Bao Tzu: recipe, types, photo

What is a baozi recipe? What kind of food is this? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. If you have visited China at least once, then you probably paid attention to these white buns, as if blissful in a pair of bamboo baskets. They are one of the most iconic dishes of Chinese cuisine, its hallmark. Some interesting recipes for Bao Tzu will be discussed below.

A bit of history

In China, on the shelves of street vendors, baozi steamers are located next to dishes with rice and noodles. Therefore, anyone can at any time eat Bao Tzu. However, in China it is traditionally believed that this dish should be consumed for breakfast. Some works on the history of Chinese cuisine indicate that Bao Tzu was invented by the commander, military strategist and statesman of the Three Kingdoms Zhuge Liang (181 - 234).

It is believed that it was he who invented the car, mines, the signal light and high-speed crossbow, as well as the mantou steam rolls, which are somewhat out of this harsh row. However, they also had a strategic military significance.

It was established that when Zhuge Liang and his army went on an expedition to the southern regions of China, a plague epidemic broke out and the soldiers died one after the other. In harsh hiking conditions, Zhuge Liang ordered to make plain pastry from water and flour, add meat stuffing, mold buns in the shape of a head and cook them together. Part of this food was sacrificed to the gods, and part was given to the soldiers to help them cope with the plague.

In southern China and Shanghai, steamed meat buns are called mantou today. In the northern regions of the country they are called baoji from "bao" ("package, envelope"). Today, mantou is increasingly being cooked without a filler, but Bao Tzu is always cooked with filling.

Bao Tzu variety

The variety of baozi is determined by the impressive selection of fillings. Connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine say that the range of fillers for Bao Tzu completely depends on the creative imagination and imagination of the cook, and nothing more.

Of course, there is a classic version - from beef and pork. The meat for the filling is marinated in a mixture of pineapple juice and soy sauce, to which black pepper, bay leaf and sugar are added.

To achieve the required density, the meat in the marinade is sent to the refrigerator for a couple of hours, and then boiled over low heat until it becomes soft enough to be pulled into fibers.

In China, baotsi stuffed with cabbage stuffed with minced pork are popular. There are great options for vegetarians - baozi with mushrooms, cabbage, doufu or pumpkin, as well as with a variety of vegetable combinations.

Dessert option. Cooking dough

Consider a very attractive baozi recipe with an adzuki bean sweet paste (anko paste). We take:

• wheat flour - four glasses;
• dry yeast - three tsp;
• baking powder - 1 tsp;
• warm water - 1 ½ tbsp .;
• sugar - two tbsp. l .;
• salt - ½ tsp;
• sesame oil.
  

This Baozi recipe suggests following these steps:

1. Combine dry yeast with sugar (1 tbsp. L.), Stir. Carefully pour warm water here (1 tbsp.), Carefully rubbing the yeast. Set aside for 15 minutes for the dough to rise.
2. Sift the flour, mix it with sugar. Add the dough and mix thoroughly. The dough should be thick enough, but not very dense. It should be such that it could be formed into buns. If necessary, add a little more water.
3. Well-kneaded dough should be elastic, soft, have a pleasant shine. When you press on it with your finger, the hole that appears should rise quickly enough.
4. Lubricate the bottom of a large bowl with sesame oil and place a bowl of dough in it. Carefully turn the dough over to spread the whole surface with butter.
5. Cover with a towel and send to a warm room so that the dough comes up. It should double in volume. Depending on the properties of the yeast, this will take an hour and a half.
6. If you send the dough to a cold place, for example, in the refrigerator, the dough will ripen for 2-3 hours, but it will turn out more tender.
7. When the dough rises once, you can precipitate it and let it rise again. This will give him great tenderness.

Anko pasta

We continue to consider the recipe for Chinese Bao Tzu. While your dough is suitable, start making anko paste (toppings from adzuki bean sweet paste). Remember that dry beans need to be soaked, so do this in advance. But you can cook pasta just in the period of waiting for the readiness of the test. Take:

• sugar - 150 ml;
• dry adzuki beans - 200 g;
• water (for soaking beans);
• vegetable oil (for frying) - 75 ml.

