Soft spot: Bill Granger fills his delicate steamed Chinese buns with tempting fillings My inspiration was the wonderful Barbara Tropp and her China Moon Café, then a mecca for both foodies and celebrities. I bought her book and immersed myself in making noodles, dim sum, steamed buns and all those great staples from Northern Chinese cooking. Char siu, the steamed-pork bun, was one of my earliest flavour sensations. Who would have thought that so many years later, thanks to David Chang and his version of it at Momofuku in New York, then Toronto and Sydney, that this would be one of the great modern world trends? In London, I've been enjoying steamed buns with all kinds of exciting fillings at Flesh & Buns in Covent Garden and have been finding it refreshing how, after years of ripping our teeth out in tough sourdough sandwiches, we can enjoy a dough that's so soft and delicate in comparison. This is great party food that's fun to eat around the kitchen with some cold beers. If you're in the mood, making the buns is great, but if you're not, don't let that stop you from buying some soft hot-dog buns and enjoying these fillings. They make great entertaining food! Basic steamed buns It makes enough for both the recipes below; if you're making only one of them, freeze any leftover buns for another time. Makes 12 Prawn tempura and lime aioli buns (Martin Poole) Prawn tempura and lime aioli buns The trick with tempura is to have ice-cold batter and to avoid the temptation to whisk frantically - for once, a lumpy batter is exactly what you're after. Makes 6 buns 1 medium egg 5 ice cubes 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 120g plain flour, plus extra for dusting Light-flavoured oil, for frying 18 shelled king prawns, with tails still on 6 steamed buns 1 cucumber, cut into thick 5cm slices 3 spring onions, shredded For the lime aioli 6 tbsp bought mayonnaise Finely grated zest and juice 1 lime 1 garlic clove, crushed Combine all the ingredients for the aioli and set aside. Now break the egg into a large bowl and whisk in 275ml of chilled water. Add the ice cubes. Stir the bicarbonate of soda into the flour. Tip this into the iced water-and-egg mixture and roughly mix into a very lumpy batter. Keep in the fridge. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer or in a deep saucepan to 180C/350F, or until a cube of bread dropped in the oil turns golden in 30 seconds. Remove the batter from the fridge. Crisp pork belly and a tomato-and-chilli jam buns (Martin Poole) Holding it by its tail, dust a prawn in plain flour, dip it into batter then carefully drop it into the oil. Repeat with the remaining prawns, frying them in batches for about 3 minutes each, until lightly golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Split the buns open and fill with the lime aioli, cucumber, tempura prawns and a scattering of spring onions. Serve immediately. Crisp pork belly and tomato-chilli jam buns Pan-fried pork belly is one of the first dishes I cooked as a kid, but it took David Chang to pave the way before I started serving it in buns like this. Envious? Me? Makes 6 4 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp soft brown sugar 2cm piece ginger, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 500g pork-belly rashers 6 radishes, sliced 1 tbsp rice vinegar 1 tsp caster sugar Small handful coriander leaves 6 steamed buns For the chilli jam 3 tomatoes, quartered 3 red chillies 2 garlic cloves 2 cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped 1 tbsp fish sauce 100g demerara sugar 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar The pork should be marinated in sugar, ginger and garlic (Martin Poole) Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic in a large shallow tray and toss in the pork. Leave to marinate for 15 minutes. Combine the sliced radishes with the rice vinegar and sugar. For the chilli jam, place the tomatoes, chillies, garlic, ginger and fish sauce in a food processor and blend to a paste. Tip into a pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and red wine vinegar and simmer, stirring for another 5 to 10 minutes, until thick. Set aside to cool. Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Brush any excess marinade off the pork rashers and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until brown and sticky. Using tongs, lift the rashers and cook the rind until golden. Toss the coriander into the pickled radishes. Split the buns open and fill with tomato-and-chilli jam, pork and some pickled radish and coriander. Food stylist: Rosie Reynolds; Prop stylist: Rachel Jukes