look at my awesome buns!

Back in January, I picked up a bamboo steamer set at the thrift store and finally put it to work over the weekend! I was so excited to find it because I love Asian cuisine. I hadn't ventured much beyond making stir fries in the past though I have made my own vegan teriyaki sauce. I'd always left the rest up to the experts. Well, this weekend, I changed that.

Sure, I could have stopped at the local Asian market and picked up frozen steamed buns to toss into my steamer, but what's the fun in that? Plus, they come in a plastic bag. Boo. So, off I went in search of a recipe to make my own and came upon this one from The Kitchn. After a stop at my local co-op for supplies and a couple stops trying to find vegan oyster sauce*, I had what I needed to give it a try.

filled buns ready to be steamed

Oh my goodness, why haven't I made these before now?? It was so much easier than I thought! I pretty regularly make yeast doughs (bread, pizza, etc) so making the dough wasn't intimidating at all. While the dough rose, I started chopping. I'm a big fungi fan and had dried, mixed variety mushrooms on hand so I added those to my veggie filling (after rehydrating, of course).

all steamed and yummy!

Yeah, these will definitely be making regular appearances in this house! I ended up with extra filling and made up some rice and mixed it in.

Next up? Spring rolls! I still have half a head of cabbage in the fridge. :-)

*I found at least 4-5 different options, but none were even vegetarian though it was noted in the original recipe that many are. :-(