Guide to making the perfect steamed bao bun

Steamed bao buns are just one of the deliciously moreish delights that are the creation of oriental cooking. With a fluffy bun offering the main base for a succulent piece of meat such as BBQ pulled pork, spiced salmon or slow braised beef, and topped with Kewpie Mayonnaise and a selection of pickled vegetables. Altogether this creates a delicious finger food treat in a light, airy bun, which can be eaten as a starter or as a side. Learn how to make these beautiful buns at home with our handy guide:

Ingredients:

· 525g plain flour

· 1 ½ tbsp. caster sugar

· 1 tsp. fast action dried yeast

· 50ml milk

· 1 tbs. rice vinegar

· 1 tbsp. sunflower oil

· 1 tsp. baking powder

· 200ml water

You will also need:

A bamboo steamer

Chopsticks

Rolling pin

Method:

First off you will need a large bowl, pop the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in. In a separate bowl or jug, you will then need to dissolve the yeast with 1 tbsp. of luke warm water and a pinch of salt.

The dry mixture and yeast mixture should then be combined, along with the milk, oil, vinegar and 200ml of water. When mixed together this will form a dough, this may take a few minutes, however once the dough comes together it can be transferred onto a clean work surface for the next stage.

The dough will need to be kneaded for between 10 and 15 minutes when it will have transformed into a smooth and elastic dough. Place this into an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm area for around two hours. You can take this spare time to prepare the fillings for your bao buns.

In this time, the dough should have doubled in size. Tip this dough back onto your surface and punch it down to flatten, and then gently sprinkle the baking powder over the top. This will have to be kneaded for a further 5 minutes to ensure that the baking powder is fully incorporated to create the fluffy and light texture of a bao bun.

Once the kneading process is complete, roll the dough into a sausage shape that is about 3cm in diameter and cut into 3cm pieces. In total this should give you 18 individual pieces of dough.

Roll each ball out with a rolling pin into an oval shape that is around 3-4mm thick. Each of these will need to be brushed with oil on one side.

Oil a chopstick and place this in the centre of each oval of dough, fold the dough over the chopstick and gentle remove the stick. This will give you the bun-like shape to hold the filling of your choice.

Place each bun onto a lined baking tray and once again cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for around an hour and a half. The dough should once again double in size and then you will be ready to move onto the cooking stage.

Heat your bamboo steamer over a medium heat, then add the buns in and steam them for 8 minutes in total. The number of buns you can steam at one time will depend on the size of your steamer, so this will likely need to be done in batches.

Once cooked, each bun can be prised open and filled with your choice of meat, fish or oriental vegetables. The buns are best eaten warm, and the addition of a few fresh coriander leaves can really bring out the flavours.

Image: Cityfoodsters under Creative Commons 2.0