Vegetable Steamed Bao and Dumplings

Preparation

Prep bok choy

Set a large pot of water to boil. Trim the bottom ends off of the bok choy and discard, then place the bok choy into boiling water until its cooked through and semi-soft, about 2-3 minutes. Carefully remove from boiling water (you can save this water for cooking noodles later if you want) and rinse under cold water to stop it from cooking, then strain. Take your bok choy and dice into small pieces. Its still gonna have quite a bit of water so once you’re finished chopping, place all your bok choy into a thin cloth (or layer paper towels together) and squeeze all the excess water out. Place into a bowl and set aside.

Prep rice noodles

Set a large pot of water to boil (you can use the leftover bok choy water or start a fresh pot). Cook rice noodles according to package instructions. Once it’s finished cooking, remove and strain. Rinse rice noodles under cold water to stop the cooking process and so it’ll be easier to handle. Dice rice noodles into small pieces so you have about 1/2 cup chopped. Set diced noodles aside.

Prep mushrooms

Cut stems from shiitake mushrooms, then dice all the mushroom caps. Set a pan on medium-high heat, then pour some oil and add chopped garlic and stir for 30ish seconds so that the oil is seasoned in that garlic goodness. Add diced mushrooms into the pan and continue stirring until soft and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Add salt to taste, then remove from pan and set aside.

Make filling

Dice scallions and chop bean curd and set aside. You’re finally done prepping! Mix bok choy, rice noodles, mushrooms, scallions and bean curd together in one large mixing bowl. Add remaining filling ingredients continue to mix. Set aside in fridge until you’re ready to fold your dumplings or buns.

Make wrappers

Lightly dust a work surface with flour. When your dough is ready, cut dough in half or quarters and roll into logs the width of a very large sausage. Set aside and cover dough logs that aren't being worked with so they don't dry out. Cut each log into dough pieces the size of large marshmellows. Then, turn each piece cut side up and with the palm of your hand, press down onto it to flatten to make a roughly flattened circle. Dust each side with flour and then with a rolling pin, flatten the edges to create a circular wrapper to desired thickness, 1/8-1/4 of an inch. Repeat with the rest of your dough pieces until you have a bunch of wrappers. Make sure to flour each wrapper as you roll them out and then cover with plastic wrap so they don't dry out. Here's a video reference from 2:30-3:30!

Fold and seal buns

You can fold the baos however you'd like and have fun with it! For a braided fold like the photo, place a 1/3 of the size of the wrapper's worth of filling. Create a taco shape with the wrapper and push one of the ends a 1/2 inch into the filling to make a “w”. Squeeze the to folds together and push into the meat again. This time, take the right half of the “w” and pinch, push into the filling, then take the left half of the “w” and pinch, squeeze into the filling again. Repeat this process (the excess filling will squeeze itself out) until you've enclosed thte bao. Pinch the tail end of the braid and shape the bao to resemble a tear drop.

For a classic circular fold, place a spoonful of meat in the center of your flattened dough. Then pleat around the meat with small fold, pushing the meat down as the wrapper starts to close in around it. Seal the bao and set aside.

Steam and serve

In a bamboo steamer place parchment paper underneath each bao (or get steamer liners with holes in them) and place bao on top. Place your steamer with bao on top of a shallow pot with boiling water. Steam for 15 minutes until cooked through, serve.

Storage tips

Bao stores great in the freezer! Just cook as you would nomrally and let them cool a little bit. Put them straight in the freezer in a ziploc bag. When ready, just cook them in a steamer for 5-10 minutes until cooked through, or microwave a bun wrapped in a wet paper towel for 1 minute.