Sunday, May 27, 2007

Where's The Pineapple?

Por Lor Pau (read in Cantonese), when translated, means ‘pineapple bun’. Por Lor means pineapple, and Pau refers to bun. But there is actually no pineapple in this bun. What it consists of is a soft bread bun, topped with a crisp pastry ‘skin’ that looks like the surface of a pineapple.



Por Lor Pau is a very common bun found in Hong Kong ‘cha chan teng’(lingo for local tea cafes/eateries), where locals like to have it with a slab of cold butter sandwiched in between. Imagine sinking your teeth into a hot piping bun with melting butter oozing out? Decadent? Yes. Unhealthy on the waistline? You bet!

I’m ‘into’ these buns lately(minus the butter slab of course), after buying some from a pastry shop specializing in Hong Kong style pastries and buns. I thought ‘why not try making them myself?’ So I went to read up and made these buns by combining two recipes.

The buns are made based on this recipe. After reading several raving reviews on this Hokkaido Milk Bread, I decided to give a whirl, since I had some single cream in the fridge. I must say this recipe truly lives up to its name, the buns turned out super soft, with an aromatic milk taste to it.


As for the pineapple skin, I used the recipe at Jo Delibakery. I find that my Por Lor skin didn’t turn out as nice as I had wished. It’s no fault of the recipe though. I should have made the skin thinner and cover the entire bun before the last proof. As a result, the bun ‘peeked out’ at the bottom. The ideal would be to have the entire bun surface covered with the skin.

Nonetheless, I would make these buns again, because I like the combination of the crisp, slightly sweet topping with the pillow-soft buns. If you like Por Lor Pau too, do check out both recipes. Just note that I halved both recipes, and got about 8 buns, with some skin dough remaining as well(the bread dough to skin dough ratio is 2:1).


9 comments:

Gattina Cheung said...

oh my pal, now with my "thick-face skin", can I assume you actually baked these PLP for me... and that butter!!! I know it's calling my name :D And what a great link you recommended! I know I will keep digging over there *hug*

Anh said...

what a great bread! It has been on my list for a while, but I haven't had much time lately. Love the pineapple skin! :)

^cherie said...

I like the last photo very much! So cuteeeee... Very nice table mat u got there or is it a table mat to begin with? :P

Anonymous said...

very nice recipe.Yours look like twin sister of Gattina.I used to bloghop but not very doing recently

Thanks for your lovely thoughts for " pluot" in my blog.Hope you care my very late reply.

Unknown said...

Gattina, you won't need my ugly PLP, eat more of the authentic ones when you're back in HK.

Anh, yes, noticed you've been quiet these days. Take care despite your busy schedule ok? *hugs*

Sherie, thanks :). Yup, it's one of those individual place mats I got fr Tangs.

Ramya, thanks for your visit. Hope you're doing okay.

Patricia Scarpin said...

These buns are so interesting, Angie!

And what my waistline doesn't need is that... ;)

Unknown said...

Thanks Patricia, you're always so kind :)

sher said...

I love those cutie pie buns--and the butter. Oh yes! That does it for me! I would love to have one of those right now, even though I'm a little under the weather right now. I think one of those would heal me! :):)

Unknown said...

Sher, I certainly hope the butter can 'heal' you, hope you get better really soon. Take care!