Vegan dim sum?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!??!
YES!
These are a rare treat! Now that I’m vegan and can’t find restaurant or store-bought ones, they’re an even rarer treat. But that is also extra motivation to make them at home, because they’re just better home made. They just are.
Although I’m yet to get them as pretty homemade a they are store-bought.
This is a little more like a recipe review than my own. It luckily didn’t require many changes to become vegan. The dough and the sauce for the filling were already vegan (HOORAY!) I tore the original recipe out of the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light, and it has been one of my favorite recipes ever since. It can be a little time consuming, but it’s actually really easy, and I don’t think I’ve met a more worth-the-time recipe before.
I’ll give you the whole dough recipe first, but to make the most of your time, I like to make the filling during the hour in which the dough is rising. You could also choose to make the filling a day or two in advance to make your life and time management a little easier.
- 1 C warm water
- 3 T raw sugar
- 2 1/4 t yeast
- 3 1/2 C all-purpose flour, plus extra to flour your board
- 3 T canola oil
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/2 t five spice powder
- 1 pound ground “meat” crumbles, thawed
- 1/2 C sliced green onions
- 1/2 C minced fresh cilantro
- 3 T hoisin sauce
- 2 T rice vinegar
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1 1/2 t honey
- 1 t minced fresh ginger
- 1 t minced garlic
- 1/4 t salt
- Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl, and let rest five minutes so the yeast can “proof” and bubble on top.
- Then add flour, oil, and salt, and stir to combine. Place on a lightly floured cutting board, and knead for about 10 minutes. Place in a bowl thoroughly sprayed with cooking spray, move the dough around so the cooking spray coats the top of the dough, cover with a towel, and leave it be for an hour.
- Check on the dough, punch it down (yes, literally punch it with your fists – fun, eh!?), then let it rest another five minutes.
- Remove dough, knead in the 1 1/2 t baking powder for 5 minutes, and then you can start forming your bao!
- Mix everything together. The end.
- Start a steamer over a little boiling water. Line it with parchment paper, cabbage leaves, or spray generously with cooking spray. If you happen to have adorable bamboo steamers, this is the perfect use for them! But any kind of steamer will work – you just can only do these one layer at a time, so keep that in mind. You can line the steamers with parchment paper, cabbage leaves, or just spray generously with cooking spray.
- Divide the dough into 10 pieces. You’ll work with one piece at a time, and leave the others covered with a towel. Roll each piece out into a circle about 6 inches in diameter, place a spoonful of filling in the middle (about 1/4 C), pull up the sides however it’s easiest for you, and twist or seal them or fold them however you like. They seal pretty well against themselves.
- Steam for about 10-15 minutes until you can poke the outside of them and they feel glossy and set (you don’t want the outer layer of dough feeling like it will stick to your finger), and you have beautiful light fluffy barbeque-y bao!
- Calories: 257.2; Calories from Fat: 47.2; Total Fat: 5.3g; Sodium: 348mg; Total Carbohydrates: 42.9g; Dietary Fiber: 3.2g; Sugars: 5.9g; Protein: 10.2g
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