I don’t recall eating pork buns at any restaurant before. Even if I had, I can’t recall the memories. Even so, after seeing a Reel of TiffyCooks making Pork buns, I had no choice but to cook some at home! They looked so good, and my taste buds could not leave the thought of the savory and umami flavors in my mouth.

As I was planning to cook them, I knew that they had to go with one other complimentary dish. That dish happened to be Egg Drop Soup. I LOVE Egg Drop Soup! I often get it when I go to a Chinese buffet and sometimes when I order Chinese takeout. However, the cost for just one quart can be a bit on the pricey side. My mother has told me that making Egg Drop Soup is simple and only takes a few ingredients. Needless to say, she didn’t lie. 

Making the pork buns took a while, but it was all worth it! For me, there was no better New Year’s Eve dinner than buns and soup. But what exactly was that process like? I took video for each of those dishes, but again, 15 seconds can only tell so much.

For the pork buns, the first thing I did was make the dough. I mixed in warm water, sugar, and yeast and let that sit for five minutes. An important note is that the water should be around 115º, or the yeast will not be effective. Of course, follow the directions on the yeast package if possible. But after that, I put flour and salt into the bowl before pouring in the yeast mixture. I stirred that in, and then I kneaded the dough for 5 minutes with my own hands. 

While the dough was resting, I started the first step of preparing the egg drop soup, which was gathering the ingredients (chicken broth, sesame oil, salt, pepper, turmeric, powdered chicken bouillon). After that, I made a cornstarch and water mixture to mix into the boiling broth. And then came the main part of the dish, which is obviously the egg part. After beating the egg and gently mixing it into the soup, that was it! That was all the soup took! Only thing is that I later added more cornstarch into the mix to make the soup thicker.

Beforehand, I resumed the buns preparation by making the pork mixture. Unlike the original recipe, I ended up cooking the pork mixture in a pan. After some commotion with my mother, she insisted that I should cook the pork to make the buns finish cooking faster. Speaking of the buns, a weird thing is that we both thought the dough would rise, but it didn’t happen while the dough was resting. Maybe the dough wasn’t supposed to rise? That was a part that left us confused.

But back to the pork. After cooking the mixture, it was time to officially make the buns. I made the dough into a long log and cut out sections for around 15 pieces or so. Then I turned each piece  into a ball, rolled it into a flat circle, stuffed the mixture, and then closed it up for a small pork bun! I started off with only cooking six of them in a pan to see how they would taste (and to also eat my dinner!). I poured some water into the pan until the water was around halfway up the buns. Then, I let them sit simmering for 15 minutes. After that, dinner was served!

Look at the photos of my buns and Egg Drop Soup! All I had to do was add the finishing touches, and there they were! Oh my gosh, they were so good! I was so proud of myself that night! And as a New Year’s Eve dinner, it was sublime!

When it comes to cooking, there’s nothing better than eating that delicious dish that you made yourself. And that’s the beauty of home cooking.

Original Pork Buns Recipe: https://tiffycooks.com/crispy-pan-fried-pork-buns-sheng-jian-bao/

Original Pork Buns Reel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CImRiVfHj_a/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Original Egg Drop Soup Reel: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHwXbtlHv0f/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link