Xian Roubao, or Steamed meat pie, - traditional Chinese treat. Popular throughout China, and, of course, these pies are also loved in other countries in the region - Japan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. Xian Roubao is a typical Baozi, i.e. a filled pie, most often (even almost always) made from yeast dough and steamed.
This Chinese treat traces its history back to the ancient national type of bread made from steamed yeast dough - Mantou. Mantou- this is a bun without filling, Baozi- bun with filling. Moreover, the filling may not necessarily be meat, but also vegetable, for example, from cabbage with onions and eggs (isn’t that a familiar filling to lovers of Russian pies?) or even sweet, from bean paste made from Anko (Adzuki) beans. Xian Roubao pies have other “brothers” made from dough and steamed - Mantou (steam dumplings) , steamed dumplings , Huajuan curlicue donuts , Donut “Lotus Flower” Lian Huajuan , Lotus Leaf donut, Zhengbing steamed puff pastry, Zhuzai Bing piggy bank pie, etc.
For those who have mastered Chinese yeast dough recipe these pies are not difficult, and if your family loves pies and Chinese cuisine, then this recipe Chinese steamed cakes will add to your repository of your favorite homemade snacks.

INGREDIENTS (for 24 pies):
yeast dough- 800 g,
minced pork - 200 g,
shrimp - 12 pcs.,
ginger - a piece the size of a walnut,
green onions - 3-4 arrows,
black muer mushrooms - 3-4 mushrooms,
light soy sauce - 1 tbsp,
Sesame oil- 1 tsp,
Sichuan huajiao pepper - 10-15 grains,
salt - ½ tsp.

Any pie consists of a dough shell and filling.
Since Baozi pies (and our pies are just a variety of Baozi) use yeast dough, you first need to take care of the dough. You can read how to prepare it in the recipe "Yeast dough».
While the dough is rising, you can start filling.
First, let's prepare “pepper water” - a very interesting way to add the desired degree of moisture to minced meat and at the same time flavor it.
Pour boiling water over the Sichuan pepper grains and let the liquid brew and cool.

Soak muer mushrooms for 30 minutes in warm water.
Rinse the onion arrows.Cut the onion into rings.
Peel and grate the ginger.
Cut (or chop) the mushrooms into small pieces.
Peel the shrimp from the shell, remove the dorsal and abdominal veins, making cuts along the back and abdomen, and chop coarsely.

Mix the ground meat, shrimp, green onions, mushrooms, ginger, light soy sauce, sesame oil and salt in a suitable sized bowl. Stir until smooth. Add pepper water in parts, for example, a tablespoon at a time, until the minced meat is sufficiently moistened, but does not become liquid.

Divide the dough into 24 parts, roll each part into a ball, fold it on the table and cover with a damp towel.
Take one part and roll it into a round cake, 2-3 mm thick and about 12 cm in diameter.
I use cutting for this. Roll out the dough and cut out a circle from it, collect the remaining dough into a ball.
Place 1 tbsp in the middle of the cake. fillings.

Form a pie by connecting the edges of the workpiece and folding them in folds around the circumference.

Crimp the top of the pie with your fingers, sealing the neck.
Lightly flatten the resulting pie.
Form pies from the remaining dough and filling, place on the table and cover with a damp towel.

Prepare the steamer for use.
Cut parchment paper into squares, placing one pie on each square. This way, when cooking a couple of pies, they will not stick to the bottom of the steamer. The pieces of parchment should be larger around the perimeter than the pies, since the pies will increase in size during cooking, and this must be taken into account.
Place the pies in a steamer so that there is space between them, since they will almost double in size after settling and heat treatment.
Cover the steamer with a lid and leave the pies to settle for 15 minutes.
After this, turn on the steamer or put it on fire (if your steamer is not electric).
If the water in the steamer is already boiling, then steam the pies for 10 minutes; if the water has not yet warmed up, then 15 minutes.
After steaming the pies, do not remove the lid of the steamer immediately and do not remove them from the steamer for 5 minutes.
Then remove the finished pies from the steamer and separate the pieces of parchment from them (while they are warm).

