Shiitake Mushroom Vegan Bao Buns

Fluffy steamed buns are slathered in hoisin sauce and stuffed with tender shiitake mushrooms in sweet and savory garlic ginger sauce, quick pickled veggies and crunchy peanuts to make these scrumptious vegan bao buns!

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for over a year. And that’s kind of a shame because these buns are so good!

So why the wait? Well, I guess I haven’t been sitting on the entire recipe. I developed the recipe for the shiitake mushroom filling last summer after spotting frozen bao buns (that just happened to be vegan!) at an Asian market. Sometimes I do that: I see some hard-to-find ingredient that I’ve been longing for and develop a recipe around it only to realize most people won’t be able to get ahold of it and won’t get to make the recipe.

In this case, fortunately, that ingredient was one you can make yourself. I just needed to develop a bun recipe to go with my filling.

If you can get your hands on some frozen vegan buns and just want to make the filling, go for it. The whole process of making these will be a lot easier.

But if you can’t, fear not: making your own vegan steamed buns at home really isn’t that tough.

The buns start with a yeast dough that’s not that much different from one you might use to bake bread. To make the dough, dissolve some yeast in warm water and let it sit while you mix up some flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the liquid to the yeast and form your dough.

You’ll knead the dough for a bit until it’s smooth and elastic, then, just like with bread dough, let it rise until it’s about doubled in size.

Split your dough up and roll it into balls. Then, roll each ball into a little circle with a rolling pin.

Fold and steam your buns until they’re soft and fluffy.

While the dough rises, prepare some quick pickled veggies. Toss some cucumber, carrots and jalapeño slices in a zippy rice vinegar marinade.

And finally, prepare the shiitake mushroom filling. Slice the mushrooms nice and thin, so you can pile a bunch into your buns after they’re cooked.

Briefly brown the mushrooms for a few minutes on each side, then add some sauce. Let it cook for a few more minutes, until the sauce forms a thick, sticky coating on the mushrooms.

To serve, slather the steamed buns with hoisin sauce, then stuff with the mushroom filling, pickled veggies, peanuts, scallions and cilantro.

Tips For Making Delicious Vegan Bao Buns

• If you want to use premade buns, look for them in the freezer section of an Asian market.
• And if you are using premade buns, check the ingredients to ensure they’re vegan. I checked out a bunch of brands and most of them contained dairy.
• If you make your own buns, you’ll need a bamboo steamer. I love mine and use it to steam all kinds of other things like veggies and dumplings.
• Maybe you noticed that this recipe is a bit of a project. It is! To save time on the day of making it, prepare the sauce and pickled veggies up to a day ahead of time. You can also make the buns a day ahead, or make them well in advance and freeze them.

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5 from 3 votes

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Shiitake Mushroom Vegan Bao Buns

Fluffy steamed buns are slathered in hoisin sauce and stuffed with tender shiitake mushrooms in sweet and savory garlic ginger sauce, quick pickled veggies and crunchy peanuts to make these scrumptious vegan bao buns!

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American, Asian-Inspired

Keyword buns, mushrooms

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Resting time 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Servings 10 buns

Calories 349 kcal

Author Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

For the Buns

• 1 packet (1 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons organic granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided

For the Pickled Veggies

• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon organic granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 medium cucumber, julienne cut
• 1 medium carrot julienne cut
• 1 medium jalapeño pepper, sliced

For the Mushroom Filling

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons sambal oelek, or to taste (optional)
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
• 3 tablespoons canola oil (or high heat oil of choice)
• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced into thin strips

For Serving

• 10 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro

Instructions

Prepare the Dough

1. Whisk together the water and yeast in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. Let it sit for a few minutes while you prepare your dry ingredients.

2. Stir the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl. 

3. Stir 1 tablespoon of oil into the yeast and water mixture, then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir to form a soft dough.

4.  Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it for about 7-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.

5. Lightly oil a medium bowl, roll the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl. Cover with a towel and place it in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours.

To Make the Pickled Veggies

1. While the dough rises, mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Add the veggies and allow the mixture to sit while you make the filling and finish making the buns.

To Make the Mushrooms

1. Stir the soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, sambal oelek, and liquid smoke together in a small bowl.

2. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over medium heat.

3. When the oil is hot, add the mushrooms in an even layer. Cook the mushrooms for about 4 minutes, flip and cook 4 minutes more, until lightly browned.

4. Add the sauce to the skillet and flip a few times to coat the mushrooms. Allow them to continue cooking until the sauce is thick and forms a sticky coating, about 3 minutes more.

5. Remove the skillet from heat and transfer the mushrooms to a plate.

To Steam the Buns

1. Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it in half. Remove half from the bowl and divide it into fifths.

2. Roll one of the fifths into a ball, then flatten it with your hand.

3. Use a rolling pin to roll the ball into a 4-5 inch round. Brush the top with oil, fold it in half, and transfer it to a piece of parchment paper (I like to to place the parchment paper in the steamer, so I don't have to move it again later). Make sure not to crowd the dough rounds.

4. Repeat for the remaining pieces of dough, then remove the other half of the dough from the bowl and repeat. You should have 10 rounds.

5. Cover the dough rounds and let them rest for 15 minutes. 

6. Transfer the parchment rounds to the bamboo steamer if they're not already there. They may not all fit — just work in batches of that's the case. 

7. Layer the tiers in your steamer, place the lid on it, and place it over a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil and steam the buns for 8 minutes.

8. Very carefully remove the lid and remove the buns from the steamer. 

To Serve

1. Slather the insides of the buns with hoisin sauce, then stuff with mushrooms, pickled veggies, peanuts, scallions and cilantro. Serve.

Recipe Notes

Steamed buns recipe loosely adapted from BBC GoodFood.

Nutrition Facts

Shiitake Mushroom Vegan Bao Buns

Amount Per Serving (1 bun)

Calories 349 Calories from Fat 113

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 12.6g 19%

Saturated Fat 1.3g 7%

Sodium 1204mg 50%

Potassium 318mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates 51.6g 17%

Dietary Fiber 3.7g 15%

Sugars 12.6g

Protein 8.1g 16%

Calcium 4%

Iron 16%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.