Buns before steaming.
Buns after steaming.
Recently I have been quite fascinated by the cute looking animal buns that I decided that I should try doing some myself as well. This is also to satisfy my cravings for some steamed buns (or Baos) as well. As I do not have the machine, I kneaded the dough by hand, which I thought was quite time consuming and tiring. But what turns out to be even more time consuming was designing the buns itself. I half regretted while doing the animal designs, but my regrets are replaced with satisfaction when I see the cute buns once it is steamed.
The buns turn out to be soft and mildly sweet (just right for me). It is nice to eat while it’s hot.
After I eat half a pig’s bun, I was caught by my son (ouch!). He refused to let me eat any more buns and cried the whole night for eating his “pig”. He said the buns are for holding only, not for eating. He held the rest of my animal buns “ransom” the whole night and no one is allowed to touch them. He thought they were his new toys ……
Steamed Buns Recipe
(Adapted from HappyHomeBaking.blogspot.sg)
(Preparation Time: 1 hour. Make about 15 small/medium size buns)
Ingredients:
200 grams Hong Kong Pau Flour
2 gram baking powder
3 gram instant yeast
20 gram caster sugar
105 ml water (slightly warm water)
10 gram vegetable oil
Food coloring (Alternatively, I used Bamboo Charcoal powder and steamed pumpkin meat for natural colorings)
Method:
- In a bowl, add in Hong Kong Flour, baking powder, instant yeast, caster sugar and mixed well.
- Dig a hole in the centre of the flour mixture, add in the water (the temperature should be just slightly warm and ok to touch. Too high a temperature (beyond 43 degrees Celsius), the heat will kill the yeast). Mixed to form a dough. Knead until smooth (I am kneading by hand, it took me 20-25 mins to knead). Then add the oil to the dough, continue to knead until it becomes smooth and elastic. (It took me another 15 mins to knead by hand).
- Use a damp cloth to cover the dough and let it rest for 15 mins to proof.
- After 15 mins, put the dough on a tabletop with sprinkled HK flour on it. Punch the dough to release the air inside. Roll the dough into a long roll, then cut into 16 equal portions (about 20 grams each dough). Set aside the remaining dough for colourings. Using the remaining unused dough, I colored one small dough black and one small dough yellow.
- For each of the bun dough, use your hand to shape into nicely round shape. Then using the small black dough to shape into ears, eyes and noses. Use your fingers to lightly dab some water on the bun dough before you stick the ears, eyes and nose to the bun. You can design any shape you like.
- Let the bun doughs rest for 20 – 25 mins.
- Make sure your steamer’s water is boiling when you put the buns in to steam. Steam under high heat for 12 mins (the time can vary depending on what equipment you use to steam). But at least for the first 12 mins, be patient and do not open up the steamer. If you are not using bamboo steamer, cover the top of the steamer with a cloth to prevent steam water from wetting your bun.