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- Published on May 27, 2021
- at 12:21 pm
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A Step by Step Guide to Make Longevity Peach Buns 壽桃包
AuthorYun Zhang JohnCategoryBread, Plant Based, SweetsIf you attend any Chinese birthday celebration for an older person, you will find peach shaped buns at the centre of the banquet. This is because 壽桃包, as they are called, symbolise longevity and are used as an offering to wish for a long and healthy life.
But why peaches?
Well, peaches symbolise immortality in Chinese mythology. Peaches of Immortality or 仙桃 are mythical fruits that were consumed by celestial beings or saints. The myth goes that The Queen Mother of the West (a Chinese goddess in the Taoist tradition) grows peaches of immortality in her garden on the mythical Kunlun mountain. Once every 3000 years, she gathers together all the celestial beings and they feast on ripe peaches, thus ensuring their immortality. You will also find peaches depicted in numerous fables, paintings, literatures and other works of art.
So I thought that it would be totally appropriate to make them for my mother in law, who recently celebrated a milestone birthday. While the mythology is neat to know, I was after the “pretty” factor with these adorable looking buns.
It was a win-win. A bit of culture…packaged in fluffy steamed buns decorated in red and green and filled with sweet red bean paste.
Therapeutic bread making
While they do take a bit of an effort to make, I found tranquility in the process. As if time stood still as I focused on kneading, folding and shaping and painting… a gift of timelessness in my otherwise ever fleeting days.
You Will Need
300 g All purpose flour
4 g Instant yeast
25 g Sugar
10 ml Oil
130 ml Cold water
8 tbsp Sweet red bean paste
Red and green food colouring
Instructions
1
Make dough by combining flour, yeast, sugar and oil in a mixing bowl. Slowly pouring in the water and bring the dry ingredient together.
2
Knead the dough for 5min and leave to rest for a few minutes wrapped in plastic.
3
Prep sweet red bean filling by rolling them into roughly 1 tbsp sized balls. Set aside
4
Prep red food colouring by diluting it with small amounts of water.
5
Take out the rested dough and kneaded it smooth.
6
Divide into 10 pieces of about 50g each. And leave them under some plastic wrap to keep moist.
7
Take 2 pieces and dye it green. Thoroughly mix in the colour.
8
Divide the green dough into 16 equal pieces.
9
Take each small green dough and roll it between your hands to form a long tear drop shape. Press it against the table with something flat. Use a non sharp object to make leaf like indentations. Repeat 15 more times.
10
Take a white dough piece and knead into a smooth round. Then roll with a rolling pin and fold and roll 3x. Then gather up the dough and roll it one last time into a round disk.
11
Wrap the sweet red bean filling into the dough disk, pinch tightly to close.
12
Use your palms to form the round bun into a tear drop shape with a pointy tip. Then run a soup spoon from the tip to the bottom of the bun to form a peach like shape
13
Paint the tips of the buns with some diluted red food colouring and attach 2 leaves to each bun with some water.
14
Leave the buns to rise. Depending on the length of time you took to prep, you might need to proof for an additional 30min-Ihr.
15
Steam on high heat for 8-10 min.
16
Leave it covered for 5-10min before lifting the steam lid.
Ingredients
300 g All purpose flour
4 g Instant yeast
25 g Sugar
10 ml Oil
130 ml Cold water
8 tbsp Sweet red bean paste
Red and green food colouring
Directions
1
Make dough by combining flour, yeast, sugar and oil in a mixing bowl. Slowly pouring in the water and bring the dry ingredient together.
2
Knead the dough for 5min and leave to rest for a few minutes wrapped in plastic.
3
Prep sweet red bean filling by rolling them into roughly 1 tbsp sized balls. Set aside
4
Prep red food colouring by diluting it with small amounts of water.
5
Take out the rested dough and kneaded it smooth.
6
Divide into 10 pieces of about 50g each. And leave them under some plastic wrap to keep moist.
7
Take 2 pieces and dye it green. Thoroughly mix in the colour.
8
Divide the green dough into 16 equal pieces.
9
Take each small green dough and roll it between your hands to form a long tear drop shape. Press it against the table with something flat. Use a non sharp object to make leaf like indentations. Repeat 15 more times.
10
Take a white dough piece and knead into a smooth round. Then roll with a rolling pin and fold and roll 3x. Then gather up the dough and roll it one last time into a round disk.
11
Wrap the sweet red bean filling into the dough disk, pinch tightly to close.
12
Use your palms to form the round bun into a tear drop shape with a pointy tip. Then run a soup spoon from the tip to the bottom of the bun to form a peach like shape
13
Paint the tips of the buns with some diluted red food colouring and attach 2 leaves to each bun with some water.
14
Leave the buns to rise. Depending on the length of time you took to prep, you might need to proof for an additional 30min-Ihr.
15
Steam on high heat for 8-10 min.
16
Leave it covered for 5-10min before lifting the steam lid.
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