You must admit that this recipe for making Bao Tzu at home is not so complicated. Cook the pasta as follows:

1. Sort the beans and rinse them under running water. Soak in cool water for 4 hours, or better - at night. The softer the beans, the faster they will boil.
2. Drain the water, move the beans into a small saucepan, pour cold water, boil and cook over low heat for 1.5-2 hours. If necessary, add water so that it always covers the beans. The longer you cook the beans, the filling will be softer.
3. When the beans become soft, drain the water and break them into a homogeneous mass with a blender or a simple pusher.
4. Add sugar to the beans and mix the pasta well, which should be sufficiently dense, but not dry.
5. Pour a little lean oil into the wok pan, heat it well, put the pasta out and simmer so that the excess water evaporates. At the same time, mix thoroughly with a spoon or spatula.
6. The finished paste should have a somewhat grainy and dense structure. Cool it, transfer to a dry bowl and apply as needed. Such a paste can be stored in the refrigerator for at least a week and its taste will remain unchanged.

How to start?

This recipe with a photo of Bao Tzu should be studied by everyone. Start this dish like this:

1. If you are sure of the quality of your yeast, skip this step: put the finished dough on a cutting board, roll it into a not very thin, round and large layer. Sprinkle the dough with a ripper, and then knead it again, adding, if necessary, a little flour and water.
2. Divide the dough ball into two parts, form long “sausages” from them. Next, cut each of them into 6 parts.
3. Form buns. If you cook baozi without filler, put the buns on a chopping board and let them rise again. If you do not want to be limited to a straightforward option, then roll out each roll so that the center of the circle is thicker than its edges.
4. Make a hole in the center of the circle and fill it with the filling in the volume of one dessert spoon.
5. Connect the edges, forming a specific bag from the dough in which the filling is located. Fold the edges and pinch on top. Then turn the “tail”, as if sealing the filler in the dough. It is the resulting pleated top that creates the generally accepted beauty of Bao Tzu.
6. Cover the parchment with a chopping board, lay the baozi on it. Send to a warm room for 1 hour to raise the product. For ready-to-cook rolls, the dough should be springy to the touch.

Cook-parim

Cook like this:

1. Place the baozzi on the grate of the double boiler so that they do not touch each other. It is better, of course, to use a traditional bamboo double boiler.
2. If you put the baozi with the seam down, they will be smooth and even on all sides, and if the seam is up, you will get the effect of a blooming flower.
3. For complete readiness it is enough to hold for a couple of baozzi for about 20 minutes.
4. Remove the double boiler from the fire, but do not lift the lid. From sharp contact with cool air, steamed products can settle, but we do not need this.
5. Let the couple settle down in a natural way (it will take 2 minutes), and then invite the guests to the table.

One of the varieties of Baozi

What are baotsi gobuli? The recipe for this dish is practically no different from the creation of traditional Bao Tzu. Bao Tzu Dove - this is a variety of Bao Tzu, a traditional dish of Tianjin cuisine. They are made from sour dough, and 18 clips are a distinctive quality.

The name of the pigeon came from the phrase “Gou-tzu may bao-tzu, bu-ren”, which in Chinese means “Gou-tzu sells baozi and does not care about people." Golubuli were so popular that cook Gou-tzu, who composed this recipe, did not have time to serve everyone.

In a slow cooker

And now we will study the recipe for baoji in a slow cooker. You need to have:

• 580 g of yeast dough;
• 80 g halva;
• 2 tsp Sahara;
• 0.5 tbsp. fresh blueberries.

In this case, to save time, you can use chilled dough, purchased at the store. Manufacturing process:

1. Knead the dough with a little flour.
2. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts.
3. Flatten each bun into a circle. Put in the middle of each filling. You should have 4 buns with halva and 4 buns with blueberries mixed with sugar.
4. Roll each bun into a ball with a filler inside. Next, dip the side that is on the bottom into vegetable oil. As a result, the bun does not stick to the form.
5. Place all the workpieces in a steaming grate and set aside for 20 minutes to distance.
6. Next, pour water (2 tbsp.) Into the multicooker bowl, set the “Steam” program and wait for the water to boil. Then install the grill with rolls and close the lid. Steam Bao Tzu for 25 minutes.
7. Now turn off the multicooker, wait 7 minutes and open the lid. The loaves have become a little larger, have a pale color, but are ready completely.

Serve baozi as a dessert or tea for breakfast. They are impeccable in order to take them to work in the form of a snack or on the road. Do not be afraid to experiment and enjoy your meal!