My girls and I have a list of places we’d like to travel to once we can travel again. To Peru, to see pink dolphins swim in the Amazon and to visit Machu Picchu. To London, to visit our cousins. To Mexico, to have a cooking lesson in Oaxaca (OK, that one might be more for me than for them.)
We would also love to spend time in Asia, for many reasons, but the food there is very high on the list.
Until then, I have MeeraSodha’s new-to-the-U.S. cookbook, “EAST: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Beijing.” I was sent a preview copy, and cooking through it has been like a voyage through Vietnam, India, Singapore and Taiwan, to name a few. Sodha writes the vegan column for The Guardian’s weekend magazine, and has a toddler, so her recipes are fuss-free and use ingredients easily found in your pantry or local market.
These mushroom baos, with perfectly pillowy buns, had me in Taiwanese street food heaven. The filling of mushrooms (I used sliced white ones from the market, but I know many of you have been foraging lately), which is tied together with the sauce of peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic, delivered astounding umami bliss. You top each bun with quick-pickled cucumbers and salty peanuts, and wow, just wow.
Make sure you use instant yeast for the baos, and you’ll need some way to steam them after their two rises. I couldn’t find my bamboo steamer, but I have a silicone insert for a medium-size pot.
Even my picky eater loved the baos, which is saying a ton. And they’re vegan! I’ve already started to daydream about new fillings, and I’ve promised my girls we’ll make them soon again.
From “EAST: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Beijing”
Ingredients for the bao buns
3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp instant yeast
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
1¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water
Canola oil (for brushing the baos during their rise)
For the pickled cucumber
⅓ cup rice vinegar
½ a cucumber, halved, deseeded, and thinly sliced
For the mushroom filling
⅓ cup soy sauce
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
2½ tbsp rice vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp canola oil
1½ lbs oyster and shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
A handful of salted peanuts, ground or finely chopped
Directions
Start by making the dough. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the water little by little and bring the dough together using your hands; you should have a sticky ball. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and bouncy, then place in an oiled bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place to double in size for 1 to 1½ hours.
Meanwhile, put the vinegar for the pickled cucumber into a small saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer, then pour into a bowl, add the cucumber, and leave to cool.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, knead for a minute to knock out the air, then divide into 10 equal pieces. Take one piece, flatten it into a half-inch-thick disk, then brush one half with a little oil. Fold the bun into a half-moon and place on a small square of parchment paper on a tray. Repeat with the remaining dough, then loosely cover the tray with a kitchen towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes more.
Now for the filling. In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, garlic, and sesame oil. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan on a high flame, then fry the mushrooms for 6 minutes, until soft and browning at the edges. Stir in the sauce to coat, then turn the heat to medium and cook, stirring regularly, for 5 minutes, until the sauce reduces and darkens.
To cook the baos, set a steamer over a pan of simmering water. Put the bao,s still on their parchment-paper mats, into the steamer in batches, making sure they don’t touch. Cover and steam for 8 minutes.
Once done, fill each bao with a generous tablespoon of mushrooms, 3 or 4 slices of cucumber and, for a little crunch, some peanuts.
Molly Parr lives in Florence with her husband and two young daughters. She’s been writing her food blog, Cheap Beets, since 2010. She was furloughed from Smith for the summer and is using the time to work on her first cookbook. Send questions or comments to molly.parr@gmail.com.