Steamed oat milk bun/ mantou 奶香燕麦蒸包/馒头

The lil' fella loves pau. Whenever we're out having breakfast at a place that serves pau, if he sees the pau, he'll be making noises, wanting the pau eagerly. But interestingly, he doesn't like the pau's filling, be it savory or sweet. He'll make sure he doesn't eat any bit of the filling. I ended up walloping the filling while he savor his pau. So for today's breakfast, I made him his favorite pau using a soft and fluffy mantou recipe I've previously tried out. It was originally a recipe for soymilk pumpkin bun with red bean filling. But I didn't use the pumpkin puree nor the soymilk this time. Neither did I have any filling for it. I just made it plain with milk and rolled oat soaked in fresh milk. It turned out surprisingly fragrant. It smells a little like custard bun even though this recipe hasnt got any egg nor butter (I replaced the butter with rice bran oil).

I left him with his breakfast while I prep up other stuffs in the kitchen. When I went back to check on him (in just less than 5 minutes), he had already finished up everything, including the chopped banana. It shows he really loves his steamed bun. Guess I'm making more steamed bun for breakfast this week.

Here's the recipe

Recipe modified and translated from Carol.

*old dough 100g (see following for preparation of old dough) *I did this step too, according to her, it improves the fragrance and texture to great extent. But I had to leave mine in room temperature for about 3hours for it to double its size. It didn't proof when in the fridge.

*300g Cake flour/  superfine flour (I didn't use pau flour, cos I went through the ingredient list, it already contain sugar, shortening etc in it, I didn't want it. I wanted to adjust my own)

*1tsp Instant active yeast

*100g Fresh milk (lukewarm) 

*3tbsp rolled oat in 50g fresh milk (soaked for at least 15min)  

*30g Brown sugar

*1/8tsp Salt

*50g Rice Bran Oil

Preparation of old dough

*120g all purpose flour 

*1/2 tsp instant active yeast 

*80g warm water  

*pinch of salt 

1. Place all ingredients in a bowl and knead till it becomes a smooth dough (about a few minutes, max). 
2. Cover bowl with cling film and let proof for 6-8hours under room temperature, or let proof in fridge until the next day.  

• Old dough that is not used up can be kept in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer for at least 1 month. Thaw before use. 

 Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and knead. I used my Donlim breadmaker to knead. Knead until the dough is stretchy and has smooth surface (about 10min in my bread machine).

2. Leave to proof in an oiled bowl till it double its size. (i did this in the bread machine using the Proofing mode)  

3. On a floured surface, punch the risen dough to knock out all the trapped gas.

4. Using a rolling pin, roll into a thin flat dough. Roll up like rolling up a swiss roll  

5. Cut into 10 equal pieces. (I made some into bun some, since he loves the round bun)

7. Place onto non-stick parchment paper.

8. Let proof for another 30-40min.

9. Steam in vigorously boiling water for about 12min. Wrap the lid with a tea towel to prevent the condensate from dropping back onto the pau, which will uglify the outlook. Do not open the lid right away. Let cool gently so that the skin of the pau wont turn wrinkly.