The Art of Making Steamed Buns and Sesame Rolls: A Step-by-Step Guide

As we begin our journey to make these delicious steamed buns and sesame rolls, it's essential to start with the basics. The key to achieving the perfect texture and flavor lies in understanding the techniques involved in shaping and proofing these delicate pastries.

First, let's start with making a pair of steamed buns. To begin, take a piece of dough and flatten it slightly into a rectangle shape. Place two tablespoons of scallion mixture on one half of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges. Brush the edges with water and fold the other half over to form a triangle. Press the edges together to seal the bun, making sure there are no gaps or loose threads.

To press the bun right, place a chopstick in the middle and gently twist it until you feel the dough compress evenly. Hold two sides of the bun and pull it slightly, making sure not to stretch or tear the dough. This will create a smooth, even surface for your steamed bun. You can also pinch two ends together to connect them and hold the shape in place.

Now that we have our steamed buns ready, let's move on to the sesame rolls. To make these, you'll need some warm water, parchment paper or oil to prevent sticking, a rack, and of course, the essential ingredients: butter, sesame seeds, sugar, and flour.

First, prepare your room temperature butter by softening it in advance. This will ensure that it's at the perfect consistency for spreading evenly on the dough. If you forget to soften your butter, you'll waste a lot of time, so make sure to plan ahead!

Next, sprinkle sesame seeds onto a baking pan and toast them lightly over low heat until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the seeds, as this will ruin their delicate flavor. Once toasted, let the sesame seeds cool down to room temperature, allowing them to become smooth and even.

Now that our sesame seeds are ready, blend them into a fine powder with 3 tablespoons of sugar or to taste. This will give your sesame rolls an authentic flavor and aroma. Be sure to shake the mixture well to ensure it's evenly distributed.

To assemble the sesame rolls, roll out the dough into a large sheet and divide it into 12 even pieces. Use a chopstick to press each piece down in the middle, making sure not to compress too much. Hold two sides of the dough together and pull it gently until you see the seam form.

Now that we have our sesame rolls ready, let's move on to proofing them. We'll place them on a cutting board, divide them into pairs, and then use a chopstick to press each pair together in the middle. Hold two sides of the dough together and pull it gently until you see the seam form.

To ensure even proofing, we need to use steam. Place the sesame rolls in a steamer basket or directly on the rack, leaving some space between them as they will grow bigger during proofing. Cover the steamer with a lid and place it over boiling water.

The scallion rolls will take about 1 hour and 20 minutes to proof, while the sesame rolls will need around 10 minutes less time. To check on the scallion rolls, simply lift the lid and gently press on one of them; if it feels slightly soft but still firm, they're ready.

Now that our steamed buns and sesame rolls are ready, let's talk about assembling the final product. Once the proofing time is up, quickly remove the steamer from the heat source and turn off the lid to prevent steam from building up inside.

For the scallion rolls, simply open the lid of the steamer and gently lift out the buns using a spatula or tongs. You can see how fluffy they are when you squeeze them tightly and then release!

Next, prepare your sesame rolls by sprinkling a pinch of sesame seed mixture onto each bun. Be careful not to overdo it, as too much sesame can overpower the delicate flavor of the dough.

Finally, let's talk about serving these delicious pastries. They're perfect for breakfast, and you can easily find them at street food stalls in cities throughout China. You can also enjoy them with a cup of soy milk or juice, which provides a nice complement to their rich flavors.

