These delicious shrimp bao are flavorful, fresh, and so much fun to make! Serve them up with a crunchy side salad for a well-rounded dinner.

On to the recipe!

Ingredients

• Active dry yeast
• Sugar
• Cream of tartar
• Lemon juice
• Warm water
• Plain flour
• Salt
• Butter, softened
• Warm milk
• Shrimp, deveined with tail-off
• Chicken bouillon
• Gochujang
• Sugar
• Soy
• Oil for frying
• Sesame seeds, sliced cabbage, sliced cucumber, and sliced carrot for serving

Make the Dough

Combine the yeast, sugar, cream of tartar, lemon, and water, and let bloom for 5 minutes. Add the flour, salt, butter, and warm milk and knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Punch down and split into 8 balls. Roll the balls flat into discs and let rise for 30 minutes.

You may be asking, "Why is there sugar, cream of tartar, and lemon in your dough?". Well if you live anywhere with seasons, variable temperatures, or variable humidity, your dough is never going to come out quite the same. Even if your house is airconditioned, it can inhibit your dough's ability to rise. But yeast loves acid, so adding a few little acidic ingredients into your dough can help the yeast thrive in the cold of winter or the cold air-conditioning of summer. Essentially, you will have much fluffier shrimp bao!

Cook the Shrimp

Combine the shrimp, bouillon, gochujang, sugar, and soy. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high and fry the shrimp for about 5 minutes, or until cooked through.

This little sauce combination for the shrimp is inspired by the flavors of Tteok-bokki, a delicious spicy Korean dish. It's sweet, salty, spicy, funky, and delicious! It's the perfect sauce for this fusion take on shrimp bao.

Steam the Bao Buns

Heat water in a pan with a steamer basket positioned over the top. Place dough discs on parchment paper. Put a chopstick or slip of parchment paper in the middle, and fold each disc in half. Steam for about 7 minutes. Remove the buns from the steamer, open them, and fill them with shrimp and toppings.

The tricky part about bao is they really, really like to stick to themselves, especially when exposed to steam. The traditional method is to put a chopstick in the middle of each one before folding it, but chopsticks didn't fit in my steamer basket, which is why I suggest a slip of parchment paper instead. They should open up nicely and easily once steamed, but you can oil them too!

Shrimp Bao Bun Recipe

Download the recipe here

Servings: 8

Active time: 30 minutes

Total time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 3 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/2 cup warm milk
• 1lb shrimp, deveined with tail-off
• 1 Tbsp chicken bouillon
• 2 Tbsps gochujang
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oil for frying
• Sesame seeds, for serving
• Sliced cabbage, for serving
• Sliced cucumber, for serving
• Sliced carrot, for serving

Method:

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, cream of tartar, lemon, and water, and let bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Add the flour, salt, butter, and warm milk and knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
3. Punch down and split into 8 balls. Roll the balls flat into discs and let rise for 30 minutes.
4. Combine the shrimp, bouillon, gochujang, sugar, and soy. Heat the oil in a pan over medium-high and fry the shrimp for about 5 minutes, or until cooked through.
5. Heat water in a pan with a steamer basket positioned over the top. Place dough discs on parchment paper. Put a chopstick or slip of parchment paper in the middle, and fold each disc in half. Steam for about 7 minutes.
6. Remove the buns from the steamer, open them, and fill them with shrimp and toppings.

See Nutrition Info

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories	299
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 6.3g	8%
Saturated Fat 2.6g	13%
Cholesterol 128mg	43%
Sodium 581mg	25%
Total Carbohydrate 40.6g	15%
Dietary Fiber 1.3g	5%
Total Sugars 3.9g
Protein 18.4g
Vitamin D 2mcg	10%
Calcium 78mg	6%
Iron 2mg	13%
Potassium 161mg	3%

Related Recipes

Asian Red Cabbage Salad

High Protein Buffalo Chicken Calzones

Shrimp Tacos and Peach Mango Salsa

About the Author

Hi! I'm Alexandra, and I've been cooking and baking for about 12 years. My passion is making cheap, convenient, nutrient-dense food that still tastes amazing, and helping to perpetuate healthy eating habits without perpetuating diet culture. I want you to find recipes that make your body and your heart happy, without putting any food off limits, or making you feel guilty for loving delicious things

By Alexandra Massengale