When I was a kid, our family had steamed Chinese buns for breakfast every single morning. Buns’ tasty and good smell has been so close to me, and sometimes make me homesick. Every now and then while I am living in the US, I am very craving for that. After trying several times, I finally make my recipe work.

To make bun healthier and delicious, I use whole grain wheat powder, oat bran, egg and milk.

Ingredients:

Group A:

  1. 5 Cup whole grain wheat flour
  2. 1/2 cup oat bran
  3. 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
  4. 1 teaspoon baking soda

Group B:

  1. 1 cup warm water
  2. 2 teaspoon dry active yeast
  3. 2 teaspoon sugar

Group C

  1. 1 cup warm milk
  2. 2 eggs

Preparation:

  1. Mix ingredients in Group B first until some bubbles appear.
  2. Mix ingredients in Group A.
  3. Add mixed Group B ingredient gradually into Group A mixture. Then add milk and egg.
  4. Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes continuously, until the container and hands are clean, the dough becomes smooth.
  5. Cover the dough with warm damp clothing, and leave the dough in a warm humid place for good fermentation. (I normally put the dough in the oven and leave the oven light on to keep inside warm).
  6. When the dough rise up to one and half size, the fermentation is OK. ( Because this is whole grain and oat bran dough, I don’t recommend let it rise to double size. Plus, I like the bun more chewy, alike the bun from northern China.) The second way to test whether rising process is to remove the dough from the edge of the container, and to check whether there are small air hole inside the dough.
  7. Kneading dough again. Meanwhile you need smell the dough, if it smells a little sour, you may need add a little baking soda to neutralize the over fermentation produced acid. This kneading process is critical for the texture of the bun.
  8. Cut the dough into the size you prefer. Then let the bun dough sit for 30mins for a second rising.
  9. For yeast fermented bun, I recommend cook and steam with cold water. You put the bun into the steam container, then heat the water until you see the steam coming out. It should be steamed for 25-30mins.
  10. Turn off the heat. Don’t remove the lid right away. Let it sit for 2-3mins. Then serve. Cooked and steamed bun can be stored in freezer.