Bao without an oven

I was so inspired and moved by the response to PalwithnoovenP's challenge that I belatedly present my own entry.

There's a cooking blog I enjoy reading called Guai Shu Shu. I like this blog because the writer posts a lot of "home-style" recipes from various parts of south-east Asia (e.g. Singapore, Malaysia). I am really interested in the flavour combinations and cooking techniques from this region.

Recently this blogger posted a recipe for a small batch of steamed buns or bao. I decided this was the perfect choice for Pal's challenge to make bread without an oven.

The actual recipe mis-specifies the quantity of flour. It's described variously as either 9 or 12, or maybe up to 16, tablespoons, with 12-15 tablespoons of water. This gave me a very wet dough, so I just added flour until it seemed right. As a result, I wasn't sure how much dough was required for each bao. I also reduced the sugar to 1 tablespoon.

I really liked the idea of mixing the dough with a chopstick! I've never tried this before. It was surprisingly effective in developing a smooth dough.

Pre-shaped before a 15 minute rest:

The image at the top of the post shows them shaped into buns.

I left most of the bao plain, but filled some with about a teaspoon of peanut butter - fairly non-traditional, I admit, but I like to think in keeping with the spirit of the recipe! I invented some kind of sushi-bao fusion too - I put a small piece of avocado in one.

Proofed - maybe overproofed? I reshaped a couple of the plain ones that were especially 'relaxed' before steaming.

I know from experience steaming frozen packaged buns that I can only fit two or three in my steamer, so cooking was a bit of a slow process.

Non-traditional, but a winner! I liked that they had a looser crumb than is usual. I suspect this might be more controversial than my fillings.

Enjoyed with a delicious black bean stew, and the jealous, longing face of my lovely dog, Bruce.

Thanks for the motivation to give these a try, Pal!