Pumpkin & Date Flowering Buns
南瓜枣开花馒头
English: Pumpkin & Red Date Flowering Buns
Chinese: 南瓜枣开花馒头
Pinyin: nan gua zao kai hua mantou
Literal: Pumpkin red date (jujube) flowering steamed buns
Another pumpkin recipe. It’s autumn and pumpkins are everywhere. The vegetable garden has nothing left now except huge long pumpkins and winter melons defying the laws of gravity as they hang like extravagant baubles from branches. Pumpkin, known as the ‘Southern squash’ in Chinese, doesn’t make its way into too many savoury dishes, instead cooks use it as a natural sweetener in doughs, purees and cakes. It might seem a bit strange to make a dough like this without water, but the steamed pumpkin puree is enough to keep it moist.
These buns are poetically known as ‘flowering’ or ‘blooming’ buns because the folding technique results in the buns ‘blooming’ as they steam, that is, opening out like a flower bud. The final texture is far more interesting than a simple steamed bun (like manto) - it tears nicely along the folds. In a Northern meal, these would be served instead of rice or noodles, alongside a few dishes of meat and vegetables, perfect for keeping the chilly autumn evenings at bay.
Makes 6 buns
Ingredients
250g medium gluten flour
180g pumpkin
5g sugar
2.5g salt
3g dried yeast
10g oil
35g red dates - roughly chopped
3.5g baking soda
2ml water (for the baking soda)
Method
Peel the pumpkin, remove the seeds and inner flesh and then slice thinly. Steam the pumpkin for 8-10 minutes, or until very soft. Remove from the steamer, mash to a puree, and let cool for a little bit. (Note: larger pumpkins tend to be wetter in China. If your puree is looking a bit dry, add a few drops of water. If you tilt the bowl, the puree should slide).
Measure out the flour, sugar, salt and dried yeast to a mixing bowl. When the pumpkin is warm but no longer hot, add to the dough and mix with a pair of chopsticks until the dough looks lumpy. Then bring the dough together with your hands. After 1-2 minutes it will form into a ball. Tip in onto your work surface and knead for 5-10 minutes. Bring it into a ball, then place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with a cloth or plastic bag and leave for about an hour, or until doubled in size.
Mix the baking soda with the 2ml of water. Pour over the dough and work it into the dough. The dough might become a bit wet and sloppy so sprinkle a bit of flour over if necessary. Once it’s dry enough, tip out onto a floured surface, flatten the dough and pour over the red dates. Knead the dough again for a solid 8-10 minutes。
Roll the dough into a sausage about 50cm long. Cut the sausage into 6 pieces, each weighing roughly 80g. Shape a piece of dough into a rough round, and then pinch one side of the dough and pull it up to the centre and push it onto the top. Pinch again and again and again, moving clockwise around the bun, pulling up and to the top, up and to the top until the bun feels tight. To finish the bun, push your finger down in the centre, leaving a deep dimple. Repeat with all the buns.
Place the buns on small squares on baking paper. Cover all of them with some plastic wrap and let them rise for about 10-20 minutes. You don’t want to leave them too long here, otherwise they will lose their flowering effect, just enough for them to wake up a bit.
Add the buns to the steamer and cook for 15 minutes.
Eat when still hot and steaming. If you want to reheat them, pop them back into a steamer for a few minutes.
