Steamed Scallion Rolls

Every other week, we’re unearthing Heirloom Recipes -- dishes that have made their way from one generation's kitchen to the next.

Today: Linda Xiao of The Tart Tart shares a recipe for steamed scallion rolls that lingers in her mind.

My grandfather is a mystery to me. He's 95 years old, half-deaf, and somewhat of a recluse in the family. On top of that, he and I have lived across the world from each other -- him in China and me in America -- for pretty much my entire life.

And yet, for a short while in fifth grade, he and my grandmother came to live with us in the U.S. It's from that period that I remember him whipping out these steamed scallion rolls every week.

So maybe this recipe I'm sharing isn't an heirloom recipe, per se. It hasn't been passed down from generation to generation to generation.

However, it does represent a memory of a recipe, one that I've dredged up from the distant past and tinted with nostalgia for the only time in my life when my grandpa didn't seem a complete stranger.

And that, to me, makes it valuable enough that I want to pass it down. 

Steamed Scallion Rolls

Makes 12 rolls

The Dough
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups whole milk, lukewarm
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt

The Filling
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons neutral oil (corn, canola, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn, freshly ground
1 pinch sugar

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.