Chinese Steamed Black Bean Pau

Steamed Pau is a staple in any Chinese household. Usually they are filled with a black bean filling or roast pork filling. It is often eaten at dim-sum or during special occasions, like festivals. Perfect for a Chinese-themed dinner or Chinese New Year Party.

Chinese New Year Party Ingredients for Pau line divider

Steamed Black Bean Pau Ingredients for Utensils and Cooking Tools:

10-Inch Bamboo Steamer
wax paper

Filling:

16 oz. of red kidney beans (1 bag of beans)
6 cups of water
1 cup oil
3/4 cup Five Roses Flour
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil for frying

Pau Dough:

3 3/4 cup (500 grams or 2.2 lbs) Five Roses Flour
or low-protein flour
1 tbs yeast (50 grams or 1 packet)
1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup shortening or oil
1 to 1 1/4 cup warm water (200-250 grams)

Recipe Note 1: Five Roses Flour is recommend for it’s superior quality and “whiteness”. Chinese pau is typically as white as snow and most restaurants and home bakers strive for this quality. I tried both Five Roses and Self-Rising flour in two separate trials. Self-rising made the pau very yellow, and altered the taste with some salt and sweetness. With the Five Roses brand, it was fluffy and very white. Five Roses is only available in Canada but we were able to get it through Amazon.

Recipe Note 2: In my third attempt at pau I used King Arthur Flour with 1 teaspoon of baking powder. The dough came out perfect and quite white. So the ingredients above reflect the change in the recipe and there is no need to specifically try to get the Five Roses Flour unless it is readily available in your area.

Chinese New Year Party Directions for Pau line divider

Directions for the Black Bean Filling:

Place beans in a pressure cooker with 6 cups of water and cook on low heat for 1 hour. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, use a regular pot and use normal cooking directions on the package. Cook until the beans are soft.
Transfer cooked beans to a blender or food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms.
Transfer to a medium pot over medium heat. Add in sugar.
Put 1 cup of oil in a smaller pot and heat. When the oil is hot, pour into the medium sized pan with the beans and using wooden spoon, mix well.
Slowly sift in 3/4 cup of flour into the pot and stir with a whisk over high heat. Mix well. Make sure all the flour is mixed in and not lumpy. Cook until the mixture bubbles. Use caution as the mixture will be hot and the heat will cause it to splatter and spurt!
Add in the remaining 1/4 cup of oil in a medium frying pan. When the oil is hot, fry the bean mixture in it over medium heat.
Put the bean mixture in a glass bow and cool in the fridge overnight, or for several hours until the bean mixture gets nice and firm.
Once the bean mixture has cooled it will be firm.
Pour about 1/4 cup of oil in a bowl and put a little bit in your clean hands to oil the hands.
Take a teaspoon full of the bean mixture and use your hands to shape into balls. Place on a tray.
Continue rolling the balls until all the bean mixture is done.
Place them back into the fridge to keep firm.

Directions for the Dough:

Dissolve dry yeast in half of the warm water.
Add sugar to the mixture.
Place flour, in a large mixing bowl and pour in the yeast mixture. Lightly mix using your hand.
Turn out dough onto a clean, smooth surface like a glass or granite counter top.
Knead the dough until it is well mixed.
When the dough is well mixed, cover it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.
Cut off about 1/4 th of the dough and cover the rest. Roll this piece out into a long roll of about 2 inches in diameter. Cut off small portions off every 2 inches.
Roll the smaller dough portions into balls.
Flatten each ball into a circle by pushing down the sides of the ball. Try to leave the center untouched and more dough in the center.
Take the black bean filling out of the fridge.
Place one teaspoon of black bean filling in the center of the dough. Close off by kneading the edges of the dough together while cupping the pau in your hand. Place the pau on to small square pieces of wax paper.
Repeat steps 7 to steps 11.
Let the pau sit on platters covered with plastic wrap for about 30-60 minutes in order for the dough to rise.
Steam the pau in wooden bamboo steamers for 10- 15 minutes.
The pau should come out white and fluffy. Serve hot.

Step 5. The black bean mix is hot and bubbles. Use Caution here.

Step 9. Form bean mixture into ball and place on a tray.

Black Bean paste filling on a round dough circle

Step 11 of Dough recipe. Place a small ball of bean mixture onto the dough. Hold the dough in the palm of your hand and form a bowl for the dough to sit in. With a rotating motion while kneading close the top of the pau, shape the pau into a ball while closing off at the same time.