The Ultimate Guide to Making Perfect Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns)

5 from 9 votes

The Ultimate Guide to Making Perfect Mantou (Chinese Steamed Buns)

I've made dozens of mantous to develop this detailed guide full of tips and tricks for how you can create these amazing picture perfect mantous yourself.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Proofing9

Total Time9 40

Course: Bread

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Taiwanese

Servings:

Calories: 175kcal

Author: Edwina

Equipment

Stand mixer
pasta maker
Steamer

Ingredients

Overnight Sponge

110 g milk
50 g water
25 g sugar
½ teaspoon yeast
100 g all purpose flour

Main Dough

all the overnight sponge
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon baking powder
200 g all purpose flour

Instructions

Make the Sponge Dough the Night Before

In a mixing bowl, mix milk, water, sugar, yeast and 100g of flour and stir until smooth. The liquid should be similar to your body temperature, I usually mix hot water into cold milk and the temperature will be just right.
Cover and let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before storing in the fridge for 8 - 24 hours.

Make Main Dough

Method 1 - Using a stand mixer (preferred method)
Add baking powder and oil into the sponge and mix well before pouring into a stand mixer.
Add the rest of the flour (reserve around 40g) and knead at around the medium low setting for 8 minutes. When the dough is done kneading, it should be sticky and stretchy. Since the dough is quite firm, reserving part of the flour makes the dough easier for the mixer to handle.
Transfer the dough onto a working surface, hand knead the reserved flour into the dough (you can do it in 2-3 batches) and knead until the flour is all incorporated. The dough should be firm and the surface should feel a bit moist when you touch it. It doesn't need to be very smooth.
Method 2 - Knead the dough by hands
Add baking powder and oil into the sponge and mix well before adding the rest of the flour. Stir them all together with a spatula until the liquid is absorbed before transferring onto a sturdy working surface.
Form the mixture into a dough ball and knead for 5 minutes. Cover the dough to rest for 5 minutes and then knead for another 5-7 minutes. To knead the dough, push/smear the dough downwards and away from you with the heel of your palm before rolling it back in (see picture below for reference).

Shaping

Method 1 - Using pasta maker (faster and yields a smoother surface)
Cut the dough into half and cover the part you are not working on. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin so it can fit through the pasta maker. Set the pasta maker to a thickness setting of 1 and roll the dough through it.
Fold the dough in half, roll it through the pasta maker again and repeat this step about 6-7 more times until you get a smooth surface. Flour the dough whenever it gets moist so it's easier to pass through the pasta maker.
Brush the surface of the dough with a bit of water, roll it up tightly into a log beginning from the straighter edge. Roll the log a few more times to make it a little bit longer or until it reaches your desired width.
Trim the two ends and cut the log into 4-5 pieces, reserve a little piece of dough (about the size of a cherry) to be the "rise time indicator". If and when the cutting flattens the dough pieces, shape the flattened edges back to their original height.
Place each piece of dough on a piece of parchment paper. Repeat the same steps with the rest of the dough that was laid aside earlier.
Method 2 - Rolling with hands
Reserve a little piece of dough (about the size of a cherry) to be the "rise time indicator" and divide the rest into 8-10 pieces.
Take one piece of dough while covering the rest to prevent them from drying. Roll the dough into a log before folding it back (see the picture in the post) and roll it out again. Repeat this 3-4 times. This step is to eliminate the air bubbles, so you need to roll it harder to squeeze the bubbles out.
Drip a drop of water onto your surface and place the dough on the drop of water. Form a loose cup with your hand, cup the dough and roll it in a circular motion over your work surface in order to form it into a ball.
Place the dough between your two open palms and move one hand forward while moving the other hand back in order to shape the dough to be a bit taller. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and repeat the same steps with the rest of the dough.

Proofing

Place the mantou and the small cup in your steamer. Fill a pot with 2 cups of water. Heat it up until it's warm to touch but not steaming (around 105°F/40°C) before placing the bamboo steamer on top of the pot to proof.
Proof until the dough in the small cup is double in size, It usually takes from 30 - 50 minutes. If you have a two layer steamer, switch half way as the bottom layer is a bit warmer than the top layer.

Steaming

Turn the heat to medium and bring the water to a boil (no need to replace the water or remove the steamer).
When the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and steam for 18 minutes if your steamer has two layers (and 15 minutes steamers with one layer). Ideally, the heat is just high enough that wisps of steam are coming out from one part of the steamer. If steam is rushing out from all sides, then your heat is too high.
Once it's done steaming, turn off the heat and remove the steamer from the pot, open a tiny crack for 2 minutes to let the heat escape slowly before removing the lid.

Notes

If you prefer to make it in one day, let the sponge sit in room temperature for 30-60 minutes. If your room temperature is high, chill the sponge in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
Baking powder makes the mantou fluffier and whiter, if you prefer your mantou to have more of a bite then just omit the baking powder. Don't replace it with baking soda.
Some stand mixers or bread machines can handle firm dough (like in this case) better. In these cases, you can add in the flour all at once and knead for 8-10 minutes instead of incorporating the last portion of flour by hand-kneading.
When shaping the mantou, try to do it as fast as you can, so the dough won't start rising and create air bubbles, as that would result in a wrinkly surface after steaming.
If you are shaping mantou with hands instead of using a pasta maker, you can store the part of the dough you are not working with in the fridge (covered) to prevent the dough from beginning to rise and creating air bubbles.
Depending on the flour you use and the humidity in your home, you will need to slightly adjust the ratio of flour and liquid. The dough should be firm but the surface should feel a bit moist when you touch it.
If you are using a stainless steal steamer, wrap the lid with a cloth, otherwise the water droplets might drip onto the surface of the mantou and create a bumpy and rubbery surface.
Make sure there's no gap between the steamer and the pot, and the diameter of your pot is either same or slightly wider than your steamer.
Mantou taste the best when it's warm. To heat up, simply steam for 5 minutes (or 10 minutes from frozen) and it will taste just as good as when it's fresh. You can do this in a vegetable steamer or an instant pot.

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