It has been a busy week of preparing for end of the school year in my household. So I took some time off from blogging these past couple days to take care of some family things. Kids sure are ready for their short summer break to begin, and the older 3 kiddos first kid triathlon to take place! Today I am sharing a family recipe for a traditional Filipino dish called Sio Pao. A family favorite we sure have missed eating.
Sio Pao is a traditional steam bun filled with pork adobo. Although you can choose any number of filling you would like. We have done chicken and also a breakfast bacon/eggs Sio Pao. We haven’t been able to enjoy them for many years since we changed our eating habits to be gluten-free/paleo. Thanks to Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour, we can now enjoy our family’s favorite recipe!
I can say my hubby is one happy man to be able to finally enjoy one of his family’s recipes he had growing up!
I can say this recipe gave me many headaches trying to figure out the right amount of moisture needed when replacing flour with the cassava flour. I can say though it turned out great and taste just like I remember. I am excited to share the recipe with you today!
Sio Pao- Gluten-free/Nut-free/Paleo
Ingredients:
Dough
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp raw unfiltered honey
- 1 tsp dry active yeast
- 1 1/2 tbsp lard or organic palm shortening
- 2 1/4 cups Otto’s Naturals Cassava Flour
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp himalayan salt
Pork Adobo
- 2lbs pork shoulder
- 4 garlic cloves-minced
- 1 onion
- 5 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup coconut aminos
- cracked pepper and himalayan salt to taste
Make the dough first.
Whisk honey and lukewarm water until combined. Then add yeast and mix until dissolved. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Whisk 1 egg and set aside.
Combine Cassava flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut lard or palm shortening ( do not use oil it will not work) into flour mixture.
Mix yeast mixture and egg with dry ingredients. 
Knead dough until smooth; about 5-10 minutes.
If dough is still too dry add 1/4 tsp of filtered water at a time and continue to knead. Add a little at a time until you have smooth texture. (I added in a total of 3/4 tsp water). Form dough into ball.
Oil a large bowl and and put the ball of dough inside. Cover with cheese cloth and set aside for 1 hour. Dough will slightly rise but not very much.
Divide dough into 12-16 balls. flatten each ball out by hand. Add about 1 tbsp of filling of your choice. If you have kiddos this is a great time to have them help too!
Fold up and pinch off. Cut 2 inch square parchment papers with holes on the bottom. Arrange each Sio Pao on top of a pice of parchment paper.
Arrange Sio Pao with parchment paper in steamer. 
Place cheese cloth over steamer and place lid on top. This will prevent condensation from the lid leaking onto the Sio Pao. Steam for 20-25 minutes. Until dough is “springy”
Arrange on wire rack to let cool. Serve warm. Place extras in fridge and steam again to eat, or place leftovers in freezer until later date.
Pork Adobo
You can make the Pork Adobo as the dough is resting for an hour. Cut up pork shoulder into cubes. Place cubed pork shoulder and all remaining ingredients into deep pan. 
Cover and let simmer for approx. 1 hour until pork is fork tender (easily pulls apart with fork).
Let cool and then use as filling for Sio Pao with sliced hard boiled eggs. See how I make my hard boiled eggs here. You can also serve this over cauliflower rice for a complete meal!
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