Baozi

Every culture seems to have their own unique version of sandwich, the gyro pita in Greece, the wrap or sub in North America, the samosa in India, calzones in Italy, empanadas for Spanish cultures; for the Chinese it could be the steamed bun, or baozi, a steamed meat and/or vegetable filled dough popularly sold on many streets in China. Too, I have a liking for the Chinese sweet red bean paste found in many snacks, my brother-in-law wanted to make some for me, as I had been unsuccessful in finding any of these kind of baozi at the local Chinese supermarket (well, once, but I had forgot to bring my wallet). Not having an exact recipe for these, we decided to improvise. He could make the sweet red bean paste, and did so, he used a pressure cooker to speed the process, really it is just cooking adzuki or red beans, adding some sugar, till they become a paste. Next we needed a dough, and for this, I suggested we use the dough from the Purity Rolls I described earlier. Each 'roll' we rolled out flat, then dolloped a good amount of sweet red bean paste in the centre, then wrap the dough to make a round package, twisting to seal the bun.

Once these are all done, we filled a large wok with water, heating the wok over high heat till the water began to boil. Place a rack over the steaming water, and place the baozi on the rack. Steam the baozi for 10-12 minutes, depending on size.

Remove the baozi, let cool for a couple of minutes, and enjoy.