CHINESE STEAM BUN DOUGH RECIPES

Steps:

• Prepare warm water around 35 °C and melt the sugar in. And mix the yeast with the water. Mix well and set aside for around 5 minutes. If you do not want sugar, just skip it.
• Place salt and flour in a large bowl. Pour the water with yeast slowly to the bowl with flour and stir with a chopstick.
• Then knead the flour into smooth and soft dough. At the very beginning, it might be a little bit sticky. Or you can simple resort to a stand mixer.
• Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for around 1 hour or until the paste ball doubles in size.
• When the dough is double in size, get paste ball out, dust the operating board and re-knead the dough for 3-4 minutes until the dough becomes almost smooth again. Divide the dough into two parts, keep kneading and shape each part into 1 inch thick long log.
• Remove the two ends and use a very sharp knife to cut the log to smaller pieces (around 2 cm wide). Try to keep the original shape. Place the buns to a lined steamer one by one. Leave some space among each one as the buns rise after steaming.
• Add cold water to your wok or steel steamer. Cover the lid and rest for 10 minutes in summer and around 20 minutes in winter or until the bun becomes fluffy again.
• Use high fire to bring the water to a boil and continue to steam for around 20 to 25 minutes (depending on the size of your buns).
• Remove off the fire and wait for around 5 minutes before opening the lid. Serve warm or re-steam to soften before serving.

Steps:

• Make the dough: In a small pot over low heat, whisk together cornstarch and water. Cook until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, add in honey and ¼ cup milk and whisk until incorporated. Let mixture cool to a lukewarm temperature, then whisk in yeast. Heat remaining ½ cup milk until simmering. In a large mixing bowl using chopsticks or a fork, combine flour, salt, and hot milk until a very shaggy mixture forms. Stir in cornstarch-yeast mixture, and work dough with your hands until cohesive and no dry spots remain, about 5 minutes. Cover bowl and let dough stand for 30 minutes.  Gently deflate dough and gently pick up one edge of the dough and pull lightly to fold it toward the opposite edge. Repeat this stretch and fold motion around the bowl, about 4 folds total, then flip dough upside down so that the smooth side is facing up. Let rest another 30 minutes. Repeat stretch and fold two more times, resting about 30 minutes after each fold. Meanwhile, make your filling of choice. Optionally, make the savory dipping sauce: Stir together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl until well combined. When ready to assemble buns, cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll each dough into a 6” round on a lightly floured surface, rotating the dough frequently and taking care to roll edges out thinner than the center of the dough.  Place a portioned meatball or 2 tablespoons of filling in the middle of the round, then pleat edges together. Using your thumb, middle, and index finger of your dominant hand to hold all the pleats in one spot while the other hand "feeds" the dough into the fold: gather and pinch together ¾” of dough, repeating this motion all around the edge of the round, between 12 and 15 pleats total. Gently twist counter clockwise to create a swirl pattern with your pleats, then pinch to firmly seal the pleats together.
  Fill a large pot with 2 cups of cold water, then lay a steamer basket lined on top.  Cut twelve 3" squares of parchment, then place buns on prepared parchment inside the steamer, spaced about 2” apart. Let rise, uncovered, until the dough increases about 50% in size and springs back very slowly when poked, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cover the pot with a lid lined with a paper towel (to trap condensation), then turn heat to medium. Once water is up to a boil, reduce heat to low and steam buns for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand with lid on for 5 minutes more. Remove the lid and let buns cool until safe to touch.  Serve with dipping sauce, if desired. In a large bowl, toss cabbage with salt until well combined. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add all remaining pork filling ingredients and stir mixture in one direction until a smooth paste forms.  On a plate or tray lined with parchment, portion mixture into 12 meatballs and transfer to the freezer t0 chill for 30 minutes, until semi-firm. In a large bowl, stir all ingredients together until well-combined.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill while dough is resting.  Rinse and drain soaked beans. In a medium pot over medium heat, combine beans with 2 cups water and salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and let cook until beans are tender and begin to split, about 30 minutes. Drain and reserve cooking liquid.  Return pot with beans to medium-low heat. Add in sugar and enough cooking liquid to barely cover the beans (about ½ to ? cup) and let simmer until beans are completely creamy and most of the liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Using a wooden spoon or potato masher, mash beans until desired consistency is reached. Let cool completely before using.