How to find us. Mantou or Simple Steamed Buns - Chinese Cuisine How to Make Chinese Steamed Buns

Neither Tripadvisor nor the Golden Ring restaurant guide will show you a Vietnamese restaurant in Vladimir. Meanwhile, in the depths of the clothing market at Tandem there is a cafe where Vietnamese traders themselves dine. And this guarantees the authenticity of the national cuisine. “Key-Media” went in search.

Gastronomy bloggers Yulia Lisich and Mila Abrikosova, trying not to respond to calls to buy a jacket and trousers, quickened their pace, making their way into the thick of the clothing market. Yulia Lisich barely had time to shoot a satirical story when we found ourselves at the entrance to the Hanoi cafe. They say there used to be a red sign right above the entrance, but now the low-contrast name under the roof can only be read by an eagle-eyed visitor holding his head high.
However, everyone in the market will show you the place. It’s not just people from Indochina who dine here.

A few words about the interior. This is the dining room. A classic Soviet canteen with greasy oilcloths and a printed menu. The garlands on the ceiling and the decor of the bar counter give away the Asian character of the cafe. But one can hardly say: “The atmosphere seems to transport us to Vietnam.”

Vladimir gourmets talk about this place. Chefs recommend coming here because the cuisine here is truly Vietnamese without any adaptations.

Yulia Lisich:

“In fact, three friends advised me to come here. I was getting ready, but I didn’t know the way.”

There are no waiters in Hanoi. The order is taken at the bar, but the food will be brought to you directly at the table.

We order the classic Vietnamese soup Pho Bo - 200 rubles.

Nem rice paper rolls - 100 rubles.

Ban Bao buns - 70 rubles.

Beef with mushrooms Bao Sao - 150 rubles.

Vietnamese tea - 15 rubles.

Vietnamese coffee - 25 rubles.

While the food is being served, we talk about the specifics of the kitchen. It is neither Japanese nor Thai. Vietnamese cuisine is bland with an emphasis on freshness and variety of ingredients, which they borrowed from the French. After all, Vietnam was part of French Indochina. For example, Pho Bo soup is cooked for 8 to 12 hours to preserve the healthfulness of meat and vegetables.

And finally, food begins to appear on the table.

Pho Bo

Pho Bo for a Vietnamese is like borscht for a Ukrainian or cabbage soup for a Russian. Inside is beef, rice noodles, pho spices, onions, fish sauce and various vegetables and spices. Served in a huge plate.

Mila: Large portion, tasty noodles and delicious broth.

Julia: The taste is unusual. I think I’ve already tried this combination in a Chinese restaurant in Yaroslavl.

Nam

Rice paper rolls filled with pork, eggs, carrots, onions, and shiitake mushrooms. Served with cabbage.

Julia: The filling is excellent. But it is so overcooked in oil that it leaves some kind of unpleasant aftertaste.
Mila: Or the oil is just old and gives such a taste. Although it is crunchy, it is still greasy. Served with cabbage, which is supposed to balance out the fat, but it doesn't help at all.

Bao Sao

Beef stewed with mushrooms and herbs. We were offered a side dish of potatoes to go with it.

Mila: I liked the meat, but the onions were undercooked.
Yulia: So that’s the funny thing, this method of cooking gives the dish naturalness.

Ban Bao

Steamed rice buns. Inside is stuffed with pork, eggs, glass noodles, vegetables and spices. They brought it on plates, but in plastic bags. Apparently they take it out often. Or it’s just common to eat with your hands.

Mila: Cool buns, airy.
Yulia: I agree, great rice dough and colorful filling.

Vietnamese tea was poured from a large thermos. This is green tea with a specific taste.

Only I know how much I was tormented by the question... how do the Chinese make such dough. How do they make the baozi dough so smooth, white and finely porous? I tried to make such dough at least five times according to a variety of Chinese recipes and all in vain - the result was ordinary yeast steamed buns, which immediately became wet from the steam and their appearance was completely unpresentable. And then, quite by accident, I bought a book in an ordinary supermarket. The book is called "Simple Kitchen". And I had a revelation :) - before steaming, the yeast dough is kneaded so that not a single bubble remains there. In general, first things first. First, I will share the recipe for the basic dough for simple steamed buns - 馒头 (mántou) mantou. All steamed baked goods (if you can call it that) are made from this basic dough. Classic baozi with meat filling are also made using this dough. The Chinese came up with a lot of buns of different shapes and colors from it. Well, you can’t add much flavor, the dough is a little bland, but you can come up with different shapes and color combinations (adding pumpkin puree as a dye, for example) is very possible.

The recipe is extremely simple. You need 500g flour, 220g water, 6g dry or 8g fresh yeast. I added another pinch of salt so that it wouldn't be too bland. But there are nuances in preparing the dough.

