Sourdough Fish Buns

Steam the potatoes, remove the skin and roughly smash.

I use the microwave to cook the potatoes. Place them on a plate, dock each potato with a fork and cook on high for 6-8 minutes or until potatoes go soft. Leave to cool and remove skin.

Finely chop the onions, garlic, Thai chili peppers, herbs. Heat 3-4 tbsp oil in a saucepan and add the chopped up aromatics in the pan. Cook string until onions become translucent and fragrant. Add the spices and continue to cook on medium heat for another minute.

Add the mashed potatoes and canned fish (mackerel/or cooked white fish). Continue to cook string for a further 3-4 minutes. Make sure to break the big pieces of fish and potato. Add salt and pepper give a good mix and taste. Adjust salt and spices if necessary. If the mixer seems too dry add a splash of water or canned water from the mackerel. Once the mixture comes together, take off the heat.

This is how the filling should look like. Spread it on a tray to cool faster and set aside.

This can be made ahead and refrigerated until needed. Let it come to room temperature before you use it(otherwise cold filling will slow the proofing of the bun once inside)

You should have a starter ( your levain) ready. This can be anywhere from 80 – 100 % hydrated. The ratio to feed depends on how fast you want the levain to be ready/ripe. Read more about starter here. About feeding instructions here

Check the recipe notes for the instructions on how to use commercial yeast( instant fast acting yeast) instead of sourdough

To make the dough, place everything except milk in a bowl of a stand mixer and start mixing using the dough hook. Add milk gradually until everything is fully hydrated, like shown in the picture.

If your egg is larger or starter(leavain) is runny, you might not need the whole 1 cup of milk. It’s okay to leave about 1-2 tablespoon of milk behind.

Increase the speed to medium ( 2 or 3) and start mixing. Scrap down the sides and use flour to aid mixing. If too sticky, let the mixture sit for 10-15 minutes and then mix again. Use a little dusting of flour to help release the dough from the sides of the bowl. When it looks like the picture, it is ready to come out.

Take the dough out on to a floured surface. We will finish kneading by hand. Use a light dusting of flour to stop the dough sticking to your hand/bench. Knead the dough (stretch and fold) until it becomes smooth and elastic ( for about 4 minutes) This dough is soft and easy to work with and a pleasure to handle. You will enjoy kneading this dough.

If it is still too sticky, let it rest for about 15 minutes or use some flour.

You will end up with a smooth dough like this. Do not try to do ‘window pan test’ as it is not necessary and we are not looking for that level of gluten development.

Be careful not to over knead the dough. If the dough becomes too tough or elastic, the resulting bun will be on the chewy side.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl ( glass or plastic) and lightly cover with a lid or damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to bulk.

Will take about 3-4 hours in a warmer place (27 – 29 °C) Always look for the visual clues rather than the time.

We are looking for a dough that has almost doubled in volume. It doesn’t have to be double exactly. Considerable expansion with air bubbles inside and looking puffed up is enough signs.

Now punch this dough (again a very satisfying thing to do) down and round up to a tight ball and place in a air tight container and refrigerate for about 18 – 22 hours. Less is fine too.

For a same day bake, avoid retarding but refrigerate for 2-3 hours for ease of handling.

Shaping the buns:

If the cold dough is too tough, let it sit at room temperature until soft enough to mold. Divide the dough in to 14 ( 65 g – 68 g) pieces or 12 (80 g) pieces.

Pre shape the dough pieces into tight smooth balls, just like when you are making bread rolls/dinner rolls. Use a little flour to stop dough from sticking.

Once done, set aside and cover with a tea towel ( to prevent drying) and let these rest for about 20-30 minutes

Following video shows how to shape the fish buns.

Place the shaped buns on a tray lined with parchment. Leave space around the buns as they proof a bit and puff up in the oven. I used two trays ( 7 buns on each)

Now lightly cover the tray and leave in a warm place to proof.

Took about 2.5 hours in a warm (27 – 29 °C) place.

When these are almost ready, preheat the oven. Place a rack in the center.

I bake one try at a time. If your oven is a convection that heats evenly, you can try to bake both trays at once, but rotate towards the end.

These take only 15 minutes to bake so 1 tray at a time is really not that bad.

Once the oven is ready, lightly egg wash the buns and bake for 15 minutes ( if not golden brown, give another 2-3 minutes)

Once they turn Golden brown on top, remove from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool.