Vegan Bao Buns Recipes

VEGAN BAO BUNS

Steps:

• Start by mixing together sugar, yeast and warm water. Stir and set aside for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime combine the rest of the ingredients for the dough. After 10 minutes, add the yeast water. Knead the dough until it comes together and is smooth.
• Take a large bowl and coat it with some oil. Now form a ball and place it into the bowl. Drizzle a little bit of oil (about 1 tsp) onto the dough ball and coat it evenly. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and cover it with a kitchen towel. Heat the oven to 80 F°/28 C° and place the bow into it. Let it rise there until doubled in size (for about 1 hour).
• Get your steamer ready: And while it's heating up, prepare the buns.
• After the dough has doubled in size: Sprinkle some flour onto your kitchen counter and place the dough ball on top. Knead it for a couple of seconds until it is smooth again.
• Take a dough roll and roll out the dough, about 1/4 inch / 0,6 cm thick.
• Take the cookie cutter and cut out the dough disks. Brush some oil onto the top and fold them in the middle. Lightly and with out a lot of pressure roll over them with your dough roll. Put each of them onto a piece of parchment paper and place into the steamer when it's ready. Steam for about 12 minutes.
• While the buns are steaming: make the filling.
• Take a medium bowl and add butter, ginger, garlic, onion and spring onion to it. On low medium heat sautée until tender (for about 5 minutes). Then add the oyster mushrooms. On medium heat, fry until golden brown (for about 7-10 minutes).
• In the meantime prepare the marinade: Simply mix together all of the remaining ingredients for the filling.
• When the oyster mushrooms are golden brown, add the marinade to it and continue to cook it on low medium heat, for another 10-15 minutes. When done, turn the stove to the lowest temperature and keep the pan where it is: All you do is to keep it warm while you prepare the bao buns.
• When the buns are done, take them out of the steamer (careful: HOT) and fill them with the fried oyster mushrooms.
• Sprinkle some finely minced spring onion on top. Serve while hot.
• DONE
• You can reheat them in the microwave. They will be good for 3 days.
• Enjoy :)

VEGAN TOFU BAO BUNS WITH PICKLED VEGETABLES RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Make the bao buns: Add the warm water, sugar, and yeast to a liquid measuring cup. Whisk to combine, then set aside to bloom, five minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture and vegetable oil to the well and stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough begins to form. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. Keep extra flour nearby in case the dough sticks to the surface or your hands. Shape into a ball.
• Lightly grease a clean large bowl with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Place the dough in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile marinate the tofu: In a medium bowl, whisk together the scallions, ginger, garlic, sugar, five-spice, soy sauce, rice wine, and dark soy sauce.
• Add the tofu to a separate medium bowl and pour the marinade over. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Make the pickled vegetables: Prepare the cucumber, red pepper, daikon, carrot, yellow pepper, and jalapeños and set aside while you make the brine.
• In a large pot or deep pan over high heat, combine the water, sugar, rice vinegar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then bring the mixture to a boil.
• Add the vegetables the brine. Stir to submerge, then remove the pot from the heat. Let sit while you sear the tofu and bake the buns, about 1 hour, then drain.
• Once the bao dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface. Divide the dough in half, then cut each half into 2 ounce pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
• Working 1 at a time, flatten a ball with your palm on a lightly floured surface. Use a small rolling pin or wooden dowel to roll the dough out to a 5-inch round. Brush the top with sesame oil, fold it in half, and transfer it to a square of parchment paper set on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cover the bao buns with a kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil and set a bamboo steamer on top. Working in batches, transfer a few of the folded dough rounds at a time to the steamer, making sure the buns are not too crowded. Cover the steamer and steam the buns for 8-10 minutes, until the buns puff up and form a skin on the outside. Very carefully, lift the lid and remove the buns from the steamer. Repeat with the rest of the buns, keeping the steamed buns warm as they finish by covering with a towel.
• Sear the tofu: Remove the tofu from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Reserve the marinade.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the tofu and sear on one side until deep brown in color, about 5 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until deep brown, 5 minutes more. Remove the tofu from the pan.
• Pour the reserved marinade into the skillet on medium heat and reduce until thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes. Return the tofu to the pan and stir to coat with the glaze. Remove the pan from the heat.
• To serve, slather the inside of the bao buns with hoisin sauce, then add the pickled vegetables, glazed tofu, sliced scallions, and sesame seeds.
• Enjoy!

