Sunday, March 15, 2009

Steamed Mantau (Chinese steamed bun, 饅頭) using a Breadmaker


My assorted shapes of steamed buns or 饅頭. Can you tell I was playing with the shapes and failed miserably? Haha... I was trying to follow the pictures guidance from a Chinese cookbook that I have and I was totally sucked at it. Later I just simply shaped it however I liked. Do you see some scallions on some of the steamed buns? Those are my variation mantau listed below. I also tried some with black sesame seeds but didn't get much taste out of it.



This is a recipe shared by Gina few years ago. I copied it down because I loved the idea of using a bread maker to make mantau (as you know I am lazy). I think I told her I am going to try her recipe but I never did until now (see, now you know how lazy I am). I wanted to make this to eat with my soy 5-spice powder braised pork (coming up), so that was the motivation I needed. So glad I did, the steamed bun/mantau was indeed very soft and fluffy when warm. My girls couldn't stop popping it into their mouths too. Thanks Gina for sharing her tried and tested recipe! She got the recipe from a Taiwanese cookbook called "Zhong Dian Zhi Zuo".





Ingredients:

  • 250ml water
  • 100g sugar
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 500g Hong Kong flour or all-purpose flour (I used AP flour)
  • 1 1/2 tsp. yeast

Method:

1. Put all into the pan of the bread maker according to list.

2. Press the DOUGH function and START.


3. After it is done, remove from the pan and knead on a little floured surface.


4. Flatten the dough into a rectangle shape, roll up and cut into blocks.


5. Set aside to proof for 10 minutes.


6. Steam over high heat for 8 minutes. Serve warm. Can freeze the leftover individually in the freezer (lay each on a tray 1 inch apart to freeze individually and then put them in a ziplock bag). Re-heat in the microwave (according to your microwave direction) or steam in a steamer (8 minutes) to heat it up.


For Variation:

Brush with sesame oil and add minced scallion before rolling it up. This is very fragrant and can be eaten as it.

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

thanks ur " lazy " recipe

Food For Tots said...

I luv steamed mantau. I used to eat it with otak-otak as filling. Yours look so fluffy and tasty! Yummy!

Big Boys Oven said...

hahahah simple and easy to make! yummy delicious!

Pearl said...

i love man tou! i also like it when they combine in the green onions.. .mmm :)

ICook4Fun said...

I like these mantau. I am sure it goes so well with your braised pork.

Sharon said...

Oh, these look so good and soft!

SIG said...

Wow, healthy food, hehe

tigerfish said...

How are you eating these mantau? No gravy to go with it?

@ GiGi House of Beauty said...

how i envy u to hv a Bread Maker at home! i know it is certainly cheap in USA...less than USD80, Malaysia is too expensive, RM500++. Fighting with such a tight budget every month..i think Bread Maker to me is too much luxurious item.

Beachlover said...

look soft and good!! I wanna some now! I didn't have bread machine,Aunty Lily told me to get from Thrift store,but I hardy find any Thrifty store with this machine for $5!! anyway,let me get a new bread machine first !!

Little Corner of Mine said...

You're welcome sock peng. :D

Thanks food for tots, first time I heard of otak-otak as filling, must be good.

BBOven, :P

Yes Pearl, I like it with the green onions too. :)

Yes Gert, yummy!

Thanks Sharon because it is. :)

Ugh SIG, the braised pork is not. Hahaha。。。

Tigerfish, eat with the braised pork with gravy lah. Coming up!

Gigi, I got mine for USD$40 only. I can't justify paying more for a breadmaker too, as long as it has the dough and jam functions and do it's job and has good review, that's the one I want. RM$500 for a breadmaker is a luxury!

Beachlover, look at Sunbeam breadmaker at WalMart, I think now is around $43, used to be $37. It does go on sales at WalMart on certain time, like $3 off. Or if you are lucky you can find clearance breadmaker at Target for $25. All brand new.

daphne said...

wah! I need to take lessons on how to utlize my breakmaker more!

Noob Cook said...

How wonderful to make your own! They look so cute and tasty :)

Ninette said...

I have a breadmaker, so I should try this. Can you stuff this with meat inside?

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Ninette,
Yes, you can but the texture of this steamed bun is like mantau, not like bao. I stuffed them with red bean paste and I like having it for breakfast.

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I'm lazy too so breadmaker it is. Can't wait to try. Thanks!

thosedukes said...

Thank you for the recipe! I am excited to try it out! Do you know of a way to make it more like bao using the breadmaker?

Little Corner of Mine said...

thosedukes, You can try using the bao recipe in the bread maker.

thosedukes said...

May I please have your bao recipe to try in the breadmaker? Thank you!

Little Corner of Mine said...

thosedukes, sorry I don't have a bao recipe. I used to buy the bao premix and just follow the direction on the packet.

alternative-mom said...

Thanks for sharing your recipe for mantou! My daughter loves mantou to bits and pieces and now I can make my own! :) Fab!

Keep your recipes coming!

Little Corner of Mine said...

You're welcome alternative-mom. Please keep coming back for more recipes and be a fan of my blog. :)

Peace/Piece of Mind said...

Just made sound mantou with this recipe in my breadmaker. I replaced 100g of AP flour with bread flour as i wanted something a little heavier. Still soft and fluffy! So good! Thank you :)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Thank you so much for your feedback Peace. I am so glad that you liked it. :)

Amei said...

How many mantau does this recipe make? Your photo shows a lot. There are only two of us in the house so probably will need to adjust the portion.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Amei,

Or you can freeze it for later.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Used your recipe but my breadmaker took 1.5 hours to knead the dough. After steaming my buns are quite dense and tough. Any way I can make them more fluffy? Thanks

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Anon,
Did you let it proof first before you steam?