Fried Chicken and Kimchi Bao by Brad Carter

Head Chef Brad Carter of Carters of Moseley has used our brand new Stainless Steel Multi Steamer to whip up these Korean inspired Fried Chicken and Kimchi Baos with a kick!

Here’s how you can make them yourself…

Equipment

Copper Tri-Ply 20cm Saucepan

Copper Tri-Ply Non-Stick 24cm Frying Pan

Stainless Steel Multi Steamer

Ingredients

(For the Kimchi)

• 2kg chinese leaf
• 200g sea salt
• water to cover
• 150g gochugaru korean chilli powder
• 300g leek, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 200g mooli, shredded
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1-2 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

Ingredients

(For the Bao Dough)

• 1kg Bao flour
• 550g water
• 10g dry yeast
• 50g sugar
• 10g salt
• oil for brushing
• 18-20 dim sum papers or cut out circles of baking parchment

Ingredients

(For the Chicken)

• 500g Cotswold white chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into bao sized pieces
• 200g plain flour
• 75g cornflour
• 25g rice flour
• 15g korean red chilli flakes
• salt to season
• rapeseed oil for frying

Ingredients

(For the Mayonnaise)

• 200ml kewpie mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp gochujang paste

To garnish

• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 4 spring onions, sliced ultra thin

Method (Kimchi)

1. Firstly start with the kimchi.
2. Cut the chinese leaf into quarters keeping the root attached, then rub in the salt.
3. Put the leaves into a container & pour over cold water just to cover, leave the cabbage at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
4. Drain the water away from the cabbage & ring the leaves out to remove as much of the water as possible.
5. Taste the leaves to see how salty they are, this will deter how much salt you add to the rest of the recipe.
6. Mix the remaining kimchi ingredients together in a bowl & add either 1 tablespoons of salt or the full 2 tablespoons depending on how salty the leaves were tasting, then mix everything into a paste, add to the chinese leaves, rubbing the paste all over the leaves & into the layers.
7. Add the leaves to a large kilner jar or vaccum pack bag (if you have the luxury!) and lay the quarters into the jar or bag, upright & add the excess paste, seal the jar or bag & leave to ferment at 28c-30c for around 10 days.

Method (Bao)

1. Fast forward 10 days & now it’s time to make the bao.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients for the Bao dough together & add the water.
3. Knead for around 3 minutes, add it to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it prove for 2 hours at room temperature.
4. After 2 hours, roll out the dough into a long sausage shape, about 3cm thick, then cut into pieces that are about 3cm wide, you will probably have more buns than you need but don’t worry- you can freeze them if you do!
5. In the palm of your hand, roll each piece of dough into a ball and leave to rest for 2-3 mins.
6. Use a dumpling rolling pin to roll out each ball, one by one, into an oval shape about 3-4mm thick. Rub the surface of the dough ovals with oil and brush a little oil over a chopstick.
7. Place the oiled chopstick in the centre of each oval. Fold the dough over the chopstick, then slowly pull out the chopstick.
8. Lay out the dim sum papers or baking parchment and put a bun on each. Transfer to a baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel or lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hr, or until doubled in size.
9. Heat a large ProWare Stainless Steel Multi Steamer over a medium-high heat. Steam the buns, in batches, for 8 mins until puffed up.
10. Set the buns aside to reheat later & the excess buns can be cooled & frozen.

Method (Chicken)

1. For the chicken, heat 2cm of oil in a deep sided frying pan to around 180c.
2. Season the chicken all over with the salt.
3. Mix together the flours & chilli flakes with a whisk then dredge the chicken pieces into the flour mix, fry the chicken in batches turning occasionally for around 5-6 minutes, remove the chicken with tongs & drain on kitchen paper.
4. Whisk together the kewpie mayonnaise & the gochujang in a mixing bowl & transfer to a squeezy bottle.
5. To assemble the bao buns, steam the buns for 1-2 minutes in the bamboo basket & remove.
6. Add the chicken to the bun & dress with an equal amount of kimchi alongside it, squeeze a healthy amount of mayonnaise over the chicken & sprinkle with the sesame seeds & the spring onions then shove it it in your big, drooling mouth.

Why not try it at home? Thanks so much for Brad for this amazing recipe. What are you waiting for? Head over to our online shop to purchase your Steamer now!