Bao bun with sticky garlic tofu and pickled veg



BAO BUN: spot on recipe! 

    1/3 cup warm water (100F-110F)

    1 tbsp active dry yeast
    4 tbsp sugar, 2 TB for yeast 2 for dry

    1/2 cup warm milk or half and half
    2 tbsp oil

    2 1/2 cups AP flour 
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/4 tsp salt

    MAKE THE DOUGH:  I use my electric stand mixer with a dough hook but you can do the kneading by hand. 

    Heat water to 100F-110F and add it to a container (i just a 2 cup measuring cup) with the yeast and 2 TB sugar and let the yeast proof for a few minutes. 

    Heat the milk to just room temp and add the milk as well as the oil to the yeast/water/sugar container. 

    Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and then add the wet mixture.

    Time to knead, if you don't have stand mixer like a kitchenAid with a dough hook you can hand knead for 4-5 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth. 

    If you have a stand mixer just add everything into the mixer bowl and with the dough hook let the machine go on medium-low for 4-5 minutes. 

    Once kneading is done, scrape the bowl and give a quick rounding of the dough and place back into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let 3x in a warm proofing place around 2 hours. 

    I use the proofing selection in my oven and it worked perfectly.

    Once the 2 hours or x3 proofing has happened it is time to punch the dough down and roll it out to 1/4" thick.

    I found being consistent with the dough an issue and next time i want to make a 1/4" jig to help roll the dough out evenly which causes the bao buns to be different sizes. 

    Now that you have the dough rolled out to 1/4" thick take some oil and smooth over the top of the dough. 

    Next, use a round cutter 3 1/2" diameter to cut circles out of the dough.
    I used a round glass bowl that was 4 1/2" diameter and was a bit too big, size matters but the bao buns were still great and cooked at the same amount of time. 

    Any dough left behind can be re-rolled out to make more rounds. 

    Take the dough rounds and fold them over and give a light press at the fold and then place them on a parchment covered baking sheet to rise for 30 minuets.

    Once the 30 minutes has passed and the bao buns have proofed and gotten bigger it's time to steam them.  

    I used a large bamboo steaming basket with a parchment paper that i cut small diamonds out to help the steam thru. 

    I used a wok with some water in the bottom and then placed the steam basket in the wok to do the steaming. 

    Place a few of the bao buns into the steamer basket and steam for 8 minutes.

    Remove the basket from the wok and let rest 2-3 minutes before removing the buns and placing onto a wire rack to cool.  

    NOTE: I didn't let the buns rest for the beginning batches and they came out fine but the ones that i let rest looked a bit fluffier. 

    Once the buns have cooled they are ready to serve. 












    DINNER SERVED: 
    Bao Buns
    Glazed Tofu
    Pickled cucumber, carrot, dikaon, jalapeno (brine: water, sugar, rice vinegar, salt)
    Sauteed in wok cabbage - cabbage, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce
    Sauteed in wok zucchini - zucchini, ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, sesame oil

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    SECOND BATCH - LOVED

    SAUCE

    2 TB honey
    2 TB brown sugar
    3 TB soy sauce
    2 TB
    1 TB rice wine vinegar 

    FILLING
    8 oz tofu pressed and small rectangle cubes 
    oil cooking - i used avocado oil 
    1 small zucchini sliced 
    1 small onion sliced 
    1 thumb sized piece of ginger - peeled and minced
    3 cloves garlic - peeled and minced
    1 chilli minced-  used jalapeno 
    2 green onions - chopped to your taste 
    6 oz Omni Plant based Pork strips 
    (or any other plant base strip products like Buttlers Soy Curls or just all tofu) 

    https://us.omnifoods.co/product/omni-pork-style-strips/

    MAKE
    in a hot wok or castiron pan with oil in it add the tofu and fry to help get a small sear to help the tofu from breaking up. 
    Next add in the onion and zucchini and cook for a few minutes to soften the onions and zucchini. 
    Add the garlic/ginger/chilies into the pan, add more oil to drop the aromatics into the pan with out sticking. Saute for a few minutes.
    Once the aromatics have sauteed add "pork" strips and let them heat up for a few minutes (according to package).
    Finally, add the sauce and mix through and let simmer a few minutes. 

    Once the sauce is mixed thru and a bit of caramelization/reduction from the sauce the mix is ready to use in the bao buns. 

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    FIRST BATCH: For Seared Glazed Tofu

    NOTE we did not  like this recipe because of the 5 spice

    1cupscallion,sliced
    ¼cupginger,fresh, minced
    5clovesgarlic,minced
    ¼cuporganic sugar
    1TBchinese 5 spice (original recipe 2 TB, used 1TB but still too much, over powering) 
    1/2cupsoy sauce
    ¼cupshaoxing rice wine
    12ozfirm tofu,pressed and sliced
    2tbspVegetable Oil







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