Chinese ba ozi "包子" , or simply ba o "包"
8 servings
20 minutes
Chinese baozi «包子», or simply bao «包», are traditional Chinese fluffy buns with filling, steamed to perfection. Their history traces back to ancient China, where they were considered symbols of wealth and prosperity. Baozi have a tender, airy dough colored with spinach and a juicy meat filling seasoned with aromatic spices, creating a harmonious balance of flavors. They are perfect for breakfast, a light snack, or festive treats. Bao can be served with soy sauce to enhance their rich taste. These buns not only delight the taste buds but also provide a sense of comfort and homely warmth. They are made with love, paying special attention to the texture of the dough to ensure it is soft and elastic. Baozi are a small masterpiece of Chinese cuisine that combines simplicity and sophistication.
1
We start by preparing the dough, for this we first need to prepare the dye from spinach. Boil the spinach, then make a puree from it using any method convenient for you, either with a masher or in a blender.
- Spinach: 100 g
- Water: 100 ml
2
Dissolve dry yeast in water and add it to the spinach puree, mix, then add flour. Knead the dough thoroughly!
- Fresh yeast: 10 g
- Wheat flour: 350 g
3
We let the dough rest for 20-30 minutes and mix it again. Once the dough starts to rise, we can start preparing our baozi, while we prepare the fillings in the meantime.
4
We cut the cabbage into small squares. We salt the cabbage and leave it for 10-15 minutes to release juice, then place it on a napkin and towel to make it as dry as possible.
- White cabbage: 100 g
5
Finely chopped onion, carrot, ginger are sautéed in sunflower oil, then pork mince, pepper, and soy sauce are added.
- Onion: 30 g
- Carrot: 30 g
- Ginger: 10 g
- Pork: 100 g
- White peppercorns: to taste
- Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon
6
Fry the minced meat until it turns white, remove from heat, and add cabbage, sugar, and a little salt. Now we proceed to the process of forming baozi.
- White cabbage: 100 g
- Sugar: 1 teaspoon
- Salt: 1 teaspoon
7
We start by removing bubbles from the dough, otherwise we won't be able to shape the desired ba ozys, and during cooking, they will lose their shape and look unattractive. To do this, we roll out the dough with a rolling pin, like for dumplings, but it resembles making puff pastry — rolling the dough, we fold it, then roll it out again and fold it again. We repeat this operation about 10 times — then our dough will acquire a uniform structure without bubbles, and we can make ba ozys from it.
- Wheat flour: 350 g
8
Then everything is like with regular manti — cut a piece of dough, form it into a ball, and roll it into a flatbread.
9
We place the filling in the center and pinch the edges at the top.
10
First, we place baking paper in the steamer so that our Chinese dumplings do not stick to it.
- Vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon
11
We take our prepared dough and place it with the sealed top down, so that the smooth and even part is on top.
12
After placing everything in the steamer, we let it rise for 15-20 minutes — during this time, the dough will increase slightly in volume.
13
Cook for about 20 minutes and, most importantly, do not open the lid during cooking, or the dough may fall. Even after cooking, do not open the lid for another 5 minutes. After that, we can take out our ba ozy.
14
29.09.2012 Alexey Parovarov