JACKFRUIT BAO BUNS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, then add the onions and garlic and cook until soft - about 4 minutes.
• Stir in the ketchup, vinegar and spices.
• Add the drained jackfruit and simmer for 20 minutes, gradually pulling the jackfruit apart with tongs or two forks. When it's ready, stir in the marmite (if using) and soy sauce. Taste and add more cayenne if desired. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the pickled onions by placing the onion, vinegar, water, sugar and salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Take off the heat and allow to cool.
• Steam or microwave the bao buns (or slice burger buns in half and lightly char them on a grill). Fill with the pulled jackfruit, pickled onions, cucumber, cabbage and a dollop of vegan mayonnaise.
• Enjoy with a Tribute...

VEGAN STEAM BUNS (BANH BAO CHAY)

Steps:

• In a separate bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar and stir to combine and allow the yeast to bloom.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and 4 cups of flour.
• Once the yeast has bloomed, combine the yeast mixture and half the oil to the dry mixture and stir to combine. It'll be a very sticky dough, but it should come together and be slightly tacky. Turn onto a clean and then lightly floured surface and knead until moderately smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Place the dough back into the mixing bowl (it should be relatively clean if you pull any extra dough off of it as you were mixing it). Coat the dough in the remaining amount of oil and mix in as well as you can. It will be quite tacky but that's okay. You should be able to incorporate most of the oil but turn the dough in the bowl to coat in oil just before letting it rest. The dough should absorb the rest as it rises.
• Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place (like microwave or oven) for at least 1 hour. It should rise a little but don't be too worried if it doesn't rise too much.
• In a large wok/pot/or pan with high sides, cook the whites of the green onion with 2 tbsp of oil for a minute or two over medium high heat. Add the finely diced jicama and carrot and cook until carrot is tender. You may need to add 1 tbsp of the measured soy sauce and about 1/3 cup of water to cook and deglaze the bottom of the pot.
• Once carrot is tender, add the chopped black fungus and stir to heat through, about 3 minutes.
• Add the vegan ground round and stir into the mixture. Add 2 tbsp of the soy sauce and stir to combine and heat through (about 3 minutes again).
• Add the chopped, hydrated mung bean noodles, the last of the soy sauce, the greens of the green onion and stir to mix through. As the noodles cook, they'll absorb moisture from the rest of the mixture and sort of bind it together to make it easier to stuff the bao.
• Add white pepper to taste (you may need to add more soy sauce or salt if desired, but I liked it at 1/4 cup. Let it cool until it's just warm before you fill the bao.
• After about an hour or so of the dough resting, turn it over to a floured surface and divide between 10-12 pieces (If you're really intense about exact measurements, it's about 100g per piece of dough). Cover the cut pieces with a damp towel while you're stuffing them so they don't dry out.
• Generously dunk the cut piece of dough into some flour then roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness (5-6 inches in diameter). Add about 3-4 tbsp of the filling into the middle of the dough then pinch the outside edges together and twist to seal the bun.
• Fill a steamer pot with about 5 cups of water + 1 tbsp of vinegar. The vinegar will help brighten the buns as they steam, resulting in a lighter bun in the end).
• Place the pinched bun on a perforated layer of a steamer pot on top of a parchment paper square. Repeat and fill the buns with the remaining filling. I tend to go quite heavy handed with the filling, and I ended up using all of the filling for these buns. If you find you have any extra leftover, put it on rice, in fresh spring rolls, or on lettuce cups for lunch.
• Try not to put the buns too close together like I did in the photos, if they're touching, they'll tear once you pull them apart after cooking. If you find you need them to touch, place some parchment paper in between so they don't stick.
• Steam on medium heat for 20 minutes, then take off the lid and let them steam for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let the buns cool on a wire rack.
• Enjoy!
• For any leftovers, wrap them as soon as their cool in some plastic wrap (if you put them in a container they'll dry out). To reheat, either re-steam or microwave for 2 minutes.

