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.

Soymeal Dumplings

With the Navratri on, the only way I could recreate pork dumplings was with the use of soy meal. Also, I had the steamer that I was dying to use so ended up making soymeal dumplings. It has the same texture as pork dumplings, but without fat and since its soymeal, it should keep the entire khandan happy.

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 2 cups flour (makes around 10)
• 3/4 cup boiled water
• 1 tsp salt

Filling

• 1 1/2 cup soybean meal, soaked for 10 minutes
• 1 tbsp honey soy (or 1 tbsp light soy with a teaspoon of honey)
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 cup cold water
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Dough

1. Mix the flour, salt and water to create a soft elastic dough and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour in a cool dry place.
2. Divide the dough into 10 parts and roll out each ball on a lightly floured table into thin roundels.

Filling

1. Heat the oil in a pan and lightly fry the ginger. As it starts to turn colour, add the vinegar and reduce the heat. 
2. Let the liquid in the pan evaporate before adding the soaked soybean and honey soy.
3. Let the mixture cook on a low heat till some of the water evaporates before adding the cornflour water and salt to taste. You can also add some chili powder or paprika for some bite.
4. Stir the filling and cover. Let it simmer for around 10 minutes, until the soymeal is cooked through.
5. Remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate to create a firm mass of filling.

Dumplings

1. Add portions of the filling to the centre of the dumplings and roll to create little parcels. I rolled them into a circular shape, but bringing to sides together to create a half-moon shape, sealing the edges and then then bringing the two edges of the halfmoon together to create a circular dumpling.
2. Make sure to press down on the edges to seal the dumpling.
3. Lightly oil the steamer tray and prepare the steamer.
4. Place in the steamer and let it cook for 6-8 minutes.
5. Hog in with a light soy dressing, made with 4 parts light soy, 1 part sesame oil and chopped red-chilis or topped with some instant noodles.