The nikuman 肉まん are steamed buns of Chinese origin and are very popular in Japan especially in combini (local supermarket). The Japanese have declined these buns by integrating typical Japanese ingredients such as sake, shoyu soy sauce and you will also find curry, bolognese flavor…
The nikuman are delicious, light in the mouth while being copious, soft and constitute an excellent snack for the afternoon. They are easy to make and are not too fatty.
Recipe nikuman steamed meat bun
Ingredients
For the paste:
- 300 g flour
- 20 g sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baker's yeast
- 170 ml hot water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the stuffing
- 3 shiitake mushrooms
- chives
- 200 g meat pork, ground beef, chicken...
- a little ginger
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp shoyu soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- pepper and salt
- spices such as curry, tonkatsu sauce, ketchup (optional)
Instructions
- If you have dried out shiitake mushrooms, I suggest soaking them for a whole morning to rehydrate them. You will then remember to dry them well before adding them to your stuffing.
- Let's start with the dough: Mix all the dry ingredients, flour, yeast, salt, sugar with a whisk. Make a well in the center and add your warm water. Mix by kneading with your hands, then add the oil. Mix well for at least 5 to 10 minutes to obtain a homogeneous paste. Reserve this dough in a container under plastic film and let it swell at least 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the stuffing: Finely chop your ingredients, meat, chives, mushrooms and add the seasonings salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, spices ... Mix and knead everything. If you have a food processor you can mix all these ingredients.
- Preparation of the nikuman: Once your dough has puffed up, knead it and cut it into 10 small balls. Roll out one of the balls with a rolling pin and insert the filling inside with a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop. Hold your dough and filling in the palm of your hand. Wet the edges with water. Using your other hand, fold the edges into the center, turning with your fingertips. Make sure the bun is closed, don't hesitate to pinch the center.
- The nikuman bun is ready, you can steam it by putting a film cooking in the bottom during 10 to 20 minutes. If you don't have a machine, you can make them in the microwave by moistening the nikuman and putting them in a dish with a paper film on the top. You can cook them at 600 watt for 6 minutes.
Tips and variations of the nikuman recipe:
Be careful the nikuman grow when they cook, you should not squeeze them too much. Also remember to space them out if you decide to freeze them. Being quite fond of the famous pizzaman (ピザまん) in Japan which is stuffed with pizza stuffing as you can guess, we made a variation in the stuffing by incorporating bacon, already cooked bacon, mozarella, ketchup and tonkatsu sauce without mixing them. And it is very good!
Don’t hesitate to vary your filling by adding spices, Chinese cabbage, other mushrooms, turmeric in the dough… You can also start on this basis but put in the stuffing anko (sweet red bean) in the filling and this bun is called anman.
