Follow this recipe carefully and you will be rewarded with comforting, fluffy and tasty Chinese steamed buns. If you want to fill them before steaming, follow the recipe for Chinese Steamed Buns With BBQ Pork Filling
You can fill these buns with anything you like, including chicken, tofu or veggies.
Altered ingredient amounts. This recipe gave me the soft, fluffy texture I was looking for. Instead of warm water, I substituted warm milk which I think helped make the dough even more light and fluffy. I had to add about an extra 4Tbsp of flour because the dough was REALLY sticky and difficult to work with. The only bad thing about this recipe was that after the 3 hours for the 1st rising, I noticed that the dough had a somewhat sour aftertaste, like sourdough bread, which was more noticeable after steaming the bun (I steamed a golf ball sized amount of dough to test for texture and taste before I rolled and steamed the rest of the dough). So I added a pinch of bicarb to counteract the sour flavour, and an extra 1/2 tsp of sugar because I personally like a sweeter dough. I used my own meat filling recipe to fill the bun. Yummy. UPDATE: *Tip* Add the bicarb after you have proofed the yeast, with the rest of the dry ingredients in the 2nd step of the recipe. - 14 Jul 2008
I just wanted to point out that you can throw leftovers in the freezer and freeze them for long periods of time. When you're ready to eat them, just put them in the refrigerator to thaw at least overnight and steam them for 10-15min. If you only want to eat a couple at a time, just fill a high saucepan with one inch water, put a wire rack at the centre and steam the buns directly on the rack, or on a small saucer. DO NOT let the buns touch the water. Another alternative is to fry the leftover buns and serve them with condensed milk - the way Chinese people eat them. - 14 Jul 2008
These were yummy. I use to eat them, when I was a kid. My friend's father use to make them for us and I never thought I would have these again. Thanks for the recipe. - 14 Jul 2008