Clem's Polo Pao

 

Polo Pau in Cantonese means "pineapple bun". No, there is no pineapple in the recipe. The description arises from the striations made on the crust of the buns which often comes out after baking, looking like the pattern seen on pineapple skin. As a bun, it is in the same category as the "Rotiboy"  (which has a coffee-sugar crust). There is a bun found in Kuching called in Hokkien, "Gu Yew Pau" which means butter bun. The latter, though, has the butter batter as a filling rather than a crust. I do think that having a crusty butter-sugar coating on a soft bun as with Polo Pau makes for a nice product.
 


Freshly made  Polo Pau baked by Clem


 

It is not a difficult baked good to make - it just takes some time. Here's how to make them:

 

INGREDIENTS

 

For the buns

 

To make six large buns, the following are required for the dough

  • 200 g of bread flour (this is high-protein [meaning gluten] flour).
     
  • 110 mL full cream milk.
     
  • 25 g sugar.
     
  • 45 g of unsalted butter.
     
  • 1 egg (the other half goes to ingredients for the crust).
     
  • some 5 g of instant dried yeast.
     
  • 3 g salt.

This makes for a soft bun, which means that the dough will be very tacky. Increase the quantity of flour if you want to work more easily with the dough but be mindful that the less wet the dough is, the harder the bun will turn out. Alternatively, flour your hands well when handling the dough.

 

For the bun crust

  • 55 g melted butter.
     
  • 65 g sugar.
     
  • 105 g of plain flour.
     
  • 2.5 g teaspoon baking powder.
     
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt.
     
  • 1 egg.

This will also make for a very tacky batter, Flour your hands well when handling it.
 

 

METHOD
 

Make the bun dough balls

  • Mix (by hand, or in a mixer with a dough hook), the flour, milk, egg, sugar, salt and yeast powder.
     
  • When all the ingredients are well incorporated, add the butter in pieces.
     
  • Continue kneading/mixing until the dough has become just sticky enough to want to cling to your hands or the walls of the bowl and yet will release relatively easily.
     
  • Roll the dough together into one mass, cover with plastic wrap in a bowl and let the yeast do its work in producing carbon dioxide from the added sugar. Be sure that the dough is sitting at an ambient temperature of at least 30 degrees centigrade so that the yeast are active.
    It is also at this time that the gluten in the flour hydrates properly and begins to form a network structure, thus giving the dough elasticity. It is this network structure and elastic character which traps the carbon dioxide produced by the yeast to give the dough its airiness and bounce (air pockets in the dough get sealed in when it is cooked).

    This stage of dough handling is called proofing and it takes time for gas to be evolved and the gluten network to form. This is why the dough is set aside a few times during bun-making (and of other bakery products which are leavened).

    Set the dough aside and let it proof in a warm spot.

    At this time you may want to start working on the bun crust batter.
     
  • After one hour of proofing the dough, confirm that the dough has increased in size (at least doubled), and then knead it again for a minute or two to release most of the large pockets of gas.
     
  • Divide the dough into 6 portions (or more if you like smaller buns).
     
  • Knead and roll into balls and place them on a baking-papered baking tray.
     
  • Flatten the tops of the balls slightly so that they can take on the crust batter later.
     
  • Set the tray aside for around an hour to allow the balls to rise through further fermentation.
     

Make the bun crust batter

 Note that the quantities stated make for a certain amount of crust on each bun. If you have a sweet tooth and prefer thicker crusts, make more of this batter by increasing all the ingredients in proportion.

  • Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
     
  • With well-floured hands, gather the batter into a ball and roll it into a log shape.
     
  • Divide the log into six portions (or more as appropriate).
     
  • Roll each portion into balls.
     
  • Flatten the balls into flat discs of a size to cover the top third of the awaiting buns.
     

Assemble the bun and crust, and bake

  • Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
     
  • Place each batter disc on top of each bun a secure with gentle pressing (the buns will be very soft).
     
  • Use a knife or dough scraper to make criss-cross patterns (resembling the pattern on a pineapple) on the crust batter.
     
  • Glaze the entire top of each bun with beaten egg using a brush.
     
  • Bake the bun/crust dough balls for around 20 minutes.
    Monitor throughout the baking such that should dark browning occur, stop the baking.
     
  • Remove the buns from the oven after baking time has been reached and allow the buns to cool before trying them.
    The "pineapple" crust will be crunchier when they have cooled down.

 

 

 

 

25 August 2024

www.clemkuek.com
 

 

Created by Clem Kuek