A bao bun is a common food item in Asian cuisine. They are these fluffy, steamed buns that can be make plain or filled with something savoury or sweet. Typically, the bun is a white, fluffy, soft bun that has a pretty mild flavour. Its role is to complement side dishes or whatever filling inside.
They are traditionally yeasted and hydrated with either water or milk. I have used both before and they are pretty interchangeable. Milk gives a slightly richer, sweeter flavour but water works perfectly well too. If you are making plain, unfilled bao buns, maybe consider using milk. But, if you are filling them with savoury blends or sweet red bean paste, then use the nuanced taste in the dough will be lost so water will work just fine.
This sourdough bao bun recipe requires an active starter. The sourdough starter provides most of the leavening in this recipe. There is also some baking powder in the recipe, which also provides leavening. I have always used baking powder in addition to whatever yeast I am using in bao recipes. There isn’t a specific reason I do this but it works out in the end. The baking powder almost gives this extra reassurance the buns will rise.
Sourdough Bao Buns
Ingredients
Levain
- 40 grams Mature Starter
- 30 grams Flour
- 30 grams Water
Dough
- 300 grams Flour AP
- 42 grams Corn Starch 14%
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 6 grams Salt 2%
- 30 grams Sugar 10%
- 100 grams Active Starter 33%
- 30 grams Neutral Oil 10%
- 135 grams Water or Milk 45%
Instructions
Make Levain
- Combine ingredients for levain. Mix until there are no dry spots.
- Cover and let levain rest at room temperature fro 6-12 hours until doubled in size.
Make Dough
- Whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder, salt and sugar.
- In a seperate bowl, combing active levain, oil and water.
- Add wet ingredients into flour mixture. Mix until flour is fully saturated and a smooth dough forms. The dough should not be sticky.
- Let dough rest covered at room temperature for 4-6 hours until it grows 1.5x in size.
- Transfer dough into fridge overnight (12-18 hours).
- Divide dough into 16 pieces ( 8 if you want larger or unfilled bao). Roll each piece into a ball.
- Let balls of dough sit on the counter for about 10 minutes to let the gluten relax.
- If you want to make filled bao, roll each dough ball into a flat circle. Spoon in filling mixute and pintch edges togther to form the bao shape.
- Let bao rest covered at room temperature for 2-4 hours until the dough can be pressed and it springs back slowly, leaving a slight indent.
- Steam over high heat for 15 minutes (17 if the bao are larger). Let bao rest in steamer for about 5 minutes.
- Transfer bao out of steamer and serve.
The ones pictured here if filled with a chicken Char Sui filling. The recipe I used is from Rasa Malaysia. You can fill your buns with any sweet or savoury filling you like. Pork and chives or red bean paste are popular fillings. Or, you can just leave then unfilled and make steamed bun to go with whatever other dishes you are making. If you are making plain steamed buns, I recommend making 8 with this recipe as opposed to 16 (unless you want little buns).
Happy baking!