Fire and Water
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning that, at no cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Read more here.
Jump to RecipeUPDATE - Since I first tried this recipe, I took another look at improving it. I wasn't too pleased with the color of the bun: a direct result of unbleached flour, making it grey more than white. I replaced the unbleached AP flour with bleached flour. Not as healthy, but you eat with the eyes too. Secondly, it is crucial to not overfill the buns. Using less filling will give the buns more room to proof and create a smoother skin. Follow these steps and you'll get a bun that looks as good as it tastes.
Bapao or Steamed, Filled Buns
When I think of baking, I think of a hot oven, heat, and fire. I think of a brown, golden, crunchy and crispy crust. Especially with breads, I think, the crispier and darker the crust, the better. But these steamed filled bapao buns are everything but that.
There are alternatives to using the oven to bake a bread. Steam can create something equally delicious. And for some reason, the soft bread roll you get when you steam a bun will defy what you expect it to be. It will not be a soggy, sticky, wet mess.
Instead, you get a beautiful white bun, filled with a tasty, spicy filling. Only slightly sticky, because let’s face it – you’re steaming a bun. This is not a typical roll to make. First, it’s not baked, but steamed. It will filled to the absolute max with a wonderful filling – a savory meat filling today – and the taste is also not what you expect. It is a sticky kind of soft. So, what is it exactly?
Bapao, Gua Bao, Mantao: Baozi
What we’ll be making today is commonly referred to as baozi or bao. A baozi is a type of filled bun, using yeast to leaven, and most often steamed. The O.G. role is mantou, a plain, unfilled and steamed white bun from Northern China.
Where To Go and What to Get
You find these types of buns throughout all of China and Indonesia. The bigger buns, Dàbāo, are sold for take-out or through street vendors, and measure 3 inches/10cm across. The smaller buns, Xiǎobāo, are 2 inches/5 cm across, and are typically found in restaurants. They’re filled with either sweet or savory fillings.
For savory, you find beans or meat. Pork as a meat filling you mainly find in China. Beef is the preferred choice in Indonesia because of the dietary restrictions. Your savory ones you serve with chili sauce, vinegar or soy sauce. I have made mine with ground turkey meat: a fantastic choice, but go with the leaner version as the 85% Lean (let alone the 80%) have a lot of grease that will leak out.
Indonesian Bapao
Today, we make an Indonesian Bapao. When I still lived in the Netherlands, I worked in the bakery while I was going to school. The bakery sold pre-made bapao, you would just have to heat up in a microwave. I have had quite a few of those as a snack or as lunch, and today, I want to recreate those. I have seen quite a few recipes for the Chinese bao buns, but I want to make the roll that is more popular in the Netherlands: the Indonesian bapao. For this recipe, you’ll need a steaming basket.
Indonesian Ground Beef-Filled Bapao
Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 300 grams all-purpose flour preferably bleached
- 6 grams yeast
- 6 grams salt
- 10 grams sugar
- 50 ml oil
- 175 ml water
Filling
- 500 grams ground beef
- 1 bag of spinach
- 30 grams sweet soy sauce (ketjap or thick sweet soy)
- 15 grams sambal
- ½ onion (finely diced)
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
Instructions
Preparing the Dough.
- Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the yeast to one side, and the salt, sugar and oil to the other. Add the water and mix to form a coarse dough.
- When all ingredients are incorporated, tip over your bowl on a clean counter top and knead for about 8-10 minutes. If your dough feels dry or particularly tough to knead, add water by the table spoon, and knead before you add more.
- After kneading for 8-10 minutes, your dough should be soft and smooth.
- Grease a bowl with a neutral oil and place your dough in the bowl. Cover with a towel or cling wrap and leave to prove about an hour or until doubled in size.
Prepare the filling.
- In a frying pan, add a little bit of cooking oil and brown your ground beef. Add the spices.
- When your meat is almost cooked, add the spinach and cook for a few minutes.
- Once done, tip your meat into a bowl and store until you're ready to fill the buns. If you need time to do that, make sure to store your meat in the fridge.
- Prepare six pieces of parchment paper in your steaming baskets.
Fill the Buns.
- Once the dough has proved, tip over the bowl and drop the dough on your bench.
- Roll your dough into a long roll. Cut the roll in six equal pieces.
- Quickly form six balls by flattening one of the six pieces, and folding one corner of the dough towards the middle. Pinch to make sure it sticks. Grab the opposite corner and fold towards the middle. Repeat until you have a tight little dough ball.Shape into a perfect ball by cupping the piece of dough in your hand on the counter top. Leave for a few minutes to relax. Then, with a rolling pin, roll out the dough piece into a flat circle. Repeat for the remaining five pieces of dough.
- Fill each circle with the meat filling, and crimp the sides together by folding it over the filling, and pinching the edges together in the center. Make sure to not get grease or cooking fat on the inside edges: the dough will not stick anymore, and the filling will leak out. Place on a piece of parchment paper in your steaming basket with the crimped side down, and the clean, smooth side up. Repeat for the other dough balls.
- Leave to rest for about 20-30 minutes in the steaming basket under a damp towel. In the meantime, prepare a cooking pan that is only slightly smaller in diameter than your steaming baskets with 2 inches/6cm of water and bring to a boil.
- Place the baskets over the boiling water and steam the buns for 15 minutes. Do not open the baskets while they steam. Don't forget to turn down the flame under the pan: the steam is enough, and the flames of a high fire will creep up enough to blacken your steaming basket.
- Use a cooking spatula or turner (specifically one with an angle) to scoop the baos out of your steamer. Take off the parchment paper and eat warm. Enjoy!