As always, don't forget to click the link in the description to access the printable recipe. And if you have any questions or need further clarification on the steps involved in making these delicious steamed buns and sesame rolls, leave me a comment below.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone welcome to soup top recipes a lot of you already know about about steamed buns they're soft and fluffy have delicious filling inside but not that many people know about hua jian it's like steamed buns but instead of putting filling inside we apply seasoning on it and make it into a roll today i will show you two different flavors the scallion with salt and pepper flavor and the sweet sesame flavor they're so fun and easy to make let's get started in a big mixing bowl add 500 grams of all-purpose flour and 2 tsp of baking powder use a spatula and give them a rough mix speaking about all-purpose flour i found that the all-purpose flour in china contains a higher percentage of protein compared to the brands in u.s that does make a difference in texture this is what i'm using today i know it's a korean brand that is because i couldn't find any chinese brand around where i live and this one works the best out of all the brands and typeset that i have tried it makes nice and fluffy white buns it's easier for you guys to get too i will link this product in the description of course if you don't have excess regular all-purpose flour will also work this is 300 grams of whole milk you can use water if you prefer but both of the flavors that i'm making today are so simple a little milky taste would be a great addition to that we will add 2 tbsp of sugar it will not make the buns sweet even though 2 tbsp looks like a lot but compared to 500 grams of flour it ends up providing a very light taste the purpose here is to feed the yeast you just stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved and that the yeast should be well distributed pour this into the flour using spatula quickly give it a pre-mix i will use a kitchenaid to do the kneading put it at fourth speed let it run for 10 minutes if you don't have a kitchenaid and you want to know how to knead the dough by hand you can check my chinese steamed pork buns recipe i will link that video in the description 10 minutes later the dough should have a nice elastic looking take it out and knead it on the working surface the machine already did most of the job you just need less than a minute to make it into a round smooth the o cover it let it rest for 10 minutes this is not proofing this is to let the gluten relax after all that kneading the protein chains are stretched and intense you cannot roll it flat because it will resist you and bounce back give it 10 minutes it should be much more softer and pliable flatten it with your hands first we want to roll it into a rectangle sheet this is how i do it get a long rolling pin and roll the dough towards four directions the dough might be sticky feel free to sprinkle some flour keep rolling the sheets toward four directions which will be the angles of the rectangle soon your sheet should look something like this the edges are not straight yet you just roll it a few more times in the middle and it will be perfect the size is about 15 times 18 inches the thickness is about a quarter of an inch as i mentioned before we're making two flavors today so we will divide it into two even pieces you just fold it in half and cut it along the mark cover one half with a plastic wrap so it doesn't get dry while you're working with the other piece now let's make the scallion flavor roast drizzle some toasted sesame oil about two to three teaspoon apply it evenly this is xiaoyen which means salt and pepper it's homemade you just lightly sprinkle it onto the sheet you can use regular salt and pepper or a mix of salt and five spice powder if you have time you can make zhao yin at home it's very easy 2 tbsp of coarse sea salt 2 tbsp of sichuan peppercorns 1 tablespoon of white peppercorns toast them on low heat for a few minutes be careful don't burn them let them cool back to room temperature put them in a blender and grind it into a fine powder if you've been watching my show you probably noticed that i have used this jalen in a couple of my recipes such as taiwanese popcorn chicken crispy fried chicken wings xiao yang works great on deep fried crispy food besides that you can also use it as an all-purpose seasoning okay let's get back to the scallion rolls again if you don't have jalion you can use regular salt and pepper or a mix of salt and five spice powder next sprinkle some diced scallion this reminds me of the scallion pancake set because the ingredients are similar except the scallion pancakes are pan-fried roughly eyeball two straight lines this divides the sheet into three even parts lengthwise then fold it over pack it tight fold it again and press it down put it on a cutting board divide this into 12 even parts pile two pieces together use a chopstick to press it right in the middle then hold two sides and pull it a little bit make a twist bend it around your forefinger pinch two ends and connect them together there you go you just keep doing that until finished this is my steamer i put some warm water in it which helps the proofing place the rack in use parchment paper or apply some oil on the rack to prevent sticking put all the scallion rolls in leave some space between them because they will grow bigger put on the lid let it proof for one and a half hour now we should quickly move on to the next flavor because i want them to have almost the same amount of proofing time this is room temperature butter remember to soften your butter in advance if you forget you will waste a lot of time while the scallion rolls are proving i switched to a brush because i feel like it's easier to even out the butter sprinkle some sesame sugar powder i made it in advance very easy you just toast two and a half tablespoon of sesame seeds in a cast iron skillet on low heat if the sesame seeds you bought is already toasted you can skip this step in a few minutes you should be able to smell the nuttiness and it should be lightly smoking quickly put it into a baking pan