Kimchi Pork Buns

I have made these twice now with two different dough recipes, both of which can be left to rise overnight, if needed. Typically, dough for steamed bao is ready in about 2 hours, from mix to proof to prepare and steam. At some point I'll write a kitchen note about the many different ways you can make the dough for steamed buns and what the differences, if any, there are.

TheFoodeningBlog - Kimchi Pork Buns

Dough (from Maangchi)

1 c warm water + 2 tsp active dry yeast + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3 c unbleached all purpose flour

For this dough, dissolve the dry yeast in warm water with or without the sugar and let it bubble into action for 10 mins before stirring in the rest of the ingredients. You should sift the flour and salt together before adding the yeast because direct contact with salt will kill the newly awakened yeast, or so I've read.

Let the dough rise in a warm spot in the kitchen, covered, until double in volume. Then gently knead and roll into a log and divide into 16 equal portions; or 8 portions to make really large buns.

Makes: 16 buns

Filling Ingredients

1/2 c homemade kimchi, finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp homemade vegan oyster sauce (optional)

Mix filling ingredients together. Use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling per bun.

Roll dough portions out into a 4" diameter circle. Put the filling in the center, and bring the edges of the dough circle to the center and pinch at the top. You can pleat the folds at the top if you want to; but it all tastes the same.

Steamed Bao with Pork and Nappa Cabbage

This is a different bao dough recipe than the other one (uses milk) or this one (uses milk powder) posted on this blog; the primary difference is that it doesn't call for dairy. For wrapping meat dumplings, it is very pliable and easy to work with. It's tastes ok. Though, it'll take a lot more tries to get the pleats to look "normal" at the top.

Steamed Bao, looks pretty ugly, tastes okay

Because it's autumn, it's about 60 degrees in the kitchen. I used a double boiler with a covered bowl insert to create a warm, dark environment for the yeast to rise. It's really quite clever. I didn't even have to crank the oven.

Chinese Steamed Buns (mantou)

I have apparently made this before and this version one doesn't use dried milk. The metric recipe ratio comes from the China Sichuan Food website. I'm not sure why the measurement for liquid milk was done in grams, so I used a kitchen scale and measured it out by weight. My Imperial conversion of the recipe is as follows:

Makes 8 buns

Ingredients

10 oz (by weight, roughly 2.25 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tbsp organic granulated sugar
1/2 c whole milk, warmed to 110 degrees F
1/4 c water, warmed to 110 degrees F

Directions

1. To ensure that your yeast is still alive. Proof the yeast in warm water with 1 tsp of sugar. After 10 minutes, if the yeast is foamy then it is still active.

2. In a large bowl, add flour and stir yeast water with chopsticks to combine.

3. In a small pot, heat milk and remaining sugar until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat before the milk comes to a boil. Let cool to 110 degrees F before adding it to the flour.

4. Gently knead flour into a ball and cover bowl with a plate. Let rise for about an hour until it has doubled in size.

5. Roll dough on a silicone mat or on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half into a log and use a dough scraper to divide the log.

6. Dab a little olive oil to the bottom of each bun before placing onto a 2" square of waxed paper. This step is optional. It helps you remove the paper after the buns are steamed.

7. Bring a large stockpot with a steamer basket set inside to a boil. Add enough buns so that they are spaced at least 1/2" apart. Steam for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and enjoy.

These are best eaten right after they're cooked, otherwise the buns will get hard if left out too long.

(Sweet) Steamed Bao

This week I made this twice: once with salt and again without. The unsalted bao ("bread") tasted better. One thing to note about this bread recipe is that leftover rounds of dough can't be left out (even in a food storage container) overnight. The dough will rise and deflate again, and if there isn't enough room, the balls of dough will stick to each other making it a terrible (but edible) mess.

One batch of dough yielded 12 bao. It'll be a good base recipe when get around to making sweet black bean steamed buns. The smooth consistency of the black bean brownies will make a good addition to this future recipe.

To make cake flour: Substitute 2 tbsp cornstarch per cup of flour for flour. An easy way to measure this out is to first put the cornstarch in a two-cup measuring cup and fill it up with all purpose flour. For this recipe, put in 4 tbsp cornstarch and fill the rest of the two-cup measuring cup with flour to make two cups of cake flour.

Ingredients

1 pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1/3 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp organic granulated sugar

2 c cake flour
1/4 c organic granulated sugar
3 tbsp dry milk powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp sea salt (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, proof yeast in 3 oz warm water (110 degrees F) with 1/4 tsp sugar. After 10 minutes if the yeast hasn't turned foamy, it is probably dead or the water was too hot. There is a tiny bit of baking powder in the recipe, but if your yeast is dead, the dough won't rise properly.

2. In a larger mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, olive oil, milk powder, and water. Mix well, but don't overwork the dough. Add in the yeast water. Mix again. Gently knead the dough by hand and form it into a ball. Cover the mixing bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let rise for an hour.

3a. Knead the risen dough until it is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky at this point, and a little bit of flour can be added while kneading. Roll out dough into a log or to 1/2" thickness with a rolling pin.  Separate the dough into equal portions and roll each portion into a ball, if making steamed bao.

3b. This recipe is the same for making steamed bao for roast duck, and balls can be rolled out to a 2" diameter, 1/4" thick circle. Brush some vegetable oil on half the circle and fold it in half. Set aside on a 4" square parchment paper. Repeat until done.

4. Heat a pot with a steamer rack inside to boiling. The amount of water in the pot should be just below the height of the steamer rack. If using bamboo steamer baskets, make sure that the boiling water doesn't touch the bottom-most basket. Place prepared dough (with the parchment paper) into the baskets. If you don't want to be scalded by the hot steam, you could turn off the heat, insert the steamer basket, cover the pot, then crank the heat again. Steam bao for 10 minutes. When done, immediately remove from pot and baskets. Peel off the parchment paper and serve.