Steamed bao buns (包子), a complete guide

• 份量: 12 servings
• 活動時間: 30 minutes
• 總時間: 1 hour 50 minutes

食材

300 g all-purpose flour (or cake flour, see note 1)

1 teaspoon dried yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon cooking oil (see note 2)

140 ml lukewarm water (see note 3)

150 g minced pork

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon oyster sauce

1 pinch ground Sichuan pepper (or Chinese five-spice powder)

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoon water (or unsalted stock)

1 tablespoon cooking oil

150 g carrot (grated)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

2 tablespoon coriander (finely chopped)

步驟

Prepare the dough

Mix flour, yeast, sugar and oil in a bowl. Pour in water little by little while mixing.

Combine and knead with your hands until a very smooth dough forms (see note 4).

Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (It will take between 40 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the room temperature).

Mix the filling

Put pork, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt and Sichuan pepper/Chinese five-spice in a mixing bowl.

Swirl constantly while gradually adding water/stock until no more liquid can be seen.

Brief stir fry grated carrot and onion in oil until softened. Add to the pork along with chopped coriander.

Shape the buns (Please refer to the video below)

Knead the dough until it goes back to its original size.

Divide it into 12 equal portions. Roll each piece into a disk-like wrapper.

Place some filling in the middle of a wrapper then fold into a bao shape.

Leave all the assembled buns to rest for another 15 minutes or so.

Steam the buns

Place the buns (with parchment paper underneath each one) in the steamer basket (see note 5). Leave 2cm space between the buns and the side of the steamer.

Start cooking with cold water over a high heat. Turn the heat down to medium-low when the water starts boiling.

Cook for 15-18 minutes.

Serving with a dipping sauce

Serve them warm, on their own or with some dipping sauce (find inspirations in my post Six dumpling sauces).

Storage & reheat

You can freeze cooked buns. Leave to defrost in the fridge then steam for 8 minutes to warm up, or steam for 15 minutes without defrosting.

營養

• 每份大小: 1 bun
• 卡路里: 148 kcal