Mantou
Mantou are not baked but steamed, which is why they stay white with a soft, fine, silky crumb. Two moments decide everything: long kneading, which gives the smooth surface, and a few minutes under the closed lid once off the heat — open the steamer abruptly and the buns wrinkle and sink.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Kneading 15 min
- First rise 60 min
- Shaping the buns 15 min
- Proving 30 min
- Steaming 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneChoose plain flour, not bread flour
Mantou use plain or cake flour, not bread flour. High-protein flour gives a springy, rubbery crumb; a weaker one gives a fine, delicate crumb.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
Knead for fifteen minutes
Mix the flour with sugar, yeast, baking powder and salt, add the warm milk and oil. Knead for 15 minutes until the dough is satin smooth with not a single crack. That smoothness is exactly what shows on the finished buns.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
TipThe dough should be firmer than bread dough — dense and non-sticky. If it clings to your hands, add a spoonful of flour.
A satin surface with no cracks — only now stop kneading.Let it rise
Cover and leave somewhere warm for 60 minutes until doubled. Then knock it back thoroughly, kneading for a minute — large bubbles would give an uneven, pitted surface.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
Roll into a log and cut
Roll the dough into a rectangle of about 30×40 cm, 5–6 mm thick, and roll it up tightly along the long side, sealing as you go. Cut with a sharp knife into 12 equal pieces in one decisive stroke each.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
TipSawing with the knife squashes the log. One confident cut gives a clean cross-section and visible layers.
A tight roll and a single cut — that is where the layers come from.Prove in the steamer
Set the buns on parchment squares in a bamboo steamer, leaving 3 cm between them — they grow a lot (12 fit in two stacked baskets). Cover and leave for 30 minutes until light and springy.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
Three centimetres apart — the buns will grow a lot.Steam, then wait under the lid
Set the steamer over boiling water and steam 15 minutes over medium-high heat. Then take it off the heat and wait 5 minutes with the lid on, and only then lift it slowly. A sudden temperature drop makes the buns wrinkle and sink.
Ingredients: 500 g plain flour · 250 ml milk · 40 g sugar · 6 g dried yeast · 2 tbsp oil · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt
TipWrap the lid in a cloth. Drops of condensed steam falling on the buns leave dents.
Before you start
Without a bamboo steamer
A metal steamer or a sieve over a pot works too. Wrap the lid in a cloth — metal condenses far more steam than bamboo.
Freezing
Freeze mantou after steaming. Reheat from frozen in the steamer for about 10 minutes and they come back like fresh.
Fried version
Slice or halve cooled steamed mantou and fry them golden in oil or butter. In China fried mantou are often served with condensed milk for dipping.