Red Bean Paste Mushroom Buns
Chinese wheat foods are generally steamed, while Western baking relies mainly on the oven. Steamed foods better suit Chinese palates and are equally versatile: red bean paste buns can even be shaped like mushrooms. Although these buns are usually made with medium-gluten flour, low-gluten flour was used here because it was all that was available, and the buns turned out just as fluffy and soft. The children usually eat only one plain red bean paste bun now and then, but when mushroom-shaped buns appeared, both grabbed them.
Ingredients
Arawana all-purpose wheat flour
300 g
water
170 g
yeast
3 g
homemade red bean paste
to taste
cocoa powder
to taste
Instructions
1
Step 1
Gather the ingredients. The red bean paste is homemade. You will need only a small amount of the 5 g of cocoa powder prepared.
2
Step 2
Combine the flour, yeast, and water to form a slightly soft dough. Cover and let it rise for 20 minutes. All-purpose wheat flour can also be used to make Chinese steamed buns, with the same soft and fluffy result.
3
Step 3
Mix the cocoa powder with a little water until smooth and set aside.
4
Step 4
Turn the risen dough onto a work surface and knead it until smooth. Divide it into 12 pieces weighing 30 g each, reserving the remaining dough for the mushroom stems.
5
Step 5
Smooth each small piece of dough and roll it flat. Wrap about 14 g of red bean paste inside, then pinch the seam closed like a steamed bun.
6
Step 6
Brush the surface of each red bean bun with the cocoa mixture.
7
Step 7
Place the buns on parchment paper or corn husks in a steamer and let them rise until puffy. Begin steaming over low heat, then increase to medium-high heat once steam appears and steam for 15 minutes. Divide the remaining dough into 12 pieces and roll each into a long, tapered shape that is thin at one end and thick at the other. Arrange them in the steamer alongside the buns.
8
Step 8
When the buns are done, turn off the heat and immediately remove the lid. Poke a hole in the bottom of each bun with a chopstick and insert a dough stem to create a small mushroom shape.
