Pau Sambal

Hello,

July is here, it's our birthday month, how time flies! Summer holiday begins and there are a few other event also this month. We will celebrating Hari Raya or Eid Mubarak next week and like last year, I will not be able to celebrate this year hari raya with my family.

Alors, now lets talk about pau sambal, locally known as Malaysian style burger, where the pau or fried mini buns filled with sambal ikan bilis or chilli anchovies. Pau sambal also one of the popular street snack food in Malaysia. Making these 'pau' not as complicated as many people think, it just need a few steps and a little bit of time while waiting the dough to rise up.

I brought these pau sambal to the art class last week and what can I say, everyone in the class loved it. People like to try new things and new flavors and this asiatique food special made for them. The pau or bun dough so easy to prepare and for the recipe below, I double the recipe.

PAU SAMBAL

Ingredients;

200g flour
140ml warm water
5gm dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoon butter
A pinch of salt
Oil for frying

For the sambal ikan bilis;
It's better to make the sambal ikan bilis in advance.

1 onion
5-6 dry chilli, soak in hot water
1/2 cup anchovies, fried
1/2 cup tamarind juice
Salt and sugar to taste

METHOD;

For the sambal.

- Blend onion and chilli with a little bit of water.
- Heat the oil, around 1/4 cup and fried anchovies until slightly crispy. Set aside.
- Used the same oil on a medium heat, fry onion chilli paste and keep stirring until the oil start to separate, about 15-20 minutes.
- Add sugar and tamarind juice. Cook for another few minutes or until the sauce are slightly thicken.
- Taste with salt and sugar again if desire and add fried anchovies, mix well and turn of the fire.

For the Pau;

- Mix warm water, yeast and sugar and let sit for 10 minutes until its bubbles.
- In a mixing bowl, mix flour, butter and salt.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour and knead the dough until they are not stick in hand.
- Cover and let the dough rise until double, around 40 minutes to 1 hour or more.
- Once the dough rised up, punch down dough and divide into small ball, around 9-10 balls.
- Cover and let the dough rise again about 30-40 minutes.
- Heat oil in a wok on a medium heat and deep fry the dough balls until golden brown on both side.
- Let it cool before slicing.
- Slice the fried bun halfway through and add in sambal and a sliced of cucumber.

Let's enjoy the pau sambal for morning or afternoon tea break...