Steamed Ban Bao buns: step-by-step cooking recipes with photos

Today is the recipe for bao buns, so it's time to go to distant China! They look like cut buns and can be filled with any additives. Today we have pork with popular Asian spices such as soy sauce, five spices and coriander. Time for a culinary journey!

For whom

Do you enjoy exploring world cuisines? This bun bao recipe should pique your interest. Go in search of new sensations!

For what reason?

Chinese steamed buns are the perfect snack for a party with friends. They are not very well known here yet, so you will have something to surprise your friends with!

Did you know?

These Chinese steamed buns were originally called lotus leaf buns because of their shape. Bao Rolls is the name by which they are known in the West.

For a change

Don't you eat meat? You can make vegetarian bao rolls. Swap the bacon for tofu and enjoy your culinary journey to Asia!

First difficulties

And here a logical question arises for the owners: how do cooks make such amazing dough? It is smooth, white and finely porous. Having tried to cook something similar in their kitchen, many failed. Steamed yeast dough got wet and became completely unpresentable.

While the lid is closed, the buns still rise proudly. But as soon as you remove it, your products seem to lose their foundation, turning into something shapeless. This means that Chinese steamed buns are a dish with a secret that definitely needs to be unraveled.

Where did this Dampfnudel come from?

Bavaria and the Palatinate are still fighting for the right to be called the ancestor of this pastry. Moreover, the Bavarians have long included Dampfnudeln in the list of national dishes. In Reynald-Pfalz, there is also a whole history of the emergence of steamed buns in the 17th century. In general, the situation is the same as with the Black Forest cake - it has either Swiss or German roots.

Be that as it may, steamed buns are extremely popular throughout Germany. They are mainly served with jam or a dusting of powdered sugar and poppy seeds. Another version of Bavarian pastries is filled with jam or berries. If you prepare rolls without sugar filling, which contributes to the formation of a caramel crust, then they can easily replace regular bread. But let's get straight to cooking, otherwise Anyutochka is already tired of waiting while we blow the dust off the recipe notebooks.

Basic recipe

Chinese steamed buns are baked from literally nothing. You will see for yourself that cooking them is a pleasure. You will need to take products:

• Flour - 500 g.
• Water - 220 g.
• Yeast - 8 g.
• A pinch of salt.

But the cooking method may differ from how you usually make the dough. The simplest option is called mantou - Chinese steamed buns without filling, which are served instead of crumpets for the first and second courses.

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Basic

Filling

Dough preparation technology

First you need to take half the water and dilute the yeast in it. Mix with flour and gradually add the rest of the water. Knead until all the flour is absorbed. The dough turns out stiff and difficult to knead. But don't add more water. You don't need tender dough at all. Leave it to rest for 15 minutes.

The second approach is to knead the dough very thoroughly and leave it to rise. It will take from one to three hours. It should double in volume. And now the most important moment. In order for the dough to turn out as it should, it needs to be kneaded well. So that all air bubbles come out. You can use a noodle cutter by passing the layer through it 5-6 times. If you don’t have it on the farm, then it will be enough to roll out the dough with a rolling pin, fold it and repeat the procedure again.

The dough turns white and the resulting ball has no bubbles. After this, the dough is stretched into a long rope and cut into 16 pieces. They need to be left to proof. To do this, you can use a board or immediately place them in a steamer net, covering the bottom with baking paper.

Banh Bao steamed pies

Ingredients:

Dough:

Filling:

Test solution

Recipe for steamed banh bao pies:

Prepare the dough. Mix sugar, salt, yeast in a bowl. Wait for the yeast to dissolve (30 sec)

Add water, vinegar, oil. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Sift flour and starch into a bowl, mix and make a well. Pour in liquid ingredients.

Knead the dough. Form into a ball. Cover with cling film and leave for 30 minutes.

Prepare the test solution. Mix baking powder with water until completely dissolved. If the baking powder is not completely dissolved, there will be yellow dots on the pies.

The dough has doubled in size. Pour the dough solution all over it. Knead the dough until the solution is completely absorbed (5 minutes)

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts. Form each part into a ball. Cover the dough with film

Take 1 ball. Form it into a flatbread with a diameter of 15-16 cm (make the edges of the flatbread thinner) Place the filling on it

Form a seam (like khinkali). Place on parchment (17x17 cm) seam side up. Put it under the film. Form the rest of the pies in the same way.

Place the pies in the steamer bowl, with space between them, and sheets of paper.

Place in a steamer for 12 minutes. Or, like mine, a sieve in a saucepan with a lid. Before placing the pies, the water should boil well. Do not open the lid for 12 minutes.

