Pumpkin Vegetarian Steam Buns (南瓜包子）

This is a soft and fluffy pumpkin steam bun. In chinese we called it bao zi '包子' I never make vegeterian filling steam bao zi before. Last week i made some wholemeal bao zi* for my youngest to bring to school as snack. His teacher 'Mrs Singh' is a vegetarian ask me if i could make some bao zi with vegetable fillings only, I am ever happy to make some for her.

*(will share in my next post)

I made these pumpkin skin bao zi into vegetarian steam buns. A few days later i made some pumpkin bao zi with vegetable fillings and sent 4 of them to Teacher Singh. She loves it!! Yay!!

Soft and fluffy skin with loaded vegetarian filling ..

I steamed them in a wok with a big piece of cloth wrapping the wok cover to prevent vapor form dripping onto the bao zi. (here)

Pumpkin Vegetarian Steam Buns
Recipe adapted from '包 PAUS' by Coco Kong
Makes 14

Ingredients for steam bun skin:

A. (mixed just prior to using)
2 tsp instant yeast
100-120ml water (i use 110ml)

B.
280g pau flour
100g icing sugar
20g shortening (i use Crisco)
160g sweet potato - peel, steam and mash whist hot (i use pumpkin - washed and steamed the pumpkin skin on. When it is cooked just scoop the flesh out with a spoon)
1 tsp double action baking powder

Vegetable filling:
200g long bean
4 pcs tau kwa (yellow bean curd) - slice into cubes
3 pcs chinese mushroom (shitake) - washed, soaked and cut into cubes, keep the soaked water*
1/2 carrot - shredded
2 cloves garlic - chopped

Seasoning:
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 tsp pepper
5 tbsp water (use the soaked water)

14 paper cup cases (flattened)

To Do:
Prepared the filling first:
Heat wok with some oil. Add in chopped garlic, stir fry till fragrance. Add into long bean and salt. (the saltiness depends on individual taste but this filling have to be a bit saltier than your normal taste because the bao zi skin is slightly more to the sweet side) Add other ingredients and seasoning fry well. Lastly add the mushroom stock and stir fry for a while then add in pepper. Dish up, cool well.

For skin:

Combine ingredients B in the big mixing bowl. Add in ingredients A, mix well invert onto a work top and knead with your palms for 2 minutes till dough is shinny and soft. Return the dough into the big mixing bowl (oiled it) cover with a piece of cloth, proof for 30 minutes. Divide into 48g each part. (i add all the ingredients in the bread maker pan and let the machine do all the mixing and kneading. I use dough mode which take about 20 minutes)

I normally steamed the pumpkin with skin on and scoop out the flesh later. So easy that i don't need to peel the skin which is very very hard :p

To Shape:

Flatten the 50g dough into a round shape with the side thinner then the center. Ensure the center is slightly bulge. Place 2 tablespoons of filling and gather the edges by sealing the opening and lay the sealed part upwards on a flatten paper cup case. Repeat process to the rest. Cover the wrapped bao zi with a piece of cloth and proof for 30-40 minutes. (i proof mine for 20 minutes)
Bring water to a rapid boil. Arrange the bao zi onto the steaming rack and put into the wok. Steam over medium heat for 10 minutes

There is two ways of pleating the bao zi. Which type do you like ?

ENJOY~

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids and me, my little favourite DIY , hosted by Eileen from Eileen's Diary.

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Our Little Thumbs Up event starts on the first Tuesday until the last day of the month. Please join us! To join, simply cook or bake any recipe with the theme of the month which is PUMPKIN for October 2014 and link with us at this post anytime until 31st October 2014.

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What after October 2014? We will have a Personal Break in November and a Christmas Break in December. We will be back in January 2015 with our awesome host Annie from My Bare Cupboard with her theme - Noodles and Pasta..

and link this post to "My Treasured Recipes #3 - Taste of Autumn (Oct/Nov 2014)" hosted by Miss B, Everybody Eats Well in Flanders & co-hosted by, Charmaine, Mimi Bakery House

and linking this post with :

Cook-Your-Books #17 @ kitchen flavours