Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
by Kat Zhang
illustrated by Charlene Chua
illustrated by Charlene Chua
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Bow like bow. Now like bow. Authors note, growing up in a mandarin speaking family.
00:18I always said bowsy instead of bow, and pronounced the word differently. But the Americanized
00:25pronunciation is usually bow. To mom and dad, who helped me make bow even when my hands
00:31were too small. KZ. For my aku and aue, who made many yummy treats for me when I was a
00:40kid. CC. Amy Wu and the Perfect Bow. By Kat Zhang. Illustrated by Charlene Chui.
01:25Amy can do a lot of things. She can brush her teeth. She can tie her shoe. She can even do
01:54both at once. Sort of. But there's one thing Amy cannot cannot do. She cannot make the perfect bow.
02:03Sometimes they come out too small. Sometimes they come out too big. Sometimes she adds too much
02:12filling. Sometimes not enough. And sometimes they fall apart before they reach her mouth.
02:19Amy's mom and dad make perfect bow. So does her grandma. Their bow are soft and fluffy and so so
02:28delicious. Amy could eat them all day. Sometimes she does. Today, Amy is going to do it. She's
02:37going to make the world's most perfect bow. Bow making is an all-day event. Amy's dad starts in
02:46the morning. Mixing together the ingredients for the dough. Then it's time to knead knead knead.
02:52He pushes the dough. He punches the dough. Amy gives it a try too. They leave the dough to rise.
03:01Amy keeps an eye on it just in case. It grows bigger. And bigger. And even bigger.
03:16Amy's dad squishes the dough down just in time. He rolls it into a log and cuts it into pieces.
03:23Meanwhile, Amy's mom seasons meat for the filling. Garlic. Mushrooms. Ginger. Salt. Pepper. Everyone
03:36gathers around the table and rolls up their sleeves. It's time to get to work. Amy's first
03:44turns out a little funny. So does the second. It's hard to know how much filling to add. Too
03:53little and the bow is sad and empty. Too much and oops. It's also hard to pinch the bow shut just
04:01right. Pinch pinch pinch. Amy watches her mom make a perfect bow. She watches her dad make a
04:09perfect bow. And her grandma too. They all try to teach her. Roll out the dough like this says
04:17Amy's dad. Use just enough filling says Amy's mom. Pinch pinch pinch, says Amy's grandma. But
04:27Amy's bow just aren't the same. They are too empty or too fat. They have holes in them. They leak.
04:36Maybe today won't be the day after all. Maybe Amy just can't make a perfect bow. Then Amy has an
04:44idea. The pieces of dough were cut for grown up hands. But Amy's hands are very small. She whispers
04:53her idea into her grandma's ear. Amy's grandma cuts each piece of dough into two smaller pieces.
05:00Now they fit perfectly in Amy's palms. Carefully Amy rolls the dough so it's thicker on the inside
05:08and thinner at the edges. She adds just the right amount of filling. She pinch pinch pinches it
05:16shut. And there it is. Amy's perfect bow. She makes another. And another. And even more after that.
05:26She's a bow making master. Soon all the dough and filling are gone. Everyone is tired, but they're
05:34not done yet. Amy's grandma boils a big pot of water. It's time to stream the bow. Amy keeps an
05:43eye on the streamer just in case. All her perfect bow and all the imperfect ones too are snug
05:50inside. The bow are done. Amy's mom lifts the lid off the streamer. Whoosh! Out comes a puff of
05:59stream. Amy can't see anything at all. The stream clears. There are Amy's perfect bow. They are not
06:09too small. They are not too big. They have just the right amount of filling and they do not leak.
06:16They are soft and fluffy and so so delicious. Amy eats one, then another. Then she eats one of the
06:26not-so-perfect bow. And you know what? It tastes just so good. Amy's family recipe. Makes 20 bow.
06:37Be sure to ask for help from a trusted grown-up when preparing this recipe. Have fun!
06:44Bow Dough. 1 packet active dry yeast, 2 1⁄2 teaspoon. 1⁄2 cup warm water. 4 cups all-purpose
06:56flour. 2 teaspoon baking powder. 2 teaspoon salt. 1⁄2 cup sugar. 1 cup low-fat milk. 2
07:08tablespoon vegetable oil. Bow Dough instructions. 1 Add the yeast to the 1⁄2 cup of warm water
07:16along with a large pinch of the sugar and mix until the yeast dissolves. The water should
07:22turn frothy in a few minutes. 2 In a large bowl, combine 3 1⁄2 cups flour baking powder salt and
07:31the rest of the sugar. Mix together. 3 Add the milk, oil and yeast water to the dry ingredients.
07:39Mix together until the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated,
07:44then knead 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic.
07:49Slowly add the remaining 1⁄2 cup of flour as needed. When the dough has been sufficiently
07:55kneaded a thumbprint pressed into the dough should slowly spring back.
08:004 Form the dough into a ball and place it back into the large bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic
08:06wrap and leave it in a warm place for 1 to 1⁄2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.
08:135 Gently punch down the dough and knead it for another 5 minutes.
08:18Place it back into the bowl cover it with the plastic wrap, and leave it to rise for another
08:23hour. Bao Filling 3 forward slash 1 pound raw shrimp, no shells or tails.
08:324 forward slash 2 pound raw ground pork. 1 egg.
08:372 tablespoon of rice wine. 1 tablespoon of sesame oil.
08:432 tablespoon of soy sauce. 2 tablespoon of fish sauce.
08:49Pinch of pepper. 1 tablespoon ginger powder.
08:555 shiitake mushrooms minced. 3 cloves garlic minced.
09:012 tablespoon of fresh ginger minced. Salt to taste.
09:06Bao Filling Instructions 1 Dice the shrimp into small pieces and
09:11add to the ground pork egg rice wine sesame oil soy sauce fish sauce pepper and ginger powder in
09:17a large bowl. 2 Add the minced shiitake mushrooms
09:22garlic and ginger to the bowl. Mix all the ingredients to combine,
09:27but do not overmix. 3 A spoonful of the mixture can be cooked
09:32like a meatball in boiling water or fried in a pan to allow for tasting.
09:37If needed add additional salt. Bao Making Instructions
09:411 Cut 22 inch squares of parchment paper. 2 Shape the bao dough into a rough log
09:49approximately 3 inches in diameter and cut 20 pieces of equal size.
09:553 Take a piece of dough and flatten it into a rough circle by hand or with a rolling pin.
10:01The circle should be approximately 4 inches in diameter and thicker at the center than
10:06at the edges. 4 Place about a tablespoonful of bao filling
10:11into the center of the dough circle. It is better to start with smaller amounts
10:16of filling to make the pleating easier. Pleat the bao shut by pinching the edges
10:22of the dough circle until the top comes together like a drawstring purse.
10:27There are many videos online that show the pleating process.
10:315 Place each pleated bao on a square of parchment paper.
10:366 Pleated bao should sit for about 15 minutes before being steamed.
10:42Generally it takes at least this long to pleat all the bao so by the time you are finished
10:47pleating all 20, the first few will be ready to go in the streamer.
10:527 Stream the bao with the parchment paper underneath in a streamer for 10 minutes.
10:58Remove the streamer from the heat for 3 to 4 minutes before removing the lid to
11:03keep the bao from deflating. 8 Eat.
11:07The End.