Chinese Steamed Bread Food

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Mix together yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and 1/4 cup warm water. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.
• Mix in 1/2 cup warm water, flour, salt, 2 tablespoons sugar, and vegetable oil. Knead until dough surface is smooth and elastic. Roll over in a greased bowl, and let stand until triple in size, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Punch down dough, and spread out on a floured board. Sprinkle baking powder evenly on surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 2 parts, and place the piece you are not working with in a covered bowl. Divide each half into 12 parts. Shape each part into a ball with smooth surface up. Put each ball on a wax paper square. Let stand covered until double, about 30 minutes.
• Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium; the water should still be boiling. Place steam-plate on a small wire rack in the middle of the wok. Transfer as many buns on wax paper as will comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam buns over boiling water for 15 minutes.
• REMOVE LID BEFORE you turn off heat, or else water will drip back onto bun surface and produce yellowish "blisters" on bun surfaces. Continue steaming batches of buns until all are cooked.

STEAMED BAO BUNS

Steps:

• Mix together the flour, caster sugar and ½ tsp salt in a large bowl (see tip). Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of sugar in 1 tbsp warm water, then add it to the flour with the milk, sunflower oil, rice vinegar and 200ml water. Mix into a dough, adding a little extra water if needed.
• Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10-15 mins, or until smooth. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for 2 hrs, or until doubled in size.
• Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and punch it down. Flatten the dough with your hands, then sprinkle over the baking powder and knead for 5 mins.
• Roll out the dough into a long sausage shape, about 3cm thick, then cut into pieces that are about 3cm wide - you should have 18. In the palm of your hand, roll each piece of dough into a ball and leave to rest for 2-3 mins.
• Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball, one by one, into an oval shape about 3-4mm thick. Rub the surface of the dough ovals with oil and brush a little oil over a chopstick. Place the oiled chopstick in the centre of each oval. Fold the dough over the chopstick, then slowly pull out the chopstick.
• Cut 18 squares of baking parchment and put a bun on each. Transfer to a baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove in a warm place for 1 hr 30 mins, or until doubled in size.
• Heat a large steamer over a medium-high heat. Steam the buns for 8 mins until puffed up (you'll need to do this in batches). Prise open each bun and fill with our barbecue pork and pickled carrot & mooli. Eat while they're still warm.

SIMPLE AND TASTY CHINESE STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast over 1 cup of warm water in a large bowl. The water should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam. Combine the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a small bowl. Stir half of the flour mixture into the yeast mixture until no dry spots remain. Stir in the remaining flour, a 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, then place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces and form into rounds.
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan, and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Cover, and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Add the buns, recover, and steam for 20 minutes. Serve hot.

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Prepare warm water around 35 °C and melt the sugar in. And mix the yeast with the water. Mix well and set aside for around 5 minutes. If you do not want sugar, just skip it.
• Place salt and flour in a large bowl. Pour the water with yeast slowly to the bowl with flour and stir with a chopstick.
• Then knead the flour into smooth and soft dough. At the very beginning, it might be a little bit sticky. Or you can simple resort to a stand mixer.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for around 1 hour or until the paste ball doubles in size.
• When the dough is double in size, get paste ball out, dust the operating board and re-knead the dough for 3-4 minutes until the dough becomes almost smooth again. Divide the dough into two parts, keep kneading and shape each part into 1 inch thick long log.
• Remove the two ends and use a very sharp knife to cut the log to smaller pieces (around 2 cm wide). Try to keep the original shape. Place the buns to a lined steamer one by one. Leave some space among each one as the buns rise after steaming.
• Add cold water to your wok or steel steamer. Cover the lid and rest for 10 minutes in summer and around 20 minutes in winter or until the bun becomes fluffy again.
• Use high fire to bring the water to a boil and continue to steam for around 20 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of your buns).
• Remove off the fire and wait for around 5 minutes before opening the lid. Serve warm or re-steam to soften before serving.

CHINESE STEAMED BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over a mixture of 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup flour and leave for around 15-30 minutes.
• Stir in the remaining water/ milk, flour, salt, sugar, pepper (if using) and oil.
• Mix everything to a dough.
• Turn it on to a floured work surface and knead it until it is smooth.
• Return it to the bowl, cover it and leave it in a warm place for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until it has tripled in size.
• Punch down the dough with the back of your fist to flatten on a floured board.
• Sprinkle the baking powder over and knead for a few minutes.
• Shape the dough into 24 rolls.
• Keep each ball on a wax paper and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
• You can place these balls on individual pieces of wax paper so you can use these to place in the steamer too for easier handling.
• Bring water in the bottom of a steamer to a boil first.
• Then place the rolls in the steamer, leaving a 1-inch gap between them.
• Cook in batches if need be.
• Cook them for 10-15 minutes, or until they are firm and cooked through.
• Do not turn the heat off before you lift the lid of the steamer as this causes blistering on the surface of the rolls.
• Serve them hot.

BASIC CHINESE YEAST DOUGH

Steps:

• Place the yeast in a bowl and pour the warm water over. Stir in the sugar to dissolve. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the yeast and water mixture and begin stirring immediately.
• Keep stirring until you have a dough that holds together and doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl. Adjust the amount of water, adding more or less as is needed.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until it is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Add more flour or water if needed.
• Cover and let rest for 1 1/2 hours. Punch the dough down again, and let it rest for 1 to 1 1/2 more hours, until its size has doubled.
• Use as called for in the recipe.