White Plain Pau (Chinese Steamed Bun) vs Sweet Potato Mantou

Rabbit, Piggy and Rolled Steamed Bun

I've wanted to make some mantou or pau (chinese steamed bun) for my son since long time ago as he has sweet tooth and love to eat cakes, biscuits etc which his grandma or aunts bought from the roadside stall. I think those stuffs are too sweet for a 1 year old toddler and I prefer him to eat healthier food. So I've googled for the recipe and came across two recipes which I wanted to give it a try, one for plain pau and the other one sweet potato mantou. 

The pau turn out to be a bit dry compare to the sweet potato mantou maybe because I didn't cover-up the remaining dough while I'm working on it and secondly I didn't work fast enough and let them sit for too long before steaming. I've used both red bean (for adults) and homemade steam sweet potato as the filling for both pau and mantau (for my son). As for the sweet potato mantou, I've speed up and also cover up the remaining dough while working and kept the mantous that have been rolled/shaped in the freezer while shaping the others. The freezer method is safer as the shaped mantou won't double the size and hold its shape better. Therefore we can make more and steam it directly without thawing when we feel like eating mantou.

Here are the recipes:-

Sweet Potato Mantou (Steam Buns) Recipe
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia which taken from 人生加油站 (for Mandarin literate)

Ingredients:
(makes 12) 

A:1/2 tablespoon (5.5g/0.2 oz) yeast75ml warm water1/2 teaspoon sugar

B:

75g (2.6 oz) sweet potato
250g (8.8 oz) bao flour or Hong Kong flour
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons oil
Pinch of salt

 Method:

1.    Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water in a bowl. Stir to mix well. Set aside for 20 minutes. The yeast mixture will rise and becomes foamy.

2.    Steam the sweet potato until soft, discard the water that seeps out after the steaming. Using a spoon, mash the sweet potato into a puree.

3.    Add the sweet potato puree and all the ingredients in B and also the yeast mixture and mix using a stand mixer on low speed, for 20 minutes. You can also knead with hand for the same time or until the dough doesn’t stick to your hand. Transfer the dough out of the stand mixer and lest rest/proof for 45 minutes, covering it with a damp cloth. (Note:

4.    Dust the surface with some flour and divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Make each portion into a log. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to a somewhat rectangle shape. Wet the surface of the dough with just a wee bit of water, using a pastry brush or your hand.

5.    Roll the dough up tightly (this is important so the mantou remain a nice shape after steaming), into a log.

6.    Cut the dough into 4 or 5 equal pieces, in mantou shape and place them on 2-inch by 2-inch baking or steaming paper sheets. Repeat the same for the remaining two portions. You will make a total of 12-15 small mantou.

7.    Bring your steamer to a boil and steam the mantou in batches, for 12-15 minutes

Steamed Buns with Red Bean Paste

Adapted from Happy Home Baking

Ingredients:
(makes 12) 
300g Hong Kong pau flour
3g baking powder
3g instant yeast
30g caster sugar
160ml water
15g vegetable oil
120g red bean paste / 120g sweet potato paste


Method:

1.             Sieve Hong Kong pau flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Add yeast, caster sugar and mix well.

2.             Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, add in water and mix to form a dough. Transfer dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough until it becomes smooth (about 5 mins). Knead in the vegetable oil and continue to knead for another 10-15 mins or until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.  Take a piece of dough  (about the size of a table tennis ball) and stretch it, you should be able to stretch it  to a fairly thin membrane without tearing off easily, if not continue to knead for another 5 to 10mins.

3.             Roll dough into a smooth round, place in a lightly greased mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let it proof for about 15mins. 

4.             Punch down the dough and give a few light kneading to release the trapped air bubbles. Divide the dough into 12 portions (about 40g each). Roll each portion into a smooth round.

5.             Flatten each dough into a small disc with your palm or a small rolling pin, make the edges thinner and the centre portion thicker. Wrap each dough with 20g of red bean paste. Pinch and seal the seams. Place dough seam side down on a square piece of parchment paper. Cover loosely with cling wrap and leave buns to proof for 20-25 mins.

6.             Place buns in a steamer* and space them apart so that they do not touch one another. Steam at medium to high heat for 12mins (make sure the water is already boiling before steaming). When ready, remove the lid carefully to prevent water from dripping over the buns. Remove immediately and serve warm. Keep any leftovers in fridge (covered with cling wrap or store in airtight containers) and re-steam till hot before serving.

My note (little adjustment from the referred recipe)

• I used bao flour or Hong Kong flour for both pau and mantou.
• For best results and accuracy of the recipe, please use the metric measurement.
• All purpose flour and cake flour should work just fine, but I have not tried this recipe using all purpose flour or cake flour therefore I don’t know the end results.
• Make sure you have new yeast, as old yeast will not rise/proof properly.
• Use warm water to activate the yeast. It’s important.
• The texture of the mantou is very soft and fluffy mantou compare to the pau
• Steam the bun you wish to eat and keep the remaining in the freezer without steaming it first. You may steam whenever you want to eat it
• You may make your own red bean paste but here I’ve used the store bought ready-made red bean and made extra sweet potato paste for the fillings.

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