Banh Bao (Steamed Pork Buns with Quail Egg), Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener
Vietnamese dishesBreakfastNationwide180 minutes
Banh bao with pork and quail egg takes time, and that time is exactly what gives the buns their fragrance. The difficulty sits in the wrapper, since underproved dough bakes dense and overproved dough turns sour.
The dough is kneaded by stretching and folding it over many times, worked until it is soft, smooth and no longer sticky. The filling is spread thin, the Chinese sausage and quail egg set in the middle, then gathered into a ball. The buns rest 15 minutes before a steam of 10 to 12 minutes.
This batch weighs about 904g, at roughly 215 calories per 100g.
Method
Add 3g of yeast to a bowl holding 250g of flour and mix through. Add 150ml of unsweetened oat milk and 50ml of cooking oil and mix until the dry and wet come together.
Knead roughly into a mass, cover it well and rest the dough for 30 minutes. Then knead by stretching and folding it over many times until the dough is soft, smooth and no longer sticky.
Gather the dough into a ball, brush a thin film of cooking oil inside the bowl, put the dough in, cover it well and prove for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
While the dough proves, boil 9 quail eggs and peel them. Slice the Chinese sausage thinly. Soak the wood ear and shiitake mushrooms until soft and chop them fine. Chop the onion small and mince the shallot.
Mix 200g of ground pork with the wood ear, shiitake, onion and shallot and season with 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. Take a portion of filling, spread it thin, set the Chinese sausage and a quail egg in the middle, then gather it into a ball, making 9 in all.
Sift 100g of flour, 30g of milk powder, 36g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 4g of baking powder into a bowl and mix them thoroughly with a whisk.
Once the dough has doubled, press it gently to knock the air out. Add the dry mixture along with 1 egg white and knead gently until combined.
Turn the dough onto a clean surface and knead by stretching and folding it over many times until smooth. Cut the dough into 9 pieces of about 60 to 65g each.
Roll each piece round, press it flat, roll it thin and set the filling in the middle. Gather the edges tightly, turn the smooth face upward and set each bun on a small square of baking paper.
Cover the tray with plastic wrap, rest the buns for 15 minutes, then steam for 10 to 12 minutes until cooked.
Tips
Whether the wrapper turns out well comes down to the stretching and folding, worked until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky.
This wrapper rises less than a bakery one but has no hollow inside, and it holds the moisture the filling gives off during steaming.
A full hour of proving somewhere warm matters, since underproved dough bakes into a dense, hard wrapper.
Medium heat for the steaming, with the lid lifted slowly, as opening it suddenly collapses the surface.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.