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Mantou

Name: Plain steamed mantou
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Yield: 8 buns
Cuisine: China: Northern and general
Ingredients: 300 g plain (all-purpose) flour; 1.5 tsp instant yeast; 1 tbsp sugar; 160 ml lukewarm water (about 35 °C); 1 tbsp neutral oil

馒头mántou

DLDated textFamily A · East Asian wheat-wrapper

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History

Jin-dynasty records; originally filled; Zhuge Liang legend

Where

OriginNorth China · approximate · Han

Sources

This entry is drawn from the World Dumpling Atlas, §6.1, the project's source report. Its grade, D dated text, says how far that has been checked against a primary source. How grading works.

Plain steamed mantou

8 bunsPrep 30 min · Cook 20 mineasyFold: none

Ingredients for 4

Dough

300 gplain (all-purpose) flour
1.5 tspinstant yeast
1 tbspsugar (optional; northern home mantou are often unsweetened)
160 mllukewarm water (about 35 °C)
1 tbspneutral oil

Method

Stir the yeast and sugar into the water and leave 5 minutes. · timer 5 min
Pour it into the flour and mix to a shaggy dough, then add the oil.
Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is very smooth and elastic. Add a few drops of water only if it is too stiff to knead. · timer 10 min
Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1½ hours. · timer 75 min
Knock the dough back and knead again for 3–5 minutes to push out the air; this is what gives a fine, white crumb. · timer 5 min
Roll into a log about 4 cm thick and cut 8 pieces with a sharp knife (or shape each into a smooth round).
Set the buns on squares of baking paper in a steamer, well apart. Cover and leave until 1½ times their size, 20–30 minutes. · timer 25 min
Put the steamer over cold water, bring to the boil on high heat, then lower to medium and steam 15 minutes. · timer 15 min
Turn off the heat and wait 5 minutes before lifting the lid, so the buns don't collapse. · timer 5 min

Notes. Mantou are unfilled steamed wheat bread, the everyday staple of northern China; filled versions are called baozi in most of China (though Shanghai and Jiangnan still call filled buns mantou). Jin-dynasty writers already describe steamed wheat buns. Some recipes add baking powder for extra lift or milk for a softer, sweeter bun; older households use a piece of saved sourdough (laomian) instead of dried yeast, neutralised with a little lye water. Leftovers reheat by steaming for 5 minutes, or are sliced and fried.

Written for the atlas from several sources, cross-checked: Chinese Steamed Buns (Mantou Recipe), Elaine (China Sichuan Food); All-Purpose Chinese Steamed Bun Dough (Man Tou), The Woks of Life (Leung family). Not yet kitchen-tested.

History sources are from the atlas and not yet independently checked.

Family A