Easy Vegan Bao Buns Recipe – Soft, steamed homemade plant-based Buns
Fluffy, pillowy, and completely plant-based—this Easy Vegan Bao Buns Recipe brings a delightful Asian-inspired treat to your kitchen.
Equipment
- Steamer
Ingredients
1 cup = 250 ml
FOR MAKING BAO BUNS
- 1 +1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp Yeast (we have used instant yeast)
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tsp oil + little more
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Water as required
FOR MAKING STUFFING
- 2 Cups mix veggies finely chopped - we have used carrots, green beans, capsicum & cabbage
- 1/2 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp sweet corns
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp soya sauce
- 1 tbsp green or red chilli sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp oil
FOR GARNISH
- Carrot & capsicum Juliennes
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- For MAKING DOUGH, sift all purpose flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl.
- Add yeast, sugar and oil.
- Mix with hand initially without adding water.
- Then start adding water but little at a time and start kneading dough.
- Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes and once the dough is ready, apply oil in the bowl and put the dough.
- Also apply oil on the dough as well.
- Cover tightly and put the bowl at some warm place in the kitchen for 2 hours. However this duration may vary depending upon weather.
- While the dough is resting, let's PREPARE THE STUFFING and for that heat oil in a pan and add ginger garlic paste and onion.
- Saute on high heat but don't let the crunch of onions go.
- Add mix veggies (carrot, green beans, cabbage and capsicum) and mix. Also add sweetcorns.
- Then add salt, black pepper powder, red chilli flakes, soya sauce, red or green chili sauce, vinegar and tomato ketchup.
- Saute on high heat but don't let the veggies turn completely soft.
- Stuffing is ready, keep aside.
- Now going back to the dough, after 2 hours, dough must have been doubled in size.
- Knead it again just for a minute.
- Divide the dough in 8 equal proportions and then turn them into balls between your palm.
- Roll each ball into a small flat disk using rolling pin. Dust dry flour if needed.
- Apply oil on each of the disk.
- Fold it turning into D shape.
- Very gently roll it again but keeping the shape intact.
- Cover them and put on rest for 45 minutes.
- Now put each one, place on a piece of butter paper.
- Put into the steamer keeping a distance from one another. But add only as much number of buns as your steamer can accommodate. Our's is a small one so only 2 buns could be made in one go.
- Steam cook for 13 minutes. Likewise cook the entire batch.
- Take off from the steam and very gently remove the butter paper. Bao buns are ready.
- Fill them with the prepared stuffing.
- Top with carrot and capsicum Juliennes and white sesame seeds.
Notes
- You can try this recipe with whole wheat flour as well.
- We used Instant yeast which needed no prior activation. But if you are using Active Yeast, activate it first. Details are given here.
- There is no hard and fast rule as to the stuffing.