Wholemeal Mantou (Steamed Buns)

'Don't judge the book by its cover', it's good!! 

Already bookmarked this healthy and easy mantou recipe of Lena from Frozen Wings for sometime.  Was also thinking of trying Wendy's Wholemeal Char Siew Pau Dough.  Finally, I chose Lena's first because I wanted to make just plain steamed buns with wholemeal flour and I intend to serve these buns with homemade burgers.

As advised by Lena, this recipe only needs 1 time proofing and no baking powder. The buns were really soft and fluffy even on the third day.  For the original recipe, please check it out here.

Ingredients - makes 8 buns

[adapted from Frozen Wings with some changes to the steps]

250 gm cake flour/plain flour 

80 gm wholemeal flour

3 gm instant yeast [1 tsp]

25 gm castor sugar [2 tbsp]

200 ml milk 

10 gm vegetable oil [I used shortening]

toasted black sesame seeds [optional]

1. In a mixer bowl, put in the flour, sugar and instant yeast.  Mix well and gradually add in milk.  Knead from low speed with a dough hook until soft and smooth.  Add in shortening.
2. Continue to knead from low to medium speed until dough is soft, smooth and elastic.  Step 1 and 2 takes about 20-25 minutes to complete.  [If not steaming buns immediately, transfer dough from the bowl to a clean plastic bag.  Tied up tightly and refrigerate until later use.  Thaw to room temperature before proceeding with Step 3].  Proceed to step 4 if you are steaming buns immediately.
3. Bring dough together after thawing and roll into a log on a floured surface.
4. Divide into 8 equal portions.   Roll each portion into a smooth round ball.  Place on a small piece of parchment paper. Complete shaping the remaining portions.  Place shaped buns on a steaming tray [I used a bamboo steamer].
5. Let it proof in the steamer for 40 minutes.
6. Pour some water into your steamer and steam for 20-25 minutes. When time is up, open the lid of steamer a little to let steam escape and remove them from steamer after 5 minutes to cool on wire rack.
7. Serve buns plain with a hot beverage or with homemade meat patties [recipe here].
   
   
   Yummy homemade buns and burgers