ Pork: Marinate pork steaks in store bought Char Siu Sauce (or make small batch of the marinade from Homemade Char Siu) for 20 minutes. Then pan fry on medium or bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 180C/350F, basting with reserved marinade. Use per recipe.

3. Weird but wonderful tip, especially great in winter: DRYER! Run empty dryer for 1 minute, then place bowl inside. Draught free, cosy warm, perfect dough rising environment.

4. Paper steamer liners are sold at Asian stores but I've never purchased them. It's super simple to make (see photos in post & video): get a piece of baking paper, fold in half then quarters, keep folding until you make a thin triangle. Line up with the centre of the steamer then snip the end off. Then snip little triangles along both edges (these become the holes). Unfold and place in steamer.

5. Recipe ever so slightly adapted from this Steamed Pork Buns from Woks of Life. Judy and Bill - we salute you and your brilliant recipe!

6. Other filling options: You could substitute other cooked fillings instead of Char Siu to mix with the filling sauce. Some ideas: Chopped Chinese BBQ duck, chicken or pork meat, even leftover steak. You could even use ground / mince meat - just cook with the eschallot. For veg options, try sauteed mushrooms or vegetables.

7. Storage: Cook then refrigerate or freeze. Fridge - 3 to 4 days, microwave briefly to warm through. Freeze - microwave, covered with damp paper towel, from frozen for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until piping hot. These are exceptional freezer friendly snacks - once reheated, it's just like fresh out of the bamboo steamer!

8. Nutrition per bun.