Chinese Steamed Buns
- Date:
- Jan. 13, 2025, 4:47 p.m.
- Topics:
- bread asian chinese
Ingredients
- 90 g Butter
- 330 g Milk, root temp
- 15 g Active Dry Yeast
- 720 g Bread flour
- 70 g Sugar, granulated
- 10 g Salt
- 4 g Baking powder
- 4 g Baking soda
Instructions
Step 1
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In a pot on the stove, melt butter over low heat. Don’t let it get too hot—about 105F is a good target temperature.
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Attach the dough hook to your stand mixer, and begin mixing on low
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Slowly add the dry ingredients, one spoonful at a time. Mix for 10 minutes.
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Remove the dough from the bowl, form into a ball, and set aside
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Lightly grease the bottom of the mixing bowl with nonstick spray, then return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap
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Allow the dough to proof at room temperature until it doubles in size—about one hour.
Step 2
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Roll out dough onto a clean work surface until it’s about a 1/4" (6 mm) thick
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Use your ring mold to make small indents in the dough, then use those to guide you as you punch out individual buns
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Spritz buns lightly with nonstick spray to prevent the sides from sticking together
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Fold each bun over into a semicircle, pinching gently where the edges meet
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With your rolling pin, roll buns—again, gently—to flatten them slightly and smooth out the surface.
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Allow buns to proof 30 more minutes if you want ’em extra fluffy.
Step 3
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Heat water in a wide pan on the stove until it’s boiling. Meanwhile, lay parchment paper out on your work surface and cut out a circle to line your steamer basket.
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Carefully place steamer baskets atop the pan of boiling water and allow to steam 5–10 minutes. (It’s very hard to oversteam the buns, and it’s a bummer when they’re underdone, so err on the long side.)
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Transfer steamed buns to a sheet pan
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Once they’re cool, cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap or a towel until serving, or freeze them in a ziplock-style bag.