Puto Pao

Puto pao is basically steamed chiffon cupcakes with meat filling resembling the Chinese bun that called “Sio Pao” or “Siaopao” meaning small buns. Ingredients are similar to basic chiffon cake except it only use egg whites and added to variation is it has a filling. For the filling it can be adobo, asado, corned beef, or barbeque, depending on your preference, on this recipe we use chicken barbeque filling.

Puto Pao is a local pasty that you can find in the province of Binan, Laguna Philippines. By the way “Puto”is a Filipino term for steamed cakes or kakanins (pastries made of rice or glutinous rice) but actually it is from the Malay word “puttu” means “portioned”. 

Puto Pao Recipe

Ingredients:

For the Puto:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour (or Cake flour)
• 1 cup caster sugar (fine sugar)
• 2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 ½ cups water (or milk)
• 2 tablespoon water or milk (use water if already using milk)

For the meringue:

• 6 egg whites
• ¾ teaspoon Cream of Tartar (1/8t tsp for 1 egg white)
• 8 tablespoon sugar

For the Chicken Barbecue filling:

• ¼ kg (250g) chicken breast (or pork) finely diced
• 2 tablespoon oil
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, minced
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
• 2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Others:

• Muffins/cupcake moulds or puto moulds
• Cupcake liners

Instructions:

1. Prepare the moulds by placing cupcake liners on each moulds
2. Pour water on the steamer and let it boil.

For the Puto:

1. Sift the flour and baking powder then add 1 cup sugar, mix well.
2. Mix all the wet ingredients (except the egg whites) on a separate bowl
3. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and mix well, then set aside.

For the meringue:

1. Put 6 egg whites in a separate bowl. Make sure it is at room temperature.
2. Beat egg white till frothy then mix the cream of tartar
3. Add the sugar gradually
4. Beat for 7-8 minutes until it forms a stiff peak

Mixing the Flour and Meringue:

1.   Fold the meringue into the flour mixture, careful not to deflate the air.
2.   Prepare the preferred filling
3.   Pour a little mixture on the mould, then add the filling

4.   Add mixture enough to cover the filling. Put the toppings: Cheese or salted egg

5.   Steam 12 to 15 minutes or until cook

For the Filling:

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute garlic and onions till fragrant. Add the meat, stir fry till color change (brown for pork and white for chicken).
2. Pour in all the seasonings except cornstarch slurry. Constantly stir to prevent burning/sticking at the bottom of the pan. Check the sauce if drying up then adds enough amount of water.
3. Once, the meat is cooked add the cornstarch slurry and continue to stir until the mixture thickens and can be mounded. 

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Looking for other Lutong Pinoy Recipes to try on? Feel free to check out our pork recipes, chicken recipes and desserts.

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