Longevity Buns (Birthday Bao) | Chinese Cooking Demystified

Longevity peach, i.e. peach shaped baozi! Symbolizing longevity/immortality, these Baozi are a classic to have at the end of a birthday banquet, and a great chance to show you how to make some homemade red bean paste.

0:00 - Why a peach shaped Baozi?
0:44 - Boiling down Red Beans
1:36 - Rinsing the Bean Paste
2:34 - Frying the Bean Paste
3:15 - Making the Baozi Dough
4:16 - Making the Peach Leaves
4:50 - Baozi Wrapping
6:46 - Proofing and Steaming
7:35 - An alternative to Birthday Cake?

INGREDIENTS - RINSED RED BEAN PASTE (洗沙)

* Red Adzuki Beans (红豆), 250g
* To boil: 1 liter cool water, 1/4 tsp sodium carbonate (碱面) -or- 1/2 tsp Kan Sui (枧水)
* Neutral oil, 100g
* Granulated Sugar, 50g
* Brown Sugar, 100g

Note: taste your bean paste! If at the end of the cooking process it's not quite sweet enough, add more granulated sugar to taste. We like our bean paste a little less sweet - if you like yours sweeter, I'd guess you might want to add another 25-50g of sugar?

PROCESS - RINSED RED BEAN PASTE (洗沙)

First soak your beans in water overnight (1:05), then cook them for 60 minutes in your alkaline water til they break down (1:13). Rinse the hulls off (1:44 - uncut footage here: https://youtu.be/Us-IErExrnc ), then add the oil and sugar and fry it down into a paste (2:35).

The following Baozi recipe will use 120g of this paste - you *will* have extra (doesn't make sense to just make a small batch). It freezes very very well.

INGREDIENTS, PEACH SHAPED BAOZI

Makes six Baozi.

* For the dough: 200g all purpose flour (普通面粉/中筋面粉), 110g water, 10g sugar, 4g lard (猪油) -or- shortening, 2g (3/4 tsp) active dry yeast (酵母), 1/2 tsp baking powder (泡打粉) (baker's percentages: 55% water, 5% sugar, 2% lard, 1% yeast, 0.5% baking powder)
* Green food coloring, just a touch
* Red food coloring, 1 drop mixed in with 3 tbsp water
* Red bean paste, 120g (20g per Baozi)

PROCESS, PEACH SHAPED BAOZI

First, dissolve the sugar and the yeast in water (3:20). Then, mix the flour in with the baking powder, and slowly drizzle in the sugar water and the yeast water until shaggy (3:32). Knead for ~8 minutes until the dough is smooth - this is very important to the final dough, it might take a bit longer or a bit shorter (3:40). Add the lard and knead for two minutes more (4:00). Remove 12g to make the leaves, transfer to a fridge.

To make the leaves: incorporate the green food coloring, then split into six pieces. Roll into a cigar shape, then press flat and use the bench scraper to make the 'leaf'. (4:17) Place on a plate, covered with plastic wrap.

Remove the dough from the fridge, pass through a pasta maker - folding in half after each pass - seven times total (4:51). Roll it up tightly into a log, then split into six 50 segments (5:04).

Wrap each section into a smooth ball, much like you would if you were making a dinner roll (5:43). Smooth side down, roll it into a little 'saucer', put 20 grams worth of a red bean paste ball in the center, and roll it all up (6:01). To make it look like a peach, pinch a 'tip' at the top, make a crease with a bench scraper, mist it all with the red food coloring via toothbrush, and add the leaves (6:31) Uncut footage of this all is here: https://youtu.be/lkfWwFIuhJ4

Proof over 35C water for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough can pass the finger test (7:05). If you live in a hot/humid climate you may not need to proof. Steam for eight minutes over a medium-high flame, then shut off the heat and wait another two minutes.

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Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg