Steamed buns (Baozi), Make your own fluffy Chinese buns!
I love steamed Chinese buns. I cannot get enough of them. Which is a good thing, as making the buns look pretty, takes a bit of practice. So we eat a lot of buns in my house lately 😉
The actual making of the steamed buns is really easy. The dough is easy to make, and easy to work with. And even though with the first few attempts the aesthetic look is not perfect, the taste is as good as it will always be.
So don’t worry too much about the look of these baozi. Just enjoy them as they are! And every time you make them they will become prettier, until one day you will create the perfect looking Baozi.
Baozi fillings
You can really be as creative as you would like to be with the filling. I personally like it with Chinese style flavours, like;
- Mushrooms
- Chinese cabbage
- soybean curd
- dried mushrooms
- mung bean sprouts
- herbs, like coriander
- onion or shallots
- spinach or kale
- ginger
- garlic
- soy
- Chinese vinegar
But you can experiment with lots of other interesting flavours. These buns work really well with sweet flavours, like; Sweet red bean paste or sweet roasted carrot with agave.
I think it is really nice to just experiment with whatever ingredients comes to mind. Dare to mix cultures!
The dough
It is important to let the dough prove if you like to have fluffy soft buns. The proving time is not calculated in the recipe, as this really depends on which flour, and yeast you use, and the temperature where it rests.
If you can easily find a strong white flour where you live, then substitute half of the flour with the strong flour, as this will make the buns even softer.
The folding of the bun does take a bit of practice, and even though I make a lot of buns, my folding technique still lacks. You should be able to pleat the dough with one hand while the bun with filling rests in the other hand, but I haven’t got to this stage yet and i still use all my 10 fingers to fold it.
Like I said before, For now I don’t mind. As they are still delicious!
I steam my buns in a bamboo basket which works well.
Plain Baozi, Mantou
Mantou is a plain baozi without filling. You see these Mantou everywhere in China, they are enjoyed in the mornings, as snacks, or companied with Chinese dishes.
You can use the same dough recipe for the Mantou. But I slightly change the proving. I let the dough rest just for 5 or 10 minutes. Than I form the Mantou in the shape desired, which can be a nice round ball, which is the most common shape. A ‘pillow’ shape, or any creative shapes. After the shaping I rest the mantou on a small baking paper and let them prove for approx. 20 – 25 minutes. Again this depends on temperature, humidity, and ingredients. You will know if your dough has proved enough, carefully lift it up and it should feel a lot lighter, less dense. For the steaming follow the same procedure. The bigger your mantou the longer they will need to steam. But an average timing to go by is 12-14 minutes.
Or sweet red bean paste Baozi
Red bean paste (azuki bean paste) is a commonly used paste to use in sweet baozi.
The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or grinding them. At this stage, the paste can be sweetened or left as it is. The colour of the paste is usually dark red, which comes from the husk of the beans.
This Baozi is part of my new series; ‘Travels of taste‘. We use our taste buds to travel the world and discover the use of our senses and imaginations to meet other cultures through food. So today we find ourselves in China. If you are ready to imagine yourself travelling through China whilst discovering all its flavours. Check out my full China ‘travels of taste’ post; >>> China, It’s all about FOOD!
If you do get into the making of your own Baozi, please add @haricoco1 to your instagram post or comment below. I would love to hear about your experiences, and your choice of fillings.
ENJOY!
Steamed buns (Baozi)
Ingredients
- Recipe for approx. 12 buns
- For the dough
- 220g ( 1 3/4 cup) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp dry active yeast
- 3 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp vegetable oil
- 150ml (2/3 cup) warm plant based milk
- For the filling
- 1 dried bean-curd stick, re-hydrated and chopped finely
- 5 dried mushrooms, re-hydrated and chopped finely
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 1/2 red chilli, finely chopped (or 1/2 tsp Chili paste)
- 1 tbsp, shredder carrot
- 100g (1/2 cup) of fresh spinach leaves, roughly shredded
- 2 large mushrooms, chopped
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- handful of fresh coriander
- for the sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp chinese vinegar
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 1/2 tsp minched garlic
Instructions
- for the dough
- combine the flour, sugar, and yeast. Make a well in the middle.
- Slowly pour warm milk and oil in the well, and start mixing the dough.
- Kneed for a few minutes. The dough should not be sticky, and not to dry.
- Leave the dough to prove until doubled in size.
- for the filling
- Meanwhile prepare your filling by heating the sesame oil in a pan, add the fresh mushrooms with a pinch of salt for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, ginger, and chilli and stir for another minute.
- Add the chopped bean-curd and dried mushrooms.
- Lastly add the spinach, and coriander.
- Take off the heat and set the mixture aside.
- Make the accompanying sauce by combining all its ingredients.
- making the buns
- Once your dough has doubled in size. Roll it into a long sausage shape.
- With a dough scraper, cut the dough into 12 same size pieces.
- Take 1 piece and with your hands or a rolling pin flatten it into a circle shape about 2mm thickness, with the centre of the circle being slightly thicker (4mm).
- Take 1 heaped teaspoon of your filling and place it in the centre of your dough (there where the dough is slightly thicker)
- Start folding the edges towards the middle, like an accordion, all the way round until the whole bun is sealed.
- Place every bun separately on a little square piece of baking paper.
- Put the buns with the paper into a steaming basket, don’t over crowd the basket as the buns will get bigger.
- Steam for approx. 12 minutes.
- After 12 minutes open the steaming basket just 1cm. And after 1 minute you can take the lid completely off.
- Enjoy straight way, or leave to cool completely before freezing.
Notes
This is just one of the many fillings that I use for Baozi. You can be as creative as you want to be. The main thing is to not make the filling too wet, as that would make it harder to assemble the buns.
But further from that you can add whatever you want to the filling, for example;
- Cabbage
- onion
- leek
- shallot
- spring onion
- mung bean sprouts
- Any other vegetables which you can chop up finely and don’t release too much water.
Nutrition Facts
Steamed buns (Baozi)
Serves: 2
|
Amount Per Serving: 1
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 799.17 kcal | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 26.19 g | 40.3% | |
| Saturated Fat 5.29 g | 26.5% | |
| Trans Fat 0.05 g | ||
| Cholesterol 11.71 mg | 3.9% | |
| Sodium 1000.16 mg | 41.7% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 111.53 g | 37.2% | |
| Dietary Fiber 8.09 g | 32.4% | |
| Sugars 17.36 g | ||
| Protein 33.92 g | ||
| Vitamin A 36.92 % | Vitamin C 37.43 % | |
| Calcium 54.35 % | Iron 53.93 % | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Haricoco
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