Today, February 12, 2021, is the beginning of the Chinese New Year which marks the transition from the year of the Rat to the year of the Ox. Celebrations will last for 16 days, but only the first week, February 11th–17th, is considered a public holiday.

Food will be part of every families’ celebration and though many of us would assume rice would be the centerpiece of meals, the most popular food for this holiday is steamed sourdough buns. These buns are made with just wheat flour, water, and sourdough, just as they have been made for centuries.

Chinese sourdough influences the taste, aroma, and tradition in all Chinese steamed bread. And using sourdough has been the practice there for more than 2000 years.   This bread “is generally formulated with wheat flour, water and sourdough …and is steamed after fermentation.”[1]

If you want to try making Steamed Sourdough Buns here is our recipe from last year:

Chinese Steamed Sourdough Bun Recipe[2]

STEAMED SOURDOUGH BUNS FOR THE LUNAR NEW YEAR

Clicking the link [2] above takes you to the China Sichuan Food—Chinese Recipes and Eating Culture site, which shows how to make plain buns.

The recipe below is from Tony Chiodo at GoodFood.com in Australia.[3]

Ingredients

Instructions

Preferment 

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • ¾ cup of filtered water
  • ½ cup sourdough starter
  1. Whisk together the starter, flour, and water until batter-like consistency.
  2. Place into a glass or ceramic jar and cover loosely.
  3. Wait 12 hours before using it.

Always keep ½ cup starter and feed it to produce more for later use. It can be stored for a week in the fridge. 
Dough

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • ½ cup preferment
  • ½-1 cup filtered water
  1. Mix the flour, salt, and leaven adding the water to form a smooth, pliable dough.
  2. Knead for 10 minutes to develop gluten.
  3. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rest and rise in a warm spot for 4–7 hours
Filling

  • 1 tbsp dark sesame oil
  • 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  • 1 tsp ginger, finely minced
  • ¼ cup leek, finely sliced
  • ¼ cup carrot, grated or diced
  • 3-4 mushrooms, sliced
  • ½ can (227g) water chestnuts, sliced
  • 1 baby bok choy, finely shredded
  • ⅓ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tsp cold water

Filling

  1. To prepare filling place wok (or large fry pan) over medium heat
  2. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, leeks, carrots, mushrooms, and water chestnuts.
  3. Stir-fry for 1 minute and add the bok choy, walnuts, soy sauce, and the dissolved cornstarch.
  4. Stir until the mixture thickens. Set aside to cool.

Make Buns

  1. To assemble the buns, break off 12 golf ball-size pieces (4cm) of dough and roll into balls.
  2. Flatten with a rolling pin, keeping the edges slightly thinner.
  3. Place 1 Tbsp of filling in the center, pull up the sides and twist to close.
  4. Place twisted side down on to waxed paper in an unheated bamboo steamer, leaving a little space between the buns.
  5. Allow it to rise covered for about an hour.
  6. Steam for 15 minutes.
  7. Lightly spray with water to create a glaze and steam for a further 5 minutes.

Vegetable stuffed Chinese sourdough steamed buns—our first try

In the comment section below, tell us how you celebrated the beginning of the year of the rat. And if you are interested in our other sourdough holiday recipes click here.

Sources