Vegan Steamed Bao Buns
Treat yourself to these delightful vegan steamed bao buns. A soft steamed bun with a juicy filling, this recipe will help you create the perfect side dish for a vegan Chinese feast.
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With a well-spiced savoury mushroom filling inside soft, pillowy steamed dough, these vegan bao buns are a delicious side dish for an Asian-inspired feast.
Step-by-step guide to make vegan steamed bao buns:
Step 1: First, make your dough by mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl, then gradually adding warm soya milk and oil until a dough forms. This should be smooth and mouldable, but not too sticky.
Step 2: Knead your dough for around 10 minutes, and set aside in a warm place while you make the filling. Take care not to leave your prepared dough resting for too long, as this could affect the strength of the dough.
Step 3: Use a medium-sized saucepan to get started on your filling. You need to start with the ingredients that take the longest to cook, so begin by frying your chopped onions.
Step 4: Once your onions are starting to soften and turn brown, add the mushrooms to the pan and fry until they are soft. Then add the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.
Step 5: Fry for another few minutes, then reduce the heat and add flavour with aromatics, sauces and seasonings. Depending on the sweetness of your hoisin sauce (take care to select one without honey as a sweetener), you may want to add a little more sugar at this stage so give your dish a taste to see.
Step 6: While the filling continues to heat through, make an emulsion with cornflour and water – this will help to thicken up the liquid in the pan. Add the cornflour mixture to the pan along with spring onions and coriander. Turn the heat off and stir in your sesame oil to finish off your filling.
Step 7: By now your dough should be nice and rested, so it’s time to shape your dough into 10-12 equal-sized circles. Do this by splitting your dough into two sausage shapes and cutting each into 5-6 even pieces. You can weigh them if you like, but these don’t need to be perfect. Roll each piece into a ball, then flatten out into a thin circle with a rolling pin to create your bao bun wrapper.
Step 8: For each bun, use the palm of your hand to create a ‘cup’ of dough and fill the dough with about a tablespoon of filling. Then bring together the edges of the circle and pinch, to seal the filling inside. Your dumplings should resemble a little sack of money.
Step 9: Next, steam your buns. Depending on the size of your steamer, you may need to cook your bao buns in batches, so fill, shape, and steam your buns a few at a time if needed. Steaming takes 10-15 minutes, so you can stir your dressing ingredients together while the last batch is cooking.
Step 10: You can serve your buns freshly steamed, or add a crispy edge by browning the bottoms of the buns in a frying pan with a little oil. Serve with steamed veggies or enjoy them on their own.
Total Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Calories: 191
Servings: 10
Rating:
Nutritional information per serving:
Serving size
157g
calories
191
fat
3.4g
saturates
0.5g
carbs
35g
sugars
7.2g
fibre
3g
protein
6.3g
salt
1.3g
Total Time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
Calories: 191
Servings: 10
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 10)
- For the bun dough
- 30 30 g plain flour
- 0.4 0.4 tsp sugar
- 0.05 0.05 tsp fine sea salt
- 0.2 0.2 tsp fast acting yeast
- 24 24 ml soya milk, warmed
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- For the bun filling
- 0.2 0.2 Tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
- 0.1 0.1 onion, finely diced
- 40 40 g mushrooms, chopped
- 10 10 g bamboo shoots, finely chopped
- 10 10 g water chestnuts, finely chopped
- 0.1 0.1 half-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 0.2 0.2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- 0.25 0.25 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 0.3 0.3 Tbsp hoisin sauce
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 0.1 0.1 tsp sugar, adjust to taste
- 0.1 0.1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
- 0.1 0.1 tsp black pepper
- 0.1 0.1 tsp cornflour
- 0.3 0.3 Tbsp water
- 0.4 0.4 spring onions, sliced
- 0.2 0.2 tsp sesame seed oil
- a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
- For the dressing
- 0.2 0.2 stalks spring onions, trimmed and sliced
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp sesame seeds
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 0.1 0.1 Tbsp maple syrup
Method
- To make the bun dough, add the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to a bowl and mix them together. Then add the warm soya milk – a little at a time – along with the oil.
- Stir the ingredients together to make a dry-ish dough (not too dry, but not sticky either). Knead for about 10 minutes, before setting aside in a warm place while you make the filling.
- For the filling, begin by heating the vegetable oil in a medium-sized saucepan, then add the diced onion. Fry until it starts turning soft and brown.
- Add the mushrooms to the pan and fry until they are soft. Then add the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.
- Fry for a further few minutes before adding the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar, Chinese five spice and black pepper.
- While this is all heating through, make an emulsion with the cornflour and water, then add this to the frying pan, followed by the spring onions and coriander. Turn the heat off and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside to cool.
- Once the dough has been resting for about 30 minutes, tip it out onto a very lightly-floured surface and split it in two. Roll each half into a sausage, about 12cm in length, and slice each sausage into 5-6 pieces. Roll out each of these pieces into a small circle shape, about 1mm thick.
- In the palm of your hand, cup the circle of dough so there is a well, and place a tablespoon of the filling in the centre. Then, bring together the outside edges of the circle and pinch to seal the filling inside; so that the dumpling resembles a little sack of money.
- Once you have made three or four buns, steam them either in a parchment paper-lined steaming basket, placed above a boiling pan of water or a lined metal steamer. Steaming should take 10-15 minutes. While the buns are steaming, make your dressing by mixing all the dressing ingredients together.
- When your buns are cooked through, you can either brown the bottoms in a frying pan by cooking them for a few minutes in a little oil, or just serve them straight out of the basket with a drizzle of the dressing over the top.
- Serve with steamed vegetables, such as bok choi or just eat on their own.
Need another bite? Try making these delicious vegan sushi sandwiches!
