Chinese Milk Bread, 3 Ways

Vegan take on a Hong Kong bakery staple

Gai mei baau (雞尾包), or cocktail bun, literally. Not vegan, unfortunately.

Gai mei baau — cocktail bun — is a sweet, coconut-filled bun my Gung Gung and Po Po (maternal Grandpa and Grandma in Cantonese) would bring us when they visisted when I was growing up.

This is THE BEST Cantonese bun. Ask anyone with a connection to Hong Kong their thoughts on cocktail buns, and they’ll say they love them.

Cocktail buns have 2 main components:

1. Milk bread, which forms the bun.

2. A sweet coconut filling.

It’s been years since I’ve had a real cocktail bun. They’re not vegan.

I’m going to make them vegan. Someday!

But I need to start with the basics. I need to learn how to make milk bread.

The key “ingredient” in Chinese Milk Bread 🥣

Flour and milk. Specifically, it’s 湯種.

This is pronounced tang zhong in Mandarin, and you’ll see it Romanized as such on the English internet. In Cantonese it’s tong zung.

The literal translation is something like “soup seed,” or “soup kind.” Think of it like a soupy mixture that is the seed that helps your bread grow into something beautiful and delicious! 🌱

I’ll call it a roux in this post, which is amusing to me because “roux” itself comes from French.

(For a language with hundreds of thousands of words, English lacks a word to describe this… I guess that tells you something about how proficient the English are at this kind of baking technique!)

My first attempt at milk bread!

Once you master the basic milk bread, then the possibilities are endless!

In this post I’ll share 3 versions of this milk bread:

1. Basic Milk Bread

2. Scallion Milk Bread

3. Cinnamon Bun Milk Bread

Basic Milk Bread 🍞

This is veganized using Foodshake — foodshakeapp.com which is broken at the time of this writing ... I need to fix it :( — based on a recipe from The Hong Kong Cookery.

Second attempt at milk bread in video form, above.

Ingredients

Roux

• 3 tbsp all purpose flour

• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond milk)

Dough

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I use all purpose)

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tsp instant yeast (or 2.5 tsp active dry yeast)

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup soft tofu (ideally plain dessert tofu or silken tofu)

• 1/4 tsp baking soda

• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk, room temperature

• 4 tbsp softened butter

• 1/4 cup extra flour

Method

1. Make the roux in a small pot.

   1. Mix the 1/2 cup of non-dairy milk and 3 tbsp of flour until incorporated.

   2. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened but still pourable, a minute or so.

   3. The mixture will thicken more as it cools.

2. Make the dough.

   1. If using instant yeast:

      1. In a bowl, or in standmixer with the dough attachment: Mix flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in large mixing bowl.

      2. Add in tofu, baking soda, and non-dairy milk. (The tofu and baking soda together act as the egg replacement). Mix until combined.

   2. If using active dry yeast:

      1. Dissolve the 1/2 cup sugar into the 1/2 cup of non-dairy. Sprinkle the active dry yeast on top and let it activate for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes it should become foamy.

      2. In a bowl, or in standmixer with the dough attachment: Mix flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl.

      3. Add in tofu, baking soda, and non-dairy milk & yeast mixture. (The tofu and baking soda together act as the egg replacement). Mix until combined.

3. Add in the roux mixture to the large bowl.  Knead until dough comes together.

4. Add in butter and knead for 20 more minutes until the butter is just incorporated.

5. Cover the dough and let it rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.

6. Punch down, and then roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle that’s as thin as possible.

At this point, you can either proceed with making the plain version of this milk bread, or you can add some fillings. We’ll proceed to discuss how to make the basic version.

7. Divide the dough into as many even parts as you like. 6 could work well. Roll up each division into a ball, tucking the rolls seam side down into the buttered bread pan.

8. Transfer to a greased (with oil or butter) 9- or 10-inch round cake pan, pie dish, or a square baking pan.

9. Cover the rolls and let rise for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

10. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the top of the dough with a bit of non-dairy or more butter. The mimics an egg wash.

11. Bake on the bottom shelf until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

12. Enjoy your milk bread!

And now for more fun: variations of this milk bread!

💚 Green Onion Milk Bread

Ingredients

All the ingredients from the Basic Milk Bread, with some more below:

Additional ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup sliced green onions

• 2 tbsp oil, for an “egg” wash

Method

1. Make the dough according to the Basic Milk Bread recipe, up until and including step 6 where you roll the dough into a rectangle that’s as thin as possible.

2. Roll the dough out and put the scallion on one side of the rectangle.

3. Fold over and roll it out.

4. Put scallion on one side of the rectangle.

5. Fold it over and roll it out.

6. Roll it into a cylinder.

7. Cut the cylinder in half.

8. Criss cross the halves.

9. Transfer to a greased (with oil or butter) 9- or 10-inch round cake pan, pie dish, or a square baking pan.

10. Cover the rolls and let rise for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

11. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the top of the dough with a bit of non-dairy or more butter. The mimics an egg wash.

12. Bake on the bottom shelf until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

13. Enjoy your Green Onion Milk Bread!

👩‍🍳 Milk Bread Cinnamon Buns

I brought these milk bread cinnamon buns to a bbq with (non-vegan) friends. They were a hit!

1. No one could believe I made them. “What bakery are these from, Serena?”

2. No one could believe they were vegan.

3. No one could believe I used tofu as the egg replacement.

The finished product! They’re great on their own. Could be even better with icing.

Ingredients

All the ingredients from the Basic Milk Bread, with some more below:

Additional ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

• 1/3 cup butter, softened

Method

1. Make the dough according to the Basic Milk Bread recipe, up until and including step 6 where you roll the dough into a rectangle that’s as thin as possible.

2. Spread the butter on the dough. Sprinkle the brown sugar, and then the cinnamon.

3. Roll up, by rolling the short side of the rectangle up. Try to make it tight.

4. Cut into 10 - 12 rolls.

5. Transfer to a greased (with oil or butter) 9- or 10-inch round cake pan, pie dish, or a square baking pan.

6. Cover the rolls and let rise for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.

7. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the top of the dough with a bit of non-dairy or more butter. The mimics an egg wash.

8. Bake on the bottom shelf until golden brown, about 35 minutes.

9. Enjoy your Milk Bread Cinnamon Buns! Or take them to a bbq and share with your friends :)

Before adding cinnamon.

Before going into the oven. They’re so pretty :)

That’s it! If you make any these milk bread variations: post a pic of them on Instagram and tag @friendlyveg in your story :)

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