Steamed Black Sesame Vegetable Buns 黑芝麻菜包

An antioxidant rich sweet steamed buns with savoury mixed vegetable fillings. A healthy meal to enjoy :)

Yield: 16 pieces of 8cm diameter buns

Ingredients

330~350g turnip, cut into strips, or shred 

30g carrot, cut into thin strips, 4cm long

2 soaked shiitake mushroom, cut, 40g

5 soaked black fungus, cut, 20g

15g garlic, minced, about 4 cloves

5g dried shrimps, 1 tbsp

50ml warm water

Seasoning

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp seasoning powder

Pepper to taste

1/2 tsp potato starch

1 tbsp water

Direction

1. Stir fry garlic and dried shrimps in hot oil at medium high temperature.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir-fry till vegetable starts to soften.

3. Add in about 50ml of water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover with a lid and let it simmer till all ingredients thoroughly softened.

4. Add in the seasonings and adjust according to your preferred taste.

4. Mix corn starch with water and pour into the pot to thicken the mixture.

5. Dish out the vegetables into an open container to cool down before use.

Black sesame dough

Ingredients：

290g all purpose flour

3 tsp corn flour

1 tbsp roasted black sesame powder  

60g fine sugar

1 1/4 tsp instant dry yeast

1/4 heap tsp salt 

1 tsp Double-action baking powder

30g vegetable oil 

120~140g water

Direction ：

1. Cut about 16 pieces of 6cm square paper. I used oil-absorbing tempura papers.

2. Toast a tbsp black sesame seeds at 150 degree Celsius for about 3 minutes, or till fragrant. While the seeds are still hot, grind the seeds using a grooved motar, and a spoon. This helps to release the nice aroma of the sesame seeds.

2. Mix all the ingredients, except the water, together in a mixing bowl.

 

3. Add in the water, leaving about 2 tsp of water behind.  Stir in one direction till a lump of dough is formed. Use you hands to combine all the crumbs together. If the dough is too dry to form a lump, the add in the remaining water.

Try to keep the dough dry, as a soft wet dough has difficulty to hold the bun shape after steaming.

4. Start kneading the dough till it becomes smooth and elastic. This takes about 15 minutes.

5. Place the dough in a mixing bowl, spray some water, cover with a lid, and let it proof for about 30 minutes.

6. After 1/2 an hour, turn out the dough to a floured work top. Deflate the dough by pressing down with your palm.

Divide the doughs into 16 equal portions.

7. Roll the individual dough into balls.

8. Take a small dough ball, press down. 

Roll it into flat dough with the middle thicker than the edge.

9. Place a scoop of mixed vegetable filling in the middle of the dough skin.

Wrap up and pinch to seal. Place the raw bun over a piece of papers and let it

proof for another 1/2 an hour.

10. Cover the proofing buns with a lid to prevent drying out.  

11. Steam the buns over medium heat for 5 minutes. 

After the first 5 minutes, open a narrow opening, lower the heat to medium low. Continue to steam for 5 minutes.

After the 2nd 5 minutes steaming, turn off the heat and let the buns sit in the steamer for another 5 minutes.

This helps to reduce "wrinkles" from developing on the dough skin.

12. Remove the buns from the steamer and cool on a wire rack.

13. Enjoy when the buns are warm :)

Recipe adapted from Regina Lee FB post