Bao! (Steamed Buns)

Ingredients

200ml water

50ml milk

1 tsp yeast

525g flour (4 cups)

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing

Procedure

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer dissolve yeast in warm water and milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
3. Add the oil to the bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix with a dough hook on low speed for 10 minutes.
5. Cover with saran wrap and let it rise for 1.5 hours or until it has doubled in size.
6. Punch down the dough and transfer to a lightly floured surface.
7. Cut into about 18 even piece and roll into smooth balls. Cover the balls with saran while you are rolling out each piece to ensure it doesn’t dry out.
8. With a floured rolling pin roll out each ball into a slight oval shape starting with the first ball you rolled.
9. Brush each surface lightly with vegetable oil and fold over and place on a small piece of parchment paper.
10. Cover with saran wrap and let it rise for another 1 to 1.5 hours until it has doubled in size.
11. Prepare your steamer. Steam each bun on medium heat for about 8 minutes.

Notes

• Anything goes for the filling. These were filled with pulled pork with do chua (daikon and carrot pickles), pickled red onions, cucumbers, pea shoots, then drizzled with hoisin and sriracha.