Gochujang Sweet Potato Baozi

Roasting and steaming sweet potatoes are more prevalent and for a good reason, however I do like frying them up every now and then. With a good hot sear, you can achieve the caramelization while keeping the melt in the mouth texture. To honor my mum’s love for Chinese bread and sweet potatoes, I made these for her during her long vacation with us this summer. Even though the shaping didn’t turn out perfect, the fluffy steamed baozi with sweet n spicy filling was a massive hit! Once steamed it can be refrigerated or frozen in an air-tight container for up to 7 days to a month respectively - making it a perfect weekend project for a rewarding breakfast or lunch during the busy week.

Ingredients (makes 12)
Baozi
250g Plain or All-Purpose Flour
50g Cornstarch
2g Baking Powder
5g Granulated Sugar
2g Fine Sea Salt
5g Instant Yeast
30g Neutral Oil (I use either Vegetable or Sunflower Oil)
150g Lukewarm Water

Filling
180-200g or 1 large Japanese Murasaki sweet potato, finely diced (substitute with regular sweet potato)
1/2 Jalapeño, de-seeded & finely chopped
1 tbsp Neutral Oil
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tbsp Gochujang Paste
2 tbsp Soy Sauce (use Tamari or Coco Aminos for GF and Soy-free respectively)
1/2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
1.5 tsp Mirin
1.5 tsp Cornstarch
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Serve with
Chili Oil & Fresh Cilantro

Directions
🥣 Make Filling: heat up oil in a skillet, once hot add sweet potatoes and jalapeño. Fry for 6-8 mins or until caramelized & cooked through. Transfer into a bowl, add scallions & cilantro. Now whisk remaining ingredients well and microwave for 90 seconds. Pour this concoction into bowl and mix thoroughly. Keep it aside

🥣 Combine first six ingredients of Baozi in a large bowl. Give it a good whisk so that everything is well combined. Make a well in the center and add oil and water. Start kneading (either using stand mixer or by hand); continue until it comes together into a smooth and elastic ball. Should take about 25 mins by hand and 15 mins in a mixer. Cover and let it prove until doubled in size (about 60-90 mins)

🥣 Now de-gas the risen dough and gently pick up one edge of the dough and pull lightly to fold it toward the opposite edge. Repeat this stretch and fold motion around the bowl, about 4 folds total, then flip dough upside down so that the seam side is facing down and smooth side is facing up. Let it rest for another 30 minutes. Repeat the “stretch and fold” action two more times, resting 30 minutes after each fold

🥣 Now divide the dough into 12 equal portions (each roughly 40g). Form each piece into a dough ball and lightly flour your work surface. Roll out each ball into a 6” circle with thick Middle and thinner edges

🥣 Now place 2 tbsp of filling in the middle of the dough round, then pleat edges together. Using your thumb, middle, and index finger of one hand to hold all the pleats in one spot while the other hand "feeds" the dough into the fold: gather and pinch together ¾” of dough, repeating this motion all around the edge of the round, between 12 and 15 pleats total. Gently twist counter clockwise to create a swirl pattern with your pleats, then pinch to firmly seal the pleats together. Don’t worry if it’s not neat or perfect, I’m still learning!

🥣 Fill a large pot with 500ml of cold water, then lay a steamer basket lined on top. Brush some oil in the basket & place a parchment inside the steamer. Place the baozis at least 2” apart from each other in the steaming basket. Let them rise, uncovered, until the dough increases about 50% in size and springs back very slowly when poked, about 30-45 mins

🥣 Now cover the pot with a lid lined with a paper towel (to prevent condensation), then turn heat to medium. Once water is up to a boil, reduce heat to low and steam buns for 10-12 minutes. Turn off heat and let them stand with lid on for 5 more minutes. Remove the lid and let buns cool until safe to touch

🥣 Serve with Chili oil, fresh cilantro and your favorite dipping sauce.

Sweet Potato Feta Mini Galettes with Harissa Honey

The delectable trio of Sweet, Salty & Spicy. These are like my pantry staples but surprisingly I never thought about combining in one dish!!! Right off the bat, I thought about taking this opportunity to showcase my love for making savory galettes from scratch. I started exploring these rustic freeform tarts back in early 2020 and have been hooked - I realized that even though I make these often my Insta feed has been remiss of them!