VEGAN BAO BUNS

Steps:

• To a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and combine the ingredients.
• Add the yeast to a jug of lukewarm almond milk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the almond milk and sunflower oil. Mix well until the mixture forms a stiff dough.
• Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, adding more liquid if needed to make the dough easier to manage. When the dough is soft and passes the indentation test (see notes) add to a bowl oiled with 1 tsp of sesame oil. Turn the dough over so it is lightly coated in the oil. Place cling film over the bowl and leave to double in size, approximately 2 hours.
• Flatten the dough using your hands to knock out the air. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough into a long sausage shape. Divide the dough into 12 balls. Roll out each ball to a flat oval shape. Brush over the sesame oil, place a chopstick in the centre and fold in half. Place the bao buns on baking trays lined with baking parchment. Leave to prove for an hour.
• Make a start on the filing. To rehydrate the porcini mushrooms, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soften for 10 minutes, then drain and thinly slice.
• Heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the tofu and cook for 5 minutes, turning over frequently. Next add the porcini and oyster mushrooms, ginger and garlic and stir fry for a couple of minutes. Pour in the teriyaki sauce, maple syrup and add the hot chilli powder, star anise, sugar and sesame oil. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
• Return to the bao buns. Place the bao buns in a steamer for 6 minutes. The bao buns are cooked when they are fluffy and slightly firm to the touch. Repeat until all the the buns are steamed.
• Serve and fill with the tofu teriyaki mixture. Top with the carrots and spring onions. Finish by adding a sprinkling of sesame seeds and roasted peanuts.

HOMEMADE VEGAN MUSHROOM BAO BUNS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, yeast, and salt. Add the water little by little and bring the dough together using your hands; you should have a sticky ball.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and bouncy.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place to double in size for 1 to 1½ hours. (Make the Pickled Cucumbers while the dough rises)
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead for a minute to knock out the air, then divide into 10 equal pieces.
• Take one piece, flatten it into a ½-inch-thick disk, then brush one half with a little oil. Fold the bun into a half-moon and place it on a small square of parchment paper on a tray. Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Loosely cover the tray with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes more. (Make the Mushroom Filling while the dough rises.)
• To cook the bao, set a steamer over a pan of simmering water. Put the bao, still on their parchment-paper mats, into the steamer in batches, making sure they don't touch. Cover and steam for 8 minutes.
• Put the vinegar and water into a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then pour into a bowl. Add the cucumber, and leave to cool.
• In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil.
• Heat the canola oil in a frying pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and fry for 6 minutes, until soft and browning at the edges. Stir in the sauce to coat, then turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes, until the sauce reduces and darkens.
• Fill each bao with a generous tablespoon of mushrooms, 3 or 4 slices of cucumber and, for a little crunch, some peanuts.

STEAMED BAO BUNS WITH SPICY CAULIFLOWER

Steps:

• To make the buns, put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add 125ml/4fl oz lukewarm water and the oat milk. Mix with your hands and bring together to form a dough, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes, until smooth and springy. Clean and lightly oil the bowl. Pop the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size (if it's cold this may take up to 2 hours).
• Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly to knock it back. Roll the dough into a fat sausage shape (approx. 30cm/12in long). Slice the roll into eight to ten equal portions and shape each piece into a rough ball. Lightly flour a rolling pin and roll each ball into an oval shape. Lightly rub a tiny drop of sesame oil over the surface (to prevent the dough from sticking together) and fold in half. Repeat until all the balls are folded, then place them on a flat surface, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• To make the cauliflower, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, adding 1 tablespoon of water to loosen the mixture, and marinate for 10 minutes. Tip onto a baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until crispy.
• Meanwhile, line a bamboo steamer with baking paper, then place three or four buns inside each steam basket. Steam for 6-7 minutes, until fluffy but firm and dry to the touch. Repeat until all the buns are steamed.
• Fill each bun with a teaspoon of sriracha mayonnaise and crispy cauliflower topped with shredded carrot, spring onion and ½ teaspoon of sesame seeds. Scatter with coriander, if using.

