Mantou

From Freepedia

Mantou or man tou (Simplified Chinese: 馒头; Traditional Chinese: 饅頭; pinyin: mántóu) are the steamed buns typically served in Northern Chinese cuisine. Made with milled wheat flour, water and leavening agents, they are similar in nutrition and eating qualities to the white bread of the West. In size and texture, they range from 4 cm, soft and fluffy in the dantiest restaurants, to over 15 cm, firm and dense for the working man's lunch.

Traditionally, mantou and wheat noodles were the staple carbohydrates of the Northern Chinese diet, analogous to the rice which forms the mainstay of the Southern Chinese diet. Mantou are also known in the south, but are more likely to be eaten as a treat in a restaurant. Fancy restaurant mantou are often smaller and more delicate and can be further manipulated, for example by deep-frying and dipping in sweetened condensed milk.

They are often sold pre-cooked in the frozen section of Asian supermarkets, ready for preparation by steaming or in the microwave oven.

A similar food, but with a filling inside, is baozi.

Recipe outline

Consult a cookbook for more detailed instructions to make mantou.

• Add 3 cups of wheat flour to one package of dry yeast.
• Slowly pour in lukewarm water into the mixture. Mix everything and knead it into a dough. The dough should not stick the hand nor should it be flaky.
• Cover the dough with wet towel and let it set for several hours until it rises up.
• Knead the dough again.
• Cut the dough into bun size.
• Steam the buns for 15 minutes or so.