Manapua Recipes

Steps:

• Make the bao dough: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, vegetable oil and ⅓ cup warm water and stir to combine. Slowly add the remaining 2 tablespoons of water, mixing constantly. Knead the dough in the bowl until smooth and well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
• Make the char siu filling: Dice the onion and chop the char sui into ½-inch pieces.
• In a medium bowl, stir together the char siu sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar.
• In a medium nonstick pan, sauté the onion over medium-low heat until translucent, 1 minute. Add the chopped char siu, sauce, and water. Stir to combine, then simmer until the sauce thickens, 2 minutes. Transfer the filling to a medium bowl and chill in the refrigerator for about 1 hour, until cool.
• After rising, punch the dough down and knead until it is back to its original size. On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into 5 48-gram balls. Flatten and roll out each portion, making sure the middle is thick while the sides are thin. Hold a dough round in the palm of your hand and add 36 grams of the char siu filling to the center. Use your other hand to pinch the edges of the dough together up and over the filling while rotating the bao in your hand.
• Place each bao on a small square of parchment paper. Set in a steamer basket, cover, and let rise for about 15 minutes, until slightly puffed, before steaming.
• Fill the bottom of a steamer or double boiler with water and bring to a boil. Add the steamer basket with the bao, cover, and steam for 15 minutes, then turn off the flame and let rest in the steamer for 5 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Dough: Mix dry ingredients together (including yeast).
• Add oil and water and mix well.
• Knead dough until smooth (about 10 minutes).
• Place in a large bowl; cover with a clean damp cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours.
• Filling: Mix together sherry, oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, sugar and cornstarch until free of lumps.
• Heat 1 T oil in a wok or pan over medium heat, add sausage and saute for 1 minute.
• Add vegetables and cook until crisp tender.
• Add liquid mixture and cook until thickened slightly.
• Cool before using.
• Divide manapua dough into 24 balls.
• Slightly flatten each ball, then roll out to 4-inch disks, leaving the center of the circle twice as thick as the sides.
• Place 1 T of filling in the center of the dough.
• Gather up the sides around the filling and twist dough to seal.
• Place with twisted side down on a 2-inch square piece of wax paper.
• Put buns 2 inches apart in a steamer and allow to rise for another hour.
• Steam for 15 minutes.
• If you prefer to bake the manapua, preheat oven to 350°.
• Set the buns 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.
• Brush with a mixture of 1 beaten egg, water and 1/4 tsp sugar.
• Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over 3 tablespoons lukewarm water and allow to stand until yeast softens.
• To remaining water, add oil or shortening, sugar and salt, stirring until melted or dissolved. Cool. Add yeast mixture.
• Place flour in a large mixing bowl or a heavy-duty mixer and add most of the liquid. Combine until flour incorporates liquid and starts to become a ball.
• Add remaining liquid to make a very heavy dough.
• Begin kneading the dough in the bowl. Continue kneading until you have a smooth ball that is beginning to show signs of long strands on the outside, indicating that the gluten has fully developed.
• Remove dough from bowl and rinse out bowl. Pour sesame oil into bowl, return dough and turn it around until covered with a thin layer of the oil.
• Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until double in bulk (about an hour in a warm room).
• Place the dough in the refrigerator and allow it to rise (3-6 hours). Punch it down again and allow it to rise again (3 hours).
• Proceed with the filling while the dough is rising. In a saute pan, stir cornstarch, hoisin sauce, dry sherry, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce and brown sugar into the 1 cup water until dissolved. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add char siu and simmer for 5 minutes. Take off heat and allow to cool completely. Chill covered until 1 hour before you are ready to stuff the manapua. Allow to return to room temperature before using.
• When ready to cook, cut 12 (3-inch) squares of waxed paper and coat 1 side with very light coat of nonstick cooking spray.
• Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each into a ball.
• Make the dough as thin as you can and try to keep the edges thinner than the center.
• Place the circle of dough in the palm of your hand. Spoon in a couple of tablespoons of filling, cupping the dough around it.
• With the thumb and finger of the other hand, pinch the edges of the dough as if you were making a fluted edging on a pie crust. Pinch the folds together, twisting them as you do so.
• Place the completed manapua on a square of greased waxed paper. Allow to plump up into a globe with a taut exterior.
• Heat a steamer with plenty of water or preheat an oven at 350 degrees F.
• If using steamer, fill steamer with manapua on their papers about 1 to 2 inches apart. Cover and steam vigorously for 15 minutes. Remove steamer from heat, let stand 5 minutes, then open. If using a metal steamer, place a folded tea towel across top of steamer, holding it in position with the lid. This will prevent steam from dropping onto manapua while steaming.
• If baking, place manapua on their papers on a baking sheet about 1-2 inches apart. Brush top of buns with a little vegetable oil and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand 1 minutes. Serve hot.
• Manapua can be frozen. Frozen bau may be reheated by wrapping with a paper towel and microwaving for 1 minute.