I have been on a baked buns kick lately ever since I made this soft fluffy milk bread dough (recipe here) that I absolutely fell in love with. I've been using this dough to make Chinese baked Char sui baos, beef curry buns, hot dog buns, ham and cheese buns, and now these tuna buns.
Since these freeze so well, each time I make a batch, if I don't end up giving half to my sister, I freeze some so there's a nice variety of different filled buns in my freezer.
I used cream cheese in the filling for these tuna buns because I happen to have an opened package of cream cheese. But the recipe would totally work if you substituted the cream cheese with mayonnaise instead. In fact, I think that's what the Asian bakeries use for their baked tuna buns.
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| Divide dough into 8 equal pieces |
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| Flatten each piece to an oval |
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| Add tuna filling |
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| Pinch the sides to completely enclose filling. Turn over so that seam side is down. |
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| Rest/Rise. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake |
Yields 8 buns
Ingredients for dough:
- 2 ½ c all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out dough
- ¾ c whole milk, slightly warmed using the microwave
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¼ c sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ½ t yeast
- 1 T unsalted butter
- ¼ t salt
- ½ t turmeric (optional)
Ingredients for filling:
- 1 can of tuna (5 oz can, drained)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
- 1/3 c frozen corn
- ½ t garlic powder
- 1 T dried chopped onion flakes
- 1 t smoked paprika
- ¼ t ground black pepper (more if you like it a bit spicy)
- ½ t sugar
- 2 oz cream cheese (or 4 T mayonnaise)
1 t oil for frying onions
Ingredients for egg wash:
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 T water
- 1 T sesame seeds for decoration if desired
Procedures:
1. If you have a bread maker, add all the dough ingredients to the bread maker and set it to the dough setting so that the bread maker will mix, knead, and rise the dough for you. If you don’t have a bread maker, then mix all the dough ingredients together in a bowl until combined. Then knead the dough for 15 minutes until smooth. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow it to rise for 45 minutes, or until approximately double in size.
2. While the dough is rising, make the filling. Brown the onions in a frying pan with some oil. Then add the tuna, frozen corn, garlic, dried onions, smoked paprika, sugar, and pepper. Continue to saute for 1 to 2 minutes with mixing. Then turn off the heat. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the cream cheese (or mayonnaise) until everything is well mixed. Taste and add more pepper, and paprika to your taste. Set aside until the dough is ready.
3. After the dough is done rising, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
4. Flatten each piece of dough into an elongated oval and place filling in the middle, shaping the filling into a log with your spoon or fingers. Pinch the bun closed so it is sealed and there’s no filling showing. Place the seam side down onto a parchment or silicone lined baking tray. Repeat until all 8 pieces of dough are used up.
5. Allow the filled buns to rise and rest for 15 minutes. (I usually turn on the oven set to 175F while I’m filling the buns. And when the temperature hits 175, I turn the oven off. Then once the buns are all filled, I pop the tray in the oven to allow the buns to rest for 15 min in the slightly warmed oven.).
6. Once the buns have rested for 15 minutes in a warm location, gently brush the tops of the bun with an egg wash. (This will give the buns a nice color and shine when baked.) Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the egg wash for a little decoration if desired.
7. While applying the egg wash, set the oven to 375F. Once the temperature reaches 375F, place the tray of buns into the oven. Turn off the oven and reset the temperature to bake at 350F. Bake at 350F for 22 to 24 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before eating, as the filling will be very hot.