In case I never mentioned it, I am crazy for dumplings. If you’re a dim sum lover you’ve probably tasted some version of steamed Chinese buns which come in many fabulous varieties, from soupy and delicate xiao long bao to the dense and chewy jiaozi.
I do love them all, but my favorite variety are the light and fluffy baozi that come loaded with flavorful bursts of either sweet red bean or savory meat/vegetable stuffing.
In China you can find baozi almost anywhere, whether at a 7/11 convenience store or in the supermarket for a quick snack anytime of day. In the past few months I have tried baozi many times, as you can imagine, but hands down the best I’ve ever tasted are vegetarian baozi at a tiny little hole in the wall place Jia Ching discovered in the Huangpu neighborhood in Shanghai.
The light airy texture and slightly chewy consistency of the bun is the perfect package for the gloriously flavorful steamed vegetables and tofu in the middle.
As you might remember I’m a recently reformed tofu-hater, and this bun is one of the tastes of tofu that turned me around.
During our second visit to Shanghai for the Expo, I decided to make the most of our time and sign us up for a cooking lesson on dumplings at Chinese Cooking Workshop. Our teacher was an enthusiastic and serious woman with a true talent for rolling dough. We were certainly put to work for two frenzied hours of rolling, stuffing and pinching buns, but the pay-off was huge…and I mean HUGE…we made dozens of baozi to take home with us and share with our friends the next day.
class is in session!
step one: prepare your stuffing and keep it simple with chopped veggies, baked tofu combined with a touch of oil, salt and sugar.
step two: make the world’s simplest dough. flour, yeast, water. that’s it! but get ready to roll…fold…roll…fold….roll…and on and on
step three: when you’ve achieved the proper smooth and dense consistency break the dough off into even-sized little blobs.
step four: squish the doughy blob flat with your hand and then use your rolling pin to roll it out into a palm-sized pancake with even thickness. it takes some practice to get them right!
step five: put a heaping spoonful of filling into the pancake, resting the whole thing in the crease of your fingers (not your palm)
step six: here’s where it gets tricky…and fun. gather the edge of the dough in a circular motion, pinching it in Zs. if you think you’re screwing up, i say don’t despair and just keep going because you can always patch it at the end.
step seven: twist and shout! and repeat…
step eight: steam those boys up and get your dipping sauce ready. i suggest a simple chopped scallion and chopped ginger doused with some soy, vinegar and a drop of sesame oil.
step nine: find friends to feed, grab some beers (not pictured) and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
To be honest, although it is a fun and wonderfully social cooking process, I’m not sure I’ll be motivated to go through all the work to make my own buns as long as I’m still in China. Maybe when I get back to California and can’t find vegetarian buns I’ll get started again.
