Bánh bao

Growing up, I ate tons of these baos for breakfast or just for snacks. There is nothing more comforting than a hot steaming bao at home. I remember my mom would come home from the grocery store one day with packages of Lipton Recipe Secrets - Onion Mix. I finally asked her what she used the seasoning package for because we never ate Onion dip or French onion soup. She said that one of the Vietnamese restaurants in San Antonio used it to season their egg rolls, so she started to use the onion mix for her egg roll and bao recipes.

As a kid I was grateful to have homemade baos at home, but I never really paid attention to the seasoning of the pork mixture until I became an adult and started to live on my own. When I craved bánh bao, I would go to the Vietnamese Deli/restaurant and just buy them. I noticed that the pork filings did not have the flavor and texture that I remember from my mom’s bánh bao. Mom would tell me the secret is to use less fish sauce, add Lipton onion mix, Chinese sausage and quail eggs. Like most Vietnamese people of her generation, mom never measured the seasoning of any of her recipes. I have adjusted this recipe after several attempts at making her baos. Here is the bao recipe inspired by my mom.

Ingredients

Dough

• 3 ¼ cups and of all purpose flour

• 1 package of instant yeast

• 2 tbsp wheat starch

• 4 tbsp of sugar

• 1 cup warm milk or warm water

• 2 tbsp. canola oil

• 2 teaspoon baking powder

Fillings

• 1 lbs. ground pork 

• 1/4 cup shallot, minced

• 2 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 tsp grated ginger

• ¼ cup of green onions, minced

• 1/4 cup cilantro, minced

• ¼ cup ear wood mushroom (omit if not available)

• ¼ cup jicama (sub for water chestnuts)

• 1 tbsp Lipton Onion soup mix  

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp of S&P

• 1.5 tsp sesame oil

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 egg white

• 1.5 tsp fish sauce

• 3 Chinese sausage cut crosswise

• 12 quail eggs

This recipe makes 12 servings