Video: Home Cooking with Susan Jung - pan-fried meat buns with pork and chives

WATCH: Susan Jung makes pan-fried meat buns filled with pork and chives 

I used to buy these delicious juicy meat buns from a street-food vendor in Hong Kong, and also from a small noodle shop in Causeway Bay. One day, the street vendor wasn't in his usual location (I never found him again),  and shortly after that, the noodle shop closed. So I taught myself how to make the buns.

The secret to these buns is using a jellied stock. You need a small amount of homemade meat stock - which can be from pork and/or chicken - which you then simmer with pork skin, which is rich with gelatin. When the stock is cold, it will be gently set and jelly-like. The stock is then mixed with the other ingredients and when the bun is pan-fried, the stock turns into a liquid, making the filling juicy.

Be sure to buy the Chinese chives that are dark green and flat (they're sometimes called Chinese leeks); don't use the tubular type called flowering chives because they're much tougher. 

The dough uses a typical Chinese technique of adding boiling water, which prevents the flour from developing too much gluten. It's very easy to roll out.