Vegan Curry Beef Bun Recipe | Mary’s Test Kitchen

Curry Beef Buns (ga lei ngo yuk bao 咖喱牛肉包) were my 2nd fave thing from Chinese bakeries during my pre-vegan days. This veganized version contains all the flavour and texture but is much healthier and, of course, contains no animal products. I guess you could call them Curry Beefless Buns!
For a soy-free version, please see the NOTES below for substitutions.

Deciding to live a vegan lifestyle doesn’t mean you have to go without your favourite flavours and textures. With some thought, creativity and a little trial and error, any dish can be made plant-based. I hope you’ll give it a try!

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Links mentioned:
Curry Beefless Crumbles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0Fecp9udY&index=38&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE
Chinese Steamed Buns (Mantou): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9IMVM6RJC4&index=18&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE
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CURRY BEEFLESS BUNS
Makes 16 small-regular sized buns

INGREDIENTS (US)
1 batch Curry “Beef” Filling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0Fecp9udY&index=38&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE)

Dough:
1 cup almond milk or your choice of plant milk, war (105°F-115°F)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (one envelope traditional or instant)
3 tablespoons aquafaba (chickpea/white bean brine)
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)

Optional maple wash:
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon water

INGREDIENTS (Metric)
1 batch Curry “Beef” Filling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0Fecp9udY&index=38&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE)

Dough:
237ml almond milk or your choice of plant milk, war (41°C-46°C)
15cc brown sugar
11cc yeast (one envelope traditional or instant)
45ml aquafaba (chickpea/white bean brine)
5cc sea salt
440g all-purpose flour (plus extra for kneading)

Optional maple wash:
15ml maple syrup
15ml water
sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS
Make the curry beefless filling. You can make this right before making the dough or do it ahead of time and store in the fridge. Please see this link for the directions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT0Fecp9udY&index=38&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE

For the dough:
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the warm plant milk, yeast and brown sugar. Allow the mixture to rest for 10 minutes. The yeast will bloom, letting you know that it is active. If it does not, your yeast might be dead or the water too hot or too cold. Stir in the aquafaba and salt.

Add a half cup of flour and whisk until completely combined. repeat 1-2 times or until the mixture is too doughy to whisk. Switch to chopsticks or spatula and add more flour in the same manner until the dough has formed enough to knead by hand. I used 3 1/2 cups of flour up to this point.

Turn the dough on to a lightly floured surface and knead for 1 – 2 minutes. The dough should be fairly soft and slightly sticky. You may need to sprinkle on extra flour so that the dough doesn’t stick too much but avoid adding too much flour. Too much flour will result in a stiff dough and non-fluffy buns.

Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and let rest in a warm, draft-free location until doubled in size (about one hour). When the dough has doubled, scrape it from the bowl, back on to your floured surface and divide into 16 pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball shape. Then, starting from teh dough ball that you make first, flatten it into a disc-like shape. Do not make it too thin.

Hold the dough in your palm and add 3-4 tablespoons of the filling to the middle. Pull up the dough from the sides and pinch at the middle to cover the filling up. Pinch and twist the puckered ends to secure and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet with the puckered side down. Repeat with all the dough balls and space out the buns on the baking sheet so they have room to rise.

Cover the buns with a warm, damp towel and let rise until doubled in size. If the filling you used is warm, it will rise quickly. If is cold, it will rise more slowly. To speed up the process, place the buns in a warm location.

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 205°C.

Mix the maple syrup and water together.

When the buns have doubled in size, carefully brush the maple wash on to the tops of the buns. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top if desired.

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. The buns should come out nicely browned. Let cool before serving.

NOTES
For soy-free: use about 1 1/2 cups lentils instead of TVP and skip the water. Instead of soy sauce and hoisin, go for liquid aminos/tamari and ketchup.

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