all of us at some point of time must have eaten or at least seen what steamed chinese buns or pao look like . this like most of the other recipes demystifies and makes it simple. the recipe given here will make about 50 good sized steamed buns. you can reduce quantities to half or a quarter without any problems
- flour- 1 kg
- warm water- 600 ml
- Sugar-25 gms
- Salt- 20 gms
- Active dry yeast- 25 gms
- vegetable oil- 25 ml
- sesame oil- 10 ml
Filling – of your choice — we will do an assortment of fillings in another post.
Method
- add yeast , sugar, salt, and flour to the warm water and knead well.
- Add in salt and oil and knead until you form a semi soft dough.
- now leave dough covered with gladwrap/ clingwrap / or clean moist towel in a warm area to prove and double in size. this can take upto 45 minutes depending on how warm or cold the area is.
- then knock back or knead the dough again and divide into about 20 gm balls the size of a table tennis ball.
- if you are using a bamboo steamer, then cut out round grease paper the size of the basket and spray with non stick spray/ or lightly brush with oil.
- arrange the balls on the rounds after placing the paper in the baskets. do not put them too close to each other otherwise they will stick.
- let them start to proof again. when nearly double in size, heat water in a pot or wok , on which these baskets fit.
- when water is boiling put the basket on top and cover with its lid. it should take about 15-18 minutes of steaming to get them done.
- lightly brush with sesame oil and serve to soak up sauce from a nice hot pot or anything for that matter.
- these can be filled as well , traditionally with chinese twice cooked pork/ char siew pork or with chicken or a nice veggie filling. its really upto you what you want to put inside.
- share with friends and enjoy steaming hot, not so good to let them get cold .
. . . → Read More: Steamed buns – chinese style