Baozi is not just steamed buns filled with a variety of fillings, it is the most common and, in part, even sacred dish in China. Each region claims to be the leader in making baozi, and locals sometimes argue heatedly about who can make the best steamed buns. There are no winners in this debate, because absolutely everywhere baozi is simply amazing. In the northwest of the country, tender and juicy pork is used as a filling for buns; in Sichuan, baozi is always spicy and eaten with hot, spicy sauce; in the area around Shanghai, vegetarian baozi filled with spinach, beans, sesame and tofu are very popular. But, wherever this dish is served, it must be accompanied by a small ceramic dish with vinegar and soy sauce, as well as chili paste. Baozi is an integral part of Chinese culinary culture, a popular and accessible food for everyone. Despite the fact that this dish is quite filling, steamed buns with filling are often eaten for breakfast.

History of the dish

There are several legends about the origin of baozi. According to one of them, during the Eastern Khanate, a certain official named Zhang Zhong Jing came up with an unusual food to help poor people stay warm during the cold winter. These were small dough envelopes filled with hot peppers and medicinal herbs. People ate these buns, and many were able to survive the harsh winter thanks to this. The second legend is more popular, and even in the 21st century it is passed on from mouth to mouth with reverence. It all happened 1800 years ago, during the period of the “Three Kingdoms” (220-280).Zhuge Liang, the famous military strategist of that time, was returning from a campaign when his army was struck by a terrible plague epidemic. The healers saw only one way to avert trouble - to sacrifice 50 people to the gods. Their heads had to be cut off and thrown into a stormy river. But Zhuge Liang refused to kill his soldiers in vainand decided to avoid more bloodshed.He decided to fool the gods. The general ordered the slaughter of dozens of cows, horses and pigs traveling with the army, and thenwrap pork and beef in doughand give it the shape of a human head. This food was offered to the gods, and they had mercy. The plague receded, the soldiers recovered from the disease, and the army returned home safely. Since then, baozi has become a typical food of the Chinese people. In some parts of southern China, such as Shanghai, steamed bread, with or without filling, is still called manti, from the word "flour".But in the north, people firmly believe in the legends and call this dish “baozi”, and bao here means “wrapping”. There are also small villages in China where this dish is still called “barbarian head.”

Ingredients

For the test:

• Flour;
• Dry yeast;
• Sugar, salt;
• Water;
• Potato starch.

For the filling and marinade:

• Pork belly;
• Sunflower oil;
• Onion;
• Ginger;
• Garlic;
• Sesame;
• Chinese rice wine;
• Soy sauce;
• Ground black pepper.

Process of making baozi

Like most stuffed foods, baozi requires time and effort. Steamed buns consist of a wheat-based dough and a filling, which is usually pork but can vary. The meat for the filling is passed through a fine mesh meat grinder. After five minutes, add shrimp or vegetables. When the meat is ready, drain off any excess liquid, season with salt and set aside to cool. In the second step, green onions, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and pepper are mixed. The marinade is thoroughly mixed with the main composition and cooled in the freezer for 2 hours. You can leave the future filling for steamed buns in the refrigerator overnight. The meat will be soaked and acquire a unique taste. At the next stage, steam dough is prepared. Yeast, sugar, salt, water are added to the flour and everything is thoroughly mixed for at least 10 minutes. The dough should rise when pressed with your finger. Its surface should be smooth and slightly shiny. The bottom of the bowl is coated with sesame oil to create a thin film on the dough. Next, the dough is placed in the refrigerator; rising slowly in a cool place will create a finer texture. You need to let it rise several times, then the baots will turn out especially tender and will simply melt in your mouth. The fluffy, soft bun provides the perfect contrast to the dense, savory filling. The process of forming buns is the most responsible. The dough is divided into equal disks. Each disc is manually rolled out so that the edges are thin and a “cushion” is formed in the center. The filling, about a dessert spoon, is placed in the very center of the workpiece. The edges of the steam bun need to be carefully glued in the center, making a kind of “pleating”. Ready-made baots leave for another hour in a warm place so that the dough rises again. The buns are placed in a steamer. They shouldn't touch each other. The water temperature should not be higher or lower than a certain value. Once the boil begins, the buns take about 15 minutes to cook. After this time, the stove turns off, but the lid is not removed for about 5 minutes. The dough structure can be destroyed when exposed to cold air. Originating from China, steamed burgers are common in various Asian countries and there are many variations. For example, in the Philippines they are called “burning bags.” They are round or oval in shape and are always densely stuffed with pork, chicken, lamb, shrimp or duck eggs. In Japan, buns are called "san-ma", which means "steamed bread". In Mongolia, such a dish is called “buuz”, and the filling is lamb, sometimes yak meat. In Vietnam, pork mixed with quail eggs is used as a filling. The Chinese, even in ancient times, took food very seriously and ate strictly according to the clock. The reverent attitude towards food has survived to this day. Based on the wisdom of Confucius, the emphasis is on relationships, even during meals. Eating dinner together is an important way for Chinese people to improve their relationships. Baozi encourages friendly communication with its democracy. They will not become the centerpiece of luxurious banquets, but steamed buns in China are an integral part of any feast. They are especially popular as a breakfast dish. In Beijing, hot, juicy baozi can be bought on the street and is also sold pre-cooked and frozen in supermarkets. It is curious that, before the appearance of this dish, the Chinese ate only twice a day, but during the Han Dynasty, after the appearance of a new dish, the inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom began to treat themselves to buns with hearty filling for any occasion.

