This recipe is an adaptation of the hoisin chicken buns recipe from Cooking Light, by way of Cooking Cute.

To make this recipe, you first need a batch of white bread dough (for rolls) – you can either find fresh dough in the chiller cabinet of larger supermarkets (make sure it’s just plain old white bread dough, not focaccia or anything fancy like that!), or you can make a batch in your bread maker. This part is a faff, but the finished product is such an interesting and unusual way of using up leftover chicken, that I think it’s worth going to a little bit of extra effort – plus, these are portable, and perfect for lunches on the go!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 batch fresh bread dough (see above)
• 400g (approx) dark turkey / chicken meat
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 bunch spring onions, shredded finely

METHOD

• Shred the chicken, and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
• Once you’ve made your dough, turn it out and cut it into eight pieces, and roll each piece into a size slightly bigger than your palm.
• Place a spoonful of the chicken mix into the middle of the bun.
• Pull four corners into the middle and pinch, then do the same again with the leftover tabs, which should fall in between the compass points of the tabs you just sorted out. (It’s helpful to rock the bun back and forth at this point to shape the top nicely.)
• Set it on an oiled tray and put the rest together.

• Cover and allow to prove for 20 mins in a warm place.
• Preheat your oven to 190C and then brush the buns with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Bake for 15 mins, or until golden. You can also bake them for a shorter amount of time (12 mins or so) and then freeze them to bake again another day. (There are great instructions here for freezing and then reheating the buns at Cooking Cute.)

• Allow to cool slighty, then eat!