Bao1 Zi3
it’s pronounced 包子
Street food — love it, can’t get enough of it. It’s all the rage these days, and I’m anticipating an article about the proliferation of food trucks and carts during times of economic downturn. Someone, please create a bar chart with falafel and burrito towers versus credit debts, or a line graph of people queuing for street meat on 53rd and 6th versus the waitlist for Peter Luger by EOD TODAY. Charts — I have no less love for them than I do for that Taiwanese food truck on Pearl.
Taiwan — it’s not my mother country (USA Rocks!), but its hold on my heart is real, and I can’t wait to go visit all of my island family again. Additionally, there really is a countless number of street food vendors in Taiwan. Now that I’ve said that, I now have a new dream job — Taiwan Street Food Vendor Census Survey Analyst. It’s an impressive job title that I think I’ve earned, and finally, everything about the past two years of my life makes sense.
While I am there, I’m going to see if there’s a market for Asian Fusion Buns. That name is probably also the title of some really terrible “movie”, but that probably makes it even more appropriate for a land where English words are hilariously mishandled. Anyway, what was fused together in this bun, or baozi, was the traditional steamed bun and a filling that was a departure from the commonly found fare of ground pork and cabbage. Will the Taiwanese embrace Hot Italian Turkey Sausage + Leeks? Will my mom still embrace me after she reads about my bastardization of her mantou recipe? Mom, I didn’t do it on purpose, it’s all I had at home. Mom, do you read my blog/親愛的老媽,妳有沒有在念我的博客?
Baozi
Yield: 16 small-ish Asian Fusion Buns
Ingredients:
1 cup Whole wheat bread flour
1½ cup All-purpose flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp yeast
2 tsp baking powder
¾ cup warm water (105°)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
½ pound seasoned ground meat
1 stalk Leek
16 3″x3″ pieces of parchment paper
Instructions:
1. Dissolve sugar in a large bowl of warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the water and allow it to proof for ten minutes.
2. Whisk together a cup of all-purpose flour and the cup of whole wheat flour, and combine with the liquid mixture from Step 1. Knead the dough for 5 minutes. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, and allow it to double in size in a warm area.
3. Add in the remaining ½ cup of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and oil, and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place the dough back into the bowl, and allow it to double again.
4. Prepare the meat mixture while the dough is rising.
5. Roll the dough into a log that can easily be cut into 16 even pieces. Cut it, and flatten and roll each piece into circles of between 4-4½” in diameter. Edges should be thinner than the center. Don’t stack them. They’ll stick and you’ll have to start all over again. You’re going to get all angsty.
6. Fill each circle with 2 tbsp of filling, and pinch the edges together to the best of your ability, and center on a 3″x3″ piece of parchment paper.
7. Allow the buns to rise again for another 10+ minutes. Steam them for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave the cover on for 1 minute, otherwise, they will wrinkle, and we hate wrinkles, don’t we?
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I’ve noticed a bunch of street truck food ala koji taco trucks in the venice/mdr area. they’re just glorified roach coaches but only because they get in the way of my biking.
Impressive, Gar! I’m quite jealous of your skills!
Looks like Monique is not too sure about the chicken guy.
I am so so proud of you. great skills! ~青出於藍而勝於藍~
I’m swooning over those chubby little dimples.