Egg and Garlic Chive Baozi （韭菜鸡蛋包子）

I've been obsessed with making baozi recently-- whether it's vegetarian, savory, sweet-- you name it! Today I decided to go down the vegetarian route and encapsulate my cravings with the same exact dough recipe I've sworn by since last May! So yes, if you've been following me for a while, you may experience some deja vu in terms of this reoccurring green, spirulina dough recette. But no worries, just classic re-application of recipes!

For the filling, I cooked up an egg+garlic chive+glass noodle （粉丝） combination in preparation. Garlic chives can be substituted for green onions, but on my part, nothing beats my freshly grown flowerbed chives! And for the record, I did use a store-bought package of glass noodles; however, if you don't have any on hand, this is perfectly fine! I simply added the glass noodles for added texture, but traditionally, the garlic chives-egg coalition is enough to satisfy anyone's dinner!

Recipe

Cuisine: Asian

Serving(s): 36 small baozi
Level: Medium

Prep time: 2 hrs

Cook time: 15 min 

Total time: 2 hrs 15 min

Ingredients

For the filling:

• 4 eggs
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 300 g garlic chives (12-15 chives of ~12-14 inch length)
• 1- 1.32 oz packaged glass noodles (optional)
• boiling hot water or hot chicken broth
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• dash of salt
• dash of ground pepper
• vegetable oil

For the dough:

• 1/4 cup spinach
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 6 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 3 cups flour (+ more for dusting surface)
• 1 tablespoon dried spirulina powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (+ more for greasing steamer surface)

Instructions:

For the filling:

1. Optional: Soak and cover glass noodles in a bowl of boiling hot water or hot chicken broth for 10-15 minutes (by which all noodles are covered and soaked-- no dry spots!) *
2. Using a large wok, heat vegetable oil. Stir-fry eggs with salt and pepper until just scrambled. Remove eggs from heat. While the wok is still hot and oiled (add more vegetable oil if necessary), throw in minced garlic. Stir until aromas arise, then throw in green garlic chives. Stir-fry until the green chives just begin wilting. At this point, re-add the eggs and noodles (optional), splash a bit of soy sauce, water, and stir-fry until all liquid is evaporated from the wok.
3. Remove mixture from the wok and transfer into a separate, clean bowl. Cover with seran wrap and set in fridge until later use.

For the dough:

1. In a blender, blend together spinach and water until smooth. Finely strain spinach-water mixture until all that is left is the liquid, sans any excess bits of spinach. Save spinach residuals for a healthy smoothie or veggie dish!
2. In a separate small/medium sized bowl, place in sugar and yeast. Then proceed by adding ~6 tablespoons of lukewarm water. Mix together the components until smooth and thick, with no more yeast pellets visible.
3. While yeast mixture continues to foam, in a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, spirulina powder, and baking powder, ensuring no clustered clumps are present.
4. After yeast mixture has nearly tripled in size, pour into flour mixture. Then spoon in rice vinegar. Gradually trickle strained spinach-water solution into flour mixture, mixing with a pair of chopsticks/fork as you proceed.*
5. Knead until all components are fully incorporated and dough coalesces, with it being smooth and pliable. If too dry, slowly add a bit more water. If too wet, add a bit more flour.
6. Cover bowl with saran wrap, layered by a lid or towel on top. Place system under sunlight or middle shelf of oven with light on. Wait 1.5-2 hours, or until dough has enlargened significantly (approx 2-3 times its size)
7. Transfer dough onto a generously floured surface, and knead until dough is smooth. If dough is too sticky, add a bit of flour. Next, mold a large indentation in the center and pour oil into the crater. Continue to knead until oil is fully incorporated and dough is smooth and glossy.
8. Roll dough into a cylinder, and cut the shape by halves, rendering 36 slices of dough that can fit snuggly into the palm of your hand. 
9. Remove garlic chive-egg mixture from the fridge and proceed to knead each sliver of dough, dusting more flour if too dry, and stretching the edges of the dough inwards. Next, roll each portion into round spheres. With a rolling pin, roll each ball out into flat circular disks.** In the center, place a modest amount of the filling. Using your thumb as a meter, use your index finger to pinch the edges of the dough and envelope the filling counterclockwise (that is, if dough nests in your left hand. Fold clockwise if dough rests in your right hand). Pinch any leftover openings in your baozi, if any.
10. Transfer balls of dough onto lightly greased stainless steel steamer racks, with any fixation of creases/folds hidden and facing down. Cover to let proof for a second round (6-8 minutes). After dough has enlargened and their surfaces are fully smooth, transfer steamer onto a pot of water filled up a little less than half-way, with the pot placed on stove.
11. Turn heat on HIGH and allow to steam for 15 min.***
12. After time is reached, place pot-steamer system on a cool surface. Let the steamer system rest untouched for 10-15 minutes. 
13. Open the lids and enjoy baozi's as is or dip in a soy sauce+vinegar condiment! After steamed, store baozi in refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. When consuming, cover baozi with a wet paper towel and heat in microwave for 1 minute after refrigeration to restore texture and taste.

Notes:

*i can't stress enough how one must trickle the solution in gradually! It is most likely expected that you will not exhaust all of your spinach-water blend-- and that's perfectly fine! 

When adding in the water while mixing, dry flour should still be visible. 

**unlike in my other bun recipes, this recipe renders a flatter, more saturated baozi, hence the soup-based condiments (you could even argue that this is a soup dumpling recipe!) Thus, there's more leniency as to how flat you can roll the disks. Up to one's own personal discretion, you can still maintain thicker, less-stretched out portions of dough to render more leavened baozi.

***do NOT open the lid while the baozi's are steaming. 

***if water seems to be running low, add more to the pot.