Ingredients
Filling
- 300 gpork shoulder, in 1 cm dice
- 80 gbamboo shoots, diced
- 4dried shiitake, soaked and diced
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- 1 tbsprice wine
- 1 tspsugar
- ½ tspfive-spice
- ½ tspwhite pepper
- 1 tspcornflour
Dough
- 150 gsweet potato starch
- 50 grice flour
- 30 gcornflour
- 150 mlcold water
- 250 mlboiling water
- ½ tspsalt
Sauce
- 3 tbspsweet potato starch slurry
- 200 mlwater
- 2 tbspfermented rice paste or miso
- 2 tbspketchup
- 1 tbspsugar
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- chopped coriander and minced garlic, to finish
Directions
- Marinate the diced pork with the soy, rice wine, sugar, five-spice, white pepper and cornflour for 20 minutes, then mix in the bamboo and shiitake.
- For the dough, whisk the sweet potato starch, rice flour, cornflour and salt with the cold water to a smooth slurry.
- Pour the boiling water in slowly while whisking hard. The starch will seize and turn into a thick, translucent, glue-like paste — this is correct and is what gives ba-wan its distinctive chew. Keep whisking until even.
- Oil eight small bowls or ramekins. Spread two tablespoons of paste into each, pushing it up the sides to make a shell.
- Spoon in the filling, then cover with more paste, smoothing it flat and sealing to the edges.
- Steam over vigorous heat for 30 minutes, until the dough has gone from opaque white to translucent grey-brown throughout. Translucency is the doneness test, not time alone.
- Cool for 10 minutes so they firm enough to unmould, then turn out. Traditionally they are then briefly warmed through in low-temperature oil, but a second short steam works and is easier.
- For the sauce, simmer the water, rice paste, ketchup, sugar and soy, then thicken with the starch slurry. Pour generously over each dumpling and top with garlic and coriander. Eaten with chopsticks and a spoon, cut open at the table.
Technique
- Sweet potato starch is essential and behaves nothing like cornflour or wheat flour. The gelatinous, springy bite is the entire identity of ba-wan.
- Boiling water, poured slowly with hard whisking, is what gelatinises the starch. Warm water leaves it grainy and it will not set.
- Judge by translucency. An opaque patch in the middle means the dough is still raw.
Substitutions
- Tapioca starch can replace up to half the sweet potato starch, giving a slightly bouncier texture.
- Chicken thigh instead of pork, marinated identically.
Variations
- Changhua ba-wan, deep-fried at low temperature rather than steamed, with a crisper shell.
- A version with a whole quail egg or dried shrimp added to the filling.
History
Traced to Beidou in Changhua, where in 1898 a temple official steamed sweet-potato-starch dumplings to feed victims of a flood.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ba-wan?
Ba-wan is a street food from Taiwan: chewy sweet-potato-starch dumpling stuffed with pork and bamboo, doused in sauce. Traced to Beidou in Changhua, where in 1898 a temple official steamed sweet-potato-starch dumplings to feed victims of a flood.
How long does Ba-wan take to make?
Ba-wan takes 45 min of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 dumplings. It is rated hard to make.
What can I substitute in Ba-wan?
Yes, within limits. Tapioca starch can replace up to half the sweet potato starch, giving a slightly bouncier texture. Chicken thigh instead of pork, marinated identically.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ba-wan?
Sweet potato starch is essential and behaves nothing like cornflour or wheat flour. The gelatinous, springy bite is the entire identity of ba-wan.
