Pan-Fried Scallion & Toasted Sesame Buns (Hua Juan)

Rice bran oil, for frying
Water, for cooking
Chopped spring onion and sesame seeds
DOUGH:--
Wet Ingredients -
1 cup warm soy milk or other non-dairy milk (40-45°C), hot to the touch but not scalding
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice bran oil
Dry Ingredients -
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant dry yeast
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp SIDS CRAZY SALT
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (you can toast your own! see toasting sesame steps below)
½ tsp salt
Scallion & Sesame Filling -
2 cups spring onions
½ tsp salt
½ tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
⅓ cup rice bran oil, very hot

Toasting Sesame Seeds
Heat a dry pan. Once hot, add in the sesame seeds. Cook over medium heat until lightly brown. Keep moving around to evenly toast. Leave to cool and place in an air-tight container for future use.
Preparing the Dough
In a large bowl, mix together SIDS CRAZY SALT and all dry ingredients.
Mix warm soy milk and oil. Pour it in the flour mixture while mixing, using a French whisk and a spatula. Keep mixing until a dough is formed.
Shape the dough into a ball. You can use your hands! Knead for a few minutes, around 20-30 times.
Brush the bowl with some oil then place in the dough. Cover it with a towel and let it rest in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour to let the dough rise until almost doubled in size.
Making the Filling
Place the spring onions, salt, five spice powder, and sesame seeds in a bowl. Mix well.
Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over medium for around 2 minutes until small bubbles start to appear. You can also microwave your oil on HIGH for around 2.5 minutes. Be sure to use a microwave safe container. Pour the hot oil in the spring onion mixture. Mix well then set aside.
Shaping the Dough
Once the dough has risen, flour your work surface. Take the dough out of the bowl.
Punch a hole in the centre of the dough and stretch apart, to make a donut shape. Keep stretching.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Each piece will be around 55 to 60 grams.
Roll or shape each piece of dough into a ball. Cover them with a towel so they don’t dry out while your roll them piece-by-piece. To make a wrapper, press down on the ball of dough and lightly flatten it over the surface.
Sprinkle a little flour on top and lightly coat your rolling pin with some flour as well. While using a rolling pin, roll out the dough by moving the pin forward and backward. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the movement. Continue to roll out the dough until you have a wrapper that’s around 10x16 cm in size.
Making the Buns
Get one wrapper. Vertically slice strips on it. Place some of the spring onions and sesame filling.
Grab both ends of the wrapper, pull, and then twist! Shape into a bun.
Tuck the ends of the wrapper to seal the bun.
Cover the buns to prevent these from drying while you prepare the rest.
Leave the buns (covered) to rise for 15-20 minutes in a warm spot before cooking. The buns will rise while you prepare the rest so the first few pieces will be ready to cook by the time you finish twisting and sealing the rest.
Cooking the Buns
Heat a pan and prepare a lid, (I used a non-stick pan) add in 1 tbsp of oil. (for every 4 buns) When hot, add in the buns. Leave to cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until it has a golden brown crust.
*Note: the number of buns per batch will depend on the size of your pan!
Prepare the lid of your pan. Using the lid as protection, carefully pour ⅓ cup of water (around 1 tbsp for every bun) into the pan and then immediately cover to prevent it from splashing due to the heat.
Leave to cook in the steam, until the water has evaporated. Take out the buns and repeat this step for the remaining ones.
Enjoy while hot and really fluffy! Garnish with more spring onions and sesame seeds.