Chicken Baozi

Little steamed parcels filled with minced chicken. I used to love having these off street vendors in Chinatown, and wanted to make it in Pork, but finding pork mince in Bangalore is far to painful. So, used chicken mince instead to make it much lighter and easier to digest. The quantity of this recipe is enough for 8 baozi, and the same dough can be used to make Liuxiabao, with the substitution of the minced chicken filling with custard. I've served these dumplings with an light soy dressing.
Ingredients

Dough

• 2 cups plain white flour
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• salt to taste

Filling

• 100 grammes minced chicken
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 inch minced ginger
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

1. Activate the yeast by dissolving it in the lukewarm water and setting aside for a few minutes.
2. Once the yeast is frothy, add it to the dough ingredients and knead into an elastic dough.
3. Set aside in a warm place for 2 hours to rise and double in size.
4. Heat some oil in a pan, and fry the ginger and garlic.
5. Once the ginger and garlic start to turn brown, add the white part of the onion.
6. Fry for a minute and add the minced chicken.
7. Turn the chicken around to cook it evenly and add the chili powder, soy sauce and fish sauce.
8. Reduce the heat and let it simmer gently to get the chicken to absorb the sauce.
9. Once the filling mixture becomes a little dry, take it off the gas and let it cool.
10. Once the dough has risen and doubled, punch in down and divide into 8 parts.
11. Roll out the dough, add a bit of the filling and close out the dumpling. I like to make my dumplings using this method: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FYCE5DHH4&feature=related and leaving a little hole at the top to let the steam escape.
12. Place the dumplings on a piece of parchment and steam for 15-20 minutes. Leave some room for each dumpling to expand, as they will double in size as they steam.
13. Take them out, pour some of the dressing on it and serve up.

Soy Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup light soy
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 spring onion chopped
• 2 chopped red chilies (reconstituted in water if dry)

Method

1. Mix the ingredients together to make the dressing.