Easy Chinese Steamed Buns (without yeast)

5 from 10 votes

Easy Chinese Steamed Buns (without yeast)

A quicker and faster way to enjoy Chinese steamed buns or baozi. The dough doesn't require yeast meaning no kneading or proofing time. Yet, these buns are equally fluffy and soft. Do try!

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Servings: buns

Author: Bea & Marco

Ingredients

The Filling

1 garlic clove , grated
½ thumb sized ginger , grated
7 oz minced beef (200 gr)
2 teaspoon sesame oil
3 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1 teaspoon honey
½ cup chopped spring onion (20 gr)

The Buns

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (160 gr)
⅓ cup cornstarch (40 gr)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup coconut milk (125 ml)

Instructions

The Filling

Heat some oil in a pan and add in grated garlic and ginger. Cook until they turn golden brown. Add in minced beef and continue until it's fully cook, breaking it into small pieces as you go.
Place the meat into a bowl, discard any juice if any. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Cool completely before using.

The Buns

Add all of buns ingredients into a food processor. Blend until everything comes together. Place on a working surface and knead into a dough and form into a log.
Cut into 8 equal pieces and form each piece into a ball. Cover the dough with cling film when not using to prevent from drying.

Assembling

Take a ball and flatten it a bit. Roll into a 3.5 inch (9 cm) disk with a thinner edges all around. You can do this by keep rolling ⅓ in to the center and twisting the dough.
Place the dough on your palm and spoon some filling in the middle. Take one edge and bring it to the center and then keep pleating and pinching the rest of the edges, leaving a small hole in the middle.
Note: You can watch how to do this in the video above
Place the bun in a greased muffin liner. Continue with the rest.

Steaming

Bring some water to a boil in a pan on high medium heat. The water should not be touching the bottom of your bamboo steamer.
Arrange the filled buns in your steamer. Place the steamer on the pan and steam for 10 minutes or until the buns are fully cooked.

How To Serve

These buns are best served immediately after steamed. Sprinkle some chopped green onion on top and serve directly in the bamboo steamer and enjoy them with some tea.

How To Get The Dough Right

The ratio of flours and liquid is just perfect for this recipe. Use a kitchen scale to measure the flours in a more precise way (I always use it).
Read my post above for tips if you're using cup measurement for your flours.

Make It Even Quicker

I've tested not cooking filling. Meaning I just mix all of the filling ingredients in a bowl and have it ready to directly use it to fill the buns. Then I just continued following the steps from Steaming onwards. Even quicker!

Nutrition