These are the best steamed buns I've ever made! This Vegan Baozi recipe is easy to follow and the end result is absolutely delicious.
About This Vegan Baozi Recipe
Baozi is a type of yeast-leavened stuffed bun, originating in China. There is an array of fillings, preparations, and ingredients that you can use, but these are some of the best I've ever made.
Baozi tend to have a meat filling, and this recipe was inspired by pork-filled steamed buns. They're sticky, tasty, and delicious. However, I wanted to make them more nutritionally inclusive and accessible. So, I bring you the BEST vegan Baozi recipe!
Ingredients For These Steamed Buns
Although dumplings, yeast, steaming (essentially everything) about this recipe might seem like a daunting cooking process, it's really not, and there's nothing to be "afraid" of. The dough recipe only uses several ingredients, and all you need is a warm, dry spot for your dough to rise. Here's what you'll need:
- Plain flour
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Warm water (the temperature is important! The yeast needs extra warmth to dissolve and become active. At cooler temperatures, the yeast doesn't wake up as well, and it can release a substance that can interfere with gluten formation.)
For the bun filling, I'd recommend using aubergine. It's a wonderfully versatile vegetable and perfect as a meat substitute. See below for the filling ingredients:
- Aubergine
- Soy sauce
- Curry powder
- Sugar
- Chilli
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Water
- Spring onion
Fancy More Dumplings Recipes?
Vegan Baozi (Chinese Steamed Bun)
Ingredients Â
- 300g all-purpose flour
- 3g active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 150ml warm water
For The Filling
- 1 aubergine, sliced into little cubes
- ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon medium curry powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ red chilli, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ inch ginger, finely chopped
- 50 ml water
- 1 spring onion, finely sliced
InstructionsÂ
- Combine the all-purpose flour, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Mix the ingredients and then gently pour in your warm water. Keep stirring and then knead the dough for a few minutes until it's soft and bouncy. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover it with clingfilm or a cloth. Store the bowl in a warm, dry area for around 3 hours, or until the dough has increased in size.
- Meanwhile, make the filling for your buns. Add your chopped aubergine to a pan with soy sauce, curry powder, sugar, chilli, garlic, and ginger. Fry for 5 minutes.
- Add in your water, and fry for a further 15 minutes. Break down the aubergine and leave the water to evaporate. You should end up with a rough and chunky aubergine paste. Leave to cool.
- Once your dough has risen, slice it into 8 equal parts. Roll each section into a ball.
- Grab one ball of dough and flatten it out into a circular wrapper around 2 inches in diameter.
- Place a spoonful of the filling into the centre of the wrapper and either, you can pleat the wrapper in an anti-clockwise motion and pinch at the end. Or, you can fold up the dough around the filling (like wrapping a present), pinching it to seal it in. Make sure that the dough doesn't get wet from the moisture of the filling because otherwise, you won't be able to seal it. So don't put too much filling into the wrapper. Once the bun has been sealed, set aside on a little bit of flour. Repeat this step for all of the dumplings.
- Steam the dumplings for 10 minutes in a bamboo or metal steamer. If using a metal steamer, simply glaze a drop of vegetable oil onto the steamer to avoid the dumplings sticking to the bottom.
- Once the Vegan Baozi has puffed up and is cooked to perfection, simply remove from your steamer and serve up with spring onion, sesame seeds, and optionally some chilli oil! Enjoy!
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