Bow to Bao

I am going to begin by saying that I desperately desire a camera and tripod. While I may be thoroughly enjoying photography, all of my satisfyingly well-focused, well-exposed shots are on my very old 35mm SLR camera, in black and white film. The particularly gross quality of today's food pictures from my dinky digital point-and-shoot has made me extra aware of the my pressing urge to obtain a DSLR camera. Alas, in a few months, I shall. As well as nice tripod. In the meantime, I guess borrowing a tripod wouldn't kill me.

Anyway, I made steamed red bean buns (aka dou sha bao in Chinese or jjinbbang in Korean) on Sunday. I always bought these things from the market without realizing how easy they are to make at home. Since I wasn't in the mood for making the whole wheat bread that I usually toast every morning, I thought I'd change up my breakfast and have a bun every morning this week instead. I made twelve, ate two, put three in my fridge, and froze the rest. In a rush--me in the mornings--you can microwave the refrigerated ones for 20-30 seconds, and they come out pretty decent. Of course the best thing to do is re-steam them, but not all of us have the luxury of time in the AM. Over the course of my eating the fridge stock, I transfer them from freezer to refrigerator; I'm not sure that does anything, but at least I feel that maybe they keep fresher-tasting longer.

Recipe adapted from here. The recipe on the site calls for instant yeast rather than active dry yeast, but I only have active dry yeast. The proportions are the same, and the taste is the same; only the process differs, and only slightly, at that.

Ingredients:

1/2 warm water

1+1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

Sweet red bean paste, canned or homemade*

*Regarding red bean paste, there is a lot to say. There are smoother, pasty kinds as well as ones that incorporate whole beans. What kind you use is up to preference. I haven't tried making it at home yet, but I have the beans in my pantry, and I plan on trying it out sometime soon. I will dedicate an entire post to red beans later because they are the loves of my life, and they deserve much more thought and detail than an asterisk can provide.

Directions: Combine the warm water, yeast, and about a tablespoon of the sugar in a small bowl. The actual amount of sugar in the water doesn't have to be that precise; it's just to get the yeast going. I just sprinkle some sugar from the quarter-cup measuring cup into the bowl. Let it sit for about five minutes, and by that time, it should be kind of foamy at the surface. If you're not getting foam, your check the expiration date on your yeast, for it may have expired. Note: if you have instant yeast, you can skip this step and just put the yeast in with the dry ingredients in the next step.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, remaining sugar, and baking soda. Pour in the milk, yeasty water mixture, and oil. Stir around with a spoon a bit until it comes together, and then you can stick your hands in and turn the dough out onto a smooth surface, such as a counter top or table. Add a couple tablespoons of water to keep the dough moist and stretchy. It should not be tacky and sticky, so use your judgement. I usually add around two tablespoons. Knead the dough for ten minutes. Kneading involves kind of pressing your palms into the dough, clenching your fingers, then folding the clenched part of dough over where your palms were while spinning the dough. If that made no sense, forget it and just do what you want. I apologize for no visuals, but it's rather difficult to wield a camera when your hands are occupied kneading.

After you're done kneading, put the dough in a clean bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm-ish place (like on top of the fridge) for 45 minutes to 1 hour. After time's up, separate the dough into twelve pieces. I usually divide the dough in half, divide all those in half, and then divide those pieces into thirds. They may look small, but don't fret. They expand.

Flatten the dough pieces into discs and fill with about a tablespoon of red bean paste, or anything you want, for the matter. Seal, and place seam side down into a steamer. Alternatively, don't stuff the dough and just roll it into balls to steam.

I will take a moment to talk about steaming. There are a couple different options when it comes to steaming. At home I have bamboo steamers, which are handy because they can fit more due to their stackable nature, and they infuse the steamed food with a pleasant bamboo aroma. At school, I simply have my small steaming basket, and a smaller pot to put it in. Since it expands, if I had a larger pot, I could probably fit more buns in, but alas, I don't. Hence, I had to steam in four batches of 3 buns each. If you don't have either of these things, a metal colander in a pot might work. Something with holes is ideal because the steam condenses and forms a puddle, making your buns soggy. Fill your pot with about a half-inch to inch of water,making sure it doesn't touch the bottom of your steaming contraption. Regardless of what you're using, aside from the bamboo steamer, make sure you cover your pot.

Also, either grease your steamer, place squares of parchment paper below each bun, or line the steamer with cabbage or lettuce or other such leafy vegetable to prevent the buns from sticking. I prefer cabbage since it doesn't create waste, doesn't give you the additional work of getting oily stuff off your steamer, and allows for a yummy, steamed-cabbage treat at the end of your steaming. Or you could throw it away if it disgusts you.

Bring your pot of stuff to a boil and then lower the heat to medium-low or low. You don't need the water vigorously boiling the whole time; you just need it to be hot enough to release steam. Steam for 10-15 minutes. Remove, and consume! But be careful; they're hot. I usually use chopsticks to get them out. Since my steamer was small, the buns stuck together and were difficult to get out, which explains why my plate of them looks so mauled.