VEGAN BAO BUNS WITH PULLED JACKFRUIT

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, instant yeast, sugar and salt. Add about 120 ml / ½ cup of warm (that's important) water and 1½ tbsp of oil. Once combined roughly with a wooden spoon, start combining the dough with your hands. It will need a bit more water but it is very important to add the water in gradually, tablespoon by tablespoon. In my experience it takes another 2-3 tablespoons of water to achieve a dough that is not too dry or not too sticky. Knead it for 10 minutes with your hands until elastic and smooth. Form the dough into a ball and rub a small amount of oil on the dough's surface to prevent drying. Place in a clean bowl covered with a kitchen towel and place it somewhere warm (but not too warm, sticking it too close to a fireplace is a bad idea, for example) for 1-2 hrs or until it doubles in size.
• Cut two circles (if you have a two tier bamboo steamer) of baking paper to line the steamer with. Make a lot of small holes in the circles so that the steam can get through. You can use a paper puncher for this or fold each circle in half 3 times and cut small circles out along the folded edges with a pair of scissors. Prepare also eight 5 cm / 2" squares of baking paper and insert into the buns to prevent the two halves from sticking to each other (you could also use oil instead).
• After the dough has doubled in size, tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and press the air our with your fingertips. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and form small balls. Place the balls on a lightly floured surface, cover with a kitchen towel and leave for another 30 min.
• Using a rolling pin, roll the balls out into ½ cm / ¼" thick oval shapes. Fold each shape in half and insert a square of baking paper between the two halves. Alternatively you could also oil the buns before folding in half.
• Line your bamboo steamer with paper circles you've made earlier and place folded up buns inside for another 30 min of proving. If your steamer is too small (like mine), place four buns inside (two on each tier) and rest the remaining four on a baking paper lined and lightly dusted tray until you are ready to steam.
• Half fill a pot (which the steamer can comfortably sit on, of course) with water and place the steamer with the buns on top. Whack the heat to medium-high (I used setting 4 out of 6) and let the water come to a simmer - don't be tempted to peak inside or you will ruin the buns. Once you can hear the water simmering vigorously, put the timer on to 10 mins. After the time is up, take the pot and steamer off the heat and rest the buns for another 5 minutes. This will spare the buns temperature shock and will prevent them from shrinking. After 5 minutes, lift the lid off and remove the buns gently. Cook the remaining four like you did the first four.
• Open the can of jackfruit and drain it. Cut the firm, pointy ends off each triangular piece of jackfruit (you can still use them if you wish) and squash each piece of jackfruit gently so that it separates into individual strands and soaks up more of the cooking sauce. Set aside.
• Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a medium size pan. Fry spring onions until softened. Add chopped garlic and ginger and fry gently until soft and fragrant.
• Mix in Chinese five spice and fry gently for one minute.
• Now add the remaining sauce ingredients: tamari / soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and sugar. Mix them around well, allow sugar to melt. Finally add in jackfruit and mix well to allow it to warm up and soak up the maximum amount of sauce.
• Fill each bun with pulled jackfruit, fresh veggies, herbs, chilli, crushed peanuts and some extra hoisin sauce.

VEGAN STEAMED BAO BUNS

Steps:

• Sift all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
• Mix together the warm water and soy milk then add to the dry ingredients, make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and then pour in the wet ingredients.
• Bring the wet and dry ingredients together to form a dough, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 8-10 minutes, until you have a smooth and springy ball of dough.
• Put the dough in a lightly oil bowl, cover oven and then leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
• While the dough is proofing, cut out 16 squares of baking paper for the buns to sit on once shaped.
• Once rise, tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly to knock it back. Roll it out into a long sausage shape (roughly 30cm in length). Cut it into 16 equal portions and shape them into small, round balls.
• Making sure that the surface is still lightly dusted with flour, roll each ball out into an oval shape.
• Brush a little bit sesame oil over the surface (to prevent the dough from sticking together) and fold it in half.
• Repeat until all the balls are folded, then place them on a flat surface, cover with a tea towel and leave to prove for 30 more minutes or until doubled in size again.
• Heat a large steamer over a pan of water, simmering on a medium-high heat.
• Place no more than 4 buns in each layer of the steamer and steam the buns for 8 mins until puffed up.
• Prise open and serve warm with your choice of filling.