First thing — as you may have noticed, the blog got a little facelift! I had my old theme for the past 3 years, and it was time for a change. Let me know what you think — you should be able to find recipes more effectively. π
I discovered that I had a bag of special “bao” flour stashed in the depths of kitchen. It’s been a while that I’ve made steamed buns, so I decided to pull out the bag and do some experimenting.
These Matcha Mantou are a spin on regular mantou, and have a light green tea flavour. I love peeling the alternating layers off one by one while I eat them. They are pillowy soft yet slightly chewy.
WHAT IS MANTOU?
Mantou is a Chinese steamed bun, typically made with flour, water and yeast or baking powder. It is commonly found in Northern China.
HOW IS IT EATEN?
Mantou is eaten as a plain starch, similar to rice. You can also find mantou as a dessert eaten with condensed milk.
INGREDIENTS IN MATCHA MANTOU
Since mantou is a basic, staple food, it only consists of a few ingredients. Most of these ingredients are probably in your pantry already:
- flour
- water
- avocado (or veg) oil
- granulated sugar
- active dry yeast
- baking powder
- matcha
TYPE OF FLOUR TO USE
Generally, you can use all-purpose flour for steamed buns like mantou.
However, for the best results, steamed buns require a special type of flour called “bao” flour. It is lower in protein and gluten, and is made of soft wheat. It also helps to produce whiter buns.
HOW TO MAKE MATCHA MANTOU
Matcha mantou is really quite simple to make. If you’ve made yeasted bread before, you’ll know that you need to proof the dough, which can take some time.
However, by using a little yeast and baking powder for the leavening agents, we can speed up the dough resting time (less waiting).
To make the dough, it’s just a matter of mixing all the ingredients together and kneading to form a smooth dough.
Except, for this spiraled matcha mantou, we’ll make 2 doughs: 1 regular (white) dough and a green matcha dough.
Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
After that, we’ll roll out each dough into a rectangle shape.
Spray the surface of one of the dough balls with water, and place the other on top. (You can choose to do matcha on the bottom or top, or vice versa).
Roll up the dough together into a coiled shape and slice (like cinnamon buns).
Place the buns onto parchment squares and into a bamboo steamer in a warm environment to proof for 20 minutes.
Steam the buns over high heat for 15 minutes.
TIP: Leave the buns to sit for 5 minutes in the steamer without removing the lid. This will prevent the buns from collapsing.
Serve the mantou immediately after steaming.
HOW TO STORE AND REHEAT MANTOU
You can make a batch of these matcha mantou and if you’re not able to eat them all, you can individually freeze them. Place the completely cooled mantou into a freezer-friendly container or bag.
To reheat, simply place the buns onto a steaming rack and steam for 10-15 minutes, until soft.
You can also microwave the buns to reheat if you’re in a pinch, however, I prefer steaming since it produces a softer bun.
If you love steamed buns with filling, try my Custard Buns. Or if savoury is more your thing, try these Gua Bao.
Let me know if you try out this recipe — tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me a comment below.
Matcha Mantou
Equipment
- bamboo steamer
Ingredients
Plain dough:
- 125 g bao flour or all-purpose flour
- 67 g warm water
- 5 g granulated sugar
- 3 g active dry yeast
- 5 g avocado oil
- ½ tsp baking powder
Matcha dough:
- 5 g matcha powder sifted
- 67 g warm water
- 125 g bao flour or all-purpose flour
- 5 g granulated sugar
- 3 g active dry yeast
- 5 g avocado oil
- ½ tsp baking powder
Instructions
Make the plain dough:
- In a bowl, combine the ingredients and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 10 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a cloth. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
Make the matcha dough:
- Dissolve the matcha into the warm water. In a separate bowl, add the rest of the ingredients, including the matcha liquid. Knead to form a smooth dough, again, another 10 minutes.
- Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Layering the dough:
- Lay out a large piece of parchment paper on the work surface.
- Take the plain dough and roll it out to a size of about 9" by 15."
- Cover the plain dough with another piece of parchment paper and move it aside.
- Repeat with the matcha dough, until you have another dough rolled out to about 9" by 15."
- Decide which dough you'd like on the exterior (either matcha or plain). Place that dough on the work surface.
- Spray the top of the dough with water (this will help the dough stick together).
- Lay the second dough on top of the first dough. Pat the dough and smooth it out evenly, rolling it if need be.
- Then, from the bottom side of the long edge, roll up the dough into a coil.
- Cut the dough into 8 even pieces.
- Place each mantou onto a square piece of parchment paper and transfer to a bamboo steamer. Cover the steamer with the lid.
- Add about 4 C boiling water to the pot that you'll be using to steam the buns and place the steamer rack over top.
- Let the buns proof for 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat onto high heat and steam for 15 minutes.
- After steaming, leave the buns in the steamer for 5 minutes before cracking open the lid slightly to let the steam escape. Once the steam has completely dissipated, remove the lid.
- Serve warm, with condensed milk if you wish.
You mention about using yeast but thereβs no yeast listed in your ingredients.
Thanks for catching that — it’s been updated. π
Looks yummy. Can you post a picture of the brand you use for the bao flour?
Thanks
Hi Jenny,
This is the brand I used:
Michelle these matcha mantou are sooo beautiful! They have such a soft texture to them!
Thank you Christie! π
What a gorgeous recipe! I don’t have any bao flour, but I see that I can use all-purpose. I might still have to order some bao flour just because I enjoy experimenting! Sounds like a fun recipe for sure!
Thanks David! Yes you can definitely use all-purpose but if you can get your hands on bao flour, it will produce whiter fluffier buns! π
I’ve never heard of mantou before, but would love to try! Your roll is absolutely perfect, Michelle! Love to have some right now with my coffee π
Aw thank you — it would be perfect with your coffee!
Wow! This is soooo beautiful! I’ve made it yesterday and it was a success.
Thank you Michelle.
Oh that is so nice to hear!! I’m glad it was a success! Thanks Mat! π
These were fun to make and really pretty! I think I will try blooming the yeast in the warm water prior to mixing it in next time. The recipe doesn’t call for this, but my yeast didn’t completely mix in and only dissolved during the steaming process, which I think made it saltier tasting. The bun was a little saltier than I was expecting, so definitely would recommend pairing with something sweet or adding less salt to the savory item you pair it with.
Not sure why your buns were salty tasting as the recipe doesn’t call for any salt.
This was my first time making mantou and it was so much easier than expected! As someone who is still dipping her toe into the world of yeast, these were great to try out. They came out so cute and are the perfect little snack when eaten with butter or condensed milk! I did find these to be a bit more plain than Iβm used to though, but generally quite enjoyable! I canβt wait to make them again!