Steamed Vegetable Buns

First post of the year! First post of the decade! Are you tired of people talking about starting a new decade yet? I sort of am, but I get it! Every January feels like a fresh start, a new year to get more organized, to get more healthy, to become a happier human bean. The fact that we’re embarking on a new decade makes all those dreams and aspirations 10x as intense I guess.

I’ve been intentionally taking the last month on the slower side because this year is going to be the busiest year yet! I haven’t blogged or posted on Instagram in a few weeks and I’m SO OKAY with that. In the weeks leading up to the holidays I was sick about 95% of the time and I was so anxious and upset by the fact that I couldn’t work. But maybe it was the universe telling me that I need to chill the F out for a little bit, so I don’t start 2020 frantic and overstressed.

Reuben and I spent the holidays with my family in Cleveland, where we slept a lot, ate a lot, cooked a lot, and worked on the most ridiculous GOT 2000 piece puzzle. So we worked on the puzzle A LOT. It was so nice to just be in the comfort of home, eat my mom’s food, and have the only major decisions for the day be whether we go to the movies or go bowling today.

The week went by way too fast. We flew back on New Year’s Eve, ordered Chinese Food, and went to bed by 11:30pm. Exciting stuff!

I’m feeling somewhat rested but mostly really excited for all the fun projects and adventures this next year has in stored! I don’t have any resolutions necessarily. Are resolutions and intentions the same thing?

I intend to make sure I feed myself proper lunches instead of snacking on buns and whatever I’m recipe testing that day.

I intend to be less stressed and remember that the work I do is not life or death. It’s dumplings and dumplings are supposed to be fun!

I intend to believe in myself more.

I also intend to make more buns! I feel like 2019 was the year of the dumpling for me, but I want to show a little more love to the the fluffier, squishier, but equally delicious bun! So my first recipe of the year is for Steamed Vegetable Buns! They are filled with caramelized onions, meaty mushrooms, and tender kale. Those 3 are my go-to vegetable trifecta! The buns have a beautiful green color thanks to spinach, so extra health points, right? I love how the green color makes you feel a little more healthy just by looking at it and the zipper fold on the buns sort of makes them look like cute leaves! I have about a dozen of these buns still left in the freezer and I can’t wait to keep snacking on them into the new year!

Choose Your Own Adventure Veggie Buns

The recipe calls for onions, mushrooms, and kale as your leading vegetables/alliums/fungi. It’s a delicious, earthy, and hearty combo. But! You could use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge to make these vegetable buns. When I make any vegetable filling I almost always cook the filling first. Why? Because vegetables contain a lot of water. And once you add salt to your vegetables or steam them raw, all that moisture is going to come out leaving you with a watery filling and then a soggy bun. So whatever vegetables you have on hand, just give them some cooking time in a skillet before stuffing them into buns.

Here are some other veggie combos that would be super tasty!

Onions/Zucchini/Bell Peppers
Ginger Carrot and Bok Choy
Spinach/Scrambled Eggs/Leeks
Tofu/Kimchi/Scallions
BBQ Jackfruit!! that’s on my list!

Spinach Dyed Steamed Buns

You obviously don’t need to make spinach dyed bao dough for this recipe, but isn’t it just the prettiest color?! You can make these buns plain by omitting the spinach and continuing the recipe using plain warm water.

I love using natural ingredients to color my buns and dumpling wrappers. Turmeric and Smoked Paprika are easy ways to get gorgeous and vibrant yellow and orange hues. Beetroot powder is my secret ingredient for shades or red and pink. But the color from spinach is my absolute favorite! It’s really not that hard to incorporate green color into your dough.

All you do is puree spinach with water and then pour the puree over a fine mesh sieve to separate out the spinach pulp. What you’ll be left with is a gorgeous dark green liquid that will give your buns a lovely color and hint of spinach flavor!

Steamed Vegetable Buns

makes 16 buns

spinach steamed bun dough:

3 cups packed spinach
1 cup warm water
1 tsp active yeast
250g (~2 cups) cake flour
125g (~1 cup) bread flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt

filling:

3 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion - sliced into crescents
4 garlic cloves - minced
4-6 large portobello mushrooms - chopped
1 bunch (~6 cups) kale - chopped
1/2 cup water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch

To make dough:

1. Pack spinach into a blender or the cup of your immersion blender. Pour water over the spinach and blend into a puree. Set a fine mesh sieve over a measuring cup and pour the spinach puree over the mesh sieve to extract 1 cup of dark green spinach water. Discard the spinach pulp or add into the bun filling if you wish.

2. Sprinkle yeast into the spinach water and stir. Allow the yeast to activate for 5-10 minutes, until small bubbles start to form on the surface.

3. Combine flours, sugar, and salt in the bowl of your standmixer fitted with a dough hook. Pour the spinach water into the bowl and start mixing on low for 1-2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead for another 7-8 minutes, until a smooth dough ball is formed.

4. Grease a large bowl with a bit of oil and add the dough to the bowl. Toss the dough in the oil and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to proof for 2 hours in a warm spot or overnight in the fridge, until doubled in size.

To make filling:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add sliced onions and cook for 10 minutes , stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and slightly caramelized. Add minced garlic and chopped mushrooms. Cook for another 5 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Add kale and water and cook for another 8-10 minutes, until the kale has wilted and any excess water has fully cooked out. Season the vegetables with salt, white pepper, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

2. Place the vegetable filling in a bowl. Add cornstarch and mix to combine. Allow the filling to fully cool before forming the buns.

To assemble:

1. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 1 minute on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a log 16”-18” log and divide into 16 equal pieces of dough. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball by stretching and pinching the ends of the dough underneath. Continue to use flour if the dough starts to stick.

2. Take one portion of dough and roll out into a 4” to 4 1/2” round. Fill with 1/4 cup of vegetable filling and pinch the edges of the dough together to close. Place the formed bun on a lightly floured baking tray, pinch side up (or down if you prefer not to see the pinch). Repeat steps with remaining buns. Cover the buns with a clean kitchen towel and allow to proof for 35-40 minutes.

3. Arrange your steamer set up. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and line your bamboo steamer with perforated parchment paper or spray with nonstick spray.

4. Place the bun in the steamer, allow a 1” gap between each bun because they will expand in the steamer. Cover with the steamer lid and place over the pot of boiling water. Steam the buns for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the steamers from the pot and remove the lid. Allow the buns to cool before eating.

5. Enjoy as is or with soy sauce and chili oil!

recipe notes:

1. If you want want to make green colored buns, just omit the spinach and continue with the recipe using plain warm water.

2. These buns were pleated with a zipper fold, but you can just pleat these with a classic fold or pinch them together and place them pinch side down for smooth buns.

3. Once steamed, these buns freeze beautifully! Place steamed buns on a baking tray and place in the freezer. Once frozen, place buns in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Steam for 5-8 minutes to reheat.