Shiitake Mushroom Vegan Bao Buns
Ingredients
For the Buns
- 1 packet 1 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ tablespoons organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons canola oil divided
For the Pickled Veggies
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon organic granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ medium cucumber julienne cut
- 1 medium carrot julienne cut
- 1 medium jalapeño pepper sliced
For the Mushroom Filling
- ⅓ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons sambal oelek or to taste (optional)
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
- 3 tablespoons canola oil or high heat oil of choice
- 1 pound shiitake mushrooms stemmed and sliced into thin strips
For Serving
- 10 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- ½ cup chopped peanuts
- ½ cup chopped scallions
- ½ cup fresh cilantro
Instructions
Prepare the Dough
- Whisk together the water and yeast in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Let it sit for a few minutes while you prepare your dry ingredients.
- Stir the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir 1 tablespoon of oil into the yeast and water mixture, then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir to form a soft dough.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it for about 7-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
- Lightly oil a medium bowl, roll the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with a towel and place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.
To Make the Pickled Veggies
- While the dough rises, mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the veggies and allow the mixture to sit while you make the filling and finish making the buns.
To Make the Mushrooms
- Stir the soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and liquid smoke together in a small bowl.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat.
- When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in an even layer. Cook the mushrooms for about 4 minutes, flip and cook 4 minutes more, until lightly browned.
- Add the sauce to the skillet and flip a few times to coat the mushrooms. Allow them to continue cooking until the sauce is thick and forms a sticky coating, about 3 minutes more.
- Remove the skillet from heat and transfer the mushrooms to a plate.
To Steam the Buns
- Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it in half. Remove half from the bowl and divide it into fifths.
- Roll one of the fifths into a ball, then flatten it with your hand.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the ball into a 4-5 inch round. Brush the top with oil, fold it in half, and transfer it to a piece of parchment paper (I like to to place the parchment paper in the steamer, so I don’t have to move it again later). Make sure not to crowd the dough rounds.
- Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough, then remove the other half of the dough from the bowl and repeat. You should have 10 rounds.
- Cover the dough rounds and let them rest for 15 minutes.
- Transfer the parchment rounds to the bamboo steamer if they’re not already there. They may not all fit — just work in batches of that’s the case.
- Layer the tiers in your steamer, place the lid on it, and place it over a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil and steam the buns for 8 minutes.
- Very carefully remove the lid and remove the buns from the steamer.
To Serve
- Slather the insides of the buns with hoisin sauce, then stuff with mushrooms, pickled veggies, peanuts, scallions and cilantro. Serve.