Steamer
A steamer cooks food above heated water under a cover. The broad term includes improvised pot-and-rack setups, metal tiers and basket steamers; individual forms have different designs and uses.
Modern method
Mantou (The Woks of Life all-purpose dough)
Man tou · mantou · Chinese steamed buns · Chinese steamed bun dough
Plain wheat mantou made with yeast and baking powder, then proofed and steamed in a lined basket.
Plain mantou for a northern Chinese table
Mantou is a plain, wheat-based bun cooked with steam. This source-specific dough uses all-purpose flour, instant yeast, baking powder, sugar and lukewarm water. It makes a soft, shaped bun that can accompany a meal in place of rice or be eaten on its own. The recipe card serves ten, although the method leaves individual bun size and the final count to the cook.
The article places mantou in everyday Beijinger meals and describes a broad contrast between northern preference for noodles and mantou and southern preference for rice. That is useful serving context for this Chinese version, not proof of an exclusive regional origin. The recipe page describes this dough as a plain, all-purpose base that can lead to other buns and snacks. It gives no dated first attestation, so this record does not assign a historical date or birthplace.
Sources for this section
Mix and proof a smooth dough
The dry ingredients are combined first so the yeast, baking powder and sugar spread through the flour. Lukewarm water is then kneaded in until the dough becomes smooth. The recipe gives no kneading duration or water temperature, so none is supplied. Covering the dough with a cloth for about two hours gives the yeast time to expand it before shaping.
Raw flour can carry harmful germs. CDC says not to taste raw dough, recommends cooking flour-containing dough according to the recipe and asks cooks to wash their hands and clean utensils and surfaces after handling flour. The page's two-hour rise is retained as written; this safety note does not treat the rise as a cooking step or a validated endpoint.
Sources for this section
Shape, steam and serve
After the first rise, roll the dough into a log and cut equal pieces. Mantou size varies with the cook's choice, so the source does not prescribe a fixed diameter or count in the method. Leave about two inches between pieces in a metal steamer lined with cheesecloth; a bamboo steamer is also suitable. Cover the shaped buns and let them rise for another fifteen minutes before steaming.
The source starts the steamer at medium-high heat and steams the buns for twenty minutes. It gives no measured temperature, water amount or internal-temperature endpoint; those omissions are kept visible rather than filled with generic values. Serve the buns after steaming. The source suggests steaming them again for about five minutes if reheating is needed and warns that a microwave dries them out, but it gives no storage guidance.
Sources for this section
History
The recipe page describes mantou as a plain Chinese steamed bun and a staple in Beijingers' meals, with a broader association across northern Chinese foodways. It does not date the food's earliest history or identify a precise birthplace.
Ingredients
Yield 10 servings · Scaling: source batch only
946 mL4 cup as recorded
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
9.9 mL2 tsp as recorded
Waterlukewarm
296 mL1¼ cup as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour and dough before steaming
The dough contains uncooked flour before steaming. Do not taste the raw dough.
Hazard sourceCook the flour-containing dough by steaming as directed; keep raw flour separate from ready-to-eat food and clean hands and equipment after handling.
Control sourceDo not taste raw dough. The flour remains uncooked until the buns are steamed.
The source gives a 20-minute steam time and medium-high heat, but no measured steamer temperature or internal endpoint.
The page offers a five-minute steaming method for reheating, but gives no storage instructions.
- Mix the all-purpose flour, instant yeast, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add 1¼ cups lukewarm water and knead until the ingredients form a smooth dough. The source gives no kneading time.
- Cover the dough with a cloth and leave it to rise for about two hours.
- Roll the dough into a log. Cut it into equal pieces; the source leaves bun size and the number of pieces to the cook.
- Line a metal steamer with cheesecloth, or use a bamboo steamer. Arrange the buns about 2 inches apart.
- Cover the steamer and let the shaped buns rise for another 15 minutes.
- Turn the heat to medium-high and steam the buns for 20 minutes.
- Serve. To reheat, steam again for about 5 minutes; the source cautions that microwaving dries them out.
Conditions
Yield10 servings
Places
China
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe recipe page presents mantou as Chinese steamed buns and describes the dish broadly; it does not identify a single birthplace.
Northern China
Documented use · Region evidenceThe page associates mantou with northern Chinese staple preferences, in contrast to rice preference in the south.
Beijing
Documented use · Locality evidenceThe author describes mantou as a staple in Beijingers' diets. This is a documented use association, not an origin claim.
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Sources
The Woks of LifeRecipe · Geographic context
All-Purpose Chinese Steamed Bun Dough (Man Tou)Recipe card serves 10 and lists 4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tsp instant yeast, 2 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp sugar and 1¼ cups lukewarm water.
Method kneads a smooth dough, covers it for an approximately two-hour rise, shapes a log into equal pieces of cook-chosen size, spaces pieces about 2 inches apart in a lined metal or bamboo steamer, proofs 15 minutes, then steams 20 minutes at medium-high heat.
For reheating, the recipe suggests steaming for about five minutes and warns that microwave reheating dries the buns; it gives no storage advice.
The page describes mantou as a staple in Beijingers' diets and says northern Chinese people often prefer noodles and mantou, while southern Chinese people often prefer rice. It does not date an origin.
Cited in: Plain mantou for a northern Chinese table; Mix and proof a smooth dough; Shape, steam and serve
Centers for Disease Control and PreventionFood safety guidance
Raw Flour and DoughUncooked flour can carry germs; do not taste raw dough; cook flour-containing dough according to recipe/package directions and wash hands, utensils, bowls and surfaces after handling raw flour.
Cited in: Mix and proof a smooth dough