Shanghai Bun Dough is a traditional Chinese recipe for the classic yeasted dough used to make Shanghai or bao buns. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Chinese version of: Shanghai Bun Dough.
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This is the yeasted dough you need to make your own shanghai buns. These can be steamed (to make classic bao buns), shallow fried (as potsticker dumplings) and deep fried. Once you’ve made the dough, use whatever fillings you fancy to turn it into dumplings. The recipe given here is for the bun dough and how to cook them. For some filling ideas, have a look at the White Crab and Cabbage Shanghai Buns recipe.
Ingredients:
300g strong white bread flour, plus 1½ tbsp extra for dusting
1 tsp fast-action dried yeast
½ tsp caster sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp sesame oil
175ml lukewarm water
350-400g your filling of choice
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 star anise
Dipping sauce or black rice vinegar, to serve
Method:
Put the first five ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, keeping the yeast and salt separate and on opposite sides. Mix on a medium speed, then beat in the sesame oil and 175ml of lukewarm water until it forms a dough. Turn up the speed to medium-high and mix for 10 minutes more, until smooth and pliable. Shape the dough into a ball, return to the mixer bowl, cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place for about 50 minutes to an hour, to prove until doubled in size.
Take the risen dough out of the bowl and put it on a lightly floured work surface. Knead well to knock out all the air, then roll into a 4cm-wide sausage. Cut this into 15 pieces of about 30g each, then, using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a 3mm-thick, 9cm-diameter disc and flour generously.
To shape the buns, put one disc in the palm of your non-dominant hand and put a spoonful of your filling of choice in the middle – I’ve given a couple of filling ideas below, but you can just about put anything you fancy inside. Use your other hand to lift the edges of the disc up and over the filling, so they meet at the top and enclose it. Use your fingers to twist and seal the top edges together, so it now looks like a money bag. Pinch and twist the peak into a spiral, then tear off and discard the top half-centimetre of dough. Put the dough spiral side down on a lightly floured surface and repeat with the remaining discs of bun dough.
To cook the filled buns, put the vegetable oil in a large (28cm), nonstick frying pan for which you have a lid on a medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, take off the heat and carefully arrange the buns seam side down in the pan, so they cover its base; it’s OK if they touch slightly, but you don’t want them to be snug. Return the pan to the heat and fry the buns for two minutes, until golden and starting to crisp up underneath. Taking great care – it might spit! – pour 160ml boiling water around the edges of the pan (ie, not over the buns), add the star anise, cover the pan with its lid and leave to steam for six minutes. Remove the lid and carry on cooking uncovered until all the water has evaporated and the buns are cooked through.
Turn off the heat and use tongs carefully to lift each bun fried side up on to a large plate. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce or a small bowl of black rice vinegar.
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