Bánh bao
Vietnamese steamed wheat buns wrapped around seasoned pork, mushrooms, Chinese sausage and hard-boiled quail eggs. This from-scratch version uses yeast and self-rising flour.
Modern method
Millet-flour mantou
小米面馒头 · millet mantou · millet-flour steamed buns · Xiaomi mian mantou
A yeast-raised mantou made with millet flour and wheat flour, hand-shaped and steamed. This measured home method uses a first rise to double, a second proof, and a covered rest after steaming.
A millet-flour mantou method
This entry follows a 2024 household recipe for 小米面馒头: millet-flour mantou. It combines 200 g millet flour with 400 g wheat flour, yeast, sugar, lard and water, then proofs and steams the shaped buns. The author says other grain flours can be used in separate variations; this version uses millet flour only and does not substitute another grain.
A separate community recipe uses steamed whole millet with a smaller amount of wheat flour, but its extra flour instruction is contradictory and it does not explain how to prepare the millet. That formula remains a separate research lead; none of its amounts or steps are mixed into this millet-flour batch.
Sources for this section
Mix and proof
Mix the measured millet flour, wheat flour, yeast, sugar and lard. Add the water and knead until smooth. Cover with a damp cloth and allow about two hours for the first rise, until the dough is at least twice its starting size. The recipe says summer conditions may shorten the rise to about one hour. It does not specify a temperature; room conditions affect the elapsed time.
Press much of the gas from the risen dough. Roll it into a rope, divide it into portions that fit in one hand, and shape them into buns. The source gives no exact portion weight or yield.
Sources for this section
Final proof and steaming
Place the buns in a steamer as they are shaped, cover and proof for about thirty minutes. Proof duration depends on temperature and humidity; the page gives no numeric conditions.
Bring the steamer water to a boil, then steam over high heat for fifteen minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the lid on for three minutes before lifting it. The recipe gives no separate storage instructions.
Sources for this section
History
The selected 2024 household page documents one millet-flour mantou method and says other grain flours may be used in separate versions. It does not identify a region or establish when millet mantou first appeared. This entry keeps the millet-flour formula separate from a community recipe for dough made with steamed whole millet.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Millet flour
200 g
Wheat flour
400 g
Dried yeast
5 g
Sugar
10 g
Lard
15 g
WaterAdd to form the dough.
300 g
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Boiling water and hot steam
The mantou steam over boiling water and are removed from a covered steamer while hot.
Hazard sourceUse care when lifting the steamer lid and removing the hot buns.
Control sourceThis version uses millet flour. It is not the other community method that steams whole millet before mixing it into the dough; those formulas are not combined.
The source calls for proofing by volume and gives no numeric proof temperature. Its room-condition observations are recipe cues, not a validated process limit.
The source does not report a yield count or a bun weight, so do not infer a scaling ratio from the hand-sized portions.
- Combine the millet flour, wheat flour, dried yeast, sugar and lard in a mixing bowl. Add the 300 g water and knead until the dough is smooth.
- Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it to rise for about two hours, until it has grown to at least twice its original size. The recipe notes that warm summer conditions may shorten this to about one hour; follow the volume cue rather than assuming one fixed time.
- Turn the risen dough onto a work surface and knead it to press out much of the gas. Roll it into a long rope, divide into portions roughly the size that fits in one hand, and shape each into a mantou. The source gives no portion weight or yield count.
- Place the buns in a steamer in the order they are shaped. Cover and proof for about 30 minutes.
- Bring the steamer water to a boil. Steam the buns over high heat for 15 minutes after the water is boiling and steam is flowing.
- Turn off the heat and leave the steamer covered for three minutes before removing the buns.
Conditions
Fermentation1–2 h
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
Unknown
Relationship not established · Place not establishedThe inspected household method does not identify a region or locality. The archive groups it among Chinese millet steamed breads, but no narrower place is established for this formula.
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Sources
Haizi.name; recipe author not identifiedRecipe · Process context
小米面馒头The 9 February 2024 page gives a single formula of 200 g millet flour, 400 g wheat flour, 5 g yeast, 10 g sugar, 15 g lard and 300 g water.
It kneads to a smooth dough, covers it with a damp cloth and gives an approximately two-hour first rise to at least double; a note says it may take about one hour in summer.
It shapes hand-sized buns, proofs them in a steamer for about 30 minutes, steams for 15 minutes after boiling/steam begins, then rests covered for three minutes.
The page notes that proof duration varies with temperature and humidity and gives no numeric temperature or exact bun yield.
The page says millet flour may be changed to other grain flours in other versions; those substitutions are not included here.
Cited in: A millet-flour mantou method; Mix and proof; Final proof and steaming
大厨网 (DaChu.co), community recipeProcess context
小米馒头的详细做法This separate community formula uses 100 g steamed whole millet, 100 g flour, 35 g water, 5 g sugar, 1.5 g yeast and a listed 40 g additional flour, but the method then says to knead in roughly half a container of rice flour.
It does not explain how to cook the millet or specify a first-proof duration, temperature or endpoint. It is retained as a distinct incomplete lead and is not combined with the millet-flour method selected for this recipe.
Cited in: A millet-flour mantou method