Chinese Steamed Sugar Buns – #BreadBakers

This month’s Bread Bakers host Sneha chose an interesting theme – steamed buns. We usually bake buns but there is also a variation to it. I have seen so many Chinese recipes which steam the buns and so I went in search of a Chinese recipe. And as Sruti will be the one eating it, I needed to find a recipe which can fit her needs. So I was checking out some sweet recipes and I found one which was a perfect match.

These sugar buns dough is also used for Chinese pork buns. It is a versatile recipe and can be used with any filling. So you can be very creative with the fillings. The filling for the sugar buns is so easy to make. It is so much like our kozukattai filling, just minus the coconut. And the addition of flour in the filling serves an important purpose. When sugar is heated, it just melts and makes a runny filling which usually seeps out of the buns. But when you add flour, it absorbs the liquid and the filling stays nice and thick without oozing out. 

The texture of the buns turned out amazing. So spongy and lovely crumb. I was sceptical serving this to Sruti. But to my surprise she finished it off in minutes and said it tastes amazing. I was quite happy with the feedback. I made 1/4th of the recipe and made just 3 buns for her. But if you make the whole batch, you will get a dozen buns. Serve them warm and I am sure you will enjoy it thoroughly.

Recipe Source: China Sichuan Food

Makes 12 Buns

Ingredients:

The Dough:

Flour / Maida – 300 gm

Instant Yeast – 2 1/4 tsp

Sugar – 2 tbs

Salt – a pinch

Water – 150 – 200 ml

For The Filling:

Flour / Maida – 1 tbs

Brown Sugar – 3 tbs

Sesame Seeds – 1/2 tbs

Procedure:

Mix all the filling ingredients and set aside.

In a bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

Add water to make a soft dough.

Knead it for five minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place it in a bowl and cover with a cling wrap. Set aside until double.

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions.

Shape each into a disc and place a little filling in the middle.

Pinch three corners of the circle.

Apply water along the edges.

Pinch the seam as shown in the photos.

Arrange the buns in a steamer slightly greased with oil and steam it for 10 minutes.

Switch off stove and allow it to cool for five minutes before removing them from the steamer.

Enjoy!

• African Steamed Mealie Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Chinese Steamed Buns from Sara’s Tasty Buds
• Chinese Sugar Buns from Gayathri’s Cookspot
• Chinese Veg Bao Buns from Sneha’s Recipe
• Dampfnudeln with Steamed Apples from The Bread She Bakes
• Manapua from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
• Pork and Chinese Chive Steamed Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories  
• Vegetable Steamed Buns from Passion Kneaded

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