My childhood favorite dim sum order were lop cheong bao, which were a long string of bao dough that was wrapped around Chinese sausage, and steamed. Chinese sausage on its own is oily, sweet, and salty. It is highly seasoned, very flavorful, and works beautifully against the relatively neutral-flavored, but really light and fluffy bao dough. When I was 3, I actually threw a tantrum when my local dim sum restaurant stopped selling them, because of how good they were. That and being raised in America from such a young age, other dim sum staples like chicken feet were not really palatable options for 3-year-old Fred. While I have since grown up and my palate has expanded to enjoy other items in dim sum, I still love making my own lop cheong bao, even to this day! So when Pokemon introduced the perfection that was Fidough, a bread-themed dog Pokemon, I just had to make lop cheong bao inspired by them! Fidough is a Fairy type Pokemon that resembles a dog, as well as takes inspiration from braided bread doughs. I wanted to recreate Fidough, but in lop cheong bao form, and steam them, as a way to give the bao that same glossy exterior that raw bread dough may have. Fidough is also a little yellow in color, so turmeric helps give the dough that slight yellow tinge that it needs to better resemble the Pokemon.

Overall, this recipe did actually take a bit of trial and error. Shaping the dough was probably the most tricky part to figure out, since I did not initially realize that the collar underneath Fidough’s head looped around its body to form the knots on its back as well. I tried my best to list out specific measurements and instructions on how to shape your own bao, but I will warn you, this took a good amount of time to do. Outside of that, the dough itself comes together relatively easily, compared to the shaping of it. The bao, being a yeasted dough, does require a little bit of temperature moderation. I did use a tangzhong, or a cooked flour mixture, in the dough itself, as a way to guarantee that the bao does not dry out. However, it is important to make sure that the tangzhong is not added into the rest of the ingredients, namely the yeast, until it cools down, as yeast starts to die at 120+ degrees F, and if yeast dies, then your dough cannot be further aerated. Normally, yeast will die in the baking, or in this case, steaming process, and that is fine. But if the yeast dies prematurely, you will end up with a bao that is dense, hard, and rubbery, instead of the desired light, airy, and spongy. So just keep in mind that the dough is the star of this recipe, and with enough care and attention, you too can have little bread dogs ready to eat! Also keep in mind that this recipe is steamed, not baked, so you will need a steamer to make these! While you can technically bake the bao too, the texture will not be as soft and light as a steamed bao.

Makes 6 bao:
For the dough:
1 packet active dry yeast(2 1/4 tsps)
1 cup water, in two parts
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp malted milk powder
2 cups flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1g ground turmeric
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, mix together the yeast, one part of the water, and the sugar. Let that sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. In a pot, mix together 1/2 cup flour, the remaining water, and the milk powder. Whisk the flour mixture on medium heat for 3-5 minutes, until a thick paste forms. Transfer the paste to a clean bowl and mix in the canola oil, turmeric, and salt. Allow that paste to cool down to less than 120 degrees F and then add to the yeast mixture. Add to that the rest of the flour and transfer to a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Mix the dough until combined, then continue kneading it for another 10 minutes. It should be elastic and smooth. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover with cling wrap for 1 hour at room temperature.

For assembly:
1 egg yolk
6 lop cheong(Chinese) sausages, cut in half widthwise(so they are half a sausage long)
activated charcoal
clear alcohol

Start by portioning out your rested dough. For each roll, you will need 95 grams of dough. That 95 grams will be divvied out as follows:
20 grams (head)
5 grams x 2 (ears)
1 gram (mouth)
55 grams collar/back/body
5 grams (tail)
2 grams x 2 (front legs)
1 grams x 2 (hind legs)
the rest(eye brows and nose)

To form your head, roll that portion of the dough into a ball. Start by sticking the sausage directly into the head. Then roll out the dough for the collar/back/body so that it is roughly 18 inches long, and loop that underneath the head, braiding the sides of it around the sausage – this forms both the collar and the body effectively. For the tail, roll out most of the dough into a long string, with one side being puffier and larger. Wrap the thinner portion of the dough around the larger piece in a knot to form the tail. The mouth will just be a ball of dough that will be pressed onto the head. Same with the ears. The ears and legs will be rolled into tear drop-shaped pieces and arranged around the bottom on a piece of parchment, using a little egg yolk to glue everything, including the mouth, nose, ears, eye brows, legs, tail on. Brush egg wash on top of the heads of the baos, on the eyebrows, the centers of the ears, the tip of the tail, and the back as well. Steam the bao on medium heat for 12 minutes. Allow the buns to fully cool before mixing together the activated charcoal with clear alcohol and painting on the eyes to finish.