you do need a wide open container to let the seeds cool down to room temperature or else the rest of the heat will burn the sesame let me show you the difference between raw and roasted sesame the raw ones are flat and if you look at the toasted side they are rounded it's kind of like the sesame seed with a fat stomach it's a bit hard to show on the camera but if you have both in hand you will see the difference it helps you to identify the sesame seed in the store because sometimes they don't tell you on the package okay put it into a blender along with 3 tbsp of sugar or to taste blend them into a powder form the sesame seeds will produce some oil so you might need to shake it to get it even this is how it's supposed to look do not taste it or else you would just snack on its own like i often do okay let's continue to sprinkle it onto the sheet even it out we just need a thin layer if you put too much it won't hold on to the rose while steaming anyway same as before fold the sheet lengthwise pack it tight do that twice put it on the cutting board divide it into 12 even pieces this time i will show you a different way to make the roll pile two pieces together use a chopstick to press it down in the middle hold two sides and pull it you don't need to make a twist here just bend it put the chopstick right through the curve just like that make a twist and then press the chopstick down against the cutting board pull it out look how beautiful that is besides steam buns you can also use these little techniques when making bread you know be creative we're gonna let the sesame rolls proof in the steamer as well i decided to switch the scallion rose to be on the top rack since the sesame rolls have about 10 minutes less proofing time i will put them at the bottom it's closer to the warm water put on the lid let this continue to proof for 1 hour and 20 minutes this should be one and a half times bigger don't forget to check the second rack they look ready too if you see that the surface is a bit moist that's just the sugar and the butter is melting a little bit it's normal put on the lid turn the heat to high when the water comes to a boil let it continue steaming for 15 minutes 15 minutes later turn off the heat do not open the lid immediately let it sit for another 5 minutes this is an exciting moment they look so nice let's take one i will show you how fluffy it is squeeze it tightly and then let go it will return to normal in a few seconds the rows have good structure no matter how you play with it they always get back to normal open it you can see it has lots of layers they are packed with flavors it's just simply delicious and the sesame roll it's so nutty nice and sweet we usually eat this as breakfast i know you might think it takes too long to make it for breakfast well in china you don't make it at home because every corner of the street in the cities have this you can just grab it on the way to work another item that goes with this often is soy milk i didn't have soy milk today a cup of juice is just as good i hope you give this a try soon if you did leave me a comment let me know how it goes as always you can click the link in the description and find the printable recipe thank you for watching and i'll see you next time byehi everyone welcome to soup top recipes a lot of you already know about about steamed buns they're soft and fluffy have delicious filling inside but not that many people know about hua jian it's like steamed buns but instead of putting filling inside we apply seasoning on it and make it into a roll today i will show you two different flavors the scallion with salt and pepper flavor and the sweet sesame flavor they're so fun and easy to make let's get started in a big mixing bowl add 500 grams of all-purpose flour and 2 tsp of baking powder use a spatula and give them a rough mix speaking about all-purpose flour i found that the all-purpose flour in china contains a higher percentage of protein compared to the brands in u.s that does make a difference in texture this is what i'm using today i know it's a korean brand that is because i couldn't find any chinese brand around where i live and this one works the best out of all the brands and typeset that i have tried it makes nice and fluffy white buns it's easier for you guys to get too i will link this product in the description of course if you don't have excess regular all-purpose flour will also work this is 300 grams of whole milk you can use water if you prefer but both of the flavors that i'm making today are so simple a little milky taste would be a great addition to that we will add 2 tbsp of sugar it will not make the buns sweet even though 2 tbsp looks like a lot but compared to 500 grams of flour it ends up providing a very light taste the purpose here is to feed the yeast you just stir to make sure the sugar is dissolved and that the yeast should be well distributed pour this into the flour using spatula quickly give it a pre-mix i will use a kitchenaid to do the kneading put it at fourth speed let it run for 10 minutes if you don't have a kitchenaid and you want to know how to knead the dough by hand you can check my chinese steamed pork buns recipe i will link that video in the description 10 minutes later the dough should have a nice elastic looking take it out and knead it on the working surface the machine already did most of the job you just need less than a minute to make it into a round smooth the o cover it let it rest for 10 minutes this is not proofing this is to let the gluten relax after all that kneading the protein chains are stretched and intense you cannot roll it flat because it will resist you and bounce back give it 10 minutes it should be much more softer and pliable flatten it with your hands first we want to roll it into a rectangle sheet this is how i do it get a long rolling pin and roll the dough towards four directions the dough might be sticky feel free to sprinkle some flour keep rolling the sheets toward four directions which will be the angles of the rectangle soon your sheet should look something like this the edges are not straight yet you just roll it a few more times in the middle and it will be perfect the size is about 15 times 18 inches the thickness is about a quarter of an inch as i mentioned before we're making two flavors today so we will divide it into two even pieces you just fold it in half and cut it along the mark cover one half with a plastic wrap so it doesn't get dry while you're working with the other piece now let's make the scallion flavor roast drizzle some toasted sesame oil about two to three teaspoon apply it evenly this is xiaoyen which means salt and pepper it's homemade you just lightly sprinkle it onto the sheet you can use regular salt and pepper or a mix of salt and five spice powder if you have time you can make zhao yin at home it's very easy 2 tbsp of coarse sea salt 2 tbsp of sichuan peppercorns 1 tablespoon of white peppercorns toast them on low heat for a few minutes be careful don't burn them let them cool back to room temperature put them in a blender and grind it into a fine powder if you've been watching my show you probably noticed that i have used this jalen in a couple of my recipes such as taiwanese popcorn chicken crispy fried chicken wings xiao yang works great on deep fried crispy food besides that you can also use it as an all-purpose seasoning okay let's get back to the scallion rolls again if you don't have jalion you can use regular salt and pepper or a mix of salt and five spice powder next sprinkle some diced scallion this reminds me of the scallion pancake set because the ingredients are similar except the scallion pancakes are pan-fried roughly eyeball two straight lines this divides the sheet into three even parts lengthwise then fold it over pack it tight fold it again and press it down put it on a cutting board divide this into 12 even parts pile two pieces together use a chopstick to press it right in the middle then hold two sides and pull it a little bit make a twist bend it around your forefinger pinch two ends and connect them together there you go you just keep doing that until finished this is my steamer i put some warm water in it which helps the proofing place the rack in use parchment paper or apply some oil on the rack to prevent sticking put all the scallion rolls in leave some space between them because they will grow bigger put on the lid let it proof for one and a half hour now we should quickly move on to the next flavor because i want them to have almost the same amount of proofing time this is room temperature butter remember to soften your butter in advance if you forget you will waste a lot of time while the scallion rolls are proving i switched to a brush because i feel like it's easier to even out the butter sprinkle some sesame sugar powder i made it in advance very easy you just toast two and a half tablespoon of sesame seeds in a cast iron skillet on low heat if the sesame seeds you bought is already toasted you can skip this step in a few minutes you should be able to smell the nuttiness and it should be lightly smoking quickly put it into a baking pan you do need a wide open container to let the seeds cool down to room temperature or else the rest of the heat will burn the sesame let me show you the difference between raw and roasted sesame the raw ones are flat and if you look at the toasted side they are rounded it's kind of like the sesame seed with a fat stomach it's a bit hard to show on the camera but if you have both in hand you will see the difference it helps you to identify the sesame seed in the store because sometimes they don't tell you on the package okay put it into a blender along with 3 tbsp of sugar or to taste blend them into a powder form the sesame seeds will produce some oil so you might need to shake it to get it even this is how it's supposed to look do not taste it or else you would just snack on its own like i often do okay let's continue to sprinkle it onto the sheet even it out we just need a thin layer if you put too much it won't hold on to the rose while steaming anyway same as before fold the sheet lengthwise pack it tight do that twice put it on the cutting board divide it into 12 even pieces this time i will show you a different way to make the roll pile two pieces together use a chopstick to press it down in the middle hold two sides and pull it you don't need to make a twist here just bend it put the chopstick right through the curve just like that make a twist and then press the chopstick down against the cutting board pull it out look how beautiful that is besides steam buns you can also use these little techniques when making bread you know be creative we're gonna let the sesame rolls proof in the steamer as well i decided to switch the scallion rose to be on the top rack since the sesame rolls have about 10 minutes less proofing time i will put them at the bottom it's closer to the warm water put on the lid let this continue to proof for 1 hour and 20 minutes this should be one and a half times bigger don't forget to check the second rack they look ready too if you see that the surface is a bit moist that's just the sugar and the butter is melting a little bit it's normal put on the lid turn the heat to high when the water comes to a boil let it continue steaming for 15 minutes 15 minutes later turn off the heat do not open the lid immediately let it sit for another 5 minutes this is an exciting moment they look so nice let's take one i will show you how fluffy it is squeeze it tightly and then let go it will return to normal in a few seconds the rows have good structure no matter how you play with it they always get back to normal open it you can see it has lots of layers they are packed with flavors it's just simply delicious and the sesame roll it's so nutty nice and sweet we usually eat this as breakfast i know you might think it takes too long to make it for breakfast well in china you don't make it at home because every corner of the street in the cities have this you can just grab it on the way to work another item that goes with this often is soy milk i didn't have soy milk today a cup of juice is just as good i hope you give this a try soon if you did leave me a comment let me know how it goes as always you can click the link in the description and find the printable recipe thank you for watching and i'll see you next time bye\n"