Baked Buns with Mapo Tofu Filling
I was craving the Mapo Tofu buns from the bun shop near my old school. Since I couldn't get them, I decided to make my own! This Mapo Tofu filling is amazing. After making baked buns, I used the extra filling to make steamed buns too—so delicious!
Ingredients
Steps
Prepare the dough ingredients
Mix with chopsticks until crumbly
Knead into a smooth dough, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes
While the dough rests, prepare the filling: Grind the pork belly, cut the tofu into cubes, chop the garlic chives, and soak and chop the vermicelli
Heat oil in a pan and sauté minced ginger and garlic
Add a tablespoon of Pixian bean paste and stir-fry until fragrant
Add cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, Sichuan pepper powder, chili oil, cumin powder, and sesame oil. Stir-fry over low heat until fragrant
Pour the sauce over the filling ingredients
Mix well
Roll the rested dough into a long strip
Cut into small pieces I cut them too small here, resulting in tiny buns. It's better to cut into 10 pieces
Roll out a piece into a rectangle, add a generous spoonful of filling
Fold the top and bottom edges together
Fold the left and right edges together
One tray done!
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with white sesame seeds
Bake in an air fryer at 200°C for 20 minutes. The aroma of Mapo Tofu is irresistible while baking!
Fresh out of the oven!
Enjoy while hot—so delicious!