Longevity Buns (Birthday Bao) 寿桃豆沙包

By Chinese Cooking Demystified · 180 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Soak the adzuki beans overnight. Then cook them in 1 liter of cool water with 1/4 tsp sodium carbonate (or 1/2 tsp Kan Sui) for 60 minutes, until they break down.
2. Rinse off the skins. Then add 100 g neutral oil, 50 g granulated sugar and 100 g brown sugar, and fry it down into a paste.
3. For the dough, dissolve the sugar and yeast in the water. Mix the flour with the baking powder, then slowly add the sugar water and yeast water until shaggy.
4. Knead for about 8 minutes until smooth. Add the lard and knead for 2 more minutes.
5. Take out 12 g of dough for the leaves and refrigerate it. Knead the leaves with green food coloring, split into six pieces, roll into cigar shapes, press flat and shape each into a leaf with a bench scraper. Cover them.
6. Pass the remaining dough through a pasta maker, folding in half after each pass, seven times in total. Roll into a tight log and cut into six 50 g pieces.
7. Flatten each piece of dough into a saucer, put a 20 g ball of red bean paste in the center, and wrap it up into a ball.
8. Pinch a tip at the top, crease it with a bench scraper, mist it with diluted red food coloring using a toothbrush, and attach a leaf.
9. Proof over 35°C water for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the dough passes the finger test. In a hot, humid climate you may skip proofing.
10. Steam over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, then turn off the heat and wait 2 more minutes before opening.

Summarized from Chinese Cooking Demystified's video. Watch it for the details.

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