In 12 minutes. Pies should be eaten warm. Place them in groups of 3. onto plates and cover with a large bowl.

Cook at home

Traditionally, bamboo steamers are used. That is, these are the baskets that are placed on the pan. You can use a regular multi-cooker steamer on a suitable mode. Cook over low steam for about 15-20 minutes. There are also subtleties here that are learned during the cooking process. While the buns are cooking, do not open the lid. When the time is up, turn off the fire and do not look under the lid for another 5 minutes.

It is recommended to let them cool completely. Hot buns have a sticky center, like hot bread. Classic mantou can be served as bread or buttered for morning coffee. They go well with jam or condensed milk. The field for experimentation here is very wide.

Useful tips

The recipes for steamed buns are the same, but everyone makes them differently. Why is this happening? And all because there are some secrets that you need to know about. Here they are:

1. Flour should always be sifted. Then the dough will be fluffy and tender. Because during the sifting process the flour is saturated with air;
2. It is always more convenient to knead yeast dough if you grease your hands with vegetable oil;
3. The dough must be kneaded in a clean bowl, because it absorbs foreign odors and tastes very well, but we don’t need this;
4. Before pinching the pies, it is better to season the edges of the dough with a little water;
5. Never add salt to the dough. It must be added to the flour, or better yet, mixed with vegetable oil before adding it to the flour. The fact is that yeast does not like salt, and close contact should be avoided.

And one more tip on how to properly clean everything after cooking. For example, after the test, the dishes are first washed with cold water and only then with warm or hot water.

Burgers

Try making them with green onions. It turns out not just tasty, but incredibly tasty. At the same time, the cost of the dish is quite low, and the result is simply wonderful. The dough is kneaded in the classic way. Chopped green onions are used as filling. Spices will not be superfluous either. Chinese steamed buns are very fond of the following mixture:

• Star anise is the base; you will need to take about 20 g of it.
• Sichuan pepper – 20 g.
• Cumin and cinnamon - 10 g each.
• Dried garlic - 8 g.

Roll out the dough into a layer and place green onions on top. Sprinkle with seasoning mixture and roll tightly. Cut it into pieces. Now you can form the bun. The easiest way is to mold both edges so that the filling remains inside.

But Chinese cuisine is a little more complicated. Wooden sticks are used for shaping. Take the workpiece and press it on top with a stick. Now pierce it with a stick from one edge, roll the bun and pierce the other edge. Connect them and you can pull out the stick.

Delicious baozi

They are gradually becoming popular in Russia. You can buy this hearty and original pie in eateries. Chinese steamed baozi buns are made with meat, so they are perfect for lunch. For the filling you will need:

• Minced meat - 500 g.
• Bulbs - 3 pcs.
• Green beans - 250 g.
• Soy sauce - 3-5 tbsp. l.

The minced meat should not be dry, but must contain some fatty pork. Boil the beans for the filling in boiling water for 15 minutes, drain in a colander and rinse with cold water. After this, chop the beans into small pieces, add soy sauce and a couple of tablespoons of sesame oil. Leave to marinate while the dough rises. You can add a couple of tablespoons of ice water to make the dish more juicy, but don’t overdo it. If liquid settles in the minced meat, the buns may become too damp from such filling.

What and how did you plan to bake Dampfnudel?

As you have already noticed, steamed Bavarian buns are baked and steamed at the same time. To do this, you need a frying pan with high sides or a large saucepan. It won't work without a tight lid, and it would be advisable to have a glass lid to observe the process - this is important for beginners.

There are recipes that suggest baking the buns in the oven or slow cooker, but Bublichkina authoritatively declares that this is not the right coat - you won’t achieve a sugar crust that way. Cooking temperature plays a big role here. The rules are simple:

Once again, choose a roasting pan with high sides, with plenty of room to spare. If the sides are too low, the rising dough will simply hit the lid and immediately fall down. As a result, you risk getting something completely different from what you expected.

Subtleties of cooking

When the dough has risen, you need to pinch off a piece of it and roll it out. Try to keep the middle thick and the edges thin. The diameter is approximately 12 cm. Next comes the interesting part. Place the filling in the middle and pinch the edge with two fingers. Now turn this edge and place it on your finger. Pinch the next piece clockwise and place the pinch on top of the one on your finger. Finish to the end and remove your finger. Now you can place the products in the steamer.

If you are not sure of the quality of your steamer, then it is best to play it safe. Make squares out of baking paper and grease them with butter. Now we plant buns on each of them. Then they are guaranteed not to stick.