Patron Exclusive Recipe #22 Steamed ”Huajuan/Flower Roll" Buns with Five Spices and Scallion (葱香花卷)

Hey guys, how's it going? So right, we put out the Mantou steamed buns recipe last week. And that can conveniently be used to make "huajuan" flower roll steamed buns. In this week's recipe, I want to show you how to use the same mantou dough and turn it into a nice looking and tasty little bun with a sweet-savory taste using scallion+five spices as main flavors.
I shared another corn flavor "huajuan" flower roll recipe here last year, this time I'm gonna show you a new way to roll the dough.
Let's get started. 

 **Ingredients** (This is the same amount as the mantou dough, serves...1 to 8? Depends on how hungry you are and how many people are around, me and Chris destroy these little guys right after they're out of the steamer. It's a snack for us. You should totally make more if you want to save some for breakfast or something, this is a relatively small batch after all.)

1. AP flour, 200g. 

2. Water, 90g (45%). (We have people living in California report back that 90g water (i.e. 45% hydration) in the dough is too dry. Anything from 45%-50% hydration is ok, adjust it if you think your dough is too dry and crumbly during the initial mixing. However, you don't want your dough to be too wet and soft for huajuan rolls since it'll be difficult to keep its shape and look.)

3. Sugar, 20g (10%).

4. Yeast, 2g, 1/2 tsp (1%).

5. Baking Powder, 2g, 1/2 tsp (1%).

6. Scallion, 1 sprig, finely chopped, about 2 tbsp worth.

7. Five-spice powder, 1/4 tsp.

8. Table salt, 1/4 tsp.

8. Neutral or peanut Oil, 1/2 tbsp. To accentuate the flavor, you can also use flavored oil like scallion oil here. However, I won't recommend chili oil as the result may look messy, so try to stay with oil that has a very pale color.

 **Process**  

1. Make the mantou dough as shown in the video. 

2. When the dough is in the first 30-minute resting stage, mix the oil, salt, and five spices in a bowl, also chop the scallion. 

3. After the first 30-minute resting, take the dough out and roll it through the pasta maker for 6 times to get rid of any big air bubbles. 

4. Now we can start shaping the huajuan. Fold the sheet of dough lengthwise, then fold it again lengthwise, to form a little rectangular shape.

(Folding lengthwise once)

(Folding lengthwise again)

4. Flour your working surface (my work surface is very nonstick, so I don't need to), use a rolling pin, roll it out into a rectangular sheet of about 1/2 CM thick (don't roll it too thin otherwise it'll break very easily in the next steps).

5. Brush a thin even layer of the oil/salt/five spices mixture on the sheet, then sprinkle some chopped scallion on it. Don't be too greedy with the oil or scallion, otherwise, it'll squeeze out in later stages.

(Brush the oil, salt, and five spices mixture)

(You can sprinkle a bit more if the scallion is very finely diced, mine is a bit too big for a roll)

6. Gently lift the left side of the sheet, fold it 2/3 of the way.

(Lift the left side)

(Fold in 2/3 of the sheet)

7. Brush a thin layer of the oil mixture and sprinkle some scallion on the side that's on top.

(Brush the mixture and sprinkle scallion on the folded side)

8. Gently lift the right side of the sheet, and fold it over the other side.

(Close it up)

9. Grab a rolling pin, gently roll on both sidez, and roll it out to a long rectangular sheet, about 1/2 CM thick. 

(Roll it into a long rectangular, the oil will squeeze a bit during rolling, it's fine, just gently wipe it off.)

10. Use a knife, cut the sheet into 8 sections.

(Portion it out just like how we cut mantou)

11. Take one section onto a relative open work surface. Cut it into 5-6 strips. 

(Cut into small strips like this. Note that these strips are already flipped (Step 11), you can not see the scallion cross-section like this from just cutting it.)

11. Flip each strip to the side in order to show the cross-section, i.e. to show the scallion.

(These are the cross-sections after flipping.)

12. Stack half the strips on top of the other half. 

13. Gently grab both ends, lightly stretch it to make it about 1.5-2 times long.

(If some strips break on you, don't panic, just tuck it back.)

14. Gently pinch both ends, and twist the strips together.

15. Use your thumbs and index fingers to pinch both end.

16. Pinch one end, around the strip around the other index finger in order to form a roll.  Roll the strip around and place it underneath.

(Start rolling.)

(Go around and place it underneath.)

17. Tuck this end under the roll (see pictures below).

(Place this end underneath the roll.)

(Gently push it in a bit.)

18. Carefully pull out your "axis" index finger that's been pinching the other end. And then, the rolling is finished.

19. Place the roll aside (cover if your room is dry), and finish the remaining 7 sections using the same method.

20. After finish rolling, either place on cut out parchment paper like what we did in the mantou video. Or use a steaming rack with holes, lightly oil the surface, and place the roll on it like this:

(Great makeshift set up for a steamer when making steam buns. Many traditional bakeries in China use this method to make baos as you can save on parchment paper.)

21. Cover, proof the whole thing over 28C water for 10 minutes. We'll only proof this for 10 minutes as we want to keep the nice shape.

22. 10 minutes later, same as in the mantou video, turn the heat on medium-high, watch for the steam and wait for it to boil. Once steam's coming out and it's boiling, let it steam for 5 minutes.

23. After 5 minutes, shut off the heat and let it sit inside for at least 5 minutes so that it doesn't shrink due to rapid temperature changes.

24. After sitting in the steamer for 5 minutes, the rolls are ready to be eaten. This savory-sweet rolls are great with some Lao Gan Ma chili crisps~ Enjoy!

Note on serving temperature:

• These rolls, mantou, and buns should really be served hot, they get tougher and denser once cooled down. So either eat them right away or re-steam them after they're cold.

Note on making ahead and freezing:

• You can make a bigger batch, steam them all, portion out the ones you want to save and let it cool down before putting in a ziplock bag. It freezes really well, up to 3 months (it'll get drier if it stays in the freezer for longer). When ready to eat, no need to thaw, just re-steam directly - on a plate, an oiled rack or steamer - on high for 6 minutes (you can put them back and add a couple minutes on steaming if you find them not fluffy enough). They can be eaten right away after steaming since the shape is already formed and no need to sit.

That's it for the scallion huajuan flower roll. See you next week.