making baozi

One of the things on my list of things to achieve while I'm living in Beijing is to improve my cooking repertoire. Last week I made tofu from dried organic soybeans, which was lots of fun and the result was some of the most delicious tofu I've ever eaten, plus a whole lot of inspiration for making my own tofu (and also adapting the technique to make vegan, gluten-free haloumi).





This week I made steamed buns!

We started with making the dough, which was (unsurprisingly) quite similar to making pizza dough. We gave it just the one rise, though if we'd had more time the teacher recommended a second proofing, before and after going to choppy town with a cleaver and making balls. (Cleaver optional)





I was really interested to discover just how fast the dough dries out, and what a difference it makes both to my ability to finish making the bao, and also the final bao. It dries out very, very quickly, and the dough becomes very difficult to handle as you try to fold the shape and press in the filling at the same time.





I became much faster and better at this even after just a handful of baozi, though my skills in this area still have far to go!

We used a smoked tofu, bok choy and shitake filling for these baozi, and it was delicious! I wish I hadn't been feeling a little below average, because I would have loved to have eaten more. There was also a bit of sesame oil in these ones because my cooking teacher, who is also a nutritionist, insisted, due to the lack of animal fats in my diet. It's okay the reason, because it was definitely a tasty filling.





Unlike the tofu, which I will make again but not until I get home and can impress my fellow vegmel bloggers with how awesome freshly made that hour tofu is at a potluck, I plan to make bao often both here and at home, just as soon as I can get some yeast!

making tofu at the hutong

Yesterday I learnt how to make tofu!



I'd been eying off the tofu classes at The Hutong for a while, and finally I and housemate V got a chance to get down there!

The entire process took about two and a half hours, start to finish, though in a non-classroom situation I suspect I could do it in significantly less time. I learnt a lot of interesting stuff about timing, too, in terms of making silken or firm tofu. I also learnt about okara, which is a by-product of making soy milk, and can be added to vegan baking and vegan burger patties. I'm looking for ways to use it that don't involve an oven, and if anyone has any experience using it I'd love to hear.



It was a really interesting experience, and although buying tofu remains cheaper and more convenient (at least for me here in Beijing), I'm looking forward to making my own tofu on occasion when I get back to Australia, and have access to a full kitchen.

I'm also looking forward to more classes at The Hutong. I've got a bao class next week, and I've got my eye on the hand pulled noodles class. Because hand pulled noodles!