Dalian Huoshao, or Fried Dalian Pie, is included in the list of "Twelve Popular Beijing Snacks", so to speak, the culinary calling card of Beijing. Beijingers love these pies very much. They can be easily enjoyed at numerous stalls on Wangfujing Pedestrian Street (王府井, pinyin Wangfujing), located in the Dongchengqu District (东城区, pinyin Dongchengqu). In Beijing, there is even a chain of restaurants called Rui Bin Lou (Chinese: 瑞宾楼, pinyin Rui Bin Lou), which includes five establishments specializing in these fried pies. In principle, Dalian pies are close relatives of fried Chinese dumplings. Well, they are somewhat similar to our Russian spring rolls.
The history of this Beijing snack began in 1876, when Yao Chun Xuan (Chinese: 姚春宣, pinyin Yao Chun Xuan) from Beijing's Shunyi district and his wife decided to open their own kiosk on Wangfujing Street and sell pies there. The pies looked like a shoulder bag, or simply a bag, which is called Dalian (Chinese: 褡裢, pinyin Dalian), hence the name of the pies. Well, in this “bag” of unleavened dough made from wheat flour, enterprising cooks put a filling of lean meat, flavored with fat, ginger and onions for juiciness. Then the pies were fried, resulting in a crispy crust on the outside, but they remained juicy on the inside. The customers liked the pies, and after a while the couple opened a small establishment selling these pies, which Yao’s wife called “Run Ming Lou” (Chinese: 润明楼, pinyin Run Ming Lou). Time passed, and everything would have continued to be fine, but the children of enterprising parents were unable to manage the family business, and the establishment went bankrupt. This is where the story would end. But in 1934, two waiters - Luo Hu Xiang (Chinese: 罗虎祥, pinyin Luo Hu Xiang) and Hao Jia Rui (Chinese: 郝家瑞, pinyin Hao Jia Rui) - decided to open their own restaurant in one of the hutongs in the center of Beijing. They named it after themselves - “Xiang Rui Fandian” (Chinese 祥瑞饭店, pinyin Xiang Rui Fandian), including their surnames in the name - and began to offer Dalian pies there. In 1956, the restaurant was nationalized. The establishment changed its name several times, it was both “Red Rock” and “Hurricane”. In 1986, the restaurant received its current name - “Rhuy Bing Low”. The Dalian pie itself was called a “Chinese traditional snack” by the Chinese Culinary Association in 1997.

INGREDIENTS (for 6 pies):
wheat flour - 250 g,
hot water - 40 ml,
cold water - 80 ml,
minced pork - 150 g,
ginger - a piece the size of half a walnut,
green onions - 2-3 feathers,
Shaoxing wine- 1 tbsp,
light soy sauce - 1 tbsp,
dark soy sauce - 1 tsp,
Sesame oil- 1 tbsp,
peanut or other vegetable oil- 1 tbsp,
ground white (or black) pepper - ¼ tsp.

