Smoked Duck Baos
Rated 5.0 stars by 1 users
Food:
Poultry
Serves:
8 baos
Prep Time:
1 hour 15 min
Cook Time:
35 min
These incredible reverse smoked and seared duck baos are the perfect example of a unique recipe you probably didn't know you could do on the bbq. The duck breast meat is scored and seasoned, lightly smoked and then seared skin side down on the Alchemy flattop for that perfectly crispy and juicy duck meat. The bao buns are made from scratch and can be mixed, formed and steamed completely outdoors using a layered steam rack and the Alchemy’s elevated rack. Served with a special hoisin sauce, sesame cucumber and green onions, these smoked duck baos will blow you away.
Chef Matt Basile
Ingredients
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1 - 2 duck breasts
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Joy Spice, OR salt, pepper and MSG (optional)
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2.5 cups All-purpose flour
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2 tsp baking powder
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2 tsp instant yeast
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¾ cup warm water
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1 tsp salt
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1/3 English cucumber
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1-2 tsp black and white sesame seeds
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1 tsp sesame oil
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2 green onions, white parts only
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2 tbsp chili crisp
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1 tbsp fresh ginger
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3 tbsp Hoisin sauce
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1 tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
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1 tbsp sesame oil
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Sesame oil
Bao Dough
Cucumbers:
Bao Sauce
For the Bao Buns
Instructions
Smoker 275F-300F.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, add the dry active yeast and activate with water according to the package instructions. Slowly add to the flour and mix to combine. Very slowly, pour in the warm water and mix with a fork, then begin to mix with your hands.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and continue to kneed the dough for five minutes. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, form into a ball and then roll out to about a ¼ inch thickness. Cut the piece of rolled out dough in half – either reserve one half in the freezer for another use, or follow the instructions to form the bao buns for all of the dough, you should get around 8-10 buns from the full dough recipe and will have to steam in batches. If you’re only using one half of the dough, roll it out a bit more and then using a 3-4 inch round bowl or cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Half the recipe should make 4-5 bao buns.
Brush each round of dough with a small amount of sesame oil. Using a chopstick placed lengthwise in the centre of the circle of dough, fold the dough in half but don’t line up the edges perfectly, leave a bit of the bottom piece showing. Cut a square of parchment paper for each bun. Place a drop of sesame oil on the piece of parchment and place the bao on top. Place all the buns on a plate or in your steamer and then cover with a damp paper towel and let sit and proof for 30-60 minutes in a warm area. While the dough proofs, make the toppings for the baos and the duck.
- Score the skin of the duck and season with Joy Spice, or a mixture of salt, pepper and MSG.
Place the duck in the smoker for 20 minutes, or until it reaches an internal temp of 115F-120F. Once it’s done, pull from the smoker and sear on the flattop, make sure to get the skin nice and crispy. Let rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. While the duck is resting, bring the water in the steamer to a boil and then add in the buns, steam for 12-15 minutes.
Using a sharp knife or mandolin, thinly slice the cucumber. Place in bowl and toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds.
Using a microplane, grate the fresh ginger into a bowl. While mixing, drizzle in the seasoned rice vinegar. Finely slice the white part of the green onion into rounds, reserve the green parts for garnish. Add the onions to the bowl with the ginger and add the chili crisp, hoisin sauce, sesame oil and mix.
Thinly slice the green part of the green onions and add to a bowl of ice water.
To build your bao, open the buns and place the sliced cucumbers down, add 2-3 slices of smoked duck and then top with the sauce and slice green onion.