Bao buns with stir-fried chicken

Bao buns are typical steamed rolls from Asian cuisine that you can fill with whatever you like, although they are most commonly filled with meat and vegetables. They are a healthy way to liven up a lunch or dinner, which is why Leti, author of Revelando Sabores, brings us a delicious recipe to make them. We guarantee you'll love making them and even more enjoying them!

By now most of you have probably tried baos thousands of times. No, I don't mean the ones we use eucalyptus for to clear the nose, but the ones that are, without a doubt, the trendy sandwiches.

Especially if you live in big cities you'll be tired of seeing them everywhere, as it's rare to find a restaurant or bar that doesn't include them on the menu. There are even restaurants dedicated exclusively to preparing these delicious bites.

But those of you, like me, who live in small towns, you may not have had the chance to try them yet (or maybe you hadn't even heard of them, let's be honest).

So for those who don't know exactly what they are, I'll tell you that they are sandwiches originating from Taiwan, which we find at street food stalls, and whose rolls are made by steaming, which gives us buns with a very soft and fluffy texture.

Although the traditional filling consists of low-temperature cooked meat, today I bring them filled with chicken that I prepared in the wok de acero de Ken Hom and served with vegetables. But the filling for these buns allows a thousand possibilities; we can use whatever best suits our tastes. I even think they'd be delicious filled with chocolate spread for the kids' (or grown-ups') snack time.

To make these delicious bao buns, I used the vaporera de bambú de Ken Hom which I'm very happy with, and besides being easy to use, it doesn't get messy, and if we place a little parchment paper on the steamer bases when cooking, there will be hardly any cleaning. And steaming can't be healthier!

Rallador Zester Microplane, Spirelli 2.0 spiral cutter by Gefu, Boska cutting board, Set of two ramekins Le Creusetand wok de acero carbono Ken Hom.

Ingredients

For the bao buns:

• 250gr pastry flour
• 100ml whole milk
• 50ml water
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 20gr sugar
• 3gr dry baker's yeast
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (like Royal)

For the filling:

• 500gr boneless chicken thighs
• 1 carrot
• 1 red pepper
• ½ onion
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• ½ cucumber
• 3 or 4 radishes
• Cilantro
• A handful of peanuts
• Zest of ½ lime
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

Preparation

For the bao buns:

1. Place in a bowl the flour along with the milk, water, yeast, salt, sugar, vinegar and oil.
2. If you are going to knead by hand, mix the ingredients in the bowl until well combined, at which point turn the dough out onto the countertop and knead until you obtain a smooth and shiny dough
3. If kneading with the Kitchen Aid, pour the ingredients into the bowl and, with the paddle attachment at speed 2, mix until the ingredients are well combined. At that point change the paddle for the dough hook and, at speed 2, knead until the dough is smooth and shiny.
4. Once the dough is ready, shape it into a ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with cling film and let it rise in a warm place away from drafts for about 1 hour.
5. Once it has doubled in size, turn the dough out onto the countertop and, pressing gently with your fingertips, remove the gas and sprinkle baking powder over the surface. Knead a few minutes to incorporate the baking powder well.
6. Next, shape it into a ball again and let it rest for 5 minutes
7. After this time, using a bench scraper or a very sharp knife, divide the dough into 6 portions of about 60gr each. You can weigh each portion so they are all the same size.
8. Shape each portion into a ball and let them rest a few minutes.
9. After this time roll out each dough ball using a rolling pin until you obtain a thickness of approximately 4 mm, and shape it into an oval.
10. Once the dough is rolled out, place a small piece of baking paper on half of the oval and fold the other half over it (so you will get a shape similar to a turnover with the baking paper between the two parts).
11. Form the rest of the bao buns in the same way.
12. Next line the base of the steamer with parchment paper to prevent the buns from sticking to the bamboo base and place the bao buns in the steamer.
13. Cover the steamer and let them rise about 20 minutes
14. When the resting time is over, heat water over medium heat in a saucepan with a diameter similar to the steamer and, once it begins to steam, place the steamer over the saucepan.
15. Keep the saucepan on medium heat and leave the steamer on it for about 10 minutes.
16. After this time remove the steamer from the saucepan and let rest about 5 minutes without opening the steamer.
17. Remove the bao buns from the steamer, remove the parchment paper that separates the two parts of the bun and they are ready to fill.

Vaporera de bambú Ken Hom, adjustable rolling pin Joseph&Joseph and Bérard flour scoop.

For the filling:

1. We start by preparing the sauce. To do this mix in a bowl the soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, grated ginger and cornstarch.
2. With a very sharp knife cut the chicken, the pepper and the onion into strips about 1 cm thick.
3. Cut the cucumber and carrot using the spiral cutter. Set aside.
4. Slice the radishes thinly and set aside.
5. Heat the wok with the sesame oil and once very hot, add the chicken strips and stir-fry until you see they change color. At that moment remove them from the wok and add the pepper, onion and carrot.
6. Stir-fry for a few minutes until you see they are cooked but still “al dente”.
7. Return the chicken to the wok and add the sauce you had reserved.
8. Keep on the heat for a few minutes until the ingredients are well combined and remove from the heat.
9. Proceed to fill the bao buns with a bit of the chicken from the wok, some radish slices, some cucumber spirals, a few cilantro leaves, a little lime zest (with the Microplane grater you'll get it quickly and cleanly, I'm hooked on it, hehe) and a few crushed peanuts.

Notes

• In my opinion bao buns are best freshly made, so while the dough rests, we can chop the filling ingredients and while the bao buns are steaming, prepare the chicken in the wok, so that when the buns finish cooking the filling is ready.
• If we need to reheat the bao buns, the best way is to put them back in the steamer for a couple of minutes, never in the microwave, as it dries them out too much.

Vaporera de bambú Ken Hom, Le Creuset ceramic ramekins, Boska cutting board and wok de acero carbono Ken Hom.

Although today I brought you a somewhat long recipe, I assure you it is easier to make than to read straight through, so I can only encourage you to prepare it. And I can't think of a better plan for this summer that's already here than an outdoor dinner with good company and these delicious bao buns.

Enjoy!