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Bánh Bao

Mai
Vietnamese steamed buns - this recipe makes 5 big buns
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Buns
Cuisine Vietnamese
Servings 5

Ingredients
  

  • Dough
  • 500 gr flour I would suggest try getting 'dumpling flour' or 'bao flour' from the Asian supermarket as these will yield whiter coloured buns and be more easy to work with
  • 7 g Instant yeast
  • 250 ml warm milk
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • Filling
  • 300 g minced pork meat
  • 1 chicken egg
  • 5 quail eggs
  • 25 g glass noodles soaked and chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp ground pepper
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 10 g wood ear mushroom chopped

Instructions
 

  • Add the yeast and sugar to the warm milk (about 40ºC, not boiling) and leave for 10 mins until it becomes foamy (important!) - if it doesn't foam up, it could be that your instant yeast has expired or the milk is too hot.
  • Add the flour + salt into the yeast and warm milk mixture. Mix for about 10-15 minutes until the dough is smooth.
  • Leave the dough to rest for at least 1 hour, in the meantime prepare the filling
  • Boil the quail eggs for 10 minutes then rinse them in cold water. Once cooled, peel and leave aside
  • Chop onion into small pieces
  • Soak the glass noodles and wood ear mushroom in hot water for 5 minutes
  • Slice the noodles and mushrooms into small pieces
  • In a big bowl, mix together the mince meat, chopped onion, chopped wood ear mushroom, chopped glass noodles. Add in the salt, pepper, and the chicken egg. Mix everything until you get a pasty texture
  • Take the dough that's been resting, gently fold it a few times. Divide into 5 equal portions
  • Take each portion, roll out into thin discs. Use your rolling pin to thin out the sides. The disc should be about 15cm diameter
  • Take a big spoon full of filling and place it into the center of the dough disk, then add a quail egg
  • Fold the bao in the same manner as dumplings: by pinching the sides together and then twist the middle. Use a bit of water to help the dough stick easier.
  • Prepare a steamer. stick some baking paper at the bottom of the buns so that they don't stick to the steamer. Steam the buns for 15-20 minutes and they are ready to be served!
  • Enjoy

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