Korean Bao Buns

I love asian food. It gives you every flavor... spicy, sweet, tangy, umami. I also know that attempting to make asian food can be daunting... so many sauces and so many steps. That's why I LOVE these bao buns, they won't take you forever to make and they are PACKED with flavor! There are even some shortcuts you can take to make it even easier without completely compromising flavor.

The sauce... Gochujang is a Korean sauce that packs ALL the flavor. Officially gochujang is a Korean chili paste, but the recipe creates a gochujang sauce that adds even more flavor with the gochujang paste as a base element. However, a great shortcut you could take would be to buy the sauce ready to go! I've done some research and tested out a few store bought versions to compare with the recipe to give you an alternate option! I'm actually not even mad about this because this mama likes to DIP! My favorite option, based on my side by side taste test would have to be the Good and Gather Gochujang Korean BBQ sauce at target! It has all the elements- tangy, sweet and definitely not too spicy. That would be the only thing I would change. I love that heat! BUT, there IS fresh sliced jalapeno in the slaw, so you will still get the spice you crave!

The chicken! I have become obsessed with John Legend's "Johnny Tenders" thanks to my wonderful sister in law who is equally in love with them and who introduced me to this way of frying chicken to give you ALL those perfect little crispy pieces surrounding the chicken to soak up ALL that sauce... can you feel my passion for these yet??? The secret, to me is the step of adding some buttermilk to the flour mixture before you dredge them! And, of course, marinating the chicken in buttermilk, egg and the gochujang sauce! Omg I'm drooling for these again! I've made this chicken four times in two months and could probably still make them again soon.

The slaw! The veggies are tossed in a sweet red chili sauce to give them another level of surprise. The herbs also add a whole other element that you didn't even knew you needed, but are oh so happy they are here to stay!

The buns! I take no shame in buying these beautiful little pillows of heaven to hold all this flavor. This will be the one that will give you the trip to the asian market. But, it's worth going to get the whole experience anyways! They come frozen and are easy to steam up!

Korean Bao Buns

Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup Gochujang Sauce (recipe below)

1 egg, beaten

15 folded Bao Buns

Bahn Mi slaw (recipe below)

Bamboo Skewers (optional)

Dredge:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp garlic salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

Oil for frying

Slice chicken tenders in half on a bias and add into a gallon zip top bag. In a medium size bowl, mix together the 2 cups of buttermilk, egg and 1/4 cup of gochujang sauce and pour into bag with chicken. Close, removing all of the air, and massage the marinade into the chicken, ensuring all chicken pieces are in contact with the marinade. Refrigerate at least four hours, or overnight. Remove the chicken from the fridge about 30 mins prior to frying. Fill a large cast iron skillet about half an inch full with oil to pan fry. Heat to about 370 degrees. In a shallow dish, add in flour and garlic salt, mix well. Pour buttermilk over the flour evenly, mixing just to combine but not completely. Dredge chicken on both sides and pan fry until chicken reaches a 165 degree internal temperature. Remove onto cooling rack to drain and excess oil. Cook in batches until all the chicken is fried. Keep warm.

Gochujang Sauce:

1/2 cup Korean chili paste (Gochujang)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 scallion, chopped

In medium bowl, mix all ingredients well until sugar is dissolved. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Bahn Mi Slaw:

2 red bell pepper

2 jalapeno peppers

1 Daikon Radish

2 Tbsp fresh mint leaves

1/4 cup cilantro plus more for garnish

2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce

Slice, de-seed, and chop veggies into long strips (jullienne) or the size of a matchstick and place into a medium size bowl. Add herbs and sauce to veggies, tossing well to combine.

Assembly:

Steam bao buns in a steamer or double boiler for 7-10 minutes. Take each piece of fried chicken and dunk entirely into sauce and place into steamed bun. Repeat until all of the chicken is covered in sauce and inside buns. Garnish with the Bahn Mi Slaw and more cilantro. Close the buns and use bamboo skewers to hold closed. Enjoy!