Banh Bao

[Clodfobble]

Look what I made!!

These are filled with a mixture of ground pork, ginger, baby bok choy, scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil. The outside is a traditional Vietnamese steamed bun style (banh bao), while the inside is more typical of a Chinese or Japanese dumpling (jiaozi or gyoza).

I am so proud of myself I might burst. I mean, I kneaded dough for the first time in my life today! And they tasted really, really good, just like the kind you get at a good dim sum restaurant. The dough took about 20 minutes to make, an hour to rise, and then maybe another 25 minutes to wrap the individual buns with the stuffing inside--but by the end I was going much faster, and next time it won't take as long. 15 minutes in a stacked bamboo steamer and they were ready!

We could only eat 4 apiece, so the rest went into the freezer. The recipe claims they reheat very well; I'll know for sure in a day or two when I decide to have some for lunch.