How do you steam store bought pork buns?

Steamed buns, known as baozi in China or nikuman in Japan, are commonly made from white flour dough and filled with a delectable centre containing cooked ground beef, pork or other ingredients.

The best way to have them is fresh from the steamer, when they’re deliciously hot, light and fluffy, but when that’s not possible you can always pick them up at the supermarket, although the only problem with that is, you’ll have to heat them up yourself.

While some people have bamboo steamers on hand to do the job nicely, more often than not it’s the humble microwave that people turn to for heating up their steamed buns. Although that’s definitely the fastest option, it’s sadly not the best, as this usually results in a soggy, lifeless bun with a tougher, gummier texture.

This loss in quality used to be par for the course in return for microwave convenience, but it’s something we won’t have to put up with any longer, thanks to a clever life hack from Twitter user Mugi Rice (@HG7654321).

Mugi Rice said a friend taught them this life hack a long time ago, and it’s so good it needs to be shared with everyone. So here it is: to take your microwaved nikuman from zero to hero, simply place it on top of a mug filled with about one centimeter of water and heat it in the microwave for two minutes.

While it’s a simple hack, the difference it makes is extraordinary, as the water inside the mug essentially acts like a steamer, heating the bun from underneath so it becomes light and fluffy instead of sticky and tough.

It didn’t take long for Mugi Rice’s cooking hack to go viral, with over 54,000 retweets and 208,000 likes.

People were full of praise for the DIY steamer idea, leaving comments like:

“This is the information I’ve been wanting! Thank you so much!”

“Omg why have I never thought of this before? This is genius!”

“I tried this hack and it made such a difference!”

“What a fantastic steamer! Thank you for this!”

“I’m never going to heat a nikuman on a plate ever again!”

Sometimes it’s the simple ideas that surprise everyone the most, and that’s definitely the case with this clever cooking hack.

Source: Twitter/@HG7654321 via Hachima Kikou

Insert images: Flickr/MIKI Yoshihito, Twitter/@HG7654321

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1. Pour water into a bowl. Sprinkle in yeast and let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 10 minutes. Add vegetable oil, sugar, and self-rising flour. Mix using a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough comes together.

2. Turn dough out onto your counter and knead into a smooth ball, about 10 minutes. Transfer dough ball into a lightly oiled bowl. Flip to lightly coat. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

3. Combine pork, green onions, cayenne pepper, sesame oil, and hoisin sauce in a separate bowl. Mix well and refrigerate.

4. Add a couple inches of water to a Dutch oven and set a bamboo steamer on top.

5. Poke dough down to deflate and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Cut dough in half and roll each half into a long tube. Divide each tube into 6 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and press into a disk. Roll each disk until about 1/8-inch thick and 4 to 5 inches wide. Roll out edges so they are slightly thinner than the center.

6. Transfer a spoonful of filling onto the center of each dough circle. Pinch edges together to form multiple small pleats, moistening edges with water if needed. Squeeze pleats together at the top to seal in the filling. Place pork buns on individual squares of parchment paper. Transfer them to the cold steamer, cover, and let proof until noticeably puffed, 30 to 45 minutes.

7. Bring the water in the Dutch oven to a boil over high heat. Set timer for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and leave buns covered for 15 minutes. Uncover and transfer to plate.

   Chef John

Chef's Notes:

If you don't have self-rising flour, you can use 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted with 3 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon fine table salt.

You can season the filling with sugar and salt or soy sauce. You may have some filling left over.

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