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!
