Steam Buns

Total Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• 350 ml warm water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons oil
• 600 g bread flour

Recipe

• 1 in a small bowl, mix the sugar and salt in the water, and then mix in the yeast. let it rest for a while and it should smell active.
• 2 add the oil to the mixture.
• 3 in a large bowl, add the flour and scoup out a hole in the centre. add the liquids to the hole and gradually incorporate the flour.
• 4 knead the dough until it forms into an elastic and smooth ball, which takes about 15 minutes. the dough should not stick to your hands, and be quite stretchy.
• 5 roll out the dough into a tube that's about 5cm in diameter.
• 6 slice the tube into 16 loafs. lay each of the loafs on its cylindrical edge, not the face, on top of a square of parchment paper.
• 7 wait 20 minutes for the loaves to rise. they won't rise much, but you just want the surface of the loaves to be puffy.
• 8 arrange the loafs in one or more bamboo steamers. they will expand more on their faces, so don't put loafs face-to-face, or they will stick together.
• 9 place the bamboo steamers on top of hot boiling water. cover, and steam over high heat for 15 minutes.
• 10 remove the lid and remove the loaves to a plate, before turning off the heat. you do not want water to condense on the buns.