Delicious freshly made steamed buns with a sweet and sticky BBQ chicken sauce made with California Prunes (Sponsored Post)
A couple of weeks ago I attended an event hosted by California Prunes. I have to admit that I don’t use prunes a lot in my house. The kids never took to them and I guess I haven’t tried to be very adventurous with cooking with them so, until now, they just weren’t something we ate a lot of.
But I was very much intrigued by how California Prunes were suggesting we could up our national intake of prunes and so I went along to see what it was all about!
California prunes is welcoming the recent initiative to encourage parents to take active measures to address the need to reduce the added sugar / fat and ultimately calorie intake of children. The ideal snack is of course fresh fruit and vegetables but traditional dried fruit can also play it’s part as a convenient, highly portable and non-processed alternative for the school bag.
California prunes pack a real nutritional punch, as they are full of fibre, a great source of vitamin K and a source of manganese, two nutrients that support the maintenance of normal bones which is a key consideration for growing children.
But if you can’t encourage your kids to enjoy more prunes as a snack, what other ways can you still make them a part of their diet? Chef Peter Sidwell shared with me his recipe for these delicious sweet and sticky BBQ Chicken Steamed Buns.
The recipe itself is pretty simple – steamed white bread buns, chicken and some strips of veggies but it is the sauce that really makes the entire dish stand out. It tastes like a cross between a BBQ and a hoisin sauce, mild enough for kids but still packed with flavour.
And the most shocking bit of all is that, unlike traditional BBQ or hoisin sauce, there’s no refined sugar in there. Instead it’s made with California Prunes and California Prune juice but still tastes just as delicious as the classic version.
The buns themselves do take a little bit of time to make so I think this would be the perfect recipe to make at the weekend when you have a bit more time. It’s also a great recipe to get the involved in helping with, especially the kneading bit! That’s definitely a job for the children!
Then once everything is cooked you can simply lay it all out on the kitchen table and let everyone help themselves, building their own steamed buns up with strips of sticky chicken, carrot and cucumber and finished off with sesame seeds. Delicious!
For more recipes using California Prunes head on over to the recipe section of their website.
Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by California Prunes but all thoughts and opinions are honest and are my own.
PrintSticky BBQ Chicken Steamed Buns with California Prunes
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: European
Description
Delicious freshly made steamed buns with a sweet and sticky BBQ chicken sauce made with California Prunes
Ingredients
For the buns:
- 400g strong white bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried yeast
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 200ml milk
For the chicken:
- 100ml California Prune Juice
- 30ml soy sauce
- 6 chopped California prunes
- ½ tsp Chinese 5 Spice
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 lime
- 3 chicken breasts
To serve:
- cucumber
- carrots
- sesame seeds
Instructions
- Mix the flour, salt and yeast into a large bowl. Add in the oil and milk and mix the dough until it comes together in a ball.
- Transfer onto a clean work top and knead for 10 minutes until smooth (or you can use a bread mixer).
- Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hour to double in size.
- Meanwhile to make the sauce pour the California prune juice into a sauce pan with the soy, chopped prunes, Chinese 5 spice and ketchup. Bring the sauce up to the boil and simmer for a few minutes until it reduces by half its volume. Remove from the heat and squeeze in the lime juice.
- Add the chicken breasts to a baking dish and cover them in the BBQ prune sauce.
- When the dough has proved and doubled in size scoop it out onto a clean work top. Dust the dough lightly with plain flour and roll out to 2cm thick. Using a 6cm round cutter cut out as many rounds as possible, you should get approximately 12-14 circles.
- Brush half the circles of dough with a little oil and fold over to create a semi circle. Transfer the dough onto a lined baking tray and leave to prove for 30 minutes to double in size. Spray plenty of water over the buns and loosely cover with foil making sure the foil does not touch the bread.
- Place the buns into a pre heated oven 180c for 20 minutes, along with the chicken in the other dish.
- Whilst the buns and chicken are cooking peel the carrots and cut them, along with the cucumber into long strips. Prepare a small bowl with some sesame seeds.
- Once cooked, remove the buns from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Remove the chicken and using a sharp knife cut it into thin strips.
- Serve everything in the middle of the table and let everyone help themselves and build their own Sticky BBQ Chicken Steamed Buns!
Nevaeh says
I was so surprised how tasty these were! I’ll admit I was dubious about the prunes and the prune juice (as was my husband!) as prunes aren’t really something that we’d normally buy but these were absolutely delicious! I did cheat though and served mine in tortilla wraps instead of the buns because I was being lazy but will try the buns next time.
★★★★★
Yvone Dee says
I was a bit sceptic of making this sauce from prunes but it was so delicious. Both my husband and my fussy 8 year old ate it. Brilliant recipe!
★★★★★