Steamed Animal Buns

I had extra dough left after from my cha siu bao, so I made some animal shaped buns.They look nice before steaming, but some poofed for too long while I was shaping the others leading it to be a bit deformed. The pig poofed the longest and looked like a it got hit by a car in the face after it steamed..

Aren't they cute!~ Well. maybe not the flower

Turtle

Hi there!~

Hmm. that's a tasty tomato

The buns have a soft texture to them, but I prefer using the mantou dough instead of cha siu since they don't have any filling in them. The mantou dough recipe is basically the flaxseed flower buns.

Steamed Cha Siu Bao & Hot Dog Buns

Hmm another day of steamed buns. Compared to the dough for mantou, cha siu bao's dough needs to be lighter and a bit more on the moist side. If the dough feels like mantou, it is going to be dense with a bit of choking feeling to it. 

Since I had extra dough left over, I used it for a steamed hot dog bun. Although the dough for hot dog buns are suppose to be the same texture as mantou dough, I prefer the dough used for cha siu bao. 

Adding a tsp of lemon juice into the dough or into the water used to steam it will result into a whiter skin. You can also spray the buns slightly with water before steaming for a smother outside layer. Since I'm just making these buns for my family, I omit the spraying part. 

I'm still getting used to wrapping the buns. Sometimes they are fully closed but most of the time I end up with one that looks like a belly button (or a rose) 

Unlike the Cha Siu Bao's you buy from stores, I omit the red food coloring and reduce the sauces. The sauces outside have more oil and sauce which gives them more of a liquid and dark appearance. I prefer a more light filling, therefore its guilt-free!

Recipe Source: Rasa Malaysia

Makes 15 buns (45g)

Steamed Milk Flower Buns

It's time to move on to other recipes. After making chiffon cake for a while, it gets a bit tiring. Since my mom always makes steamed buns, I though Ayyy why not give it a try as well. 

I actually don't remember the recipe for this one. (probably because the mantou above were made from my mama instead. We added a bit of flaxseed for that extra fiber and hint of Omega 3 into our diet. It barely alters the taste though. 

These flaxseed flower steamed buns are actually my first attempt at making steamed buns on my own. My mama is usually the one who likes to make steamed buns while I on the other hand prefer baking. I had trouble twisting the buns until I finally got the distance between the cuts and the length of the dough right. Before I steamed it, they looked pretty nice. The key to getting the nice layers to fold out is the nice swab of oil before twisting, but I hate using oil so giving up a pretty bun for a less oily flavor is good enough for me

We only used the head of the scallion, so it had a really strong flavor to. Next time I'll probably add the leafy portions of the scallion for more flavor and for a more appealing look as well. Without the greens it just looks like splotches of brown.... 

*Note

• Rolling it out in an oval shape. The wider it is the more the dough is going to overlap when you try to twist it
• Don't forget to oil before cutting to prevent the cuts from sticking onto each other
• Steam high for 6min and medium for 2
• If you spray the buns before steaming, it gives a silky texture (I didn't do this since I lost my spray bottle...) 
• ADD the leafyy part of the scallions. 

Recipe source: Wendy

Steamed Hot Dog Buns

This is my second attempt at making steamed hot buns and I have to say this time it turned out pretty well! Making the dough was a bit frustrating with the kitchen aid so I ended up kneading it by hand. I made two batches: One with adding baking powder in the beginning, and one afterwards.

The one with baking powder did not rise as quickly, but it puffed up more than the one without. When it came to the second poofing for 10min after the baking powder was put in, it only rose up a bit. I don't think it actually mattered in the end since they all ended up looking the same!

After steaming them they were huge! When wrapping the dough, it doesn't have to be placed so closely together because they'll end up filling up the gaps when it's steamed. My buns ended up sticking together, so when I tried to separate them some bread ended up peeling off :(