Chicken Baozi – Recipe
I've been meaning to make steamed chicken baozi for a while, now- there are lots of recipes out there for char siu bao, but not many chicken versions like the ones sold by the stalls in Chinatown. I think I nailed it.
.jpg)
Remember, you're making bread here, so leave some time in advance to proof the dough before you want to eat your baozi.
(Makes four large baozi.)
Ingredients for Bao Dough:
150g plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp instant (fast action/'easy bake') yeast
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
100ml warm water
Ingredients for Filling:
200g chicken mince
Small handful of mushrooms (preferably chestnut or shiitake), chopped
50g cooked (steamed or boiled then drained) cabbage, chopped
50g water chestnuts, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
2cm cube ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Method:
1) Start by making the bao dough: mix the dough ingredients together in a bowl, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10mins (time it! It'll feel like a long time doing it by hand, but don't cheat on the kneading time- you need to get that gluten all nice and springy).
2) Once your dough is smooth and springy, shape it into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover with clingfilm- now leave it somewhere warm until it doubles in size. I put mine in my airing cupboard since the rest of the house was a little cold, and it took 45 minutes.
3) While your dough is proofing, prepare the filling by stirring everything together. Refrigerate your filling until your dough has doubled in size and you're ready to use.
4) Once you're dough is proofed, remove the clingfilm and knead it a little to shrink it back down. Take the dough out and split it into four parts, rolling each into a ball, and cover with clingfilm on the counter to rest for 10 minutes.
5) Once the dough is rested, roll each out into a large circle (rolling the edges a little more thinly), fill with a generous tablespoonful of filling, and pinch in the sides of the dough circle until it meets in the middle, twisting to seal. You can divide the filling into four evenly to have really generously-stuffed baozi, or you can take smaller portions of the filling to fill the dough (which will result in a little leftover filling that you can then store in the fridge or freezer for later).
6) Place each bun on a large square of baking parchment.
7) Now you need to give the buns a mini-proof in the steamer before cooking. Place them in the steamer and let them rest for about 15 minutes, until they're risen and puffy.
8) Now that the dough has proofed for the final time, switch the heat on and bring the water to a simmer.
9) Cook in the steamer for 20 minutes.
10) Turn off the heat, take out a baozi and enjoy! Oh, and watch out for those last few bites where the juices collect at the bottom of the bun (if you've ever had one of these from a street stall and forgotten to take a napkin, you'll know what I'm talking about).
Clearly I still need to work on my shaping skills – these are far off the neat flower-like pleats created by people who have been doing this for years. But I've not been doing this for years. In fact, this is only the second time I've tried making baozi, the last time being a couple of weeks ago.
I was quite happy with my first attempt, but I thought I made the bun itself too thin. This time round I increased the bun dough quantity while decreasing the amount of filling I packed into each a little, and they were perfect. This means that there is some raw filling left over, but you can freeze it and use at a later date- either making more steamed buns or experimenting with other things.
I was quite happy with my first attempt, but I thought I made the bun itself too thin. This time round I increased the bun dough quantity while decreasing the amount of filling I packed into each a little, and they were perfect. This means that there is some raw filling left over, but you can freeze it and use at a later date- either making more steamed buns or experimenting with other things.
---
(2025 update pictures:)
.jpg)
---
Remember, you're making bread here, so leave some time in advance to proof the dough before you want to eat your baozi.
(Makes four large baozi.)
Ingredients for Bao Dough:
150g plain flour
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp instant (fast action/'easy bake') yeast
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
100ml warm water
Ingredients for Filling:
200g chicken mince
Small handful of mushrooms (preferably chestnut or shiitake), chopped
50g cooked (steamed or boiled then drained) cabbage, chopped
50g water chestnuts, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
2cm cube ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely chopped
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp chicken powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Method:
1) Start by making the bao dough: mix the dough ingredients together in a bowl, turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10mins (time it! It'll feel like a long time doing it by hand, but don't cheat on the kneading time- you need to get that gluten all nice and springy).
2) Once your dough is smooth and springy, shape it into a ball, put it back in the bowl and cover with clingfilm- now leave it somewhere warm until it doubles in size. I put mine in my airing cupboard since the rest of the house was a little cold, and it took 45 minutes.
3) While your dough is proofing, prepare the filling by stirring everything together. Refrigerate your filling until your dough has doubled in size and you're ready to use.
4) Once you're dough is proofed, remove the clingfilm and knead it a little to shrink it back down. Take the dough out and split it into four parts, rolling each into a ball, and cover with clingfilm on the counter to rest for 10 minutes.
5) Once the dough is rested, roll each out into a large circle (rolling the edges a little more thinly), fill with a generous tablespoonful of filling, and pinch in the sides of the dough circle until it meets in the middle, twisting to seal. You can divide the filling into four evenly to have really generously-stuffed baozi, or you can take smaller portions of the filling to fill the dough (which will result in a little leftover filling that you can then store in the fridge or freezer for later).
6) Place each bun on a large square of baking parchment.
7) Now you need to give the buns a mini-proof in the steamer before cooking. Place them in the steamer and let them rest for about 15 minutes, until they're risen and puffy.
8) Now that the dough has proofed for the final time, switch the heat on and bring the water to a simmer.
9) Cook in the steamer for 20 minutes.
10) Turn off the heat, take out a baozi and enjoy! Oh, and watch out for those last few bites where the juices collect at the bottom of the bun (if you've ever had one of these from a street stall and forgotten to take a napkin, you'll know what I'm talking about).
Comments
Post a Comment