Pow - Steamed Meat Buns

Delicious bao buns, stuffed with seasoned meat and steamed to perfection

I was extremely excited when I opened up this month's Callaloo Box and saw that it was a Caribbean Chinese themed box. Yaaaaay

I have mentioned numerous times that Trinidad and Tobago is a multicultural country so as a result, we have a lot of different foods from these cultures that have been adapted to be "Trini".

I love Chinese food. Or as we say "Chinee Food" so I really wanted to try to get something done that was Trini Chinese. I could easily eat some pepper shrimp, fried rice, lo mein in a sitting. But then I thought of what else we had and boom, POW jumped into my head.

What's a Pow right? I realized that these might just be a Trini thing. I've tried to order them in New York and here in Miami, and I always get a "what the hell are you asking for" face.

Then I also realized my sister never ever had a Pow either.

So operation pow was in full effect.

Normally these buns are filled with pork. Well, that is the most popular filling, but I no longer eat pork so I opted to fill with minced meat. But chicken can also be used.

The meat for this fillings needs to be well seasoned up and also needs to be dry when cooked. There should not be a lot of sauce in the meat.

It takes a little time for making the dough as we have to let it sit and rise a couple times. You can save time too by making the filling the day before.

Once the dough is ready to go cut into two pieces and then those pieces you make into the size of ball you want to make.

When adding to a steamer, make sure you don't pack them too tight. I learned the hard way since they expand and touched or stuck together. So don't be me. Make sure to leave some space between them. Or make sure that there is wax paper up to the sides.

And we just leave them to steam till done and dive in.

Pows do not get a lot of color, so don't expect it to be brown when done. Traditionally red coloring is added to the pork to let it stand out. The stark white of the pow dough and the red colored meat is one of the things that always intrigued me with pows. So you are free to add a drop or two of red coloring if you want.

And you are free to share or not share as I did.

Callaloo Box has been bringing back so many memories of food when it gets delivered to my door. The concept of getting spices that are "Trini" and that are harder to find here is amazing. And even if you don't like the box, being able to shop the individual items is something that I have resorted to.

I am glad to be able to try different brands that I may have avoided normally. Or even different products. This box had a lot of new to me items. Chief Chinese seasoning, their fried rice pack, ginger soy sauce, garlic soy sauce. The only thing that had me on the fence was the Chinese sauce. It was a bit bitter (like molasses) and the flavor was a bit overpowering. Want to see what products I love though? Check out my Instagram highlights for "Food Finds" for things I incorporated into my pantry must-haves.

Yield: Makes app 12Author: Renz @ HomeMadeZagatPin it

A delicious steamed bun filled with meat seasoned up with Asian flavors. A Trinidad Chinese favorite.

Pow - Steamed meat bun

A deliciously steamed bun filled with meat seasoned up with Asian flavors. A Trinidad Chinese favorite.

prep time: 1 hour and 15 MINScook time: 30 MINStotal time: 1 hours and 45 mins

ingredients:

For Dough

3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 pack instant yeast
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 ounce lard
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water

For Filling

1 1/2 pounds mincemeat *(see notes for other meats)
1 tablespoon Chinese seasoning
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon oil

instructions

For Filling

Mix meat, seasoning, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and sugar together
Add oil to a wok and cook meat (meat needs to be dry. Not much liquid)

For Dough

Mix all dry ingredients together
Add water a bit at a time to get a dough that is soft but not sticky
Knead for 5 minutes
Cover and set aside
Leave to rise (about 30 mins)
Punch down and leave to rise again
Separate and shape into 2 oblong logs
Cut each log into 1-inch slices (bigger or smaller depending on if for appetizers or not)
Form each piece into a ball then flatten, leaving the middle thicker than the edges
Fill each with filling (about 1 teaspoon and a little more) and bring edges up and pinch closed
Please each ball on individual squares of wax paper
Place in steamer and steam for 15 minutes

notes

*If using pork: 3 pounds of raw pork finely chopped. Season as above

** Meat should not have a lot of liquid after cooked since it would run out of pows when steaming

*** Be careful of over stuffing. See some of my pics for meat coming through

**** Leave space between pows when steaming or make sure wax paper is placed between so they do not touch

https://www.homemadezagat.com/2018/04/pow-trinidad-steamed-meat-buns.html

Created using The Recipes Generator

Guyanese Lo Mein

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Trinidad Currants Roll

A flaky pastry dough, ram filled with currants. The perfect afternoon snack.

I am so happy to finally be able to share this all-time favorite with you. Finally. This currants roll recipe has been a labor of love, or more so patience.

This is a flaky pastry crust that is ram packed with currants.

A roll of messy goodness!!

So let's discuss this flaky pastry making.