First, let's prepare the dough for our pies. The dough should not be too soft, but not too dense. Therefore, the recipe for unleavened dough for these pies is somewhat different from the recipe for ordinary unleavened dough - it uses both hot and cold water.
Mix wheat flour and hot water in a container of suitable volume, stir quickly until lumps of dough form and immediately add cold water, stirring again. Knead the dough until smooth, cover with cling film and let it stand for 15 minutes.
Wash the green onions and peel a piece of ginger. Cut the green onions into rings and grate the ginger.

Let's prepare the minced meat for filling the pies: put minced pork in a container of suitable volume, add grated ginger, ground white (or black) pepper, light and dark soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine. Mix the mixture thoroughly, add sesame oil and mix again. If the minced meat is thick, then you need to add a little water (2-3 tbsp) and mix again. Then add green onions and mix again.

Roll the dough into a sausage and divide into 6 pieces. Roll one piece into a rectangular cake 2-3 mm thick.

Place some of the minced meat on the flatbread and level it so that there is a small space left on each edge of the flatbread without filling (so that the dough can be held together).

Visually divide the rectangle with the filling horizontally into three parts. Place the lower third of the rectangle on the middle part and cover with the upper part. Press the edges at the ends until the dough sticks together. You will get a rectangular pie, or, if you prefer, a pancake. Quite similar to our spring rolls.

Heat a frying pan, coat it with peanut oil, reduce heat to low and fry the pancakes on both sides until golden brown (turn the pancakes over and brush the top side with peanut butter). When the pancakes are sufficiently browned, carefully add a little water to the pan, cover with a lid and simmer the pies under the lid for 3-4 minutes until cooked. Remove the lid and let the golden brown crust dry.

Mochi or mochi is a small Japanese flatbread. It is made from glutinous rice, crushed into a paste (or rice flour), which is subsequently given a certain shape. The process of creating flatbreads is called mochitsuki and is traditional not only in Japan, but also in Hawaii, Cambodia and Thailand, the Republic of China and South Korea.

Traditionally, mochi is prepared by hand. The process called mochitsuki includes the following steps:

• Polished glutinous rice is soaked overnight and boiled;
• Boiled rice is pounded using a wooden hammer in a traditional mortar called usu. This process requires the presence of two people who alternate between each other. One of them crushes the mochi with a hammer, and the other wets the mochi with water and stirs it. Actions must be performed in a clear rhythm, otherwise injury cannot be avoided.
• After the mass is ready, it is given a certain shape (usually cubic or spherical).

But how to cook mochi in our conditions? Without a special mortar and hammer. Nothing could be easier! To do this you need to take the following ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups mochiko (glutinous rice flour)
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 2 drops of vinegar.

In a medium bowl, stir together mochiko, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water until smooth. Add 2 drops of vinegar to soften the dough. Place in the microwave and cover with plastic wrap. After 4 minutes, remove the mochi from the microwave and let cool. Then cut and shape the cakes.
If you wish, you can add a few drops of food coloring to the mochi during the cooking process to create interesting color schemes. Also, for those who have a sweet tooth, you can add melted chocolate to the dough during its preparation.
If you want mochi with filling, bean paste, chocolate, yogurt with various fillings, etc. are best suited for this. To prepare filled mochi, take the prepared dough (how to prepare mochi dough is described above), roll it into a sausage shape, then cut the sausage into equal pieces. Use your fingers to shape each piece into a pancake (but not very thin) and place the desired filling in the center. Then seal the edges. After spreading the filling over the pastries, microwave them for 4 minutes. Cool and serve.

Another option

1. The rice was boiled to a pulp, then it was beaten for a long time with a rolling pin or hammer, until it became a thick, homogeneous mass, adding a little syrup for color and taste.
2. Sweet beans were also boiled and beaten.
3. Wrapped the beans in rice pulp and placed them in steam water. All this took several hours. Then they sprinkled it with soy. rice flour or powder. I somehow didn’t see what they would do with flour, but I was interested in it

As a rule, sweetened pastes from red beans, peanuts, sesame, chestnuts are used as a filling... the filling in the shape of a ball is covered with rice mass, then these balls are boiled and served in broth... such a delicacy for children and their parents)
The Japanese, along with traditional ones, offer fillings with flavors that are more familiar to us - cherry, peach, strawberry, etc. The prepared dish is frozen and thawed before serving, or stored in the refrigerator and served cold during the day.

