Bánh Bao (Chinese Bao Steamed Bun)

I asked my mom to teach me how to make bánh bao during my visit home. Bánh bao is the Vietnamese name for Chinese bao steamed buns. Bao, (it sounds more like pao to me), means wrap in Cantonese. There are different types of fillings for bao's, such as ones filled with char siu (Chinese BBQ pork), which are popular at dim sum. One that we make at home has a ground pork filling with an egg in the middle. My sister also loves kaya bao, a sweet version with a coconut custard filling.



Bánh Bao (Chinese Bao Steamed Dumpling) - Makes 18 Bao
This is not a difficult recipe and it does not take as long as it looks, but it does require a few steps. I buy these regularly at the Asian grocery store nearby and those are also filled with some cabbage; my mom would say this is because it's a cheap ingredient! This recipe makes 18, but you can easily cut it in half.

Making the Filling
* 600 g ground pork
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp sugar
* ½ tsp ground black pepper
* 2 tsp cornstarch
* 1 tbsp sesame oil
* 2 sticks lạp xưởng (Chinese sausage), sliced
* 1 handful sliced dried mushrooms (or 3 whole dried ones), soaked and well drained
* 18 quail eggs, cooked and peeled - alternately use 5 chicken eggs and cut them into quarters

Mix the ground pork with the salt, sugar, pepper, cornstarch and sesame oil.
Add the dried mushrooms and Chinese sausage. My sister asked that the sausage be cooked (quickly fried) beforehand to melt some of the fat; this is not necessary if you don't care about fat.
Divide into 18 approximately equal portions.
Take one portion of the meat and slightly flatten in your hand.
Place a cooked quail egg on top of the meat and cover the meat around the egg to make a small round ball.
Set aside.


The trick to peeling quailed eggs is to cool them down by soaking them in cold water.


Meat mixture with mushrooms and quickly cooked sausage slices.


Making the meat filling with a quail egg in the middle.

Making the Dough

My mom told me that she has a recipe using Brodie flour and that no other flour would work. I did not understand what was so special about this brand of flour. When she showed me the bag, I realized that it is self-raising flour. I'm guessing it could be replaced with all purpose flour with baking powder but I don't know in which proportion.

* 3/4 cup sugar

* 4-½ cups self-raising flour

* 1-½ cups milk

Mix the flour and sugar in a big bowl.

Pour the milk in and mix until it becomes a dough (you can flour your hands so the dough doesn't stick).

Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Divide into about 18 equal portions.

If you feel any lumps, work through the dough with your hands to remove them.

My mom's Brodie flour and mixing it with sugar.

Adding milk forms a dough!

Forming and Cooking the Buns

* flour

* 18 pieces of dough

* 18 balls of meat filling

* parchment paper, cut into 18 square (about 2" x 2")

On a floured surface, roll out a piece of dough into a circle, ideally tapered at the edges (this is where the dough is gathered so you don't want it too thick!).

Dip one of the prepared meat fillings in flour (this is to prevent the dough getting soggy at the bottom once the meat cooks).

With the piece of dough in one hand, place the meat filling on top.

Fold the dough over the meat with the other hand, pinching it closed while rotating the bun.

Place the bun on top of a piece of parchment paper.

Place the buns into a steamer, leaving a gap between them because the dough will expand.

Steam for 15 minutes.

Rolling the ball of dough (I was just trying to catch my sister's new ring in action!).

Covering the meat filling with the dough. Those are my mom's dextrous hands at work.

Once the buns are steamed, they are much larger.

Cutting the bun in two reveals the meat filling and the egg!

Sweet Kaya Bao - Makes 6

The same dough can be made with a sweet filling. My sister's favourite is a coconut custard that you can buy in a can. Other sweet fillings include lotus paste or red bean pastes. We ate these pretty fast as soon as they came out of the steamer!

* ⅓ of the dough recipe above, divided into 6 portions

* 1 can kaya (coconut jam)

* 2 tsp all purpose flour

* 1 tsp cornstarch

Mix the coconut jam with the flour and cornstarch to thicken it (this also helps reduce the sweetness of the jam).

Roll the dough again.

Add about 1/6 of the filling onto the dough.

Cover the filling with the dough (my mother chose to fold these in half and fold the edges - in the same shape as bánh bột lọc. Any shape will do as long as the filling is covered up!).

Steam for 10 minutes.

Tada!

Coconut jam from a can.

Making the sweet kaya bao. The kaya oozed through the bun.