Oh before I even get to that. My aunt who owns a bakery, makes big batches of this to sell. So when I decided to make this I reached out to her to get her take on it. She gave me some measurements but they were imperial measurements. So there I was trying to convert and re-measure and running back to my computer to research. After all that frustration, I decided I had to have something close by in my kitchen, and I made a pretty conversion chart to print and save.

Once you subscribe, you’ll be directed to my printables page where you can download the printable to your computer.

If you already are a subscriber, check your email! I sent a link to download this printable to all my current subscribers.

Now back to the goodies. Making flaky pastry calls for patience, something I don't really have much of. Baking is usually on the lower end of the ladder for me because of the waiting period. I get fidgety lol. So wanting this to be flaky meant I had to put in some work and then fridge it for a bit.

But it's worth it for that messy, falling everywhere crust.

And then those currants. You can also easily use raisins instead.

This dough can also be used to make cheese rolls and coconut rolls. Yummy

But, you Mr. Currants roll would always be my favorite.

Yield: 4 logs Author: Renz @ HomeMadeZagatPin it

Trinidad Currants Roll

A flaky pastry crust, filled with an abundance of currants. A popular snack in Trinidad and Tobago. This can also be filled with cheese or coconut filling

Ingredients:

For Flaky Pastry Dough

4 cups flour
3/4 cup margarine, cold and cut into cubes
3/4 cup shortening, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 cup ice cold water (approximately)

For Currants Filling

2 cup currants
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons softened margarine

Instructions

For Currants Filling

Combine sugar with currants and cinnamon

For Flaky Pastry

Blend together your shortening and margarine. Divide into four parts
Heat oven to 400 degrees
Add flour, brown sugar and one part of fat from step one and combine. Cutting into until mixture resembles breadcrumbs
Add cold water (a little at a time) until mixture holds together.
Roll out on a lightly floured board into a rectangular shape
Add another part of fat (step 1) to top 2/3 of the rolled out pastry.
Fold the top part of pastry 2/3 rds down.
Fold the bottom part of pastry over top
Seal edges with the rolling pin
Turn pastry so that the fold is now lengthwise
Roll out again to a rectangular shape and repeat steps 5 through 7
Do this another time (Total roll and fold with fat would be three times)
Roll out for the fourth time (do not use any fat), fold as above
Put pastry on a floured sheet and cover and leave refrigerated for 30 to 45 minutes.
Roll pastry out into a large oblong like shape
Brush the inside with softened margarine
Evenly distribute currants mixture over pastry
Roll up pastry lengthways
Place roll on a baking sheet with roll end at the bottom
Place some diagonal marks on top of rolled batter (or use a fork to punch some holes)
Place in oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes
Remove from oven and brush roll with egg wash
Return and bake for another 8 minutes or until golden
Cool and slice diagonally

https://www.homemadezagat.com/2018/03/how-to-make-trinidad-currants-roll.html

Created using The Recipes Generator

Catch some more snacks:

Coconut Bread Pudding

Pholourie Recipe

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Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my posts. It is much appreciated. Please, if you can like, share, yum and/or pin this, especially if you enjoyed it.

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Shrimp with a Spicy Curry Cream Sauce

This is an easy weeknight dinner dish with succulent shrimp served with a creamy, spicy sauce.

We are in February! Even though January took forever. And it's Black History Month (BHM) round these parts. And we are celebrating

You're getting a seafood lover's total delight today to start the month. This is an easy weeknight dinner dish with succulent shrimp and a spicy sauce with a mix of masala, turmeric, scotch bonnet and creamy coconut milk.

This is my contribution to this Black History Month and a virtual potluck with a couple of other amazing black food bloggers. .

We don't celebrate BHM really in the Caribbean. In TnT we have holidays to mostly celebrate religious groups/days, our varying ethnicities and well Carnival.

So I am quite honored to be a part of this gathering and sharing my recipe

I love that you can take shrimp and make it all kind of different ways. It can be made sweet or savory and not lose its appeal. But one thing I like is my shrimp a little spicy. My jerk shrimp has a kick; curry shrimp need a little pepper on the side. I even add some shrimp to my soups. We eat a looot of shrimp around here!

And I must say that this shrimp is also great the next day. Pour all the sauce over it and mix it up. Oh ma gosh!! Just delicious!

This recipe can also be made with prawns, which are somehow hard to find in South Florida at this time. But I was quite happy to get some pretty huge shrimp.

So go ahead and grab your serving of shrimp, then head over and grab some more food from the table with the links listed below from the other food bloggers.

Yield: Serves 4 - 6Author: Renz @ HomeMadeZagatPin it

Prawns in Spicy Curry Cream Sauce

This is an easy weeknight dinner dish with succulent shrimp served with a creamy, spicy sauce with a mix of masala, turmeric, scotch bonnet and creamy coconut milk.