This is what mochi from a candy store looks like:

with different flavors - sakura, caramel, honey with lemon, blueberry, mango, tiramisu...

I'll show you a recipe with chocolate.

Ingredients:

Rice mass (mochi):
50gr. rice flour (with gluten)
150ml. water
100gr. Sahara
corn starch
Quantity: 10-12 pieces

Filling:
75ml. cream (35%)
100gr. chocolate (preferably dark)
(I didn’t have all the filling)

We start cooking with the filling:
Pour the cream into a saucepan and put on fire. As soon as the cream boils, add chocolate pieces to it.

Mix until smooth

Set aside to let the chocolate cool, then put in the refrigerator or freezer (the mass should hold its shape).

Stir and put on fire

The mass will quickly begin to thicken

It may clump, but that's okay - lift the pan over the heat and continue stirring vigorously... the result will be a white, dense, sticky mass:

Sprinkle the table with starch and pour the mixture onto it.

Let it cool and before starting modeling, also sprinkle starch on top (starch can be sprinkled in excess, all excess is shaken off well):

Next, I worked with my hands, constantly immersing them in starch. I cut off a piece from the total mass with a knife and formed circles about 3 mm thick with my fingertips. I took out the frozen filling and placed it in the middle.

We lift the edges of the rice mass and pinch it on top,

We carefully take it in our hands and roll it up, or throw it from palm to palm until the gluing area is more or less smoothed out. Place the resulting balls on wax paper or a plate sprinkled with starch...
All!

Well, this is the home-made result:

In every Chinese town there is some special, purely local dish, which can only be tasted in the homeland of this delicacy.
For example, in the southern Chinese town of Kibao, a small settlement surrounded by water, you can buy very original packages on the street under the intriguing slogan: “Beggar's Chicken.” Each of these packages is the carcass of a whole chicken, not too large, however, baked in a package of mud. To enjoy the dish, you just need to break this shell.

There are also snacks like this. For a European, they are more likely to aggravate the feeling of hunger than to contribute to satiety. These are skewers of goose giblets, tofu balls, seaweed and mushrooms, which are dipped in a piping hot spicy soup and eaten out of paper bags.

Salted quail eggs. The device for preparing them is a stove made of a single block of salt with a large recess into which hundreds of tiny quail eggs are placed. Thus, this Chinese dish is salted and baked at the same time.

For those who can afford meat, they sell real meat skewers and french fries to go with them. Next to the meat skewers are tofu skewers, which residents of southern China simply adore. They call it fragrant, although some Europeans may find this product simply stinky. Dustystik is cubes of fermented tofu, fried in oil until the desired condition - when the crust becomes crispy and the inside remains tender.

For those who can't afford meat, they sell skewers containing lamb, beef, goose giblets and fried chicken, as well as fake duck rolls - all made from rolled out sheets of tofu. As a rule, all these products are then deep-fried. Delicious and very fatty!

A healthier snack option is steamed sweet rice “bags,” which are small baskets of steamed rice, pieces of prunes and raisins.

You can wash this rice down with Chinese punch - drinks made from herbal and citrus jelly, grapes, melon and shredded coconut. Some of them include lemon juice.

For dessert, you can indulge in hot sticky rice cookies. Its variety is quite large - purple with the taste of red beans, yellow with the taste of a local exotic fruit called durian, and green with Chinese medicinal herbs.

Shanghai is also famous for its huge variety of street food.

Shanghai crab cakes, for example. Crabs in Shanghai are a very affordable delicacy, because in the outskirts of the city they are caught all year round, which is why these neat oval crab cakes baked until golden brown in a clay oven have become so popular. They usually add a wide variety of fillings - both sweet and spicy.

Stuffed rice balls are one of the most popular Chinese breakfasts. The traditional filling is pork with pickled vegetables; recently, a mixture of eggs and ham has also become widespread. This dish tastes best while it is still hot. In restaurants they are served with meat sauce, in a more formal version.

One of the simplest Chinese dishes, which can be bought on every corner in Shanghai, is called “ZUNG WANG BING”. It is a greenish vegetarian pancake. Typically, such pancakes are baked by elderly people who received a simple recipe from their grandmother and now keep it in the strictest confidence. Green onions are usually added to such pancakes, which is why they acquire a light light green tint.

