Each country across its signature foods, and in China, they have mantou! Legends state that mantou were first created in the early Zhou Dynasty, around 1046-771 BC. Unlike bao that are stuffed, mantou are made without filling, making them the perfect foundation for fun flavors. These steamed buns are a nostalgic food for many, and for me, this recipe definitely brought back some childhood core memories.
Growing up, my family would go eat dim sum every Sunday. Carts stacked high with bamboo baskets carouselled across the room with haste. Sweet steam trailed one or two carts and wafted through the room like incense. Those carts always caught my eye, and I guess you could say my nose too!
While some family members passed food to each other via the communal lazy susan, others would address the latest family news over chrysanthemum tea. Meanwhile, I’d sit there in anticipation, looking around the room, waiting to sink my teeth into my favorite steamed treat. You’d think that I’d eventually grow out of that phase, but that excitement for mantou never went away.
Traditional mantou dough is typically unflavored, but in this recipe, we’ll be using one of my favorite ingredients: pandan. Pandan leaves are an ingredient synonymous with Southeast Asian cuisine. Sweet in taste and fragrant in aroma, pandan has a flavor profile similar to grassy vanilla, but with hints of rose and coconut. Many refer to pandan as the “Vanilla of Southeast Asia”, but I’d have to disagree. If vanilla were a person, then pandan would be their cooler, artsy cousin who makes their own clothes for fun.
Pandan comes in many different forms. Powders, extracts, pastes…the laundry list goes on. Here, we’re using fresh pandan leaves to make pandan juice. Using a Nakiri is an excellent way of getting an even chop on those long leaves! Blending the chopped pandan with a little bit of water and squeezing through a cheesecloth ensures that you get the most flavor out of your leaves. Later, you’ll be adding this juice to one of the doughs, making it green and fragrant!
One of my favorite parts of this recipe is kneading the dough. Just something about kneading for 10 minutes straight that gets the blood pumpin’, you know? You’ll know when the dough is fully kneaded when it’s soft and smooth.
You’ll want to brush off all that extra flour before stacking and rolling the dough together. Insider tip: if the sheets aren’t sticking, spritz the bottom dough with water, stack the second sheet on top, and roll over the stack. The water will act like glue to cement the layers together.
Be sure to roll the dough TIGHTLY and crimp the end of the dough to itself to seal. You want that pretty spiraled center to be consistent, otherwise, it’ll fall apart in the steamer.
When making these mantou, I like to use the bench knife to create guidelines on the dough before slicing. This ensures that all mantou are equal in size and consistently baked. Cutting your mantou may cause them to unravel a bit, but giving a few extra edge crimps should fix them up just fine!
The shot-caller of this recipe is the yeast, so make sure they’re as comfortable as possible if you want a pillowy mantou. To create the ideal yeast-growing environment, set the oven to its lowest setting (around 170F) and slap a damp towel in there to get it nice and steamy. Tuck your mantou in there to proof, then bam! You’ve got a steamed bun sauna, hot and ready to roll.
The mantou should increase in size by 50% before steaming. I like to steam my mantou in a bamboo steamer, but if you’re using a metal steamer, be sure to wrap the lid with a kitchen towel to prevent any drippage onto the mantou. Drippage causes dimples, and we don’t want dimpled dough!
Be sure not to overcrowd your mantou when steaming them up. For me, two was a party and three was a crowd! The extra mantou will continue to proof while the others steam. To slow this process, cover and store the extra buns in the fridge while you wait. Everything after this point is a waiting game.
Disclaimer: While thE mantou steam, your house is going to smell amazing. And when I say amazing, I mean salivatory. DO NOT, under any circumstances, remove the lid after steaming. The mantou need to sit covered for at least 10 minutes before exposing to open air. If not rested properly, they will dimple and deflate. In this household, we love a slow burn. And I can’t lie to you– the wait will be hard, but I promise it’s worth it.
After those ten agonizing minutes of mouth-watering anticipation, unveil your beautiful Spiraled Pandan Mantou! Dip them in honey or enjoy them as is for a perfectly soft, smooth, and (the highest compliment of any Asian-inspired dessert) not-too-sweet treat.
Spiraled Pandan Mantou (Sweet Steamed Buns)
Sweet in taste and fragrant in aroma, these delicate steamed buns have a flavor profile similar to grassy vanilla, but with hints of rose and coconut. One honey-dipped bite will have you kneading more!
Recipe and Photography by Asia Vo (@southeats.asia)
Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8
Ingredients:
Pandan Dough
20 grams fresh pandan leaves, chopped
70 grams water
170 grams all-purpose flour, plus for dusting
40 grams white sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
2 grams dry active yeast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
90 mL milk
Plain Dough
170 grams all-purpose flour, plus for dusting
40 grams white sugar
1 tablespoon potato starch
2 grams dry active yeast
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
100 mL milk
Honey, for serving
Directions:
PREHEAT. Add a sheet pan to the lower rack of your oven with a wrung-out damp towel. Preheat your oven to 160F degrees.
PANDAN. Using a Forge To Table 7” Nakiri, roughly chop the pandan into small pieces. Add the chopped leaves with water to a blender. Blend until all pandan is thoroughly blitzed. Pour through a cheesecloth-lined strainer and squeeze the juice out of the pulp. Discard the pandan solids and set the pandan juice.
DOUGH. Add dry ingredients to a bowl and mix to combine. Slowly stream in a mixture of pandan juice, milk, and oil into the dry ingredients while mixing until the ingredients form a shaggy dough. Knead dough into a ball, wrap it with plastic, and set aside. Repeat this process with the plain dough ingredients.
KNEAD. Turn out a dough onto a floured surface, knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is soft and smooth. If the dough becomes sticky, add a little flour onto the work surface and knead. Repeat this process with the other dough ball.
STACK. Use a rolling pin to roll each dough out into ¼” thick, 12” x 8” oblong sheets. Dust off residual flour and place the pandan dough over the plain dough. Roll over the stacked dough to cement them together. If the dough is not sticking together, lightly spritz the plain dough with water and then roll the stacked dough again.
ROLL. Starting lengthwise, tightly roll the stacked dough into a pinwheeled log. Once the log is rolled, pinch the loose end of the dough into the log to seal the pinwheel shut.
CUT. Use a Forge to Table Bench Knife to mark eight even sections along the log. Flour your bench knife and quickly press down on your section-marked dough to create a clean cut.
PROOF. Place each mantou on a parchment square and proof in the warm oven until they double in size.
STEAM. Boil a pot of water and add your mantou into your steamer, being careful not to crowd them. Add the filled steamer to the pot, and if using a metal steamer, wrap the lid with a kitchen towel. Lower the heat to medium and steam for 15 minutes.
WAIT. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and keep the mantou covered for 10 minutes.
SERVE. Serve mantou with honey for dipping and enjoy!
