Recipe of the Week | Sourdough Steam Buns

Guest Blogger - Jul 13, '22 - Recipe of the Week - Recipes

Sourdough Steam Buns by Esther

"I am a teenage sourdough starter baker hobbyist. (Meaning I’ve never made a sourdough but always use it to make loaves or discard recipes.) This is a recipe that I converted to cups from a YouTube video in grams. This recipe is in an 1:2 ratio of sourdough starter (flour part) to flour (in dough) to suit my young starter that I just created two weeks and a half ago. You can make the sourdough starter in 10-20% of the flour as well if yours is more mature. The total amount of flour used to make these buns is 300g or 2 cups + 2 tbsp." - Esther

Ingredients

Sourdough Starter:
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp + 1 tsp flour
5 tbsp water

Dough:
1 1/4 cups + 2tbsp + 2tsp all purpose flour (may need to add an additional tsp-tbsp of flour as needed for the right consistency)
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
Sourdough starter from above
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp of milk or yeast water
2 tbsp softened butter
1.5-2 tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Feed the sourdough starter the night before with only a teaspoon to a tablespoon left in your jar or container.
2. The next morning, beat one room temperature egg with the salt, milk/yeast water, sugar, then lastly add the sourdough starter. Add the flour and incorporate until a scraggly dough is form then add the softened butter and knead until it passes the window pane test. It took me about 18 minutes to knead by hand. But I’ve tried kneading for 7 minutes by hand, it still yields good results except it’s a bit dense.
3. Rest for 15-20 minutes (while the dough rests, I butter or oil the pan. An 8 or 9 inch round cake pan is fine. I’ve had success using a pie tin:))
4. Divide it in to 8 equal pieces and shape each into a round ball. And place into the pan, seven on the side, one in the middle. Or all eight balls of dough form a circle with no dough in the center.
5. Use your large mixing bowl, turn it upside down to cover the pan and bulk proof until double in size. Takes around 2-4 hours depending on your room temperature.
6. Prepare your steamer. Choose a deep pot, avoid using a pan, as the rising of the bread during steaming may touch the lid .Use a cheesecloth folded in half or any towel or clean, old clothes large enough to cover the inside of the lid and have extra to tie on the handle side of the lid. This prevents condensed water dropping down into the bread and make it soggy. Put a 2 inch high rack at the bottom of the pot and put in about 2 quarts or liters of water. Put in the pan of dough and cover the lid to steam for 35-40 minutes on medium heat after the water has come to a boil. Wait for 5 minutes after turning off the heat before opening the lid.
7. Take the pan out and cool for 15 minutes before taking the pan out and then continue to cool it on a cooling rack. You may find some buns flattening after opening the lid because there’s an air bubble inside surface of the bun.
8. Enjoy! The result is a soft and subtly sweet bun. You can make your own variation by stuffing it with raisins and/or cheese. It tastes better after one night. Store in a ziploc bag with a little bit of the bag unsealed to vent. Lasts two to three days in room temperature. I suppose you can freeze it, but I’ve never tried. It gets eaten too quickly for freezing.

Yields

One loaf of 8 buns or dinner rolls

Want us to feature your recipe on our blog and social media platforms? Click here!

Next: Recipe of the Week | Ensalada de Nopales (Cactus Pads Salad)