China: Vegan Char Siu Bao
This recipe has been on my radar for years now. I was gifted Terry Hope Romero’s ‘Vegan Eats World’ back in 2020 by my friend and vegan-inspiration-hero Sam and his first recommendation was MAKE THESE BAO. I somehow ignored his advice (I thought it would take too much time, I didn’t know what seitan was, I was still eating pork at the time, it was 2020 — where was I supposed to find Chinese vegetarian stir fry sauce??) I had many excuses. They were all bad excuses (and some flat-out wrong). I ended up making this on a weeknight and if you can multitask it only takes about 2 hours. (Can you tell I don’t have kids by that statement?) Anyway, this was not a croissant-level endeavor and I had made it out in my head to be a lot more complicated than it was! To address all my concerns, and maybe some of yours… it does not take all day, setain is available in most grocery stores in that section where all the tofu and kimchi live, I don’t eat pork anymore and even if you do this an interesting and tasty take on a classic, and as for the Chinese vegetarian stir fry sauce… as with all other Asian sauces — 99 Ranch is where it’s at, or an online retailer if you don’t have a 99 Ranch or Asian market in your neck of the woods.
Needless to say, these were super tasty. They lean heavy on the salt and sweet, but just serve them with a big pile of simply stir-fried and dressed bok choy or sauteed celery, broccoli, whatever you have that is green, and they are fabulous.
Hope you try them out!
Chinese steam buns have long been a favorite treat of mine. There was a Chinese bakery just down the block from my apartment when I lived in San Francisco where you could buy one for $1.50. I had to stop myself from going every day. These are reminiscent of those or any you get in a dim sum shop or local bakery with the sticky sweet savory filling and fluffy bun exterior, but they are vegan!
I am pretty excited for the return to China for F1 this year. In addition to these bao I am thinking about going back through the archives and making some dishes from years past! If you’d like to see some more Chinese Recipes check out the Countries page or go straight to China :) You can also try, by far the most popular recipe on this blog, the Sichuan Peppercorn Cocktail which packs a punch and is like nothing you’ve probably tried before!
Vegan Char Siu Bao (BBQ Seitan Steamed Buns)
Makes 12 large bao buns
For the dough
2 ¼ teaspoons (one ¼ ounce packet) instant dry yeast
1 cup lukewarm water
3 teaspoons sugar, divided
3 cups (360-400g) all-purpose unbleached flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon canola oil or mild vegetable oil
For the filling
1 pound Seitan (2 boxes of 8 oz Chik’n variety works well here)
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup Shaoxing Chinese cooking wine
¼ cup Chinese vegetarian stir fry sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Prep: Cut out 12, three inch wide squares of parchment paper and set aside for now.
Depending on how long your oven takes to preheat... if it takes 10-15 minutes, start it now, if it takes only 2-3 minutes, wait. Heat oven to 375°F and lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch baking dish for the BBQ seitan filling.
Make the dough: Sprinkle the instant dry yeast over the warm water in a measuring cup; add 1 teaspoon sugar and stir gently, set aside for 3 to 4 minutes as yeast begins to foam.
In a mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder, 2 teaspoons sugar, and salt. Form a well in the center. When the yeast mixture is foamy, pour into the well in the flour, add the oil and stir together with a wooden spoon until a a soft dough is formed. Then using your hands gather the dough into a ball and knead until it is no longer sticky, about 2-3 minutes. If necessary add a teaspoon of flour at a time until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. The dough should be moist, but not sticky.
Turn the dough onto a large clean work surface and knead for about 4 minutes or until very smooth; the dough should not need any flour to keep it from sticking to the surface, but if necessary sprinkle the work surface with flour until a soft smooth dough is achieved. Pour the remaining teaspoon of oil into the mixing bowl or bread tub, add the dough and roll the ball in the oil to coat. Use plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel to tightly cover the bowl, top with another kitchen towel to keep out any drafts and let rest in a warm place for about an hour.
Prepare the Filling: While the dough is resting, prepare the seitan filling. (If you waited to heat your oven, do so now.
Dice the seitan into 1/4 inch pieces, then transfer to the prepared baking dish. Whisk together the remaining ingredients (except for the cornstarch) to make the marinade. Pour half of the marinade over the seitan and combine to coat with the sauce. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the marinade is bubbling and the seitan is browned. Remove from the oven and set aside for a few minutes.
In a large saucepan whisk together the remaining marinade and the cornstarch. Stir in the roasted seitan, cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sauce has thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
At this point prepare the bao dough for shaping and filling. Punch down the dough, and knead a few times, then take out of the mixing bowl and place on a lightly floured large work surface, slice the dough in half with a sharp knife. Return half back to the bowl and keep covered with plastic wrap or the kitchen towel. The dough should be soft but not sticky (add additional flour to the work surface only if the dough starts to stick). Use your palms to roll the dough into a tube about 12 inches long and slice into 6 pieces. Press a piece of dough with your finger or a rolling pin into a circle about 4 ½ to 5 inches wide and about ¼ thick. Repeat with remaining dough. Set up your steamer and get it ready to steam.
Assemble the bao: I recommend assembling four at a time, and then assembling another four while the initial four are steaming. (These instructions are directly from Terry Hope Romero, I attempted my best, I also wish you luck!) “Place a dough circle in your non-dominate hand and place a heaping 2 tablespoons of filling in the center. With your other hand take a generous pinch of dough from the edge of the circle and pull it away from the center; do it again right next to your first pinch, then pinch the two points together bending the dough toward the filling. Repeat this grab, pinch, and bend technique, taking care to pinch all of the ends together to form a big fat point. Work around the entire circle this way until you have something that resembles a little pleated, peaked pouch of dough. Grab and pinch any ungathered ends of the dough and give the whole thing a firm pinch and a twist to seal the top of the bao. Don’t sweat it if your bao are not completely air tight: all dough adventures take practice to be perfect, just relax and enjoy the act of pinching something cute that won’t pinch back.” Place each completed bao on a square of parchment paper.
Steam 3-4 bao at a time depending on the size of your steamer, for a 10-12 steamer four should fit well. Steam each batch of bao for 14 to 16 minutes; cooked bao will feel firm yet puffy and should spring back when poked. Make sure to leave space between the bao when steaming as they will easily expand to double their original size. Serve bao hot.
Adapted from Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero