SOFT & FLUFFY STEAMED BAO

I tried bao for the first time when I was living in downtown Toronto during my university years. My friend said that there was a new food joint that he discovered called ‘Bahn Mi Boys’ on College street. Bahn Mi Boys is mostly known for their Vietnamese sandwiches (bahn mi) but they also have some bao selections as well. One day, I was waiting in line to order a bahn mi but I saw someone leaving with pork bao and I remember looking at the fluffy looking bao bun. It looked like a ginormous marshmallow! So out of curiosity, I purchased my first bao that day and kept coming back for more and never ordered another bahn mi again.

If you are familiar with bao, you probably tried the ‘Gua Bao’ which is a pork belly bun often found in street food in Taiwan. It’s a punch of flavour for a small handful of food! It’s the best combination of savoury and sweet.

Now, living in Stuttgart, I have tried couple of baos and it never tasted quite like the one in Bahn mi boys. So, I have researched several recipes and I have finally found a bao bun recipe that works best for me and I can’t get enough of it! It’s not too sweet and it’s truly soft and fluffy with slight amount of chewiness and it compliments any filling you wish to put inside. What I love about it is that you can customise it to whatever you want (can even make it vegan) and what your tastebuds desire!

I hope you enjoy!

-Ari Yori

SOFT & FLUFFY STEAMED BAO RECIPE

prep time: 2.5 hours

cooking time: 10 minutes

portion: 13-14 buns

---

INGREDIENTS

Bao bun

1/2 cup (130g) warm milk

1/3. cup (75g) warm water

2 tbsp vegetable oil

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp (1 package) dry active yeast

2.5 cups (350g) all purpose flour (550 flour), spooned and levelled

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Filling

500g-700g of tofu/pork belly/chicken/beef (any protein source you prefer)

6-7 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tbsp shaoxing wine (sake substitute)

2 tbsp honey

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 thai chili pepper, minced (optional)

black pepper

Garnishing

coriander leaves

cucumber slices

pickled or raw carrots and radish (optional)

kimchi (optional)

crushed peanuts

Equipment & Utensils

rolling pin

mixing bowls

stand mixer (optional)

bamboo steamer (regular steamer substitute)

baking brush (optional)

8-9 cm round cookie cutter (wine glass or other glass substitute)

DIRECTIONS

Bao bun

1. In a small pot or in a microwave, heat the milk and water. Make sure that it’s not hot. When you put your finger into it, it should be a bit warmer than lukewarm water.

2. In a small bowl, combine warm milk, warm water, sugar, yeast, and oil. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes until the yeast activates and becomes foamy.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and yeast mixture. Using a stand mixer or just using your hands, knead until the dough becomes firm and smooth. It should not be a wet slack dough. Put the dough back into the bowl and cover and let it rest for about 1-2 hours or until it triples in size.

4. When the dough has tripled in size, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and drizzle about 1 tsp of vegetable oil. Knead the dough 2-3 times until the dough is smooth.

5. Using a rolling pin, flatten out the dough to about half of a centimetre in thickness. Take your round cookie cutter, cut out as many dough as you can.

6. Lightly brush your dough with vegetable oil then fold your round dough in half. Using the rolling pin again, very gently roll out the folded dough in the direction from the fold to the outer edge. Let the folded dough sit for about 15-20 minutes for the dough to relax and re-rise.

7. Boil a pan of water - about 1 inch depth. Cut out a coffee filter or parchment paper and lay it on the bottom of the bamboo steamer or any other steamer you have. Place the folded dough into the steamer keeping approximately 1 inch apart as it will expand in size.

8. Cover the steamer with a lid and place it into the pan above the boiling water for about 10 minutes. It is important that you do not uncover the steamer while it’s cooking!

9. After 10 minutes, remove the steamer from the heat and uncover. Remove each Bao and let it cool for about 1-2 minutes and fill it with your fillings and garnishing!

Filling

1. Into a bowl, combine oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, dark soy sauce, honey, and shaoxing wine and chicken stock. Set it aside.

2. Heat your dutch oven pot or a skillet, drizzle some oil and add your desired protein (tofu, chicken, pork belly etc). If you are using pork belly, do not add any oil as fat will be rendered as you cook. When it is cooked, remove it out of the pot and set it aside.

3. To the same pot (uncleaned), add onion, garlic, and chilli and cook until the onions are translucent. Put your cooked protein back into the pot and mix well.

4. Pour in the bowl of stock sauce you prepared earlier and deglaze the pot. Then add water and boil for about 15-20 minutes uncovered until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Garnishing

1. Fill the bao with some protein and garnish with any vegetable of your choice. I recommend, coriander leaves, carrots, and cucumber. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts.