Steamed Bun Bread Recipe

An easy & quick way to make Mantou, Chinese steamed buns. My detailed instructions and tutorial video will help you to succeed.

As the Chinese New Year (Spring Festival, 春节) is fast approaching, I’m sharing a nostalgic recipe: Mantou(馒头), Chinese steamed buns. This was an essential item that my parents used to prepare a few days before the most important festival of the year. We made dozens of them in a variety of shapes and enjoyed them throughout the entire holiday period.

Mántóu (馒头), also known as Mó (馍), refers to plain steamed buns which originated from China. They are usually made of white wheat flour, but other ingredients, such as corn flour, sweet potato, pumpkin, are sometimes added to the dough. As a popular staple, Mantou has a firm position on Chinese families’ dinner table.

Chinese Steamed Buns Recipe (mantou 馒头)

In regions of northern China, Mantou is also a festive food prepared for the New Year. For this occasion, apart from regular round ones, they are made into all kinds of shapes, such as flowers, butterflies, animals, etc., and decorated with dried Chinese dates (

Different from the traditional method which uses only yeast as a raising agent, my Mantou recipe calls for both yeast and baking powder which make the cooking process easier & quicker.

The yeast-only method makes great Mantou if you follow the double-proofing procedure: Leave the dough to rise until doubled in size. Shape individual buns then leave to rise again before steaming. The total resting time takes 1-2 hours depending on the room temperature (

Cooking Bread With Steam

The “Yeast+baking powder” method requires only one proofing process. You can shape the buns right after the dough is formed. Just leave the buns to rise for about 30 minutes before steaming. It’s a better recipe in terms of efficiency and simplicity thus good for busy or novice home cooks.

My recipe makes 6 medium-sized round Mantou, or 4 flower-shaped buns topped with Chinese dates. Here are what you need in hand:

The process is pretty simple: mix flour, yeast and baking powder. Add water gradually. Combine then knead into a very smooth dough. It should be medium-firm thus doesn’t stick to hands or the work surface.

Chinese Steamed Pork Buns (包子

It can be quite demanding to knead the dough to a very smooth texture by hand. To make the process easier, I always give the dough a little rest soon after all the ingredients are roughly combined. Then knead until the dough appears to be evenly smooth.

Making the dough with a stand mixer is straightforward. Knead on low speed for about 8 minutes. Take the dough out and finish off by kneading by hand for 1 minute.

). Divide the dough into equal sections then work on one section at a time. For this recipe, I made them into two different shapes (

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). After shaping the buns, place them into the steamer basket to rest. Make sure to leave ample space between each bun as they will be double in size after cooking.

The resting time required varies depending on the room temperature. It takes me 30 minutes in a room at about 25°C/77°F. So if it’s cooler in yours, extend the time a little and vice versa.

Well-rested buns should be slightly bigger (not doubled in size), very smooth on the surface. When pressed gently, the dough bounces back.

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Are you keen to get the smooth, flawless finished look? If so, do not overproof the buns. As shown in the image above, the smooth one on the right was rested for 30 minutes before steaming. The wrinkled one on the left had a 45 minutes rest. While steaming, the excessive air caused by over proofing has created a big air pocket inside the bun. It collapsed once the cooking stopped.

By the way, some steamed bun recipes claim that to avoid the buns collapsing, you should wait for a few minutes before you uncover the steamer. Through numerous tests, I can tell you that this advice has no value. As long as you prepare and rest the dough properly following my recipe, you can immediately remove the lid after turning off the heat (

Bamboo steamers work best when it comes to bun making. As bamboo is a “breathable” material, the steam doesn’t cause condensation. Some people also believe it passes some natural bamboo aroma to the buns.

Minute Steamed Buns (man Tao)

If using a metal steamer, I suggest you wrap its metal/glass lid with a clean tea towel. This way the condensation created during the steaming process will be absorbed by the cloth instead of dripping onto the buns affecting their smooth appearance.

To avoid the buns sticking to the steamer, you need to line your basket with steamer parchment paper, like the one I use in my images (

). You may cut out circles using regular parchment paper and place them underneath each bun. Make sure they are bigger than the uncooked buns.

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Mantou is the staple food of many northern Chinese household meals. So just like how you consume steamed rice, families would eat mantou with several savoury dishes, often accompanied by something less solid, such as congee, soups, etc.

It’s also a common breakfast item. You can spread with some savoury sauce, such as Chinese chili oil, fermented bean curd (Fú Rǔ/腐乳), black bean sauce (豆豉酱), etc. Or serve it like a burger, cut open then slide in a fried egg. Simple but yum!

When eating as a sweet snack, it’s very popular to dip mantou into condensed milk. Honey or jam is a great accompaniment too.

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It’s so handy to have some pre-made Mantou available when you crave them. Once your leftover buns are completely cool, place them in an airtight container/plastic bag. You may keep them in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Steamed buns tend to go firm and hard when they are cold. To regain their softness and fluffiness, you can simply reheat them in the steamer. It takes about 4 minutes for fridge-kept ones and 6 minutes for frozen ones (

1. The flour-water ratio may vary depending on the brand of your flour. Adjust accordingly. The finished dough should be medium-firm and smooth.

Soft Fluffy Chinese Steamed Buns Recipe (mantou)

2. The resting time required varies depending on the room temperature. It takes me 30 minutes in a room at about 25°C/77°F. So if it’s cooler in yours, extend the time a little and vice versa.

3. If using a metal steamer, I suggest you wrap its metal/glass lid with a clean tea towel. This way the condensation created during the steaming process will be absorbed by the cloth instead of dripping onto the buns affecting their smooth appearance.

NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.They may not be the prettiest buns you've ever seen, but don't let looks deceive you—these rank high on my list of all the steamed buns I've ever eaten. Making steamed buns that

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Like beauty queens might take some practice but it's really what's on the inside that matters here: The dough is soft but not too cakey, tender with a slight chew, with a barely sweetened taste that pairs well with, well, almost anything. 

There are endless variations on the steamed bun across different cultures and regions: different dough recipes, different fillings, different cooking methods. Below, I've given three separate filling options, all of which can be made a day in advance: a meaty cabbage-pork combo, a flexible miso-carrot mix that can be vegan or pescatarian, and a sweet red bean paste version that can be served as dessert. Let these be mere suggestions: Once you have the dough made, you can play around with creating your own filling variations. Known as 包子 (

, the steamed bun literally translates to a little package— at its core, it's a humble bread house that welcomes whatever your heart desires to stuff into it and can be eaten at any time of day, on any day of the year. 

Chinese Steamed Buns (mantou Recipe)

Once upon a time in the olden days, like most traditional bread recipes, Chinese steamed buns were made with sourdough preferments. To keep the flavor consistent and the process a little more convenient for our modern-day lifestyles, I've chosen to use commercial dry yeast in this version. You can use active dry or instant yeast interchangeably for this recipe.

Many Chinese steamed buns use a specific type of low-protein all-purpose flour that can be hard to find in many parts of the U.S. To approximate the texture that kind of flour achieves, we will be using two techniques. First, to keep the bun texture fluffy but not dry and powdery, take a minute to make a water roux with cornstarch. Similar to a tangzhong starter that's commonly used in milk bread recipes, this lightly-heated gelatinized mix will add a light bounce and desirable tackiness to your bun. 

The second technique is to use boiling liquid in the dough to create a more tender steamed bun with just the right amount of chew. Heat a portion of milk to a simmer (microwave or stovetop are both fine) and stir it into the

Steamed Chinese Bread Buns Recipe