Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Anime or Malaysian Style Curry Buns
By SARAH RINGLER
Curry buns, sometimes called kare pan, are a popular street food sold across Asia. Like a lot of portable food, it can be eaten without utensils or plates making an easy lunch or picnic. It’s important to have a good tasting curry inside the bun. This recipe is adapted from one by Matt Gross at tastecooking.com who experienced these in Kampar, Malaysia, and then went on a quest to make his own. This curry recipe, although more complicated than some, has a smooth taste and a lot of flavor. You could just serve this curry over rice, too.
Roasted red chili paste is available in Asian markets but can be substituted with chili powder. Just adjust the amount of spiciness to your audience. Galangal root can be bought fresh or dried.
If you are a manga or anime fan, you can add some cocoa to your curry to make the popular Black Butler Curry Bun made famous by Sebastian Michaelis, the Phantomhive household butler, in the manga/anime series Black Butler who made these for his winning contribution in a contest. Due to the popularity of this Japanese animated show, there are many Black Butler Curry Bun recipes on the web if you are interested. I looked over some of these recipes and I think Matt Gross makes a better curry. I personally have not tried the chocolate version but feel free to do it yourself.
The bread recipe makes a light challah style bun. It rolls our easily. The challenge is to keep the dough to an even thickness as you wrap it around the filling and seal it. This recipe can make eight big buns or twelve smaller ones.
Curry Buns
Curried Chicken:
2 1/2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken, chopped to bite size
¾ cups high heat cooking oil like avocado or peanut oil
5 tablespoons minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced ginger
5 tablespoons minced lemongrass
4 tablespoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced fresh turmeric
3 tablespoons minced fresh or dried galangal root, optional
4 tablespoons curry powder
3 tablespoons roasted red chili paste, or 1 tablespoon chili powder, to taste
2 cups coconut milk
½ cup cocoa, optional
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
Challah Bread:
1 cup lukewarm water
1 large egg, room temperature
2 egg yolks, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/8 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour, more for kneading and rolling out
¾ teaspoons kosher salt
Prepare the lemongrass by discarding the dry outside leaves and cut off the top third of the inner stalks. Trim off the bottom until purple rings are visible. Smash it with the dull side of a knife to soften and then cut into very thin slices. Then mince shallots, ginger, garlic and galangal root.
Heat oil in a large pot on medium-high heat. Add shallots, ginger, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, and galangal root. Stir constantly until fragrant, then add curry powder and chili paste or powder, and cook until brown, about 10 minutes.
Add chicken and coat chicken evenly with spices. Stir and scrape bottom of pot to prevent burning, and cook until oil has separated, about 10 minutes.
Add coconut milk, salt, sugar, and white pepper, and let simmer for another 10 minutes. Taste and adjust flavors as needed. Put aside to cool. You should have small chicken chunks drenched in a thick sauce.
For the bread, put water, egg, 1 egg yolk, yeast, oil, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk for a few seconds until combined. Put the dough hook on. Add the flour and salt, mix on medium speed until dough comes together in about 4 minutes. Let dough rest in the bowl 5 minutes. If dough seems sticky, add a little flour - 1 tablespoon at a time - and mix for 5 minutes. Pour dough out onto floured surface and shape into a ball. Place the ball in a clean, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and towel. Let rest in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Place the dough on a well-floured surface and cut into 8-12 equal parts depending on how big you want the buns to be. Form into balls and flatten into disks. Roll out to a 6-7 inch diameter. Divide the filling and place onto the disks. Pull the sides over the curry and twist and secure at the top so no filling comes through. Invert on a floured board so the seam is on the bottom. Cover with a towel.
Beat the remaining egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water to create an egg wash; brush it over the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and towel, and let rise in a warm place about 1 1/2 hours.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the buns for about 25 minutes for the larger ones, and 15-20 minutes for the smaller, until the top is brown, rotating 180 degrees halfway through. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before removing from the pan, then cool on wire rack. They freeze well.
