**The Art of Making Steamed Baoz**

Making steamed baoz is an art that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. As I began my journey, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and nervousness. The videos I watched online seemed to make it look so easy, but I knew that the reality would be different. Little did I know, the process would be just as rewarding as I had imagined.

My first attempt was met with a twist - literally. As I attempted to shape my dumplings, I found myself struggling to get them right. The dough seemed too sticky, and I couldn't quite get the hang of it. But I didn't give up. With each attempt, I tweaked my technique, adding just the right amount of water or adjusting my grip on the dough. And then, it happened - my first dumpling took shape. It was a little rough around the edges, but I was thrilled.

**The Technique**

As I continued to work on my bao-making skills, I discovered that the key to success lay in the technique. Pinching and squeezing the dough was crucial, as it allowed me to create a delicate balance between the filling and the bread. The pleats had to be just right, not too thick or too thin, but rather just enough to hold everything together. And then, there was the final twist - a gentle pinch that sealed the deal. It was a moment of triumph every time I got it right.

But making baoz wasn't just about the technique; it was also about creating something cute and endearing. I remembered an article I read online that discussed "cute aggression," where people found themselves drawn to things that were both adorable and slightly intimidating. It seemed to apply perfectly to my little dumpling creations, with their rounded bodies and playful faces.

**Adding the Finishing Touches**

With my baoz finally shaped and ready for cooking, it was time to add a few finishing touches. I took a couple of scrap pieces of dough and used them to create tiny noses on two of my dumplings, just for fun. It was a silly touch, but one that brought a smile to my face every time I looked at it.

**Steaming the Baoz**

As the baoz steamed away in the wok, the aroma of sesame oil and ginger filled the air. It was a moment of anticipation, waiting for the timer to go off and the baoz to be ready. And when they emerged, steaming hot and fragrant, I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. The crust was golden brown, the filling was tender, and the flavors were perfectly balanced.

**Tasting the Baoz**

The moment of truth arrived as I took my first bite of the baoz. The texture was sublime - soft and fluffy on the inside, with just the right amount of chew to hold it together. The flavors danced on my tongue, a harmonious balance of sweet and savory. It was truly scrumptious.

**Tips and Variations**

One thing I discovered about making baoz is that they're best enjoyed fresh, rather than frozen or reheated later. However, with the right storage techniques, they can be preserved for months to come. My mom used to wrap them up in little sandwich bags and freeze them, only to re-warm them in the toaster oven when needed.

As I continued to experiment with different fillings and ingredients, I found that the possibilities were endless. From classic pork and cabbage to more adventurous options like chicken or tofu, the world of baoz was mine for the taking.

**Sharing My Creations**

Finally, it was time to share my creations with others. I wrapped a few baoz in cellophane bags and handed them out to friends and family, eager to see their reactions. And when they took their first bites, I watched as their faces lit up with delight. It was a moment of pure joy, knowing that I had brought happiness into the lives of those around me.

