I’m having a bit of a moment with bao buns. They’re so soft and delicious with a very mild flavour that offers the perfect blank canvas for a variety of easy meal options. The texture of a bao bun is just so comforting and offers a nice departure from traditional bread or sandwiches. I love making a delicious filling for these cute little pockets and stacking them on a cutting board for an easy lunch. It’s like an elevated sandwich board and so satisfying. Honey, Soy & Harissa Chicken Bao Buns don’t take too much time or effort to make at all, but deliver a little meal that’s just as delicious as it is fun to eat.
You should have no problem finding bao buns in any major grocery store or an Asian food supermarket if you’re lucky enough to have one nearby. I usually spot them in the refrigerator section near the ready meals, but they seem to be widely available everywhere and require nothing more than a short time in the microwave making them a wonderful convenience ingredient for quick & easy meals.
I normally throw these together for lunch when we work from home or an easy-going dinner, but they would be the perfect party food! Simply multiply the recipe to make a bigger quantity and stack these up for guests to help themselves. This recipe makes a good quantity of filling depending on the size of the chicken thigh fillets you use, so you could probably stretch it to 12 bao buns if you needed to. Alternatively you could just put the buns out with the chicken and some fixins like chopped chives, sesame seeds or even some sliced green onions in a buffet style and let your guests build their own to cut down on some of the work. However you serve them, these little parcels are a crowd pleaser and so easy to make you’ll want to serve them time and again!
Additionally, if you love throwing dinner parties then Honey, Soy & Harissa Chicken Bao Buns are the perfect starter for your next soirée. One or two buns are just right for a first course and you could dress the plate with some leafy greens or a cute little salad to make it look even more special though it’s not entirely necessary.
If you’re lucky enough to have a little of the chicken mixture left over after stuffing the bao buns, even better. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator and warm it up the next day for lunch with a bit of rice and/or some salad for the perfect easy lunch. Yum. Let’s get started!
Serves 2 to 3 as a main dish or up to 6 as a starter or party nibble
Ingredients
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken thigh fillets
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon harissa paste
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 6 plain bao buns
- Finely chopped chives to serve
Method
- Get started by marinating the chicken. Grab a zip lock back and add the chicken thigh fillets, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Close the bag and shake everything up to coat all the chicken. Spend a minute or two massaging the oily soy liquid into the meat of the chicken and set aside to leave it marinate while you toast the sesame seeds.
- Place a large, dry frying pan on medium heat and add your sesame seeds. Gently toast them, stirring constantly until they begin to give off a nutty fragrance and then quickly remove from the heat into a cool dish. Take care as they will burn easily.
- Put the frying pan back on the burner on high heat. Add the chicken fillets to the pan, spread out as thinly as possible so they cook quicker. Cook the thigh fillets for about 5 minutes on each side or until they’re cooked through.
- While the chicken is sizzling away you can make the sauce. In a jug or a smallish bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of harissa paste, 1 tablespoon of honey and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil together and set aside.
- Remove the chicken carefully to a cutting board once it’s completely cooked and quickly slice it. Chuck the chicken slices back into the pan and pour over the sauce. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-low and cook for another minute or two making sure all of the chicken is getting coated nicely.
- Meanwhile, follow the packet instructions to warm up your bao buns. It should be a super quick zap in the microwave. Then prepare your buns and be careful not to burn yourself as they can be piping hot. You might have to coax the little half moons open a bit before filing them as they have a tendency to stick together.
- Once the buns are ready to go, start filling them. I like to fill my bao buns quite generously until they’re almost busting open, but you can choose for yourself how much filling to use. Once you have the chicken spooned into the little crescents, sprinkle them with the toasted sesame seeds & finely chopped chives. Serve hot.
