Shrimp and Pumpkin Buns

Prepare the flour, pumpkin, and dried shrimp.

Put flour, dry yeast, and room temperature water into a bowl, first stir with chopsticks until it becomes a flaky texture, then knead into a dough that has no dry flour and is neither too soft nor too hard. Cover and ferment at room temperature; since flour absorbs water differently, add water gradually. Generally, the water amount is 55-65% of the flour amount: slightly less water makes the buns more three-dimensional once cooked; slightly more water makes the buns prone to deformation but gives a softer texture.

Pour oil into a frying pan. When the oil is 40-50% hot, add the dried shrimp and stir-fry over low heat until fragrant, the volume slightly reduced, and the color slightly yellow. Turn off the heat, sprinkle with chopped green onions, mix well, and let cool before using.

Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds, then grate it into fine shreds using a grater. If the shreds are too long, you can cut them shorter with scissors. Why not use a knife and cutting board? Because using scissors is easier; you just need to rinse it once to clean, whereas using a knife and cutting board requires scrubbing, which is troublesome and wastes water. Sprinkle about 1 gram of salt over the pumpkin shreds, mix well, and let sit for 5 minutes.

Grab the pumpkin shreds with your hand and squeeze them slightly, but don't squeeze them too dry; look at the top left corner, a lot of pumpkin juice has been squeezed out; if you don't squeeze out the excess pumpkin juice, the steamed buns will be too 'watery' and are likely to collapse or leak from the bottom.

Add dried shrimp and shredded pumpkin into a bowl, taste for saltiness, and you can add a little more salt if needed. However, the dried shrimp is already salty, so you should take this into account to avoid it being too salty and affecting health.

The risen dough is 2-3 times the original size.

Place the dough on the workbench, sprinkle a little flour, knead with some force for about 3 minutes, roll it into a long strip, and cut it into evenly sized portions.

Roll it into a round dough slightly thicker in the middle and slightly thinner at the edges.

Take an appropriate amount of filling and place it in the center of the round wrapper, trying to put as much filling as possible. When the pumpkin is raw, it is 'rough and bumpy,' but once cooked, it becomes soft and collapses.

Wrap the buns in your own way.

Put water in the steamer, lightly grease the silicone steaming mat to prevent sticking, place each wrapped bun on it as you finish wrapping, cover with a lid after all are placed, and let them undergo a second fermentation for about 20 minutes, adjusting the time according to the temperature inside the pot and the room temperature.

The buns are 1.5 to 2 times larger than the original. Turn to high heat, steam for 15 minutes after the water boils, and let them sit for 3-5 minutes before taking them out.

Shrimp and pumpkin buns, fresh and delicious!