Steamed Chinese Bread Buns
by Tarla Dalal

The Chinese have a taste for warm, milky buns. Don’t we all? Well, the difference is that those soft and succulent buns are steamed and not baked!

A spongy dough of plain flour and milk is cooked in a steamer and enjoyed warm, usually sandwiched with pickled vegetables. Although some people like to make batches of these Steamed Chinese Bread Buns and freeze them for anytime use, the fact is that these milky buns taste best when had fresh off the steamer! So, that’s way we would recommend you to relish it too, with a cup of hot tea to accompany it.

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Steamed Chinese Bread Buns recipe - How to make Steamed Chinese Bread Buns

1 1/2 cups plain flour (maida)
3/4 cup warm milk , refer handy tip
1 tsp dry yeast
2 tsp sugar

Method

Combine the dry yeast, sugar and 2 tbsp of warm water in a bowl and mix gently. Cover with a lid and keep aside for 10 minutes.
Combine the plain flour and yeast-water mixture and knead very well into a soft dough using warm milk. Refer handy tip.
Cover with a lid and keep aside for 1 hour.
Dust some plain flour on a rolling board and knead the dough on it very well for 2 minutes.
Roll the dough into a 200 mm. (8”) long cylindrical roll.
Cut the dough vertically into 2 equal portions using a sharp knife.
Cut each portion into 4 equal pieces of 50 mm. (2”) each to get 8 pieces in all.
Roll each piece into a round ball on a dusted rolling board.
Place them on a baking tray, cover with a damp muslin cloth and keep aside for 1 hour to rise.
Place 4 pieces on an individual butter paper and steam in a steamer for 15 minutes. Switch off the flame and leave them in the steamer with the lid closed for 5 minutes.
Peel off the butter paper from each bread bun as soon as you open the lid of the steamer and remove the buns.
Repeat step 10 and 11 to steam 4 more pieces in 1 more batch.
Serve immediately.