tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post4212527452208370903..comments2011-04-24T22:33:05.448-05:00adminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16854207501036222657noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-76219420836179952242011-04-24T22:16:43.818-05:002011-04-24T22:16:43.818-05:00Aw what a cute recipe~<br />I too honestly cry during the Asian Dramas I&#39;d always see them eating these Steamed Buns and was like it looks simple and good!<br />I eventually decided to google the recipe and ended up here =]<br />Gonna try this tomorrowKhanhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14087839031267828057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-1949721937278028102010-10-11T11:02:46.127-05:002010-10-11T11:02:46.127-05:00Anon - I doubt it. Shen jiang bao dough is less fluffy and more dense than this one. From what I understand, SJB dough usually doesn&#39;t contain any leavener other than yeast. This dough has both yeast and baking powder, because it&#39;s designed to be light and fluffy. Having said that, if this dough is pan-fried instead of steamed, it *might* yield something close to SJB. But not having tested that theory, I can&#39;t say for sure. :)Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-63615363014931034202010-10-11T01:42:44.680-05:002010-10-11T01:42:44.680-05:00Hey there, I was wondering if this recipe could also be used for sheng jian bao? (pan fried instead of steamed with a pork filling)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-48791975029741493912010-10-10T20:51:20.572-05:002010-10-10T20:51:20.572-05:00I made some of these today and filled them with char siu and other fillings and they were delicious! Thank you!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-34530363363847939512010-09-08T13:05:42.763-05:002010-09-08T13:05:42.763-05:00Anon - Hey, your tenacity is commendable! You know where else is a great place to proof bread dough? An empty dryer. :)<br /><br />The easiest way to form a dough ball would be to flatten out a piece of dough slightly, just to get a roughly round disk -- not too thin. Then gather up the edge together to form a round balloon. Pinch the seam really well and place the ball on a piece of paper, seam side down. <br /><br />Let me know how it goes next time! :)Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-81981185289435074672010-09-07T22:55:11.536-05:002010-09-07T22:55:11.536-05:00Leela, <br />The dough finally proof with the help of my &#39;keepwarm mode&#39; rice cooker. it wasn&#39;t silky and smooth at all, but surprisingly after steamed they turned out better than expected! So Happy! my mom thinks they are a bit tough though (pretty sure I have overworked it). But overall, the buns taste nice!<br /><br />I have problem turning the dough into balls. Between dough they couldn&#39;t stick together smoothly, not sure lack of water or oil..in the end I just rolled them out with rolling pin, and turn them into rolled buns (like mini swissroll) :) I will try to make s&#39;more buns again this week!<br /><br />Thanks, Leela!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-59368117310533346102010-09-07T08:46:51.813-05:002010-09-07T08:46:51.813-05:00Anon - Yep, not just a lot of baking powder, but a lot of yeast too for a small amount of flour. My first reaction, exactly. :) This kind of dough doesn&#39;t require much gluten development. In other words, there&#39;s no need to knead it to the point where it develops the so-called gluten window. It&#39;s more of a cross between a soft bread and a cake, really. In fact, too much kneading will cause the buns to be tough.<br /><br />Hard to say for sure what went wrong. It&#39;s most likely that you needed more flour. Working with bread can be frustrating at times, because the amount of flour required to make the same recipe can vary from day to day depending on the humidity and the type/brand of flour. If the dough is too wet, it won&#39;t proof much or form a smooth surface. Try dusting a little of flour on the kneading surface and knead that in until you get a smooth, somewhat elastic dough. Just a little at a time. You don&#39;t want to add more than you absolutely need.<br /><br />Hope this helps. If the dough is now proofing, you still have to time to knead in more flour before shaping it into balls. Let me know how it goes!Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-77434954118061740802010-09-07T08:16:43.599-05:002010-09-07T08:16:43.599-05:00Leela, I&#39;ve made this today, ( i&#39;m using instant yeast), my dough doesnt seem to prove much, teared easily, not smooth no matter how i knead it..and I noticed, a lot of baking powder was put in it (compare to the amount of the flour used)..or am i just being too paranoid? thanks :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-58629189704295486322010-06-17T11:57:12.087-05:002010-06-17T11:57:12.087-05:00Thanks for the recipe! I&#39;ve just prepared a bunch of these - at the moment they are resting to go into the steamer in a few minutes. I&#39;m so excited to see how they turn out! I doubled the recipe and filled one half with the bacon/egg mixture, the other one with a sweet hazelnut filling. Love your website - so many ideas for new cooking adventures!summernightsmileshttp://summernightsmiles.