Bao Buns | Food Flaneur Recipe Collection Pages (2024)

These 5-ingredient vegan Bao Buns are stuffed with a rich, sweet and sticky pulled mushroom filling that’s so easy to pull off! Having lived in China for over 5 years, I’ve had my fair share of cookery lessons from friends’ grandmas to get me to a respectable baozi-making level. Baozi (buns) vary from province to province. Steamed buns are usually eaten for breakfast, but can be eaten at any time due to their convenience.

‘Bao buns’ seem to have become very popular outside of China, with the inspo coming from the infamous gua bao in Fujian, which consists of a steamed bun sliced in the middle and filled with pork belly.

If you’re stuck for recipe ideas for Chinese New Year, I have a couple you could try out here.

Why is this Good for Me?

• Mushrooms are a great source of fibre and B vitamins. They also contain antioxidants. This way of gently cooking the mushrooms means they don’t lose too many of these valuable nutrients.

Questions about Bao Buns

How to make Bao Buns

To make bao buns, using a fork, shred the raw mushrooms into stringy threads, including the caps.

Add to a baking tray with smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Transfer to a pan with the hoisin sauce and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes on medium heat.

Stuff into buns and garnish with chives and sesame seeds.

Are bao buns gluten-free?

Traditionally, the dough used to make baozi is not gluten-free as it is made with wheat. However, there are many recipes for gluten-free doughs and they can also be bought ready-made and steamed at home so there are a lot of options.

Why are my bao buns not fluffy?

Bao buns can toughen up quite quickly, but all you need to do is stick them in a steamer or microwave and they’ll become fluffy and soft.

Bao Bun Fillings

All sort of fillings can work in these steamed buns. Some of my favourite bao fillings are:

• Vanilla custard
• Spicy aubergine
• Pickled vegetables and tofu

Bao Buns Substitutions

• King trumpet mushrooms can be replaced with other mushrooms like portobello, chestnut, oyster etc – they will not resemble the same ‘pulled’ texture as king trumpet but will still work nicely.
• The pulled mushroom filling can be replaced with pulled jackfruit or banana blossom.
• Hoisin sauce can be replaced with plum sauce.

These Bao Buns are…

• Fluffy
• Sweet
• Crunchy
• Eggless
• Dairy-free
• Gluten-free
• Vegan
• Vegetarian
• Plant-based

Shopping List

Food

• 2 king trumpet mushrooms
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 60ml gluten-free hoisin sauce
• 6 bao buns (can be gluten-free)

Equipment

• baking tray
• fork
• steamer (to eat buns hot)

More Recipes to Try…

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