Steamed Bread With Molasses Sweetened Red Bean Paste Filling

Anthony and I ate a variety of steamed breads this past summer in Nanjing, China. Red bean was Anthony's favorite flavor. This evening I created my own recipe for steamed bread with red bean paste filling. 

I just used the dough setting on my bread machine to make the dough. Feel free to refer to some of my other posts about steamed breads for more info about making them: Vegetable Filled Steamed Bread, Chinese Dumplings And Baozi, and Anthony's Favorite Chinese Food: Baozi!

For my filling, I drained and mashed a can of red beans. I added granulated sugar and then molasses. The molasses improved the color, texture, and taste of my filling. Not to mention, it was fun to throw in an American southern ingredient.

Steamed Bread With Molasses Sweetened Red Bean Paste Filling:

1 cup Water

2 3/4 cups Self-Rising Flour

1 can of Red Beans

2 1/2 Tb Granulated Sugar

2 1/2 Tb Molasses

Vegetable Filled Steamed Bread

Today I decided to try a few new things while making baozi / steamed bread. First, instead of making them with meat inside like I had done previously, I used vegetables. Second, instead of using self-rising flour, I used regular flour and yeast. Third, instead of mixing and kneading the dough by hand, I used my bread machine. The vegetable filled steamed breads turned out great! Until another time, I think I will try fresh spinach instead of canned. The canned spinach supplied a mushy texture instead of a crunchy or fibrous one.

Dough:

1 tsp. Yeast

1 c. Warm Water

2 1/2 c. Flour

1Tb Oil

1/2 tsp. Salt

Filling:

1 can Spinach (drained)

1/2 Onion

Red Pepper Flakes

Honey

Nutmeg

Curry

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

Pork Buns & Dumplings

I made up my own recipe for the dough for my pork buns this time. This was my best dough yet for baozi/ steamed buns! And yes, I will share my recipe. Next time I think I will food process my filling so that there are not chunks, and roll it into meat balls before forming dough balls around it.

Baozi Dough:

1 Cup Warm Water

2 Tsp Bread Machine Yeast

3 TB Granulated Sugar

2 3/4 Cup Bread Flour

1 Tsp Salt

1 TB Oil

1. Combine first three ingredients until frothy, about two minutes.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients.

3. Use the dough setting on your bread machine.

Spicy Noodle Baozi!

I made my favorite flavor of baozi for dinner tonight. That flavor was spicy noodle baozi. This was my first time coming up with a recipe for and making this type. They didn't turn out bad.

Spicy Noodle Baozi:

1 cup Water

2 3/4 cups Self-Rising Flour

3 cups Water

1/3 pkg. Rice Noodles

3 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

4 Tb Soy Sauce

1/4 tsp. Chopped Garlic

First, I put the first two ingredients in the bread machine on the dough cycle.

Second, I boiled some water and red pepper flakes to soften them. I then added the noodles and a little soy sauce and garlic. When the noodles were ready I drained them and then added some more soy sauce to them.

Third, I divided the dough into eight sections, and stuffed those with spicy noodles. I steamed these in two batches for around twenty minutes each on low heat.