Jagaimo Manju (Stuffed Potato Bun)

Cooked this over the weekend, a simple Japanese dinner for my dearie. I cooked 3 side dishes - stuffed potato buns, yuba parcels and maki-zushi, and served with homemade pickles. No main. This bun was decided last minute, pretty easy to make actually... don't let the lengthy steps turn you off. I loved the firm texture and flavourful buns. Tak asked for extra sauce he ate it as soup and finished everything! FYI, the buns can be prepared in advance and steamed just before serving.

Ingredients (4 servings):

Potato Buns

• 400g potatoes
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp cornstarch

Stuffing

• 300g chicken breast meat, diced
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 2 tsp light soy sauce

Silver Sauce

• 400ml dashi (bonito stock)
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 3 tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger juice
• 2 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger (for garnish - optional)

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes, slice thickly, and boil with salt until tender. Drain and remove excess moisture.
2. For the stuffing, boil all liquid in saucepan over high heat then stir in chicken. Stir until the chicken is done. Drain and set aside.
3. Mash the potatoes, add in butter, 2/3 egg white and 1½ tbsp cornstarch. Mix well to form a firm dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and flatten each portion slightly. Make a small hole in the center and fill it with some stuffing. Wrap it up to form a smooth bun. Dip potato buns in the remaining egg white, then coat with remaining cornstarch. Preheat the steamer over medium heat and steam the buns for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the silver sauce. Combine dashi, soy sauce, mirin and salt in a saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, then stir in cornstarch slowly to thicken it. Once it starts to boil, add in ginger juice and remove from heat.
5. Assemble: Spoon some silver sauce over the steamed bun and top with grated ginger. Add some boiled vegetable if desire.

Note:

1. The silver sauce can be used in agedashi doufu, the only different is the amber sauce for agadashi doufu calls for dark soy sauce.
2. Stuffing can be subbed with seafoods or other meat.
3. Potato can be subbed with pumpkin or taro.

Updated on 23 May 2007, this recipe is adapted from Practical Japanese Cooking.