So here I’m sharing my all-time favorite Spelt & Crème Fraîche pastry wrapped around a herby ricotta feta filling topped with fanned out Sweet Potato discs. Finished with a generous drizzle of sticky and vibrant Rose Harissa infused Honey and Orange Juice caramel sauce.

*Note: I have successfully tested the vegan pastry dough with Super Cold Earth Balance brand Vegan Butter sticks and Tofutti Brand Sour Cream with 1:1 substitution for Salted Butter and Crème Fraîche. And for egg wash whisk 2 tbsp Oat Milk with 2 tsp Maple Syrup.

Ingredients (makes 8 mini galettes)
Spelt Pastry Dough
170g Plain Flour or All Purpose Flour (I have successfully used 320g King Arthur GF Measure to Measure flour for 100% GF crust)
150g Spelt Flour or Whole Wheat flour (I prefer Bob’s Red Mill Spelt Flour)
20g Polenta or Coarse Cornmeal (I use Quaker Oats brand)
12g Granulated Sugar
2g Fine Sea Salt
3g Crushed Black Pepper
125g Super Cold Salted Butter cut into small cubes (for best results freeze for 30 mins)
2 large ice cubes
4-6 tbsp Super Cold Créme Fraîche (substitute with cold sour cream)

Filling
120g Ricotta (I prefer whole milk but part skim works fine)
55g Crumbled Feta
Oregano leaves from 3 sprigs
Sweet Basil leaves from 2-3 sprigs
1 tsp Chile Flakes
1/2 tbsp dehydrated Harissa Powder (totally optional, or else a hot spice blend of your choice)
1 large egg beaten (plus leftover egg wash if using beaten egg to glaze the pastry)
1 tsp Olive Oil
Pinch of salt and sugar

245-250g Sweet Potato, sliced into 1/8” thick discs (I used Mandoline but knife is fine too. If you end up with thicker slices then just fry them in a skillet for 10 mins with a bit of oil and covering every now and then so that they are par-cooked)

Drizzle
1/2 tbsp Rose Harissa (regular harissa is fine too)
1/2 tbsp Olive Oil
4 tbsp Orange Juice(OJ)
Pinch of Fine Sea Salt
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Runny Honey (sub Maple Syrup)

1 Egg, Beaten or 4 tbsp Milk for glazing

Chopped scallion greens or Picked Oregano leaves for garnish

Directions
🥧 Dump first 6 dough ingredients in a food processor, give it a whiz for 30 seconds so that all dry ingredients are well mixed. Then add remaining dough ingredients (start with 4tbsp créme fraîche & increase to get the dough to come together) and whiz until a playdoh like mass is formed


🥧 Make a rough ball of dough (don’t worry if it’s breaking too much, a bit of patchwork goes a long way in Pastry crusts). Roll it out into a rough rectangle of 1/2” thickness. Now fold it into half, another fold in clockwise direction and one more fold in that direction to get a rough square piece. Now pat into a disc (doesn’t have to be perfectly shaped). Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 mins to 3 days. Can be frozen at this stage for upto months

🥧 If making these galettes then, bring the dough out and let it come to a state where it can be easily manipulated. Divide equally into eight pieces & form into balls. On a clean work surface, roll each ball into a 4-5” disc, transfer onto a silicone baking mat or parchment (I prefer using bench scrapers to pick up & transfer)

🥧 Dump all filling ingredients into blender and pulse until smooth & creamy. Whisk All drizzle ingredients with 3 tbsp OJ & 1 tbsp Honey, microwave for 2 mins

🥧 Pre-heat oven to 420F. Spread 2 tbsp of filling in the center of each rolled out pastry disc. Top with 10-12 pieces of sweet potato discs overlapping each other, fold the pastry edges so that it’s encased properly. Brush the sweet potatoes with drizzle and exposed pastry with either beaten egg or milk. Bake for 25-35 mins or until golden brown

🥧 Meanwhile, add 1 tbsp OJ and 1 tsp Honey to the leftover drizzle and microwave for 2-3 mins or until it’s slightly sticky & red colored caramel like. Once baked, top the galettes with this sticky drizzle and garnish with greens. Enjoy!