Bao Zi Tsai Ru Bao Vegetable Pork Steamed Buns Recipes

ZHU ROU BAO ZI (STEAMED PORK BUNS)

Steps:

• Smash the unpeeled ginger with the flat of a heavy cleaver so that it will release its juices. Put the ginger in the cup of water, stir, and set aside. 1 to 2 hours is preferable.
• Add the sugar and the yeast to the cup of lukewarm water and stir until it dissolves. In the meantime, sift the flour into a bowl. When the yeast mixture is foaming, add it to the flour and mix vigorously until the mass begins to stick together.
• Add the oil and when the dough coheres enough, place it on a floured counter and knead for 10 minutes until it is smooth. It is very important that the dough be soft. Do not add more flour unless necessary to keep it from sticking to your hands and the kneading surface. Once the dough is kneaded, oil the dough ball with peanut oil and place in a covered bowl in a warm place.
• Separate and blanch the cabbage leaves for 3 minutes in a large pot of boiling water. Remove, drain, and cool. When it is cool enough to handle, roughly chop the cabbage and put in a clean hand towel. Wring out as much of the water as possible, then mince.
• Mix together the pork, cabbage, the minced ginger, minced scallion, minced garlic, salt and pepper. Mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon or paddle of a kitchen mixer, add the cup of strained ginger water, soy, wine and sesame oil. Add cornstarch, and mix in one direction for several minutes. The filling should be moist, almost like batter; add chicken stock if the filling seems stiff or dry.
• Have the steamer ready before you begin. When the dough has doubled in bulk, and you are ready to make the baozi, punch down the dough and make several indentations in the dough with your fingers. Sift the baking powder into these holes, fold up the dough and pinch the edges together to contain the baking powder.
• Knead for five minutes, or until the baking powder is thoroughly incorporated. Cover the dough ball and let it rest for five or ten minutes. Form the dough into two ropes, approximately 1-1/2" in diameter, then cut the ropes into sections approximately 1-1/2" long. Roll each segment into a ball, place, separated, on a tray, and cover.
• To make a baozi, flatten one of the balls with your hand, keeping it as round as possible. Roll the discs into approximately 4" rounds, as thin as possible on the edges, and 1/8" or so in the center. Roll out several rounds and keep them covered as you begin to fill the baozi (Doing these somewhat ahead once again rests the dough and makes them more manageable).
• Smear a couple of heaping tablespoons of filling to the dough, leaving a border of a half inch or so, and begin pleating the very edge with your fingers and thumb, overlapping the dough by a quarter inch or so. The pleat should be squeezed firmly and pulled slightly vertically to prevent the top of the finished bun from being too thick.
• As you pleat, rotate the baozi clockwise, making sure the filling remains well below the edges of the bun. Complete the process by closing the top with a spiral twist. Place the pleated baozi, separated from one another, on a steamer tray lined with perforated parchment paper or (napa) cabbage leaves and steam, covered, for 14 to 15 minutes.
• It is very important to make one or two sample baozi to test for salt and seasonings. When you've done this, you are ready to complete the batch of 20 - 30 baozi.

BAO-ZI (TSAI RU BAO), VEGETABLE PORK STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Dough:.
• Dissolve the yeast in the water, then mix with the other dough ingredients until smooth. Allow to rise 40 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth and divide into 30 equally sized portions.
• Filling:.
• Blanch the leaves of the cabbage (or bok choy) briefly in boiling water. Remove and cool in water. Mince finely, strain and squeeze out all the water, as dry as possible. Mix the greens with the other meat filling ingredients until well combined.
• Roll out the dough into little circles roughly the size of your palm. Wrap one tablespoon of filling inside each piece of dough. (The tricky part is to get it to look pretty : Pinch the tops together tightly on top, over lapping to close the tops together.).
• Allow the filled rolls to rise the second time, for 40 minutes.
• Bring water to a boil in a steamer, arrange the buns on the steamer. It helps if you use pieces of parchment paper on the bottoms of the buns (like store bought buns) or the old method is to use some cabbage or leafy vegetables and line the entire steamer, so the steam still goes right through yet the buns won't stick to the steamer). Steam for 6 -8 minutes over high heat.

PLAIN STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Sift together flower and baking powder.
• Stir in water.
• Knead 10 times and divide into 15 balls.
• Steam for 20 min until tender.

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS (BBQ PORK AND PORK/VEGETABLE)

Steps:

• For Filling #1, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the shallots 2 minutes or until light brown. Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook 1 minute.
• Add the chicken stock, stir well, and cook 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook one minute.
• Remove from heat and stir in cut pork and oyster sauce, sugar, peanut oil, and sesame oil. Chill until very firm.
• For Filling #2, simply mix all ingredients together.
• To make the dough, combine all dough ingredients into a stand mixer. Mix with the dough hook for 4 minutes.
• Use the oil to grease the outside of the dough; cover and let rest in warm area 1 ½ hours or until double in size.
• Punch down dough and divide into 24 pieces.
• Using a rolling pin, roll each into a round disk, making quarter turn with each roll.
• Roll to leave the center thick; thinner edges are easier to pleat.
• Place about 1 tablespoon of filling at the center of each dough round, flat side up.
• Gather the edges by first pleating counterclockwise, and then twisting to seal securely. Place the bun round side up on a square piece of parchment paper (2.5 X 2.5 inches).
• Let buns rest, covered for at least 30 minutes.
• Steam on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not uncover the steamer any time during the steaming. If a flat lid steamer is used, wrap the lid in a kitchen towel to prevent condensed steam from dripping on the buns.

STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the sugar and salt in the water, and then mix in the yeast. Let it rest for about 15 mins, or till the surface is covered in frothy yeast.
• Add the oil to the mixture and stir it in to combine.
• In a large bowl, add the flour and make a hole in the center. Add the liquid to the hole and gradually incorporate the flour till you have a sticky mass.
• Oil your bench top with a little olive or vegetable oil, them knead the dough on the oiled surface until it forms into an elastic and smooth ball, which takes about 15 minutes. The dough should be elastic and slightly tacky but not so that it sticks to your hands.
• Roll out the dough into a tube that's about 5cm in diameter.
• Slice the tube into 16 loafs. Lay each of the loafs on its cylindrical edge, not the face, on top of a square of parchment paper, and leave for about 20-30mins to rise (or till the surface has become slightly puffy).
• Shape your buns - if at this time you wish to make filled buns, roll them into a circle, add the filling to the middle then pinch the sides together and give it a slight twist so it doesn't come undone as it steams. Leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
• Arrange the loafs in a steamer. They will expand quite a fair bit so try and leave about 3-5cm around each bun. Cover the steamer and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
• Immediately remove from the steamer and place on a plate to cool enough so they can be handled.

VIETNAMESE STEAMED BUNS (BANH BAO)

Steps:

• Submerge mushroom in hot water until softened. Take them out, dry and finely juliene. Reserve water.
• Heat some oil in a skillet, put in onions and let it sweat for a while. Stir in the rest of filling except boiled eggs and BBQ pork. Season with fish sauce and pepper to taste.
• Add sugar to milk to dissolve. Add flour one cup at a time, after each time kneed the dough before adding the next cup. Put dough into a large mixing bowl, put a damp cheese cloth over to prevent drying out.
• Cut a handful of dough (size to your choice), roll out thin (use bread roller or the smaller dumpling roller). Add a spoonful of filling, 1 piece of egg, BBQ pork. Seal dough tight around filling and put on a cut-out piece of parchment paper. Steam buns for about 15 minutes. These buns freeze pretty well as well, if you want to make a big batch at a time.