Scallion Sesame Garlic Sourdough Steamed Bao

I first saw this type of shaped steamed bao when I borrowed Kristina Cho’s book called Mooncakes and Milkbread from the library.  My brother in law then emailed me a recipe for them out of the blue so I decided to make them.  Unfortunately my brother in law is no where near us so I’m unable to share this with him.  I’m pretty happy with how they turned out even if I didn’t do the twisting of the strips of dough prior to shaping them.

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For six bao

Overnight Levain

In a large jar, combine all purpose flour, water, ripe sourdough starter, and sugar. Cover the jar loosely and let the levain ripen overnight at warm room temperature (I keep mine around 74°F to 76°F/23°C to 24°C).  After 10-12 hours it should have peaked between 3-3.5x.

In The Morning

In a mixing bowl, add the water, milk, sugar, corn starch, oil and salt, mix to dissolve.  Add the tangzhong and stiff sweet levain and using a silicone spatula, cut the levain into small pieces.  Add the baking powder and flour.  Mix to form a shaggy dough.  Allow to rest for 10 mins.  On your countertop knead the dough until good gluten development.  This is a very stiff dough that will be challenging for your home mixer to knead.  Remove some dough for aliquot jar to follow rise.  Shape into a boule and rest in a covered bowl at 82°F until it has increased by 40%.

Garlic scallion oil

1/4 cup canola oil (substitute some toasted sesame seed oil)(This makes far more oil than needed, use only ¼ to ½ of this amount at most)

2 garlic cloves sliced 

⅛ cup finely chopped scallions 

½ teaspoon flaky salt

To make the oil: While the dough is rising, make the garlic scallion oil by heating the oil, garlic and scallions over medium-high heat until sizzling, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a heatproof container, and set aside until ready to use.  Remove the garlic slices prior to using, you can pass the oil through a sieve to remove the garlic and scallions as long as you have enough fresh scallions for shaping.

Prepare six 4” parchment squares.

After bulk fermentation, transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface. Roll out the dough to a roughly 10 × 16-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the garlic scallion oil and sprinkle the crisp scallions, some additional fresh scallions and sesame seeds to taste and salt evenly over the surface. Fold the dough into thirds, like a letter so you end up with a long narrow strip of folded dough and not a square of dough. Pat out any trapped air pockets as you fold.  Brush oil on the top of the dough.  Flatten and roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a roughly 10 × 16-inch rectangle. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. (Don't be tempted to skip this step, as the dough will not stretch out as easily without a proper rest.)

Cut the dough into six equal-width strips (1 ½ × 10 inches), then cut in half into 1 ½ × 5-inch strips. Stack two strips of dough on top of each other and press lengthwise down the center of the dough with a chopstick. Pinch the two short ends of the dough with either hand, gently lengthen and stretch the dough, then twist the dough into a spiral. While securely holding onto one end, twist the dough around the pinching fingers, then pinch to secure the other end to the dough (see photos). Place the formed bun on a square of parchment paper. Cover with a damp, clean kitchen towel and let rest in a warm spot until they are 1 ½ times larger.

Cover the shaped bao with a damp cloth and place in a warm place and allow them to ferment until they pass the poke test.  Using an aliquot jar they should reach 120-125% rise.

Prepare your steamer setup and bring water to a boil.  Working in batches if necessary, arrange buns in the bamboo steamer spacing 2” apart.  Steam over boiling water for 10 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave the buns in the covered steamer for 5 more minutes to prevent collapsing.  (I left them in the steamer and on the same stove element turned off). Do not lift the lid of the steamer, doing so will cause a sudden drop in temperature that can cause the buns to collapse or wrinkle or dent.  Remove the buns from the steamer and allow them to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  

Buns can be kept in an airtight container (a resealable bag works great) at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Room temperature buns can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds or steamed for about 2 minutes, until soft and warmed through. Reheat frozen buns by steaming until soft and warmed through, 10 to 15 minutes.

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