Soft and Fluffy Sweet Potato Steamed Buns
Cook: Sharon Yam (@yamsandchips)
Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 28 buns
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Steamed buns are a Chinese breakfast staple. In Hong Kong, you can commonly find them in dim sum restaurants. While they may seem intimidating to make, the dough is in fact very straightforward. The ingredients this recipe calls for can all be found at any grocery stores.
To create a swirl sweet potato steamed bun, you will first need to make two separate balls of dough. If you want to make a simpler version, you may make only one of the doughs and follow part 3 of the instructions.
Main Ingredients
Part 1: Plain Dough
300g all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp dry active yeast
2 tbsp sugar
150g water
1 tsp salt
Part 2: Sweet Potato Dough
200g sweet potato cubes
300g all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
~25ml warm water
Method
Part 1: Plain Dough
Mix the yeast with warm water and sugar in a small bowl. Wait 3-5 minutes until the mixture turns a little bubbly.
In a bigger mixing bowl, pour in the flour, salt, the yeast mixture, and stir to combine until there is one coherent ball of dough.
Tip: If the dough is too shaggy or loose, add a little more water, about 10ml. If it’s too wet, dust the dough with extra flour.
Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured countertop. Knead with the base of your palm for 3-5 minutes until the dough has a smooth surface.
Transfer the dough back into the mixing bowl. Cover with a moist towel, and let it rise for an hour.
Part 2: Sweet Potato Dough
Cover a bowl of peeled sweet potato cubes with a moist paper towel. Microwave for about 5 minutes until they are soft.
Mash the sweet potatoes with a fork until there are no big chunks left.
Put sugar, yeast, and salt into the sweet potato puree.
In a bigger mixing bowl, pour in yeast and the sweet potato mixture.
Stir to combine, while gradually adding water. Once the dough reaches a smooth and non-sticky texture, stop adding water. Depending on the moisture and start content of your sweet potatoes, you may need a little more or less than 25ml of water.
Knead the dough on a clean, lightly floured countertop until it is no longer sticky and rough.
Transfer the dough back into the mixing bowl. Cover with a moist towel, and let it rise for an hour.
Part 3: Putting It All Together
Knead each dough again to make sure that the buns will have a fluffy texture.
Flatten the dough, and roll each out into a thin sheet.
Stack the two sheets together.
Roll the dough up into a long log.
Divide the log into two halves.
Using either a sharp knife or a bench scraper, divide each log into even portions.
Prepare the steamer and add 2 cups of water into a wok or a big pot. Line the bottom of the steamer with parchment paper.
Place the buns on the parchment paper. Cover the lid of the steamer.
Bring the water to a boil, and turn the heat to medium.
Steam for 15 minutes.
Serve warm.
Tip: You may refrigerate or freeze any buns you don’t finish. You can always re-steam them for a few minutes to bring them back to life. Since I am lazy, I often use the microwave instead: cover the bun with a piece of moist paper towel, and if it has been refrigerated, microwave for 30 seconds, longer if it is still frozen.
Notes
I experimented with two other cooking methods: pan-fried then steamed, and oven-baked.
Oven-baked
I baked them for 10 minutes at 350F (~177C). The buns are significantly drier than the steamed versions, and they resemble dinner rolls.
Pan-fried then steamed
I smashed the dough ball flat, and first fried it on a hot pan. After the bottom crisped up, pour just ⅓ cup of water into the pan, turn down the heat, and cover it with a lid. Steam for 2-3 minutes. The fried bread is extremely tasty with a touch of salt.
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