Mantou Bun & Basic Pao

Ingredients
Sponge (starter)
230g medium protein flour (Prima blue plain flour)
5g high sugar yeast (Bruggeman brown packet)
130ml cold water (5°C)

Pao Dough
fermented starter dough
150g medium protein flour
10g baking powder (Rumford brand)
80g sugar
10g shortening (put in flour dusted small bowl for easy transfer)
40ml cold water (5°C)
1g yeast (optional but can add to speed up proofing)

Directions

• prepare the starter dough by mixing yeast to the flour
• in a mixer with K-beater attachment, add water to yeast and flour mixture and knead on low speed for 4min
• cover the bowl with the starter with cloth and let it rest for 30min
• separately, prepare ingredients for pao dough
• in a bowl mix flour with baking powder and set aside shortening and sugar separately
• after 30min of resting the starter, weigh in the ice cold water and add in to the starter followed by sugar and shortening (add optional 1g yeast here)
• knead on low speed for 2min and after that add in half of the flour to knead for about 30s and pour the rest and continue kneading for 4-5min till dough is soft and smooth
• weigh and divide into 2 portions of dough
• shape the dough (mantou or with filling), place in cupcake paper and let it proof for about 40min
• steam under high pressure for 12min or till you get a whiff of sweet smelling buns

Mantou

• roll out the dough (1st roll must be as thin as possible to remove air bubbles) about 4mm (longish rectangular shape) and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6-8 pieces, proof and steam
• can also deep fry

Longevity Bun (with red bean filling)

• measure 20g of red bean paste, round into balls and put aside
• roll each dough out about 4mm and fold into 2... continue this for 6 folds
• after 6 folds, roll the dough like swiss roll (from the long side)
• using a sharp knife, cut into about 6 pieces
• round the dough with a rolling pin flatten it
• wrap the red bean paste in the dough and using both palms, shape it with a pointed top
• using a scraper, create a line vertically
• take some flour, add water and green coloring to form a dough
• roll flat and cut to create 2 long leaves
• use water to stick leaves to the dough
• using a air brush (can also use spray bottle) spray to add red coloring
• proof and steam 

Brown Sugar Pao

• replace the sugar with brown sugar for the pao dough

Green Tea Pao

• add 10g of matcha powder to the flour of pao dough

Charcoal Pao

• add 3g of baking charcoal powder to the flour of pao dough
• add additional 10g water

Pandan or Coffee Pao

• add 10g of essence (paste) and reduce the water to 30g instead of 40g

Tao Sar Pao

• fill the dough with red bean paste (25g)

Char Siew Roast Chicken

• fill the dough with char siew chicken (25g). See here for recipe.

Foodnote: I have always wanted to learn to make steamed pao and finally had the opportunity to learn to make it myself. The best part is this recipe does not use any chemical and the buns are so nice and soft. The actual recipe when we tried in school is using Prima Ivory White flour but that can only be bought in big 25kg. Advice from the chef is that the best alternative is Prima plain flour in blue packaging. The yeast and baking powder... also must use the recommended ones eerr ok ok.

Anyway we made 3 types of pao: plain mantou, longevity bun and brown sugar pao. Shaping the longevity bun is quite challenging and the final shape just look like butt ahahaha. The brown sugar pao was made by just replacing the sugar. 1g of yeast was added to speed up proofing. It tasted... ok lah. Can't really taste the brown sugar hhmmm... 

Okie dokie... can't wait to practice it myself and make varieties of fillings like red bean or curry potato or dry sambal ikan bilis yum yum.