The revisitation of a classic steamed bun from Asian cuisine. Bao are light and fluffy steamed buns that are slightly sweet and often the sweetness is balanced by a savory filling.
Originally from China, bao are the perfect middle ground between bread and dumplings. They can also be eaten on their own, but the filling in this recipe is absolutely worth making.
This bao enriched with Buffalo Worm is stuffed with marinated tofu, fresh pickles, herbs, vegetables and hoisin sauce. It's absolutely delicious and packed with nutrients!
- Difficulty: complex
- Servings: 2/3
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE BAO DOUGH
- 245g of flour
- 26g of Buffalo worm flour
- 23g coconut milk powder (or milk powder)
- 3.5g of baking powder
- 3g of dehydrated brewer's yeast
- 22g sugar
- 26g of vegetable oil
- 150g warm water
FOR THE MARINATED TOFU
- 300g of pressed tofu
- 25g of sesame oil
- 2 spring onions
- a piece of ginger about 4 cm long
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 40g of dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of Chinese 5-spice powder
- 100 g of soy sauce
- 50 g rice wine
- 2 red chillies
- 30g corn starch
- oil for frying
FOR THE PICKLED ONIONS
- ½ red onion
- 1 small carrot
- 100g of daikon
- 2g of coriander seeds
- 2g of cumin seeds
- 100g of water
- 100g of rice wine
- 200g of sugar
- 400g rice vinegar
- 2g rises
FOR GARNING
- 50g hoisin sauce
- 50g of soy mayonnaise
- 10g of coriander leaves
- 1 spring onion
- 1 red chili pepper
Prepare the bao dough by putting all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and adding the warm water and oil to the dry dough. Work until the dough reaches a smooth consistency.
Leave to rest for 2 hours, then roll out the dough to 2 cm thick and cut it into discs of 8 cm in diameter.
Fold the discs in half and leave to rest for 20 minutes before cooking them in a steamer basket for about 6 minutes.
For the filling, cut the tofu into 1.5cm cubes and set aside in a bowl.
Separately, peel and grate the ginger and chop the garlic, finely slice the spring onion and chilli and mix all the ingredients for the marinade (except the corn starch) making sure the sugar dissolves.
Pour the mixture over the tofu and leave to marinate for about 1 hour before drying it on kitchen paper.
Fry the tofu in oil at 180°C and, once golden, remove it and let it dry on kitchen paper.
Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a saucepan and reduce to a glaze, then add the golden tofu and bring to the boil.
Prepare the pickles by peeling the red onion, carrot and daikon and cutting them into julienne strips before transferring the daikon and carrot together to a bowl, and the red onion to another bowl.
For the pickling liquid, mix all the liquids, sugar, salt and spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
For the vinegar base, mix all the liquids, sugar, salt and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil before pouring some over the onion and the rest over the daikon and carrot and leave to cool aside.
Prepare the final garnishes by cutting the chilli pepper and spring onion into fine julienne strips and peeling the coriander.
Assemble the cricket baos by opening them with your hands and filling them with a little tofu.
Glaze the tofu with its marinade and add a little hoisin sauce and soy milk mayonnaise, then enrich with pickles and garnish with coriander leaves and finely sliced chilli and spring onion.
Recipe by
Loris Caporizzi –
