Chinese Lotus Leaf Bao Steamed Buns Food

STEAMED BAO BUNS (FLUFFY CHINESE BAO)

Steps:

• Combine the all purpose flour, wheat starch, baking powder, yeast, and sugar into the mixing bowl with the dough hook attachment. Set to the lowest / stirring speed until all the mixture is evenly distributed.
• Turn the mixer speed up slightly to level 2.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine the milk and oil. Slowly add the liquid into the mixer.
• Turn up the speed to level 5. When the dough turns into a ball and releases from the sides of the mixing bowl, continue to knead on medium (about level 5) for 5 more minutes. If necessary, scrape down the sides of the bowl. It's done when the ball of dough should look smooth with no lumps and completely detach from the sides of the bowl. See photo for final texture.
• Remove the dough from the mixer, and use your hands to form it into a ball. On a clean surface, hover your hands over the ball while making a heart with your thumbs and fingers, and make circular movements with the ball to get a tight, smooth surface.
• Place the ball into a bowl, cover it with a lid, and let it rest for about 5 minutes to give the dough a break from kneading--you don't want to overwork your dough.
• Poke the ball of dough, if it leaves a mark from your finger and doesn't spring back, you can begin to roll it into balls.
• Transfer the ball onto a clean surface, remove the excess gas from the dough by kneading it a few times with the heel of your hand.
• Weigh your entire dough ball to get its final weight. If you followed this recipe without scaling it up or down, it should be approximately 515 grams.
• Portion out smaller dough balls with a knife, weighing each one to be 32 grams. This will give us 16 bao total if you didn't scale the recipe. Repeat until all the smaller dough balls are portioned out. Keep the unused balls of dough under a towel to prevent them from drying out.
• Take one piece and roll it around until it turns into a ball.
• Use a rolling pin to make it into a 2 ½ x 4 inch oval.
• Lightly brush on the vegetable oil on top and fold it in half. This is your completed bao.
• Place it on top of a parchment paper lined steamer. Make sure each bao is separated by at least 1 ½ inches since these expand when cooked.
• Repeat until you have all the bao made. Note: If you cannot fit all of the proofed bao into your steamer at once, place the remaining bao in the fridge to prevent them from proofing more. Chilling them should slow down the proofing process. Remove them from the fridge about 5 minutes before the proofing and steaming process to get them to room temperature.
• Proof the bao. Add hot, but not boiling water to a sauce pot and place the steamer on top. Add the bao to the steamer. Cover with a lid and let rest for 30 minutes.
• After proofing, uncover and check the dough, they should be at least 1 ½ times bigger. Cover again with the lid and turn on the stove to high heat. When the water begins to boil, lower to low and continue to steam for 20 minutes. Make sure the heat is high enough to generate steam the whole time, and add additional water if it runs too low.
• After 20 minutes of steaming, remove the pot from the stove and let the steamer rest for 4 minutes before opening the lid. This will prevent the bao from deflating from temperature shock.
• Uncover the lid and serve the bao with your preferred fillings immediately.

CHINESE LOTUS LEAF BAO (STEAMED BUNS)

Steps:

• Starter or Yeast Prep
• For the yeast version, combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a small bowl. Allow to bloom for about 5 minutes.
• For the sourdough versions, feed your 100% hydration starter so you have at least 160g. Or mix up the sweet stiff starter described above. Allow the starter at least double in size. This can take just a few hours or be overnight depending on your ambient temp and feeding ratio.
• Dough Mixing and First Rise
• Whisk together the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Hand mixing is fine too.
• Add the wet ingredients (including the starter or yeast mixture) to the bowl and mix thoroughly with the dough hook attachment. When the dough comes together, turn off the mixer and touch it. If it's very sticky add a little more flour and if it's dry add a little more milk or water. The dough should feel somewhere between pizza and bagel dough hydration.
• Continue running the mixer on medium-low speed for about 5 minutes. Or knead by hand for about 5 minutes.
• Cover and let the dough rise until it has doubled. In warm temps, this was 40 minutes for the yeast dough and 4 hours for the sourdough.
• Dividing, Shaping, and Final Proof
• Prep 16 small pieces of parchment paper, about 4x4 inches. Another option is to make parchment circles that fit into your steamer and cut them into pieces around the bao just before loading. The cutting is so steam can come up on all sides. I used dinner plates to hold parchment circles and to cover them as well, but a baking tray and a damp tea towel or plastic wrap cover is fine too. I also made one batch with no parchment paper and the bao didn't stick to my pan, so I may skip the paper altogether next time.
• Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll the pieces into balls. Line them up in sequence of how you rolled them because you'll begin shaping the first ball immediately after you finish rolling the last. I didn't weigh each ball but if you choose to, they're about 36g each. You're also welcome to make fewer, larger bao and extend the steam time by a few minutes.
• Cover the waiting dough balls with a slightly damp tea towel. With a rolling pin and a little flour, roll out a 3" x 5" oval. See the photo gallery below.
• Brush a thin layer of oil on the top and fold in half, oil-side in.
• Place the folded dough on parchment paper and continue until all the dough balls are shaped.
• Cover and let proof about 20 minutes for the yeast version and 3 hours for the sourdough version.
• Steaming
• With a two-layer steamer, you can do two batches of 8 buns, and each batch takes about 20 minutes. If you're doing the yeast version that proofs quickly and you have a single-layer steamer or workaround, you should refrigerate half your dough at this point so it doesn't overproof.
• Add water to the bottom of your steamer leaving 1.5-to-2 inches of empty space between the water and the next layer.
• Assemble all the pan layers and lid (no towel yet) and bring up to a boil.
• When the water is boiling vigorously and the buns are fully proofed (see photos for dough expansion), remove the lid, dry it off and wrap it with a fresh towel. Use a rubberband if needed to prevent it from dangling onto the stovetop.
• Add the bao to the layers of your steamer and cover with the towel-wrapped lid. Lower the heat until you hear a rattle of a simmer and not a loud rumble-boil.
• Your total cook time will be 8-10 minutes, but set a timer for 5 minutes and when it dings, quickly swap the layers of your steamer so the top is now closer to the water, then reset your timer for another 3-5 minutes.
• When the steaming is complete, don't remove the lid. Shut off the heat and let the buns sit for 8-10 minutes more. Then remove the buns to a very lightly oiled plate to cool.
• Check the water level and the towel. Add more water and get a new, dry towel if needed. Bring the water up to a boil again and repeat until all the bao are steamed.
• Serve immediately. Extra bao can be refrigerated for 2-3 days or frozen for about 1 month. To reheat, steam them again or microwave them wrapped in a damp towel.
• Steamer Workaround (if you don't have one)
• Put a small amount of water in a large saucepan or wok. Place a small bowl into the pan. Make sure the bowl is 1.5-to-2 inches taller than the water level. Top the bowl with the plate. There should be space between the sides of the pan and the plate for steam to pass through. Both the bowl and the plate should be able to tolerate high heat, and you should take care to let them cool before handling.
• The instructions for use are the same as above but without swapping of layers partway through the steaming.
• Bring the water to boil, transfer the proofed buns and parchment paper to the plate. Wrap the lid with a dish towel and place it on the saucepan.
• Set a timer for 8-10 minutes. After the steaming is complete, turn off the heat and leave the bao covered for 8-10 minutes.