Puto Pao

Puto Pao (Steamed Chiffon cupcakes with Chicken BBQ fillings)

Puto pao is basically steamed chiffon cupcakes with meat filling resembling the Chinese bun that called “Sio Pao” or “Siaopao” meaning small buns. Ingredients are similar to basic chiffon cake except it only use egg whites and added to variation is it has a filling. For the filling it can be adobo, asado, corned beef, or barbeque, depending on your preference, on this recipe I use chicken barbeque filling.

Puto Pao is a local pasty that you can find in the province of Binan, Laguna Philippines. By the way “Puto”is a Filipino term for steamed cakes or kakanins (pastries made of rice or glutinous rice) but actually it is from the Malay word “puttu” means “portioned”. I actually did not know about this local Filipino pastry till my third sister happens to get a house in Binan, Laguna, (I just completed my school then) and she asked me to stay with her. I was doing an errand for her in the “Bayan” or City when I first met this “Puto”. It was already snack time and saw this “puto” selling by the road side and to my curiosity I bought one piece and tried. It was indeed very delicious, the puto is very soft and the savory filling really suits my taste. This puto became a must buy for me every time I find myself in the City of Binan. Some other places also sells this puto but it is somehow different from the ones that I had in Binan.

I craved for this puto and tried to search good recipes that I can try. Tried some of them but it was not to my expectations and not even close to the ones that I am looking for, till I came across this site: http://foodbusiness.weebly.com/puto-pao-making.html, her recipe is almost identical to the one selling in Binan, Laguna. I did some slight modification to her recipe to suit my cooking style and my taste preferences.

So, whenever you have a chance to be at Binan, Laguna do try this puto, but wait, this is not the same as the Puto Binan do take note of that. Puto Binan is just plain puto made of rice flour, no fillings, brown in color and has salted egg yolk and cheese toppings.

Puto Pao Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Puto

·       3 cups all-purpose flour (or Cake flour)

·       1 cup caster sugar (fine sugar)

·       2 tablespoon baking powder

·       1 ½ cups water (or milk)

·       2 tablespoon water or milk (use water if already using milk)

For the meringue

·       6 egg whites

·       ¾ teaspoon Cream of Tartar (1/8t tsp for 1 egg white)

·       8 tablespoon sugar

For the BBQ filling:

·       ¼ kg (250g) chicken breast (or pork) finely diced

·       2 tablespoon oil

·       ¼ cup brown sugar

·       4 cloves garlic, minced

·       1 small onion, minced

·       ¼ cup soy sauce

·       2 tbsp hoisin sauce

·       2 tsp oyster sauce

·       1/8 teaspoon salt

·       1/8 teaspoon white pepper

·       2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Others:

·       Muffins/cupcake moulds or puto moulds

·       Cupcake liners

Instructions:

Prepare the moulds by placing cupcake liners on each moulds.

Pour water on the steamer and let it boil.

For the Puto

1.   Sift the flour and baking powder then add 1 cup sugar, mix well.

2.   Mix all the wet ingredients (except the egg whites) on a separate bowl

3.   Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and mix well, then set aside.

For the meringue

1.   Put 6 egg whites in a separate bowl. Make sure it is at room temperature.

2.   Beat egg white till frothy then mix the cream of tartar

3.   Add the sugar gradually

4.   Beat for 7-8 minutes until it forms a stiff peak

Mixing the Flour and Meringue

1.   Fold the meringue into the flour mixture, careful not to deflate the air.

2.   Prepare the preferred filling

3.   Pour a little mixture on the mould, then add the filling

4.   Add mixture enough to cover the filling. Put the toppings: Cheese or salted egg

5.   Steam 12 to 15 minutes or until cook

For the Filling:

1.   Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and onions till fragrant. Add the meat, stir fry till color change (brown for pork and white for chicken).

2.   Pour in all the seasonings except cornstarch slurry. Constantly stir to prevent burning/sticking at the bottom of the pan. Check the sauce if drying up then adds enough amount of water.

3.   Once, the meat is cooked add the cornstarch slurry and continue to stir until the mixture thickens and can be mounded.