【Steamed Buns】- Bao Zi

【Steamed Buns】- Bao Zi
by MaomaoMom

Steamed buns (Bao Zi in Chinese) is one of the most popular food in China. Chinese people eat these delicious steamed buns with meat and/or veggie filling all the time.

Meal type: appetizer, breakfast, lunch, dinner
Prepare time: 1.5 hours
Cook time: 45 minutes
Stand time: 1.5 hours
Level: Medium
Serves: 24 servings

Ingredients:
Leavened dough:
1) 3 cups unsifted all purpose flour (480g), 3 tsp baking powder;
2) 1&1/4 cups lukewarm water (300g), 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp fast rising yeast, 1 tbsp all purpose flour;
3) 1 tsp corn oil;

Filling:
4) 275g extra lean ground pork;
5) 8 small dried Chinese mushrooms;
6) 300g baby bok choy, rinsed;
7) 2 tsp cooking wine, 3 tbsp finely chopped green onion, 1 tsp freshly minced ginger, 3/4 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Yummy House soy sauce, 1 tbsp corn starch, 1/4 tsp chicken broth mix, 1/6 tsp thirteen-scented-spice powder or ground white pepper, 1.5 tbsp sesame oil.

Yield: 24 steamed buns.

Directions:
1: Soak dried Chinese mushrooms in warm water for 4 hours, rinse then cut into small pieces.

2. Dough: Measure flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and combine well (Picture 1, right). Mix all ingredients of Ingredient 2) in a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes (Picture 1, left). Pour the yeast water mixture into the flour bowl, and combine to form dough. Add 1 tsp corn oil (Picture 2), and knead for a minute (Picture 3) until elastic. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside in a warm place until it doubles in volume.

3: Filling: Cook bok choy in boiling water for a minute (Picture 4), then rinse under cold water. Dice up bok choy (Picture 5). Combine all ingredients of Ingredient 4) to 7) in a bowl (Picture 7) and stir in one direction for 3 minutes with a wooden spoon until the mixture is sticky (Picture 8). Cover with food wrap and place in the fridge while waiting for the dough to rise.

4. Gently knead a few times then divide into 3 equal portions. Shape each into a 2-cm diameter log and cut into 8 discs (Picture 10). Press down each disc and roll out into an 8-10 cm wrapper. Place 1.5 tbsp filling in the middle of a wrapper (Picture 11). Fold up along the edge to form pleats (Picture 12) and pinch together to form a bun (Picture 13). Repeat to finish the rest of dough and filling.

Check the following video for how to make Bao Zi:

5: Place buns on a steamer rack or baking pan that is lined with parchment paper. Let them stand inside an oven for 45-75 minutes until volume increases by 50%.

6: Fill the steamer with 4 cups of cold water and place the buns on the top rack. Cover the lid and bring to a boil on high heat (Picture 15). Continue to steam buns for 12 minutes over high heat. Then steam for 2 minutes over medium heat and another 2 minutes over low heat. Remove the steamer from heat, wait for 2 minutes then open the lid. Place steamed buns on a serving plate. Yummy!!

Tips: Steamed buns can be stored in an airtight container in freezer for up to 4 months. Reheat in microwave before serving.

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