Hot from my oven: Red Bean Bao

Finally I made the Red bean bao..This has been in my todo list for a long long time!

I am a big fan of the light and sweet steamed buns, every time I have it for breakfast I always wonder why I haven’t ever tried making this!

As always I chose the easy method and got the readymade red bean paste .

You can opt for a different sweet filling like sesame paste ,kaya ,custard or savory filling like mushrooms.

Once you have made-up your mind for the filling, the process is pretty simple proof, knead and steam!

Red Bean Bao/Chinese Steamed Bun

Ingredients

For the buns: Makes about 4 buns

½ Cup Hongkong flour/Bao Flour [You can substitute with All purpose Flour]

½ tspn Instant yeast

¼ Cup warm milk or coconut milk

2 tbspn Sugar

1 tspn Oil

Pinch of baking powder

For the filling

¼ Cup red bean paste

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the yeast ,1 tspn Sugar, 1 tspn flour and 1-2 tbspn warm water and mix well until you clear all lumps

Cover and let it proof for 15 minutes.

Once it is proofed well, the mix will be foamy like this

Now sift together the flour and baking powder

Add the sugar ,yeast mix, and oil to the flour and mix well.

Add milk a tbspn at a time and form a soft dough [you don’t have to use the whole milk. I got the soft dough with 3tbspn milk ]

Knead well , add little flour if the dough is too sticky.

Continue to knead for another 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic

Cover with a damp cloth and let it proof for 1 hour.

Once the dough is proofed well and doubled in volume, lightly knead it and form a log

Cut the log into 4 equal portions

Lightly roll each portion to a ball, flatten it and add 1tbspn red bean paste.

Bring together the edges, seal the side and roll it to a ball and place it on a small piece of parchment paper.

Repeat the same for rest of the dough

Proof for another 5 minutes and steam for 15 minutes

The buns will fluff up and double in size so leave enough space between the baos before steaming

Cover the lid of the steamer with a cloth so that the water don’t drip on the baos during steaming