There are also such pancake stalls - more civilized, so to speak. The most popular filling for pancakes is green onions with hard-boiled eggs.

Shanghainese's favorite snack is small, slightly sweetened bean pies. The taste of these pies is light, not at all cloying. Sometimes there are even long queues for this Shanghainese dish.

Tang gao rice donuts are made from glutinous rice flour and then sprinkled with sugar.

Shanghai dumplings are a favorite delicacy of almost every Chinese of conscious age. They are usually served fresh, lightly fried. They can steam it and then serve it in a rich, hot soup. In general, they say that there are as many types and ways of serving dumplings in China as there are food lovers, so you can eat exclusively dumplings for a whole year without ever encountering the same taste or preparation option.

Baked sweet potato is a legendary street food in Shanghai. It is the cheapest, but at the same time almost the most delicious and nutritious street delicacy. In hutons and poor areas, sweet potatoes are baked directly on coals. This is a highly digestible food that, thanks to the starch contained in the tubers, fuels the eater for a good half of the day, combining the tenderness of baked potatoes and the sweetish taste of pumpkin. Street vendors of sweet potatoes cook them on barrels equipped with charcoal and attached to a bicycle in the form of a trailer. The bike cookery smells nicely of baked potatoes, but it's a seasonal food. It is in demand mainly in winter; you won’t see such sellers in summer and spring.

When talking about street food, it’s hard not to mention Dopey rice cake, which is prepared exclusively in the Hubei province of China. Dopey is usually eaten for breakfast. In the capital of the province, the city of Wuhan, many small shops or just stalls open in the morning where this dish is prepared. Residents of the province usually snack on this dish in the morning, on the go, so it can be considered a quick and hot traditional breakfast. The main ingredient of the dish is rice; the pie is easily digestible, which has ensured its high popularity.

To prepare the pie, take a large frying pan, onto which the soy cake prepared in advance is laid out. The flatbread is topped with either a layer of rice with spices, or a mixture of rice with mushrooms, meat, onions and sauce. The resulting pie is fried on both sides, then cut into small pieces of 5-10 cm. In establishments where they sell Dopey, they usually use two fryers in parallel - on one they keep the dish heated, and on the second a new batch is prepared.

Dopey is usually sold in a small bucket. One such bucket costs 4 yuan - about 20 rubles. Sticks are included in the price.

It has a pleasant taste, neutral enough for European tourists; in addition, large pieces of pie are easy to eat with chopsticks, even for those who have never tried this.

One can confidently call Bao Tzu the healthiest Chinese street snack pie - they are not fried or baked, but steamed - in special huge steamers. The dough of these pies is weightless, neither sweet nor salty, airy, tender,
cooked without oil and spices, but the filling can be very varied - sweet (jam, dried fruits), salty (young garlic sprouts with tofu, cabbage of all kinds, meat, offal).

In China, you can also snack on fresh fruits, most of which are brought here from Thailand. There are tiny melons, the size of a fist.

The pineapples will be peeled right in front of the buyer, using a sharp knife.

If the buyer prefers nuts and dried fruits, then they are also available here, along with small specific pies, the filling of which consists of nuts, dried fruits and RED BEANS, which the Chinese love to add to desserts.

Northern China has its own special delicacy - tanhulu, or candied fruit.

Candied fruits on a stick are especially popular in the autumn-winter period; in fact, that’s when they appear on the shelves. To make this delicacy, small fruits are used - Chinese hawthorn fruits, paradise apples, tangerine slices, strawberries, kiwi, grapes, pineapple pieces, even water chestnuts and sweet potatoes.
Before cooking, they are washed, strung on thin bamboo sticks, and dipped in a sling of granulated sugar. When the fruit has hardened, the dish is ready. The number of fruits usually does not exceed 6-7 pieces, the length of the stick is about 10-15 centimeters.
According to legend, this colorful delicacy appeared during the Song Dynasty, in 1190. Emperor Guang Zong's wife became very ill, she could not eat anything and was on the verge of death. Only one doctor managed to cure her. He recommended that she eat 5-10 hawthorn berries in caramel every day before bed. Hawthorn, known for its healing properties, worked great.
Authentic hawthorn tanhulu: