Chuuka Manjuu Japanese Style Chinese Steamed Buns Food

NIKUMAN, JAPANESE STEAMED PORK BUNS

Steps:

• Gather ingredients.
• Mix all the dry ingredients for the dough in a standard mixing bowl. With the mixer running on medium speed add warm water and oil. Mix for about 20 seconds until the dough is formed. Take it out on a floured surface and knead into a ball. Wrap in plastic and set it aside.
• Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients for the filling. Divide the filling into eight balls.
• Find a skillet large enough to hold bamboo steamer on its top. Fill the skillet halfway with water and set it on a stovetop.
• Cut parchment paper into 1 ½ -inch squares. You will need 8.
• Divide the dough into eight balls. Working one at a time, roll the balls to 4-inch rounds. Press around the rims to make it thin. This helps not to have an excess dough on the top. Wrap the filling by pulling edges together and pinch them at the top. Set it on a piece of parchment paper and place it in the bamboo steamer. Place four buns in each tray.
• Turn the heat on the stove and bring the water to a boil. Set bamboo steamer on top, then turn the heat to medium-low. Steam the buns for 20 minutes.
• Serve warm.

WOK-LESS YEAST-LESS STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• Dough:.
• Dissolve sugar in warm water.
• Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl, making a well in the center of the flour then pour the baking powder in the well.
• Gradually pour in the water solution, stirring until all the ingredients are well combined.
• Knead with lard, adding a little at a time, into the dough until smooth and elastic.
• Cover and set aside.
• Filling:.
• Put the cut up pork in a large bowl and season with garlic, ginger, 2 teaspoons sugar, and 2 Tbs. soy sauce.
• Mix well and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons sugar, cornstarch, 2 Tbs. soy sauce, sherry and water.
• Stir well to make a slurry and set aside.
• Meanwhile, heat a 12" Dutch oven or wok over high heat, add oil and heat until starting to smoke.
• Stir fry pork mixture until browned, about 5 minutes.
• Add onion and stir fry 2 more minutes until onions are limp.
• Stir in cornstarch mixture and cook until thickened and bubbly.
• Cool mixture to room temperature or refrigerate to chill.
• Set aside.
• Divide the dough and filling into 24 equal portions.
• Flatten each portion of dough and roll into a 4" circle, leaving the center twice as thick as the edges.
• Cup one circle of dough and place 1 portion of the filling in the center, pressing the filling down with the thumb.
• With your other thumb and index finger, gather and pleat the edges of the dough up around the filling in loose folds, meeting at the top.
• Twist the top of the dough to firmly seal.
• Place on a piece of parchment paper, twisted side up.
• Arrange buns on a cake rack in a 12" Dutch oven or the bottom rack of a Camp Chef UDO14 (Ultimate Dutch oven) then the top rack.
• Let rise 10 to 15 minutes.
• Carefully pour 1 cup hot water into Dutch oven, not getting water on the buns.
• Cover and simmer over medium heat until water is evaporated or 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot.

NIKUMAN (STEAMED PORK BUNS)

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients. I use a kitchen scale to measure my ingredients. Prepare one square piece of parchment paper for each bun you will make, about 3 inches x 3 inches (7.6 cm x 7.6 cm) for small buns. Set aside.

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS (MANTOU)

Steps:

• You will also need a rice steamer and some parchment paper.
• Directions:.
• Mix yeast, flour and sug arand salt. Stir well. Add melted lard, vinegar and egg white, mix thoroughly. Result should resemble grains of sand. Add in enough water to turn dough into a ball.
• Knead for about 6-8 minutes with a dough hook in your mixer. If kneading by hand, take a little longer.
• When properly kneaded dough is not overly sticky, very smooth, pulls apart without being stringy. If you under knead your dough, it will flatten when you steam it. If you over knead your dough, it will become very hard.
• Oil up dough ball and place it in a metal bowl. Put a damp paper towel or rag over your bowl let it rest in a warm place to rise for an hour. It should double in size. If you wish, you can set your oven on the keep warm setting and place your bowl in there for an hour.
• Soak the wood ears and shiitake mushrooms in hot water to revive them. Chop them into fine pieces. Next chop your chives. Place your pork and chicken into a bowl and add all of the chopped items. Mix thoroughly. Add in seasonings.
• To test: Place a spoonful in a bowl and nuke it in the microwave. Try it out and add more seasoning as needed.
• Your filling should be relatively sticky and dry. If it is too watery, your dough will get soggy and it will be hard to fill. Make sure everything is well drained!
• Cut parchment paper to 2-3 inch squares. If your buns will be big, cut bigger squares. This will keep your buns from being stuck to your steamer.
• Knead dough to get all of the air out. Knead into sausage shapes and cut into little pieces. Flatten your dough with your hand and spoon filling into dough. Bring all edges to the center and pinch closed. Place on top of parchment paper and set in a cookie tray to rise for 30 minutes.
• Do not overstuff, buns will expand too much. Insure the bottoms of buns aren't too thin or juices from filling will make bottom soggy.
• Ready your steamer and make sure to boil extra water for steaming. Place your buns in the steamer. Steam for 15 minutes (or 20 if your buns are big) and enjoy!

CHUUKA MANJUU - JAPANESE-STYLE CHINESE STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• The dough:.
• Cut up the parchment paper into 24 squares about 10 cm / 3 inches square.
• Proof the yeast in a bowl or cup in the 1/4 cup of warm water with a pinch of sugar added, until foamy.
• In a large bowl, put in 5 cups of the flour. Make a well in the center, and add the hot water and mix rapidly.
• Add the sugar and yeast/water mixture, baking powder, warm milk, and the shortening or lard. Mix well.
• Add the rest of the flour little by little until you have a workable dough. Knead for a few minutes on a floured board until it's soft and pliable.
• Put into a large bowl, cover with a clean towel, and leave in a warm place until the dough has doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Take out the dough and roll into one long sausage. Cut the dough into 24 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, and let rest for a bit.
• To fill the buns, flatten each ball so that the middle is slightly thicker than the edges. Put about a tablespoon or so of filling in the middle. Gather up the edges and pinch them firmly together to seal, then turn the bun over and place on a square of parchment paper. Let the buns rise for 15-20 minutes before steaming.
• Steam in a steamer for 20 minutes. Eat while piping hot.
• The filling:.
• Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water until soft. Cut off the hard stems and slice thinly.
• Cube the pork, or chop it up finely.
• Mix the flour and cornstarch with the water.
• In a pan heat the sesame oil and toss in all the ingredients except the flour/cornstarch water. Sauté briefly, then add the flour/cornstarch water. Cook until it's a bit syrupy.
• Let cool and use to fill the buns.
• The Chinese-style roast pork (Chinese: char siu; Japanese: yakibuta).
• If you have a big piece of pork, cut it into about 500g pieces.
• Roughly chop the ginger, skin on is okay, and crush the garlic to crush a bit.
• Put the pork pieces in a sturdy plastic bag or container. Put in the pork, ginger, star anise and garlic, and fill with enough soy sauce to cover the pork.
• Seal the bag well and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Turn the meat several times if you can so that the marinade penetrates evenly.
• Preheat the oven to 140° C / 280°F
• Empty out the contents of the bag into a baking dish. Add a bit of water so that the meat is sitting in about 1cm of liquid.
• Sprinkle the meat with sugar, and bake for about 2.5 - 3 hours, turning the meat every 20-30 minutes. If you want it even sweeter, sprinkle more sugar on the meat periodically.
• At the end, the liquid will be almost gone and syrupy, and you will have dark amber colored pieces of pork.
• Let cool and slice thin, cube, etc. You can use cubes in fried rice, or in the steamed buns of course, and any number of things.
• It is quite worthwhile to make this in some quantity, since the cooking takes so long, and to freeze in portions for later use.

STEAMED BUNS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix the sugar and salt in the water, and then mix in the yeast. Let it rest for about 15 mins, or till the surface is covered in frothy yeast.
• Add the oil to the mixture and stir it in to combine.
• In a large bowl, add the flour and make a hole in the center. Add the liquid to the hole and gradually incorporate the flour till you have a sticky mass.
• Oil your bench top with a little olive or vegetable oil, them knead the dough on the oiled surface until it forms into an elastic and smooth ball, which takes about 15 minutes. The dough should be elastic and slightly tacky but not so that it sticks to your hands.
• Roll out the dough into a tube that's about 5cm in diameter.
• Slice the tube into 16 loafs. Lay each of the loafs on its cylindrical edge, not the face, on top of a square of parchment paper, and leave for about 20-30mins to rise (or till the surface has become slightly puffy).
• Shape your buns - if at this time you wish to make filled buns, roll them into a circle, add the filling to the middle then pinch the sides together and give it a slight twist so it doesn't come undone as it steams. Leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
• Arrange the loafs in a steamer. They will expand quite a fair bit so try and leave about 3-5cm around each bun. Cover the steamer and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
• Immediately remove from the steamer and place on a plate to cool enough so they can be handled.

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS (MANTOU)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar over 4 tablespoons of the warm water and leave it for 15 minutes.
• Place the flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture and the remaining water. Mix everything to form a dough.
• Turn it onto a floured board and knead until smooth.
• Return dough to the bowl, cover and let it stand in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size.
• Punch down, cover again and let it stand for 20 minutes longer.
• Knead the dough again and shape into rolls.
• Bring the water in the bottom of a steamer to a boil. Place the rolls in the steamer, leaving a 1- inch gap between them. Cook for 10 minutes or until firm and cooked through.
• Serve them hot.

MANTOU / BAOZI / STEAMED BUN DOUGH I

Steps:

• Mix the yeast and flours in a large bowl.
• Dissolve the sugar and add the peanut oil in the water.
• Add to the flour bowl and mix thoroughly.
• Knead dough until it becomes a consistent ball, adding milk or more flour as needed (I usually end up using a tad more than 1/2 cup of milk).
• Cover dough in a bowl and allow to rest 10 - 15 minutes.
• Remove dough, pound it down, and re-knead until it forms a fully elastic dough ball.
• Place ball in a greased, covered bowl and allow to rise for 40 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled or tripled in bulk.
• Divide into 16-24 small dough balls, or roll out into one large flat rectangle on a floured surface.
• Flatted dough balls with a rolling pin, OR measure 3 - 5 inch rounds out of the pressed rectangle.
• Fill each flat round with roughly 2 tbs of the filling of your choice in the center. Pull the dough on all sides from the corners up to the top, and 'twist' to close.
• Steam filled buns (baozi) for 15 - 25 minutes over high heat.
• NOTE: Plain buns, or mantou, can be obtained by simply omitting the filling.

SWEET POTATO MANTOU (CHINESE STEAMED BUNS)

Steps:

• Peel and cook sweet potato.
• Puree cooked sweet potato in blender with water or milk and sugar.
• Pour sweet potato liquid into a bowl, sprinkle with yeast, and allow to dissolve.
• Sift dry ingredients together.
• Stir flour mixture into yeast mixture. Knead in 1 additional cup of flour as needed.
• Melt butter or lard and knead into dough.
• Let rise until double (60-90 min).
• Roll dough into flat rectangle; starting from front edge, roll dough into log. Cut log into 16 equal segments. (See photos and instructions for more attractive ways to shape the buns here: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.sg/2009/08/steamed-sweet-potato-mantou.html and here: http://wendyinkk.blogspot.sg/2011/08/purple-sweet-potato-rose-mantou.html).
• Place buns in steamer basket, on cheesecloth, about 1 inch apart.
• Steam vigorously for 15-20 minutes.
• (The buns can be cooked in the steamer basket of your rice cooker while the rice is cooking. They don't all fit at one time, so I freeze the the rest of the shaped, raw, buns on a flat baking sheet, then transfer to a freezer bag. I can pull them out a few at time to thaw and steam as needed.).

CHINESE STEAMED BUNS (BBQ PORK AND PORK/VEGETABLE)

Steps:

• For Filling #1, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the shallots 2 minutes or until light brown. Add the flour, stir to combine, and cook 1 minute.
• Add the chicken stock, stir well, and cook 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and cook one minute.
• Remove from heat and stir in cut pork and oyster sauce, sugar, peanut oil, and sesame oil. Chill until very firm.
• For Filling #2, simply mix all ingredients together.
• To make the dough, combine all dough ingredients into a stand mixer. Mix with the dough hook for 4 minutes.
• Use the oil to grease the outside of the dough; cover and let rest in warm area 1 ½ hours or until double in size.
• Punch down dough and divide into 24 pieces.
• Using a rolling pin, roll each into a round disk, making quarter turn with each roll.
• Roll to leave the center thick; thinner edges are easier to pleat.
• Place about 1 tablespoon of filling at the center of each dough round, flat side up.
• Gather the edges by first pleating counterclockwise, and then twisting to seal securely. Place the bun round side up on a square piece of parchment paper (2.5 X 2.5 inches).
• Let buns rest, covered for at least 30 minutes.
• Steam on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not uncover the steamer any time during the steaming. If a flat lid steamer is used, wrap the lid in a kitchen towel to prevent condensed steam from dripping on the buns.

CLASSIC MANAPUA (STEAMED BUNS HAWAIIAN STYLE)

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over 3 tablespoons lukewarm water and allow to stand until yeast softens.
• To remaining water, add oil or shortening, sugar and salt, stirring until melted or dissolved. Cool. Add yeast mixture.
• Place flour in a large mixing bowl or a heavy-duty mixer and add most of the liquid. Combine until flour incorporates liquid and starts to become a ball.
• Add remaining liquid to make a very heavy dough.
• Begin kneading the dough in the bowl. Continue kneading until you have a smooth ball that is beginning to show signs of long strands on the outside, indicating that the gluten has fully developed.
• Remove dough from bowl and rinse out bowl. Pour sesame oil into bowl, return dough and turn it around until covered with a thin layer of the oil.
• Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in bulk (about an hour in a warm room).
• Place the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to rise (3-6 hours). Punch it down again and allow it to rise again (3 hours).
• Proceed with the filling while the dough is rising. In a saute pan, stir cornstarch, hoisin sauce, dry sherry, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce and brown sugar into the 1 cup water until dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add char siu and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off heat and allow to cool completely. Chill covered until 1 hour before you are ready to stuff the manapua. Allow to return to room temperature before using.
• When ready to cook, cut 12 (3-inch) squares of waxed paper and coat 1 side with very light coat of nonstick cooking spray.
• Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each into a ball.
• Make the dough as thin as you can and try to keep the edges thinner than the center.
• Place the circle of dough in the palm of your hand. Spoon in a couple of tablespoons of filling, cupping the dough around it.
• With the thumb and finger of the other hand, pinch the edges of the dough as if you were making a fluted edging on a pie crust. Pinch the folds together, twisting them as you do so.
• Place the completed manapua on a square of greased waxed paper. Allow to plump up into a globe with a taut exterior.
• Heat a steamer with plenty of water or preheat an oven at 350 degrees F.
• If using steamer, fill steamer with manapua on their papers about 1 to 2 inches apart. Cover and steam vigorously for 15 minutes. Remove steamer from heat, let stand 5 minutes, then open. If using a metal steamer, place a folded tea towel across top of steamer, holding it in position with the lid. This will prevent steam from dropping onto manapua while steaming.
• If baking, place manapua on their papers on a baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Brush top of buns with a little vegetable oil and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand 1 minutes. Serve hot.
• Manapua can be frozen. Frozen bau may be reheated by wrapping with a paper towel and microwaving for 1 minute.

CHINESE STEAMED FLOWER BUNS (HUA JUAN)

Steps:

• In mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast and sugar over the water. Wait until it bubbles.
• Whisk in salt and 1 c flour; stir in 2nd cup of flour, and knead in 3rd cup gradually to form smooth, soft dough.
• Cover dough an let rise until double (the dough will no longer bounce back when gently pressed with a fingertip.).
• Divide dough into 2 or 3 portions. Roll each into a rectangle less than 1/2-inch thick on floured surface. Brush dough with oil and sprinkle with Sichuan pepper powder. Roll the dough into a log.
• To shape the buns, slice the dough as thin as possible with a very sharp, floured knife, and press 9 or 10 of them together to form each bun. You can see pictures here: http://bakingwithemandm.blogspot.sg/2011/03/hua-juan-and-sao-bing.html.
• Let buns rise on floured surface for half an hour.
• Steam 15 minutes.