Vegetarian Chinese Steamed Buns

        Dough:
1 1/4 oz Pkg active dry yeast (2 1/4 ts)
1     ts Granulated sugar
1     c  Water; lukewarm (105-115 F)
3     c  All-purpose flour (reserve 1 tb if mixing by hand)
        Mushroom Marinade:
2     tb Hoisin sauce
1     tb Chili sauce
1     tb Rice wine or dry sherry (optional)
1     tb Low-sodium soy sauce
1     tb Scallion (white part only); minced
2     cl Garlic; minced
1        Fresh ginger root piece (1/2"); minced
6     oz Portabello mushroom caps (was 1 pound, 4 oz p*rk loin)
        Dipping Sauce:
1     ts Oil
 1/4 md Red bell pepper; finely diced
2        Scallions; finely chopped, reserve 1 ts
1     cl Garlic; minced, reserve 1/8 ts
        Marinated mushrooms (from this recipe)
 1/4 c  Whole water chestnuts; finely diced
1     tb Hoisin sauce
1     tb All-purpose flour
        Dough (from this recipe)
3     tb Low-sodium soy sauce
1     ts White vinegar
 1/4 ts Hot chili oil
        Cilantro; chopped, for garnish

Dough:

In small bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar evenly over the lukewarm
water; stir until yeast dissolves. Let stand 10 minutes or until
foamy.

In large bowl or in food processor, combine flour and yeast mixture
and mix well, or process 1 minute. If mixing by hand, sprinkle work
surface with the reserved 1 tb flour; turn dough out onto work
surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

Spray large bowl with nonstick cooking spray; place dough in bowl.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise until
dough triples in volume, about 3 hours. Punch down and wrap in
plastic until ready to use.

Will keep 3 days in the refrigerator and up to 2 months in the
freezer.

Mushroom Marinade:

To prepare marinade, combine hoisin and chili sauces, wine, soy
sauce, scallion, garlic, and ginger in bowl. Clean mushroom caps, and
place top down on shallow dish. Spoon mixture into top, and allow to
marinate for a few hours. (I just let mine sit while my dough was
rising.)

Dipping Sauce:

In large non-stick saucepan, add bell pepper, scallions, and garlic,
and cook, stirring constantly, until peppers are soft, 5-8 minutes.
Chop mushrooms (the pieces need to be fairly small to go in the
dumplings) and add, with marinade, to peppers. Add water chestnuts
and hoison sauce; cook until most of liquid has evaporated, 3-4
minutes. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Sprinkle work surface with flour. Turn bun dough out onto prepared
surface, knead 1 minute and roll into a log, about 16" long and
1-1/2" wide. Cut dough into 16 equal pieces and roll each into a
ball. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand into a 3" diameter
circle. Place a heaping ts of filling mixture in center of each dough
round, and gather up edges to enclose filling, twisting edges
together and pressing to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and
filling, covering buns with plastic wrap.

Warning: This takes a little practice, so I'd recommend that you plan
on *not* serving the first 2 or 3 you make to company.

Line steamer rack with cheesecloth or wax paper (I used cabbage
leaves). Place in large shallow saucepan or wok; add 2" water, cover
and bring to rolling boil. Arrange 8 of the buns at least 1" apart on
prepared steamer rack; cover and steam until puffy, tender and cooked
through, 15-20 minutes.

Repeat with remaining buns, adding water to pan as necessary. (I did
this in my Black and Decker steamer, which only allowed for
4 dumplings at a time. I filled the water to the highest water mark,
refilling after steaming 8 dumplings.)

Meanwhile, prepare dipping sauce:

In small bowl, combine soy sauce, 1 tb water, the reserved scallions,
the vinegar, the reserved garlic, and the hot chili oil, if using;
sprinkle with cilantro, if using.

Serve freshly steamed buns immediately, with dipping sauce on the
side, or cool and freeze for later use. (To reheat, thaw until soft
and steam until warmed through, 5 minutes.)

Enjoy! The recipe also says that you can use other veggies and sauces
-- try chopping up your favorite ff chinese dish and making it into a
filling!

I made the following this last weekend, and they were *excellent*.
Three of the buns are more or less a meal for me.  They freeze well;
I cooked them first, and then reheated them for future use.

Makes 16 buns

Adapted from Weight Watcher's magazine, Feb 1995

From:    [email protected] (Patricia Thorp)
Date:    Tue, 10 Jan 95 18:42:29 GMT

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