Steamed Pork Buns

Make the dough:

1. Add the sugar and instant yeast to the lukewarm water and stir until well distributed.
2. Slowly pour the yeast-sugar solution into the all-purpose flour, stirring simultaneously until all the liquid is absorbed.
3. Gather the flour together and knead until smooth. If the dough feels tight, cover and rest 15 minutes to relax the gluten. (With a KitchenAid, use the hook attachment on medium-low for 10 minutes without resting.)
4. Cover and proof 1.5 hours. The dough is ready when it is soft and doubled, has a honeycomb interior, or when a poked hole neither shrinks nor collapses.

Make the filling:

1. While the dough proofs, combine the ground pork, grated garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil in a big bowl and mix until well combined.
2. Add the unsalted chicken stock in batches, stirring the pork in one circular direction for a few minutes until all the liquid is absorbed (this makes the filling juicy and tender).
3. Add the diced scallions and mix until well combined. (Cilantro, leek, onion, and chives are alternatives.)
4. Add 1 tsp oil and 1 Tbsp filling to a frying pan and fry until cooked; taste and adjust the flavor. Chill the filling in the fridge while working on the dough.

Knead the dough to eliminate bubbles:

1. Once proofed, flour the work surface and knead the dough 8-10 minutes to eliminate air bubbles, repeatedly folding in half, pressing down, rotating 90 degrees, and pressing again to push air out (you should hear the bubbles breaking).
2. Cut the dough open: if you see big bubbles, keep kneading; if only tiny bubbles, move on. (Eliminating bubbles is key to soft, delicate buns.)

Wrap the buns and steam:

1. Shape the dough into a ball and poke a hole in the middle. Stretch to enlarge the hole into a big ring, then cut it open to make a log.
2. Roll the log into a long, even strip and divide it into 12 even pieces. Sprinkle with flour and cover with plastic wrap.
3. Put one piece cut-side up and flatten into a small round patty. Roll the edge with a rolling pin in one hand while rotating the dough with the other to get a 4-inch wrapper thick in the middle and thinner at the edge.
4. Put 2.5 Tbsps filling in the middle. Lift and pinch the edge to fold pleats, rotating the bun as you fold all the way around; twist and seal at the end.
5. Place the buns in the steamer (oil a stainless steel rack, or put parchment under buns in a bamboo steamer) and wrap the rest.
6. Cover and proof the buns a second time until 1.5 times their size, 15-20 minutes.
7. Fill the steamer pot with water, place the buns above, turn heat to high. Once boiling, steam for 15 minutes.
8. Turn off the heat and let the buns sit in the steamer at least 5 minutes before opening the lid, so they don't shrink from cold air. (Cooked buns freeze up to 6 months; re-steam over medium heat for 18 minutes without defrosting.)