Pork and Ginger Baozi

Currently my favorite food is Baozi, they seem to always turn out looking brilliant, taking a step backwards from my last post where i made steamed buns i have decided to make a more traditional Baozi consisting of Pork and Ginger, i will likely come back to making some crazy Baozi and it has long been my ambition to make a pepperoni pizza Baozi, but for the mean time i am going to try to explore more traditional recipes like char siu bao or a Chicken and Prawn Baozi.

Traditionally eaten as a street food on the go these wonderful little treats will go down great in packed lunches or on picnics, and are quite frankly far more exciting then the boring sandwiches that other people will have.

you can freeze them before steaming and cook them at a later date.

Still interested ?
The next stage goes in to more detail about how to prepare the dough, this will be rather light in detail as it will be the third time i have covered it.

This recipe makes 16 Baozi.

Proof dough for an hour or until it doubles in size.

Steam for 20 minutes.

Ingredients

For the Dough.

300ml warm water

1 packet yeast

2 tbsp sugar

450g flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

sesame seed oil

For the Filling

1 Onion Finely

diced inch of ginger Pureed or finely chopped (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)

4 Cloves of Garlic

5 Spring onions

1/2 Cabbage

2 Tbsps sesame seeds

2 Tbsps Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Sesame seed oil

500g Minced Pork

Utensils

2 large bowls.

chopping board

Chefs Knife

wooden spoon

steamer

This is just a basic dough, the only variation on this dough opposed to bread dough is the addition of some sesame seed oil instead of vegetable oil. just ensure everything is well kneaded and you allow it enough time to rise.

For the Dough.

300ml warm water

1 packet yeast

2 tbsp sugar

450g flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

sesame seed oil

Picture 1. Photo of the ingredients for the dough

Picture 2. start off by adding in to your large bowl 450g of flour, 2 tbsp of sugar, half a tea spoon of salt and your container of yeast, these are your dry ingredients, mix them together before you add any wet ingredients

Picture 3. add your sesame seed oil to the dry ingredients

Picture 4. add 300ml of warm water in to the bowl now and bring together with a spoon.

Picture 5. Once your dough has been brought together, you can start kneading, you need to be fairly vigorous otherwise you wont develop the gluten.

Picture 6. set aside and allow your dough to double in size.

generally speaking i like to have all of my vegetables chopped up first, however because the dough needs to rise for an hour or so you can do this second, as always a sharp knife and a sturdy chopping board are required.

For the Filling

1 Onion Finely

diced inch of ginger Pureed or finely chopped (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)

4 Cloves of Garlic

5 Spring onions

1/2 Cabbage

2 Tbsps sesame seeds

2 Tbsps Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp Sesame seed oil

500g Minced Pork

Picture 1. Photo of the ingredients for the filling.

Picture 2. Finely dice up your onion and then set aside in a large bowl.

Picture 3. Grate or finely chop around an inch of ginger move in to the bowl.

Picture 4. Finely chop 4 cloves of garlic and move to the bowl.

Picture 5. Chop up the spring onions and move to the bowl.

Picture 6. Cut the Cabbage in half and de-core it.

Picture 7. Roughly chop up the cabbage and move to the bowl.

I under-seasoned my filling i would recommend to you taking a small amount and cooking it in a frying pan this will let you taste the seasoning before its too late.

Picture 1.Season the filling mixture.

Picture 2. Add 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds.

Picture 3. Add 2 Tbsps of soy sauce.

Picture 4. Add 2 Tbsps of sesame seed oil

Picture 5. Add 500g of pork mince

Picture 6. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

This dough makes roughly enough for 16 Baozi depending upon there size. By this point your dough should be really smooth and elastic, if not give it a little bit more of a

Picture 1. take your dough and ensure that it has risen, if not return it and allow it more time to rise.

Picture 2. Its easiest to cut the dough equally if your roll it out in to a log and cut it in half then in half again creating four pieces.

Picture 3-4. cut each of the 4 pieces in to an additional 4 pieces so that in total you have 16.

before you start this step you will need to cut out baking paper squares, these are used so that the dough doesn't stick too the bottom of the steamer dish.

Picture 1.prepare your work station bring your dough and filling close to each other its also good to have a tray or somewhere to put the wrapped baozi this will help you work quickly.

Picture 2. Flatten the dough, i tend to use my hands and fingers for this part but you can use a rolling pin if you prefer. On the flattened dough you want to have the middle with a slight lump on it, this protects the filling and stops it bursting when cooking.

Picture 3. place around a 1 1/2 Tbsp amount of filling in each, the filling made enough for 16 Baozi, but i was relatively generous with my filling.

These Baozi need to be steamed over vigorously boiling water for 20 minutes. Here i have used a steamer if you don't have access too one you can use a colander that fits within a large saucepan, or alternately a plate sitting on a bowl. Both of these alternatives will work providing that you have a good seal on top of the pan.

Picture 1. Ensure that the water is boiling hot before starting.

Picture 2. Steam the Baozi for 20 Minutes.