Chinese Steam Buns! (BokChoi)

I tried to use another method to make the Chinese steam bun dough this time.
I found a pretty cool recipe at Carol's blog.
But another Carol who also loves cooking.
If you are interested in reading the original recipe,
you may read her blog at http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/carol-jay/
However, her blog is only available in Chinese.
Don't worry, I am going to share the recipe here from my cooking.

This dough is different than the earlier recipe I used for the Veggie Bun
This is more chewy and more of a North Eastern China style.
Try it to see if you like it!

The dough using the combination of two different kind of doughs to create a smooth fluffy texture

A) Old Bun Dough base Recipe:(makes about 200g)
All purpose flour 120g
Instant dry yeast 1/2 tsp
Sugar a pinch
Warm water 90g (original recipe used 80g, since it is very dry in Ontario I am using a little more)
Salt a pinch

1- Add yeast and sugar into the warm water, stir to dissolve, let it sit for 5min
2- Mix salt with flour, make a hole in the middle, using the back of the wooden spoon or a chopstick to stir in the yeast water
3- Knead for 5-6 min, then form the dough into a ball with smooth surface
4- Spray some water on the dough, cover in a container, let it raise in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours or over night

According to the site you can keep it in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days or in the freezer for longer, remember to defrost it 1 day ahead before using


B) The main Bun Dough:
Old Bun Dough base 100g
All purpose flour 300g
Instant yeast 1/2 tsp
Warm Milk 180g
Sugar 20g
Oil 30g
Salt a pinch

1- Warm the milk for 20 sec in the microwave, stir in yeast, sit for 5min
2- Mix flour, sugar and salt in a big bowl, make a hole in the middle and pour the yeast mixture and oil, stir until combined
3- Add the old bun dough base, knead for 7-8min
4- Roll into a big ball, spray some water and cover for 1.5 hour


C)Prepare the BokChoi stuffing:
Ground pork 1Lb (you can substitute with other kind of ground meat or 1.5 cups of scramble eggs for vegan)
BokChoi 2cups (uncooked)
Ginger 3slices (finely chopped)
Small carrot 1 (peeled and finely chopped)
Mushroom 4-5 (chopped, optional)
Corn starch 1Tsp
Soy sauce 3 Tsp
Salt 1tsp
Sugar 1Tsp
Oil 1Tsp
Rice wine 1Tsp (optional)
White pepper a pinch

1- After all the chopping, wash your Bokchoi a few times because they usually have a lot of sands, I suggest to cut them in halves to get the inside clean too
2- Put your clean Bokchoi in a microwaveable bowl (they are already drained, but still wet, we are taking the advantage of it to cook them in microwave), cover with a microwave lid or microwaveable plastic wrap, heat it up for 2min
3- Let it cool for 5min before handling the Bokchoi, chop them finely and squeeze all the liquid out, discard the liquid
4- Now mix all the ingredients with the Bokchoi, set it aside



Assemble the Bun!
1- Before you start making the yummy buns, you will need to cut 18 small squares of parchment paper, around 5cm X 5cm
2- Dust some flour on the surface where you are going to roll the dough, make sure your hand is always dusted with flour too
3- Punch off the air of the dough in its bowl, move it to the working surface, roll it to a long rope
4- Divide the dough into 18 small pieces, put them back into the bowl and cover with a wet towel before using
5- Take the dough out one at a time, roll into a ball and then roll it to a 8cm round shape
6- Now put about 1 Tsp of your stuffing in the middle of the dough, slowly gather the edge together by making small ruffles
7- Place the bun on a parchment paper, keep them on a plate cover with wet towel before steaming, which allow the bun to rise for another 30min while you are making other ones
8- Steam the buns for 12min on high heat, remember to give each of them some space because the steam does the magic and the buns will double their size after cooked
9- The trick to keep the buns nice and fluffy with a smooth surface: is to leave a small gap open after 8min on the steaming process. At 12min, turn off the heat and allow the buns to remain there for extra 3min, at this time the lid is still covered with a small gap to allow the extra steam to come out. This way the buns are slowly changing its temperature and will not shrink.


I have also found a video on youtube,
it shows you how easy you can close the bun


Hey everyone wants a bigger bun! Thanks for sharing the tip Carol :)
I hope you all enjoy the recipe.
Also, I would like to ask you what kind of bun will you want to try next month?
Leave a comment below and I will try my best to create a recipe for it.