Grandma’s Taste of Shandong Steamed Buns

Overview

My mother was born in Shandong. When she was a child, her family came to Urumqi, Xinjiang with her grandma. Grandma had a second hometown, and she lived here longer than her first hometown. As time went by, I gradually started to follow the local customs in speaking and eating. When I was a child, I often ate Shandong version of Xinjiang rice at my grandma’s house. Shandong people think that dumplings and steamed buns are delicacies that they can never tire of eating. For grandma, they may be more of a deep longing for their hometown and long-lasting memories. Grandma's steamed buns are delicious and juicy in texture, and what's unique is the filling. The vegetables and meat are not mixed together. When making the buns, put the vegetable filling first and then a piece of meat. Grandma said that in the past, when the conditions at home were not good, when there was no meat at home, she would crush fried peanuts and mix them with vegetables to make stuffing. Later, there was meat, but the children had too much meat, so they cut the meat into pieces to ensure that there was meat in each bun. The children were so happy to eat a piece of meat as they ate. This may be the mother's wisdom in cooking! Later, when living conditions improved and supplies became more abundant, everyone liked to eat buns stuffed with pure meat or meat and vegetables. Grandma still liked to eat her steamed stuffed buns with a piece of meat. Nowadays, we are no longer in the era of eating meat. We are tired of eating steamed stuffed buns stuffed with meat. I think steamed stuffed buns with one piece of meat are still more delicious. Grandma is getting old and can no longer cook. I also have to learn to make her favorite buns. Of course, my mother’s help is indispensable:)

Tags

• staple food
• home cooking
• old man
• breakfast
• steamed buns
• banquet dishes
• chives
• flour
• peanut oil
• pork belly
• sichuan pepper powder
• zucchini
• salt
• soy sauce

Ingredients

Steps

1. 1 I used baking powder to make the noodles the night before. Because I wanted to give them to my relatives and friends to try, I used a big pot at home to knead the noodles. By this morning, the noodles had more than doubled in size. The surface was honeycomb-shaped, and there was a sour smell when you were close to it. The noodles were ready. It was really a big bowl!

   

2. 2 Cover the pot and continue to ferment the dough, and prepare the vegetable filling. A small handful of leeks is just to enhance the flavor and cannot cover up the refreshing flavor of the gourd.

   

3. 3 Peel the zucchini and cut into small pieces.

   

4. 4 Sprinkle salt on the zucchini pieces, marinate for a while, then squeeze the water with your hands, do not use gauze, otherwise the vegetables will be too dry.

   

5. 5 Dice the leeks, sprinkle a small spoonful of peppercorns, and mix well with the zucchini.

   

6. 6 Put peanut oil in the pot, the amount of oil you usually use for cooking, heat it up and let it cool.

   

7. 7 Put the vegetable stuffing into the cold oil, mix well with a spatula, and let the oil coat the vegetables so that no water comes out of the vegetables.

   

8. 8 Cut the pork belly into pieces and mix it with dark soy sauce. Shandong people have a special liking for soy sauce.

   

9. 9 Take out the dough from the basin and knead it well.

   

10. 10 The dough is a little bigger.

    

11. 11 The skin should be rolled out thicker and steamed before the skin becomes soft. If the skin is thin, the steamed buns will not rise and look like dead buns. Mine is not thick enough, so roll it out again.

    

12. 12 Put a spoonful of vegetable filling and two pieces of meat. Haha, there is an extra piece added to the grandma's version.

    

13. 13 This is a two-sided wrapping method.

    

14. 14 When wrapping one, put one into the steamer first, cover the pot and let it rest for a quarter of an hour. After wrapping them all, let them rest in the pot for a quarter of an hour, then turn on the heat. After the pot comes to a boil, lower the heat for 25 minutes and take it out of the pot.

    

15. 15 Take out the buns quickly after taking them out of the pan, otherwise the gauze and buns will stick to each other and make it difficult to remove. Because it was hot to my hands, I put a basket of steamed buns into a large basin, quickly pulled the gauze, and then picked out the steamed buns from the basin and put them on a plate. If the gauze sticks to the bun skin and is difficult to remove, sprinkle some water on the sticky area and it will be easier to remove.

    

16. 16 More polenta.