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Bouchons
Steamed pork dumplings
Bouchon: Réunion's little steamed pork dumplings in thin wrappers, eaten with soy sauce and chilli
MauritianChinese families brought bouchons to Réunion, and today every snack van and camion bar in Saint-Pierre and Saint-Denis sells them by the half-dozen, usually next to samoussas and bonbons piment. They are small open-topped dumplings of seasoned pork mince with garlic, ginger and spring onion in a thin wheat wrapper, steamed until juicy and served in a cardboard tray with soy sauce and a dab of chilli, or stuffed into a baguette as a pain bouchon. The filling should be springy and moist, not dense. People tend to cram the wrappers too full, so the filling cooks unevenly and the parcels burst; a heaped teaspoon is plenty. Chef's tip: use pork mince with some fat in it, around 20 per cent, as very lean pork steams dry and crumbly.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the dumplings
- 14 oz pork minceabout 20% fat
- 3 spring onionsfinely chopped
- 3 cloves garlicfinely grated
- ½ oz fresh gingerfinely grated
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 30 wonton wrappersthin, round or square
- 1 tbsp sunflower oilfor the steamer
To serve
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp chilli paste (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put 14 oz pork mince, 3 spring onions, 3 cloves garlic, ½ oz fresh ginger, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp cornflour, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper in a bowl. Stir hard in one direction with a fork for 2 minutes, until the mixture turns sticky and pale.
Step 2: Keep 30 wonton wrappers under a damp cloth so they don't dry out. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of one wrapper.
Step 3: Gather the wrapper up around the filling with your fingers, pleating it into a little cup with the top open, and press it gently so it stands flat. Repeat with the rest, keeping them covered.
Step 4: Brush a steamer basket with 1 tbsp sunflower oil and set the bouchons in it 2 cm apart. Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil underneath.
Step 5: Steam on a high heat, in batches if needed, until the wrappers are translucent and the filling is firm and reaches 160°F in the centre, with no pink left.
12 minStep 6: Serve hot with small bowls of 4 tbsp light soy sauce and 2 tsp chilli paste.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 300 kcal
- Protein
- 16 g
- Carbs
- 27 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bouchons take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 35 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of spring onions?
- Chives, or a little finely sliced onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
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