Go to the Recipe: Soft, Airy Chinese Steamed Buns: Simplified
Hello and welcome Nay! Here is my recommendation if the goal is freshly steamed buns for a gathering.
I would actually bake, cool, wrap and refrigerate them the day before. Just before serving reheat in a steamer for about 5 min. These buns reheat very well in a steamer. Just like pre-baked frozen buns.
You can refrigerate the dough after mixing in step 4, the downside to doing this though is some of the baking soda/powder will off gas resulting in a slightly more dense bun but still very good! If trying this approach, be sure the dough ball is tightly wrapped and allow it to proof for about 20 min before transferring it to the fridge. You will noticed the next day the dough will have risen in the fridge overnight. While the dough is still cold the next day skip proofing and jump to step 6 and begin rolling and portioning.
Let me know how it works out!
Hi Chefsteps Team: I am new in this group. Have tried your recipes and turned out great!
Questions on this bun: once dough is ready (after step 4) can we store the dough over night, room temp next day, proof and steam just before guests arrival?
Smooth dough is all that is needed for this recipe.
When kneading, are we looking for gluten window or until dough is smooth?
I agree with others about upping the sugar - I used 100g and it made the buns taste better. I also find the mixture is a bit too dry. I think the recipe needs another 10-20g of milk
Could just be the type of flour you used and it oxidized (too much air flow) or reacted with the baking powder, baking soda. Sounds like an ingredient issue or some other reactive issue.
I have made this recipe and the dough looks a bit greyish. It doesn’t look at all as white as yours. Any advice?
Thanks
I need help with this. I have made this 5 times and failed every time. The mixture always comes out crumbly liking and when I knead it it never comes out smooth but looks like a brain is the only way to describe it.
What's the recipe (looks like carrots?) in the title card? is it avaliable somewhere, it looks nice!
Noted and adjusted, thank you!
Note: if you’re using the scaling tool, it also seems to update the portioning size for the buns in step six. Original is 50g per bun.
After step 6.
Hello. If planned bulk production. At which stage of process would you blast them down for storage? After punching or folding and pressing?
I found also that putting a little bit of vinegar in the steaming water helps with the colour.
Hello Scot Wilks, They are going to be off white and the flour you use will determine the color. The image at the top is most definitely color corrected. The butter you use will also have an affect on the color.
I have made many different steamed bun recipes and this is probably the best. However, mine are never are white as the in the recipe pics. Is there any secret to getting them so white or is that just photo editing?
Okay, Gotcha. If you want to add sriracha to color and flavor the buns you can for sure add it in the beginning of the mixing stage. Adding it to the milk might curdle it so, I would just add it to the mixing bowl in the beginning and let the mixer work it in. As to how much to add is really up to you and how much color/flavor you want to add. I would replace part of the milk weight by 5-15% with the red chile paste. If you find that the color or smell is too little you can always add some more and if the dough is too wet after you add some you can always add a touch more flour to bring the dough together. Adjusting with a small amount of flour won't change the formula by any drastic measure. The alternate method would be to mix the regular formula dough and then once all the gluten has formed add the sriracha and an equal part of flour and mix in until smooth. Happy steaming!
Thanks Matt! Sorry I wasn't clear, I meant to ask when and how much srirarcha to add, not the onions!
The green onions are for the end steps, once dough is made and proofed. Adding the onions to the milk and at the beginning will limit the gluten structure form forming as well as give the dough a green hue. The image has a swirl of green onions and are not mixid into the dough. If you would like to add to the dough you would add after the gluten has formed at the end of the mixing cycle.
Anybody tried the green onion variation? What’s the ratio/proportion to add? Should I just add it into the milk mixture at the beginning?
They also came out a bit yellowish for me, I also assumed it was the butter.
These came out very tasty, but got surprisingly thick in the steamer. Maybe I didn't roll them thin enough? I also used a 3.75" puncher instead of a 3.5", because that's what I had already.
I did it borrowing a perforated pan. I prepared beef Demi glace with maple syrup and soy sauce. Crazy recipe. Crazy. Any way to have a gluten free bread?
Not really Marco, but you can do it stove top with a hotel pan and a perforated pan and a lid.
Any way to cook it in oven? Maybe filling baking tray with water in order to produce steam?
Thanks!
You are most likely over mixing the dough with the food processor. That would lead to it having a tighter structure and not able to get as fluffy, better to mix by hand.
Looking forward to trying this version. I made the buns from the Momofuku cookbook and they turned out great but not as fluffy as I’d hoped. I assume it’s from either the yeast or not a warm enough kitchen. Or...perhaps because I don’t have a stand mixer and used a food processor.
Any issues using a food processor instead?
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes on CS. I bough a two-decker bamboo steamer for $10 at a local Asian market. Also bought a box of square hamburger patty papers which work well for this. Fill these with bbq pork, green onions, gobo (if you can find it), and hoisin. Holy moly.
I ran into this too... I scaled everything back knowing my kitchenaid can only handle about 550 g of flour before feeling like it's gonna rock off the counter and be ruined or the engine is going to burnout. I scaled it down to 500 G flour and it makes fewer obviously but they are still great. Make another batch if needed to get you up to full scale. This recipe is great!
Made the country loaf, what can I say? Superb, it doesn't disappoint. Reading your comments and watching the video I scaled to 480 grams of flour and instead of 10 grams of yeast I used 25 grams of brewers yeast; the flour was a mix of "Manitoba" flour and AP flour. It's a bit of a workload for the machine but nothing too troublesome. Exactly done in little more than 3 hours. the aroma and the flavour are really something.
hello guys,
got a questions..
i will like to make a big batch and freeze them, shall i freeze them once a form them or shall half-cook them and then?
whats your opinion
Brilliant recipe thanks guys! I made these and stuffed with the 8 hour sous vide mojo pork shoulder (finished on the grill), pickled apple and sriracha mayo. A real smorgasbord of different cultures which married really well.
Used King Arthur all-purpose flour, turned out perfectly. Brushed one side with browned butter, sprinkled with sea salt flakes, browned briefly under the broiler, stuffed with lobster salad, amazing (cooked with my daughter, picture credits to her!)
I used my sourdough starter for half the yeast. Turned out amazing.
On my way to my first batch ! Guys, do you think it is possible to freeze the dough before steaming them ?
I used Robin Hood bread flour. Measured everything exact. The dough was so tough that I almost blew the motor on my kitchen aid mixer. I’ve set it to proof but I doubt that will happen
I'm not surprised they screamed!
great recipe. tasted a bit too salty , needed more sugar. i used a combination of cake and pastry flour to simulate hong kong flour. the bun is very tender, soft and yummy, albeit a bit salty.
What Can I use to make these dairy free (if anything)
Hi there, if I halve the recipe does it affect the mixing time? And can I use instant yeast instead of dry active yeast?
Sorry, that was steamed buns...
Last time I made screamed buns I portioned them out then used a tortilla press lined with a cut ziplock bag cut to prevent sticking. Works awesome!
I made them and they turn out yellow. Why?
Can it be the the bakeing powder?
Otherwise they are fluffy and Nice :-)
I made these and I found that there was not enough wet ingredients for the amount of flour and that they came out yellowish after steaming. Anyone else have this issue? and they came out yellowish because if the butter