And so, I invite you all to join me on this journey of bao-making, from novice to expert. With practice and patience, you too can create delicious steamed baoz that will bring smiles to your loved ones' faces. Happy cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello my beautiful lovelies it's emmy welcome back today i'm going to be making bao now bow our little steamed or baked buns that i grew up eating when i lived in california my mom would buy them for us when we went to chinatown love baos they're chinese little buns as i said so i am inspired to make bao today because this past weekend my family and i went to see incredibles 2. so this short film called bao preface the incredibles 2 and it was my favorite i mean incredibles 2 was really fun as well but bao was my favorite it is so endearingly charmingly sweet it's also worth mentioning that this film bao is the first female directed one by pixar so props up to domi she and also this is her mother's recipe so i'm super excited to test it out to taste it and to make it i'll also put the link to the recipe down below in the description it's worth checking out because it includes domi's original illustrations so first things first we're going to prepare our dough first thing we're going to do is measure out four cups of flour into a large bowl and add three quarters of a teaspoon of yeast mix that together and then we're going to add 500 milliliters of water and form this into a dough i actually used a lot less than this i used about 350 milliliters and that might have been due to the weather we had some thunder showers and it was pretty humid but yeah just add it gradually until it forms a dough and then we're going to allow it to rest for two hours to allow the yeast to rise okay so for the filling we're going to take one pound of pork and half of this we're going to pan saute until it's fully cooked then allow that to cool completely now we're going to combine it back with the raw pork and we're going to add 1 pound of chinese cabbage also known as napa cabbage that's been finely minced 1 carrot finely minced 3 green onions chopped 1 egg one teaspoon of freshly ground ginger one teaspoon of sesame oil a half teaspoon of chinese chicken bouillon you can use the stuff they find in the supermarket but that'll have more of a celery flavor one teaspoon of oyster sauce and two teaspoons of cooking wine about three quarters of a teaspoon of salt and a bunch of freshly cracked black pepper so we're gonna mix this until everything is well combined and there you have your stuffing now it is time to shape our bowls i have a steamer basket here this is a bamboo steamer and i have it lined with the outside leaves of the napa cabbage these are the leaves that you probably wouldn't eat but they are great for lining the bottom of the steamer so our bowels don't stick this is what domi's mother uses in her recipe but whenever we bought baos growing up they were always on a little square of parchment paper so we could use that as well and now we have our dough so i'm going to add a little bit of flour onto my countertop this is a big piece of dough so i'm going to work with half of it at a time so according to the instructions and what is shown in the movie itself this is the windmill technique you take your ball of dough and you make a hole in the middle of it and you make a ring i'm not making dragon's beard here no but if you want to see me fail a lot you can go check out that video and we're going to make a ring of dough use a little bit of flour so what we're doing is forming a nice even snake right we're using gravity and stretching to create a snake that is pretty even so the advantage of forming the snake as a ring is that you don't end up with two ends that are too tapered thus having pieces that are going to be too small we have more uniformity when we create a ring i'm just going to cut this now we have two even snakes so i'm going to put this one to the side and i'm going to keep it covered with a cloth so it doesn't dry out so it says in the instructions to do half inch but i'm going to go ahead and make mine a little bit larger mine about two inches because i want an actual bun i don't want a little like shoe long bao so and use our pin to give it a little bit of a roll preliminary squash just tiny bit of flour you don't want too much so the secret for rolling out bow is that you want to thin out the perimeter so you have a nice edge to pleat you don't want to be too thick so you roll outwards just on the edge and in the middle you have a little puff of dough pick up our dough in one hand and place our filling in the middle here comes the pleating so we use our thumb and push thumb and push go all the way around and grab these pleats they make it look so easy in the videos actually it's not too bad hey give a little twist there we have a bow i'm pretty happy about that little dumpling that's my first dumpling ever all right let's try that again so i'm gonna place that into my steamer basket be safe in there okay don't run away just sit in there nicely and be happy okay we're gonna cook you up in just a minute there's a nice heaping tablespoon that's almost a tablespoon and a half i would say and now we're just going to pinch pinch pinch pinch pinch so you're just grabbing a pleat and twisting grabbing a pleat and twisting grabbing twisting all the way around just give a final pinch at the end you could be friends with your brother right there okay in some of the articles i read about this film about it talks about cute aggression there's something about something being cute and you kind of want to like crush it and like harm it at the same time yeah do you remember that tiny toons character what was her name elmira i forget oh you're so cute little bunny and just because she'd be like abusing it remember that remember that no okay we'll continue making dumplings now pinch and squeeze pinch and squeeze pinch and squeeze it's still getting this technique down but it's not too bad and then give it a final twist so it seals you okay you'll be sit with your other siblings okay you'd be good you were dumpling now that we've shaped our bowels we're ready to cook them so in this large wok i'm gonna add some boiling water here and then we're going to take our steam basket with our dumplings in it place them right on top and cover them and steam them for 15 minutes bye little dumplings see you later and just for a little added fun i took a couple scrap pieces of dough and added little noses to a couple of my dumplings to see if i could make a little dumpling boy cute all right we'll be back in 15 minutes all right here is my steamer basket and here are my beautiful bows oh they look so good juicy steamy hot gorgeous all right got myself a bow and there it is there's the stuffing completely cooked and it looks like a bread you can see that it has the crumb of a bread but it's a little bit softer and stickier all right let's give that a taste itadakimasu delicious don't mean delicious absolutely scrumptious the dough is soft and tender squishy succulent a little bit chewy but fully cooked so while the bowl is steaming the outside absorbs all of the flavors of the meat it is absolutely delicious and succulent and the filling is absolutely scrumptious as well you've got the sesame seed oil in there you've got the sweet cabbage and the sweet carrots and of course you've got the pork in there tiny bit of ginger but that combination of flavors is so stinking good what i do enjoy when i find a little bit different is the filling is not as dense it's a little bit fluffier which i appreciate sometimes when i would get these type of boughs it'd be kind of like a meatball inside and kind of separate from the bread but this has a little bit of crumb to it which i really actually like and i like the fact that you can see the carrots and the cabbage in there too nice little bit of color grum juice like most baked goods baos are best eaten the day of they can be stored in the freezer my mom used to wrap these up in little sandwich bags and put them in the freezer and you can re-warm them in the toaster oven or in this case re-steam them so let's take off the lid and there are my bags look at my one with a little face oh isn't he sweet look he turned out so cute look at him i am so pleased look how stinking cute this is hello there's my little bow boy absolutely delicious and sweet and cute my boy is actually still in school so i'm going to save this until he comes home from school so he can see how my little bow boy turned out so there you have it homemade steamed baoz i hope you try this recipe it's a delicious one and relatively simple to make if you do please share them with me via social media i want to see your beautiful results if you make a little bow boy i want to see that as well and big thanks to nomi's mom for sharing her recipe and yeah thank you guys so much for watching i hope you guys enjoyed that one i hope you guys learned something share this video with your friends follow me on social media so you can see what i'm up to and i shall see you in my next one toodaloo take care bye just kidding\n"