The Magical Ingredients for a Wholesome Life From the Heart of my Home: Hua Juan / Scallion Flower rolls

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Hua Juan / Scallion Flower rolls

This is a steamed scallion bun, Hua Juan (meaning flower shaped buns). These are amazing, fluffy rolls that would be gone in a flash! The scallion and Chinese five spice powder makes these steamed rolls addictive.

These rolls are easy to make. Knead the dough, once doubled, roll to a rectangle, sprinkle with scallion filling, roll and cut into pieces. Stack a couple of these pieces, press down with a chopstick, and then mend the ends to seem like a flower. Then steam for 15 minutes. Depending on the thickness rolled, and the number of pieces cut, smaller or larger ones can be made too.

These rolls can be steamed or pan-fried. We love the Pan-fried Cabbage and Noodle Buns. So we tried both the ways. It tasted divine. When Wendy announced the theme for this month's event, we tried this bun as we love steamed Chinese buns. I should say we are addicts to the steamed buns. We also love the Chinese Scallion Pancakes, which is another addictive bread from China. This scallion flower rolls are very soft and fluffy like a cloud and one can easily have a few of it.

Welcome to Bread Bakers! This month, our theme is Chinese Breads and our host is Wendy of A Day in the Life on a Farm. #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

I followed my recipe from China Sichuan Food and Red House Spice. I like the shaping method in the latter one though the former recipe was super easy to shape the rolls. These addictive rolls will be gone in a minute and I am giving a warning to make a big batch.

Ingredients

Makes 10

All-purpose flour - 2 cups

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Active dry yeast - 1 tsp

Water - 1/2 plus 2 tbsp, lukewarm

Oil - 3 tbsp

Scallions - 1 cup, finely chopped green parts

Chinese five spice powder - 1 tsp

Method

Activate the yeast in warm water with a teaspoon of sugar (may take 5 minutes). In a bowl add the flour and salt, mix and set aside.

Once the yeast is ready, add it to the flour and knead to a smooth dough. Smear a little oil, cover, and rest for an hour.

Once it is double in size, punch and knead the dough. Divide the dough in to two portions.

To a portion, roll into a large rectangle. Brush a little oil, sprinkle half the scallion, and Chinese five spice powder.

Fold in half and fold again.

Cut into 10 pieces.

Take 2 pieces, arrange one on top of the other. Press down with a chopstick in the middle.

Remove the chopstick, hold the ends and join them downwards to a roll and this resembles a flower. Repeat with the rest of the pieces and the other portion of the dough.