First you need to take 100g of water and stir the yeast in it until it is completely dissolved. Then pour this yeast mixture into the flour and stir. Add the rest of the water little by little and knead the dough. Knead until all the flour is absorbed. The dough is very steep and difficult to knead. But there is no need to add more water. Once kneaded, leave to rest for 15 minutes in a bowl with a lid.

Then take out the dough, knead well again and leave to rise for 2-3 hours. Or until it doubles in volume (it took me about an hour).

The next step is to get rid of any bubbles that have formed in the dough. To do this, you can use a noodle cutter - in the dough rolling mode, you need to pass the dough through the press 5-6 times. If you don’t have a noodle cutter, you can simply roll out the dough thinly several times with a rolling pin, folding the layer and rolling it out again. The dough turns white and becomes smooth. The result should be a ball of dough with almost no bubbles. I still had some bubbles. I didn't know the exact stage. Next time I will knead longer. The fewer bubbles in the dough, the better the result.

Next, roll out the dough into a long rope and cut into 16 pieces. Or we weigh the buns, as I did - 44-45 grams each. We form the buns, leave them to proof for about 20 minutes on a board (to prevent them from becoming airy, cover them either with film or with a light, slightly damp towel). To proof, I immediately placed the buns in a steamer, having previously lined the bottom with baking paper.

Cook on low for a couple of minutes 15-20. I have a regular bamboo steamer. I put the pan on the fire. As soon as the water boils, I start the fire small. On top of the pan I place a bamboo double boiler with the buns already placed. Cover on top. While cooking, do not open the lid. After 15-20 minutes, turn off the heat.

Open the lid 3-5 minutes after turning off the heat. This is a must. Otherwise, the buns may become wrinkled. Let cool completely. When hot, they are slightly sticky, like the crumb of hot fresh bread.

Another convenience is that these buns can be frozen. Once cooled, stand for 10 minutes, place on a board, cover with film, and place in the freezer. Then just take it out of the freezer and steam it for literally a couple of minutes.

In restaurants, the Chinese sometimes serve these buns along with a saucer of condensed milk. You tear the bun into two parts and eat it, dipping it in condensed milk. Simple and tasteful :)

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The recipe for Chinese steamed pork buns is adapted from a culinary site dedicated mainly to Asian cuisine, My Kitchen. I left the dough recipe almost completely unchanged, I just added less sugar in the dough and instead of wheat gluten I used starch, instead of Hong Kong flour with low gluten content, I used regular wheat flour, I adjusted the filling a little, since I have quite a few sources of Chinese cuisine and all of them contain these fillings. buns are different. It’s like with borscht, everyone has their own secrets :-). After reading, I adjusted it to my taste.

By the way, the dough recipe is so good that it can be used for buns with different fillings, even with potato or jam. They turn out very tender thanks to the starch in the dough.

I also came up with a sauce for them that perfectly complements these buns. Originally, Chinese steamed pork buns are served without sauce. They are also good without sauce, but my Polish husband needs sauce for almost everything.

By the way, these steamed buns with pork are often served for breakfast in many hotels in Asian countries where there are many Chinese. Without false modesty, I admit that these turned out to be much tastier than those that I have ever tried.

Chinese steamed buns can be frozen after cooking. Once cooled, wrap in a plastic bag and place in the freezer. Defrost slowly in the refrigerator. Heat by steam. They will be like freshly cooked!

16 servings

For the test:

• 16 grams fresh yeast (or 8 grams dry)
• 160 ml water, slightly warm
• ½ tsp. vinegar
• 280 grams wheat flour (low protein cake flour is best)
• 100g potato starch
• 60 grams of powdered sugar
• 30 ml sesame oil
• 10 grams baking powder
• 10 ml cold water

For filling:

• 250 grams
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. Sahara
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. oyster sauce
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. hoisin sauce
• 150 ml cold water
• 1½ tbsp. potato starch
• Salt to taste

For the sauce:

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp. honey

Dough fermentation: 1 hour 30 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour Total cooking time: 2 hours 30 minutes

1) Knead the dough:

In a deep bowl, mix flour, starch and powdered sugar.

In a separate bowl, mix water, yeast and vinegar until smooth.

Pour into the dry ingredients along with sesame oil and knead into an elastic dough. Knead for 5-6 minutes using a planetary mixer or 10-15 minutes by hand, until smooth.

Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and leave for 1 hour at room temperature. The dough should double in size.

2) Prepare the filling:

Heat sesame oil in a frying pan. Add onion and simmer, stirring occasionally, until soft.

Add meat, sugar, salt, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce and mix well.

Mix starch with water until smooth and pour into the pan with the meat.

Simmer, stirring, until the filling begins to thicken. Remove from heat and cool.

3) Forming the buns:

When the dough has risen, mix the baking powder with water and spread over the surface of the dough and knead well again.

Divide the dough into 16 equal parts.