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

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