Known as gua bao in their home country, these delectable Chinese buns are super easy to make, and even easier to eat! Traditional Chinese filling include braised pork belly, thinly sliced vegetables, pickled mustard greens and chopped peanuts, but you can fill them with almost and combo of meat and veggies you can dream up. The cabbage used to line the steamer basket also makes for a sweet, tender addition. Char Siu recipe here
Paired with hoisin or black bean, garlic and chili sauce, you can’t go wrong. You can also use the dough to make filled steamed buns. Yellow Eye beans have a sweet, chestnuty flavor that makes a great sweet filling. Just add a little honey or sugar to the cooked beans and mash them up; or, use sweetened red bean paste as is common in china.
I steam these in a bamboo steamer, but any steaming setup will work fine. Place cabbage or spinach leaves under your buns so nothing gets stuck to the bottom of your steamer.
Like any soft buns, these use a small amount of fat and sugar (sesame oil and honey in this case) to give them that irresistible, cushiony texture. The steaming also contributes to their softness, as no crust is formed. Fresh out of the steamer, these can’t be beat!
Ingredients
- 1 lb 6 oz sifted Redeemer flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil or neutral vegetable oil
- 2 cups water
Directions
- Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Warm water to 90 degrees and stir in honey and oil.
- Stir dry and wet mixtures until well combined.
- Set in a warm place and allow to double in volume (about an hour).
- Use a 1/4 cup scoop to portion dough into rounds. You can leave the rounds as they are, and slice them after they steam, or follow step 6 for the traditional “pull-apart” method.
- Flatten and roll each round into a 3-by-6 inches oval. Brush the top with oil and fold in half the long way. This helps them peel open after steaming.
- Line steamer basket with cabbage leaves. Place buns on top and allow to rise until doubled in size (30-60 minutes).
- Steam for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool gently for another 5 minutes before removing from the steamer. They should be 200 degrees in the center.