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-89644699835923654812010-02-01T13:01:05.495-06:002010-02-01T13:01:05.495-06:00That&#39;s a great recipe. I am going to try manton with Indian curry filling apart from regular chinese style filling.Indian Curry Recipeshttp://www.indo-curry.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-9738759258258749742009-10-11T19:50:32.307-05:002009-10-11T19:50:32.307-05:00Anonymous - Sorry, I&#39;ve never had or made fried silk worms. I know a lot of people like them, though. I figure it&#39;s just a matter if deeping frying some silk worms until they&#39;re crunchy and golden brown. ??? Don&#39;t know how they&#39;re prepared in China, though. Anyone from China know?Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-40105699822169286092009-10-11T19:43:09.421-05:002009-10-11T19:43:09.421-05:00Leela my sister just moved to China to teach english at a medical school and one of the first dishes she was served was fried silk worms. She raves about them but doesn&#39;t know a recipe for them.. Do you have any recipes??<br />Thank YouAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-67127823819861060932009-05-25T23:30:29.815-05:002009-05-25T23:30:29.815-05:00Hi Hana - What's funny is that I don't do a lot of steaming, yet as I was preparing to answer your questions, it occurred to me that I am equipped with FIVE different steaming gadgets. When it comes to buying kitchen stuff, I guess I have no self-restraint.<br /><br />In the order of the most effective to the least:<br /><br />1. A stacked Thai steamer http://importfood.com/media/cwcs2601mm.jpg (This is what I use to make these steamed buns.) <br /><br />2. An electronic steamer https://aroundtownmarket.com/images/P/5712.jpg (Not the best for steamed pastry, but GREAT for sticky rice and such.)<br /><br />3. A bamboo steamer http://www.bonjourgourmet.com/images/Kit%20Wares/Bamboo_Steamer.jpg<br />(Inexpensive and quite easy to use as long as you have a pot with wide opening in which you can boil the water and fit the bottom of the bamboo steamer without it touching the boiling water.)<br /><br />4. A metal collapsible basket steamer http://images.asia.ru/img/alibaba/photo/50476641/Steamer_basket.jpg (Perhaps this is what you have? It's pretty handy, and, though not ideal, can definitely be used to steamed these buns. You just have to make sure the water underneath the basket doesn't bubble up above the basket holes and cause the bottoms of the buns to be soggy. This is because the legs of the steamer is very short making its bottom quite dangerously close to the water<br /><br />What I don't like about the metal basket steamer is the constant monitoring of the water it requires. If you add too much water, you risk having wet and soggy steamed buns. If you add too little water, you might not have enough to steam the entire batch since the size of the basket can only accommodate 2-3 buns at a time and you will need to steam several batches. It can be done, but the constant monitoring of the water level can be a pain.<br /><br />5. An electronic rice cooker with a steamer basket http://mathy.kandasamy.net/virundhu/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/rice_cooker_steamer.jpg (You boil the water inside the rice cooker pot and place the steamer basket on top. Easy to put together but since most rice cooker has no temperature control device, it's hard to regulate the boiling of the water.<br /><br />In your case, if you have a metal basket steamer, by all means, use it. Just monitor the water closely; that's all. It's expandable and can be used with any pot.<br /><br />As far as preventing drops of vapor from blistering the surface of the buns, all you have to do is exercise caution when you open the lid of your steamer or pot. The vapor collects on the under side of the lid during the steaming and the drops of water usually slide down the sides of the lid instead of dropping directly onto your food. It's when you open the lid that this may happen. When you open the lid to check on or remove the buns, flip the lip over quickly and away from the food. That way the water will remain on the lid. Shake off the vapor drops before you put the lid back on the steamer again. Hope this makes sense. But by no means should you steam with the lid off.