someone asked if I get sick and tired of baking everyday…. hmm, not true.. I don’t bake everyday. I steam sometimes 😀
I haven’t made mantou (buns) for a long time…. wait a minute.. not that long.. the last was a chickadee… hmmm.. anyways…
This is dedicated to my beloved cousin who’s preggy in her last trimester, but had gone through a rough patch the last couple of weeks. Cousin, salute to you for being a warrior.. this basket of rose mantous are for you (I know i owe you a japanese fortune cat shaped bake.. but i have to figure the maths of the dough.. gimme sometime :D)
Mantou (bun) recipe
-200g hong kong flour (or cake or superfine flour) (*i added a couple pinches of bright red food colouring powder to achieve the pink ~ as you can see, 2 pinches resulted in a super pink rose… next time, I will add only ONE teeny weeny pinch)
-2g instant dry yeast
– 100g water (35 degrees C)
– 40g sugar (I pumped it up to 45g)
– 5g baking powder (BP)
Directions
– mix yeast and water and let the yeast dissolve
– add flour, sugar, and BP into the yeast mixture
– knead till you get a soft dough and let it sit for 15 mins
Shaping and steaming normal mantou
– roll the entire dough into a rectangle shape so that it is about 3-4mm thick and then roll them from the furthest point towards you. Seal seams
– cut dough into desired sizes (c. 25-30g each portion for a small portion. it can even be big portions like 50, 80 or 100g)
– place them in a steamer with water in it. Water should be c. 35 degrees C. Leave your mantou to proof for 35 mins in steamer (fire is not yet turned on)
– after 35 mins, turn on the fire to its maximum (with the mantou in it). when the water has boiled, turn fire to medium and steam buns for 10mins
Shaping and steaming rose mantou
– roll the entire dough till it is about 3mm thick
– i used a 3cm cookie cutter to cut out little circles. My roses comprise of 6 petals, and a little bud
– to simplify assembling process, i label the petals a, b, c, d, e and f
– first flatten all petals. I flatten them so thin till i think they were tearing. I used my fingers to flatters the circumference of the circles.
– place B at the midpoint of A. then C at the midpoint of B, D at the midpoint of C, E at the midpoint of D and F at the midpoint of E. You should get one straight roll of overlapping petals (get the picture?) with A furthest from you, and F nearest to you
– then pinch a bit of the dough, and roll into an olive shape and place on F petal
– start rolling the petals (like a swiss roll) beginning from your end (i.e. F petal towards A petal) and away from you
– once rolled up, use a pastry cutter to cut at the midpoint of the dough. You should then get 2 roses
– gently with fingers, ply open the petals
– place them in a steamer with water in it. Water should be c. 35 degrees C. Leave your mantou to proof for 35 mins in steamer (fire is not yet turned on)
– after 35 mins, turn on the fire to its maximum (with the mantou in it). when the water has boiled, turn fire to medium. As my rose mantou are minis, I steamed them for 8 mins, and left it in the steamer (without opening the lid) for 2 minutes
– this yield a very soft mantou, with a very Q outer texture
Enjoy making this.. it is really simple… of course if you find it lechey, you can make a 4 petal rose 🙂 Next time, I will reserve some dough and mix with matcha powder so that I can make some leaves at the same time….
Pollution index: 29 (good)
