Bao means “bun” and it is a filled steamed bread that it is also called baozi. Mantou is a steamed bread again, that originates from the Northern China and it is without filling. In South China you may find stuffed mantou.
Ingredients for the mantou below and here the recipe with the steps: Sourdough Mantou- steamed bread buns – 2 different shapes
- 85gr sourdough starter
- 40ml water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil (you can use also sunflower oil or sesame oil)
- 95gr flour (you should have a dough that is not sticky, so add flour if you need to, cause this amount here depends also on the water percentage in your starter)
Filling (for 4 pieces)
- 1 small onion
- 1 small love of garlic
- 1-2 leaves of kale or dino kale or collard greens or whatever greens you have home
- 1 pork sausage or 100gr minced meat (I used the pork sausage)
- 1 teaspoon dried ginger (you can also use fresh but add it in the beginning with the onion)
- 1 teaspoon dried coriander (you can also use fresh but add it in the end of the recipe and after turning off the fire)
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 4-5 leaves fresh basil
Steps
- Cut the onion in very small pieces. You could also grate it
- Add a bit of olive oil in the pan and when it is warm add the garlic
- Add the onion
- Add the salad also thin sliced
- When the onion is transparent add our mined meat with the ginger, the coriander and the soy and oyster sauce together with a bit of water
- When the minced meat is thoroughly cooked, chop the basil and add it
- Let it cool down before you form your bao
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gua_bao
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baozi
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantou
Yannis and Stella @Apollon, Naxos 