<br /><br />Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions if I wasn't clear. Good luck! :)Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-63736336764984241162009-05-25T22:29:44.799-05:002009-05-25T22:29:44.799-05:00Hey Leela,<br /><br />I found your site on stumbleupon and am SO excited to use your recipes (I've already bookmarked a few!) but am wondering what an average college student with access to nothing but an oven, pots, and a stovetop would do to make these. In my mind, anything I have that is close to a steamer would be too small to make more than maybe two at a time - is that how you do it? Also, how would one prevent drops of water from falling onto the buns? Steam uncovered? <br />Thanks!Hananoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-57753427505919867382009-05-25T07:44:41.609-05:002009-05-25T07:44:41.609-05:00I'm in Sweden and the flour here isn't named from what it is used for but from what it is made from. Regular wehat flour is what we typically use for baking. I'll try it with just that and see how it goes. Thanks for your help!warujihttp://waruji.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-48434496564518187912009-05-24T16:17:51.786-05:002009-05-24T16:17:51.786-05:00waruji - Not knowing where you're located, I'm just going to assume that the regular baking flour you've mentioned is similar to all-purpose flour in terms of protein content. Bread flour, in general, has the highest protein content followed by all-purpose. Cake flour has the lowest protein content among the three. I made my first batch of these plain buns with all-purpose flour alone and it turned out very well. When I switched to half all-purpose flour and half cake flour and even all cake flour, the results were even better. I think it's just a matter of preference.<br /><br />As long as you closely follow the instructions, you should achieve very good results. Good luck. :)Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-26549301804787567062009-05-24T16:07:46.953-05:002009-05-24T16:07:46.953-05:00I can't find any decent translations for all-purpose flour and cake flour so I'm not really sure what kind of flour to buy for this recipe. Is it allright if I use a common wheat flour (for baking) instead?warujihttp://waruji.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-88238758683951367042009-05-14T23:08:00.000-05:002009-05-14T23:08:00.000-05:00We finally used your recipe to make some steamed buns tonight, and they turned out great - much better than we had made in the past. Thanks!Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13599208082890099005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-23991586695497062312009-05-13T00:17:00.000-05:002009-05-13T00:17:00.000-05:00I LOVE MANTOU. I have been waiting to eat one for so long since I moved away from Chinatown in NYC (fresh ones). I won't even go near the frozen ones. Thanks for showing some Chinese love!Jenniferhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045823757281208038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-72096711995587891552009-03-21T22:59:00.000-05:002009-03-21T22:59:00.000-05:00We've tried to make buns in the past with mixed success. Yours look great! I think we need to try again...Mikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13599208082890099005noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-61987189538907728672009-03-03T22:21:00.000-06:002009-03-03T22:21:00.000-06:00(gasping in horror) Jude ...Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-32455734827049559032009-03-03T22:01:00.000-06:002009-03-03T22:01:00.000-06:00I grew up watching He-Man and GI Joe. I fail as an Asian kid. :(Judehttp://www.applepiepatispate.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-59947782553113902122009-03-03T12:53:00.000-06:002009-03-03T12:53:00.000-06:00Thanks for dropping by, Mike C.<BR/>Your question is WAY cute ... :)<BR/><BR/>A will not accommodate the filling. B is not recommended. C is the best. In fact, C will be posted sometime this week. Please stay tuned.Leelahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05909218929633317461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-44711045959590881482009-03-03T12:44:00.000-06:002009-03-03T12:44:00.000-06:00Please to forgive dumb question:<BR/>If one <I>were</I> to want to add filling to these little darlings, when/how would be best? Would you <BR/>a) divide the dough into 24 balls instead of 12, and use two to assemble a single filled dumpling prior to steaming? <BR/>b) make these as described and then, just before steaming, tear/clice them halfway open, add filling, and then seal the seam (maybe with a moistened fingertip)?<BR/>c) something else?<BR/>thanks in advance...mike cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2542195145117471169.post-11277654589347734772009-03-02T11:59:00.000-06:002009-03-02T11:59:00.000-06:00These look amazing really do and so fluffy and delicious. well done thx 4 sharingRicardohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15531025610381330002noreply@blogger.com