Make your own dumplings: Yotam Ottolenghi's recipes for Shanghai buns

I tend to eat more Chinese food when I'm on the go than when cooking at home. The biang biang noodles that I can get at my local Xi'an Impression in north London, for example, demand to be eaten rather than reproduced. When I'm not eating too much there, however, it's Fuchsia Dunlop's books that encourage me and my team to give it a try. Today's Shanghai sticker buns are the result of my colleague Jake Norman who recently got lost in his land of fish and rice and was inspired by it.

Shanghai buns< p class="dcr-kpil6a">This batter can be steamed to make baos or fried to make sticky pots; if you like extra crispy shells, they can also be fried. Once you've made the dough, use your toppings of choice to turn it into dumplings. I've given some ideas in the following two recipes.

Prep 10 minProve 50 min+Cook 1 hrMakes 15 buns

300g strong white bread flour, plus an additional 1½ tbsp for dusting 1 tsp fast action dry yeast ½ tsp caster sugar ½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp sesame oil 175 ml warm water with anise Dipping sauce or black rice vinegar, to serve

Place the first five ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook keeping the yeast and salt separate and opposite sides. Mix on medium speed, then stir in the sesame oil and 175 ml of warm water until a paste forms. Increase the speed to medium-high and mix for 10 more minutes, until the mixture is smooth and workable. Shape the dough into a ball, return it to the bowl of the mixer, cover with a damp cloth and put in a warm place for about 50 minutes to an hour, until it doubles in volume.

Remove the risen dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Knead well to remove all the air, then roll into a sausage 4 cm wide. Cut it into 15 pieces of about 30g each, then, using a rolling pin, roll each piece into a disc 3mm thick and 9cm in diameter and flour generously.

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To shape the buns, place a disc in the palm of your non-dominant hand and place a dollop of your filling of choice in the middle - I've given some filling ideas below underneath, but you can pretty much put anything you want inside. Use your other hand to lift the edges of the disc up and over the liner, so they meet at the top and enclose it. Use your fingers to twist and seal the top edges together, so it now looks like a bag of money. Pinch and twist the peak into a spiral, then tear off and discard the top half inch of dough. Place the dough spiral side down on a lightly floured surface and repeat with the remaining brioche dough discs.

To cook the filled buns, put the vegetable oil in a large (28 cm) nonstick skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Once hot, remove from heat and carefully arrange the buns, seam side down, in the pan so that they cover its base; it's okay if they touch slightly, but you don't want them to fit snugly. Return the pan to the heat and fry the buns for two minutes, until golden brown and beginning to crisp underneath. Be very careful – he might spit! – pour 160 ml of boiling water over the sides of the pan (i.e. not on the buns), add the star anise, cover the pan with its lid and let steam for six minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking uncovered until all the water has evaporated and the buns are cooked through.

Turn off the heat and use tongs carefully to lift each fried bun up onto a large plate. Serve with your favorite dip or a small bowl of black rice vinegar.

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