Banh Bao

1 minute read

Updated:

I took another stab at making banh bao again. This time, I made filled buns using egg and ground turkey.

Some things I tweaked this time around:

  • Less yeast, to avoid proofing too quickly
  • Steaming for less time
  • Steaming at full boil

The results are better than the last time. The dough was able to keep its shape after baking. I think the bao I made were smaller than recipes expected and the steam times they gave were too much.

I’ll definitely keep trying these, now that I’m getting the hang of it. It’s an easy way to package a complete meal that’s portable and ready to go.

Banh Bao:

Recipe

Ingredient Baker’s %
Flour 100%
Water 55%
Sugar 15%
Oil 5%
Baking powder 3%
Yeast 2%
Salt 1.5 %

Technique

  1. Activate yeast, with sugar and liquid (water or milk).
  2. Mix everything together and knead until smooth. Knead only until it’s smooth and has tacky surface.
  3. Proof until doubled, ~60-90 minutes.
  4. Split the dough into balls.
    • If plain, roll as a ball and get a tight skin.
    • If filled, roll real thin, and fill.
  5. Proof for second rise, ~45 minutes.
  6. Steam at rolling boil until finished, ~7 min.
  7. Cool on rack.

Tips

  • With 100 g flour, 4 balls will be 43 gram
    • These will make the smallest reasonable size
    • Steam for 7 minute
    • Larger bao found in stores are probably 2.5-3x.
  • This will be a stiffer dough