Recipe for Mantou (Chinese Steamed Bun) (饅頭)

Mantou (Chinese Steamed Bun)

Yield: 4 servings (~10-12 Mantou)

Estimated Preparation Time: 2 hours

Estimated Cook Time: 25 minutes

Estimated Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes

Ingredients

All-purpose flour	300g
Sugar	30g
Salt	2g
Milk	180ml
Instant yeast	5g
Oil	10ml

Instructions

1. Place the flour, instant yeast and sugar into a mixing bowl. Gently mix it.

2. Slowly add oil, salt and warm milk. Continue to knead and add milk as a dough ball is formed. If it is hard and dry, add more milk. If it is too wet and sticky, add more flour. At the end, the dough ball should be smooth, soft and non-sticky.

3. Put the dough into a flour-covered bowl, then cover it with plastic wrap or wet towel and set aside to rest. Let the dough rest for around 60 minutes or until it doubles the size, whichever earlier.

4. Place the dough on a flour-covered workstation. Roll it into a 3-4mm thick rectangular log. Flatten the log using a rolling pin.

5. Starting from the long side of the dough, roll it towards the other end to form a log. Slightly brush some water at the end to tighten the log.

6. Slice the log into pieces of 4cm and place them on a parchment paper. Lightly dab the surface of the bun with some milk to smooth the surface. Then loosely cover it with a damped towel and let it rest again for 30 minutes or until it doubles in size, whichever earlier.

7. Put the buns into the unheated steamer. Leave the lid with a little gap. Steam on medium heat for 20 minutes. After turning off the heat, keep the lid on for extra 5 minutes to prevent the buns from becoming saggy.

Image Source: http://sweetheartkitchen.com/recipes/mantou/