Sesame and Pork Milk Buns recipe

By Ben Lippett

YIELD - 6 Buns

PREP TIME - 25 Mins +Proofing Time

COOK TIME - 20 Mins

Ingredients

  • For the Tangzhong

    70g Whole Milk

    35g Bread Flour

  • For the main dough

    250g Whole Milk

    7g Dried Yeast

    400g Bread Flour

    7g Fine Salt

    35g Sugar

    50g Softened Unsalted Butter

    1 Egg, Beaten

    25g Mixed Sesame Seeds

Method

Start by making the tangzhong. Add the milk and flour to a small saucepan and set over a medium heat. Whisk together into a loose paste and cook, whisking constantly, for 2-3 mins or until the mixture thickens into a gluey paste. Switch your whisk for a spatula and clean the sides of the pot, making sure you’ve got all that milk and flour incorporated.

Pour the milk for the dough into the pan with the tangzhong. If your milk is cold from the fridge, this will help take the chill off it so the yeast doesn’t take forever to wake up. Mix the tangzhong loosely through the milk before tipping in the yeast.

Add the milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with the hook attachment. Pour in the flour, salt, sugar and drop in the butter. Set your mixer to medium and mix for 6-7 mins or until you have a loose, slightly rough but homogenous dough. It won’t be fully smooth and elastic at this point as the gluten still needs to develop a little further. Let the dough hang out for 5 minutes before turning the machine to high speed. Let the dough go for another 5-6 minutes until super smooth, shiny and elastic.

Tip out onto a clean work surface and shape into a ball. Add to a clean bowl, cover and proof until doubled at size. This will take between 1-1.5 hours.

Once proofed, knock the air out of the dough and tip back out onto the work surface and divide into 130-135g pieces. You should get roughly six. Flatten out each piece, fold the outsides into the middle to create a ball, flip it over and use the work surface to roll into a tight bun. Transfer the 6 buns to a lined baking sheet, cover and proof until doubled in size. This should take about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C on Bread Baking Mode. Once proofed, brush the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle generously with mixed sesame seeds. Slide into the oven for 17-20 minutes or until a rich golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack before slicing.