Skip to main content

Meera Sodha’s recipe for vegan mushroom bao

here is genuine pleasure to be had in things that feel just right: the weight of a pound coin, a bath at the perfect temperature, the feel of a well-worn wooden spoon. To this list, I’d add bao: it’s as if this little bun was ergonomically designed for eating – it fits snugly into the nook of a hand; the pillowy dough gives like memory foam; and the semi-circular shape slots cleanly into the mouth.

It’s no surprise that these buns – thanks to Bao, the Soho restaurant, a bit of social media hype and our ever-growing appetite for new tastes and cultures – have become popular in the UK. Especially in the Sodha household.



Ordinarily, the buns are made with milk and the fillings are porcine, but this recipe uses neither. The bun is filled with some of the finest mushrooms in the land, shiitake, which are coated in sesame and soy, covered with sharp cucumbers and finished with a smattering of salty peanuts. It’s everything you need and nothing you don’t.
Mushroom bao

This is a good weekend project, where the paper can be read while waiting for the dough to prove. You’ll need a steamer: the inexpensive bamboo ones are brilliant and can be set very easily over a pan of boiling water, to steam anything to your heart’s delight. Makes 10 bao.

For the bao buns
375g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
1 tsp dried yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt
1¼ tsp baking powder
225ml warm water
Rapeseed oil

For the pickled cucumbers
100ml rice-wine vinegar
½ cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds removed and cut into very thin half moons

For the mushroom filling
6 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
8 tsp rice-wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
600g oyster and shiitake mushrooms, cut into 0.5cm slices
1 large handful salted peanuts, ground or very finely chopped

For the bao buns
375g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
1 tsp dried yeast
2 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt
1¼ tsp baking powder
225ml warm water
Rapeseed oil

For the pickled cucumbers
100ml rice-wine vinegar
½ cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds removed and cut into very thin half moons

For the mushroom filling
6 tbsp light soy sauce
4 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
8 tsp rice-wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
4 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
600g oyster and shiitake mushrooms, cut into 0.5cm slices
1 large handful salted peanuts, ground or very finely chopped

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rachel Roddy’s farro, pumpkin and chestnut soup recipe

Today’s recipe was made from gifts: a packet of vacuum-sealed chestnuts I was given to taste, a bundle of sage from an friend’s garden in Camden brought back to Rome in my rucksack, and a bag of farro from the best wine merchant in Rome, Antonio, who got it from Pacina in Castelnuovo Beradenga in Tuscany, where it grows abundantly. An early form of wheat, and sometimes called emmer wheat (not to be confused with spelt, which is also wheat, but a different genetic variation), farro was a staple grain in early Roman times thanks to its transportability, high protein content, vitamins and slow release of energy. Roman soldiers marched, built and fought on farro, I tell my legionnaire- and gladiator-fixated son, who doesn’t look keen, pushing away the “funny rice”. Looking like a cross between a caraway seed and grape pip when dry, farro does look rather like plump and sturdy brown rice when cooked. It has a mild, nutty taste, and it is this inherent nuttiness that some people dislike ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ping Coombes’s recipe for quick nyonya fried rice

Fried rice has been my go-to fast food at home since my childhood. My mum makes fried rice when she has limited time and she makes this recipe a lot. It is quick, nutritious and utterly satisfying. You can eat it hot off the wok, but I think it tastes better at room temperature; making it a perfect dish to cook in advance. Once you have mastered the art of frying rice, you can put pretty much any ingredients in it. This recipe uses prawns and add the dried shrimps, if you can find them, for extra umami. Serves: 2 Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 15 minutes 200g Jasmine rice, cooked 1 tbsp dried shrimps (optional) 2 tsp oil 1 egg, lightly beaten ½ onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, chopped 100g raw prawns, shelled 6 chestnut mushrooms, diced ½ tbsp oyster sauce 1 tsp fish sauce ½ tsp dark soy sauce Pinch of white pepper Crispy shallots, to serve 1 spring onion, sliced 1 red chilli, sliced Chilli oil (optional) Rehydrate the dried shrimps in boiling water for 5 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nigel Slater’s za’atar lamb recipe

The recipe Mix 2 tbsp of olive oil with 2 tbsp of za’atar spice mix. Brush over 6 lamb cutlets and set aside. Put 4 tbsp of bulgur wheat into a small dish, trickle over just enough water to dampen it and leave for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from a pomegranate and put them in a mixing bowl. Top and tail 10 radishes and slice them into thin rounds, then add to the pomegranates. Put 2 tbsp of good, fruity olive oil in a small bowl, add 2 tsp of ground sumac, 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses and the juice of a lemon. Pick the leaves from 6 sprigs of mint and 10 sprigs of parsley, then add them to the pomegranates. Run a fork through the grains and toss them with the salad and dressing. Grill the lamb cutlets for a few minutes on each side, then serve them with the salad. The trick Let the cutlets sit for a good 20 minutes in the za’atar spice mix before grilling. Use an overhead grill, and take care not to let the spice burn. The twist Add chopped cucumber or apple to th...
Post a Comment
Read more