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Homemade Chinese Man Tou – 饅頭

Home Made Chinese Steamed Buns – Wan Tou

My brother-in-law came to visit, and as a welcome gift, I decided to make one of his favourites, which is Man Tou! The other thing he really likes is white rice, and that’s definitely harder to bring to the airport to greet with (in my opinion – without doing something fancy to it). So, I just made a small batch, and it’s quite simple!

Ingredients: (makes 8-10 small man tous)
3/4 tsp Yeast
1/2 cup Warm Water
2 cup Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Oil

First, you mix the yeast with the warm water, and give it time to activate. You can also use instant yeast, especially if you’re pressed on time. I was pressed on time, but didn’t have instant yeast – so my end results was a little more dense.

After the yeast had doubled, mix the sugar with the flour, then pour the yeast mixture and oil into the flour mixture as well. If you have an electric mixture, use the hook attachment and knead for about 10 minutes. If you’re like me, then just knead until the dough is soft, smooth and quite “silky”.

Now, you can roll out your dough into a rectangle, and roll up one end. Then, with a pastry cutter, cut the log into pieces and place on little squares of parchment paper.

Now, you can set up your steamer while the dough rises for about 20 minutes.

When you’re ready to steam, steam it for about 13 to 15 minutes if you’re making the large man tous, and 10-12 minutes for the little ones! Serve while hot!

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Balkan – Greek Restaurant in Banff

It’s been years since we’ve gone back to our favourite Greek Restaurant and it just happens to be in Banff, AB! It’s really nice as they have renovated the space to make it quite inviting – yet warm and intimate. It’s pretty neat, when you first get up the stairs, you’re greeted by beautiful piece of what appears to be a Greek imitation of their art on Ivory.

We came to this restaurant after watching the Santa Claus Parade that was held in Banff. It was quite spectacular as it was a night parade – which you normally don’t see. So, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to return here. This particular even, they were really packed as there were large families and parties going on – but we managed to make a reservation – so the food and service was still really good.

For drinks, I ordered a Virgin Pina Colada as it’s my favourite girly drink. It was really good and not too sweet, as some other places make it extra sweet – or there’s just no alcohol to make it bitter. We also had a bottle of Mythos which is Greek beer and it’s quite light and crisp.

For starters, they give you some nice fresh buns with Balsamic Olive Oil Bread Dip which is really nice! They do use a really nice Greek Olive Oil for this and it’s perfect for this application!

I ordered something I don’t normally, but for some reason, it really stuck in my mind that it was what I was going to get… so, I got it. I ordered the Arni Psito which was roasted lamb. The lamb was fork tender and it fell off the bone as I started eating at my dish. It was so good, I pretty much ate the entire plate before realizing we said we’d switch half-way to experience each others dishes.

The other dish we ordered was Greek Ribs and they were tender as well, lots of flavour and soft. It wasn’t fall of the bone ribs that are tender and juicy, but it sure is a different style.

Then, as stuffed as we were, we knew we wanted dessert from the moment we made a reservation to Balkans. We always order the Galactobouriko which is an amazing dessert that is really light, and not really sweet, warm, custardy with crispy phyllo pastry! To top it off, it’s topped with a decadent honey syrup and cinnamon.

Balkan The Greek Restaurant

120 Banff Avenue
Banff, AB
(403) 762-3454