Gua Bao

For the buns, I used this recipe: https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/gua-bao-taiwanese-pork-belly-buns/

The rest was freestyle, but here's a summary of what I did. I don't have exact measurements, it was by feel.

Ingredients:

• Pressed tofu
• Oyster muchrooms
• Bell pepper
• Red chili
• Spring onions
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Soy sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Ginger paste
• Chili oil (like Lao Gan Ma, if you have it)
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar
• Vegetable oil
• Sesame (or sesame oil, or both)
• Cilantro

Tofu:

• Fry pressed tofu in a pot with plenty of oil until crispy.
• Make a marinade from the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger paste, chili oil (or red chili) and coat the tofu in it. It should be a bit thick (can add starch) and savory-sweet.
• Let it soak for 1-2 hours.

Mushrooms:

• Sautée the white parts of the spring onion.
• Add mushrooms, bell pepper, red chili, and sesame. Let it brown a bit, then add soy sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes until tender and the liquid evaporated.
• Set aside.

Cucumber:

• Slice cucumber very thin.
• Mix rice vinegar and sugar into a dressing and add to the cucumber.
• Add chopped cilantro.

Carrots:

• Sautée carrots (can use the same pot from above).
• Add a dash of soy sauce and sesame.
• Set aside.

To finish, prepare the buns as described in the link. While that steams, you can re-heat the tofu/mushrooms and prepare some garnish (cilantro, green parts of spring onion). Voilà.

Not sure how healthy this was lol. The buns are just flour and water, but the tofu is deep-fried (replacing the pork belly from the original version).