KatyPerryVEVOlyrics71

Heavily influenced by the Chinese version of the bāozi, the manapua is a very widely popular treat in Hawaii.^[1] It's literal definition is either "pork pastry" or "mountain of pork," which might give you a little hint as to what's inside. Traditionally, manapua is made with char siu, or strips of barbecued pork; nowadays, you can fill manapua with almost anything, including vegetarian and vegan filling. Read on to find out how to make these delicious buns by either steaming them or baking them in your very own kitchen.

[Edit]Ingredients

[Edit]Manapua dough

1 package of dry yeast
of lukewarm water
of warm water
of cooking oil or shortening
1/4 cup (32 g) of sugar
3/4 tsp (3.7 g) of salt
6 cups (750 g) of sifted flour
of sesame oil

[Edit]Manapua filling

of water
2 tbsp (28 g) of cornstarch
2 tbsp (28 g) of sugar
1/2 tsp (2.5 g) of salt
of char siu, diced
1 to 2 drops of red food coloring (optional)

[Edit]Vegetarian / Vegan Filling

2 large portabella mushrooms
1 green onion
of soy sauce
{{convert|1|tsp|mL|abbr=on}] of sesame oil
of plum sauce
a dash of Five Spice

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Making the Dough

Pour of lukewarm water into a bowl and sprinkle yeast over it. From your sink, pour the lukewarm water into the bowl, then open up a package of yeast. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, then set the bowl to the side to allow the mixture to soften.^[2]
- Putting the yeast on top of the water will rehydrate it so you can actually use it in your recipe.
- You don't need to mix the yeast into the water (in fact, you shouldn't); just let the yeast absorb it naturally.
Combine sugar, salt, flour, and cooking oil with warm water. In a separate bowl, mix together of warm water, 1/4 cup (32 g) of sugar, 3/4 tsp (3.7 g) of salt, 6 cups (750 g) of sifted flour, and of cooking oil or shortening. Stir the mixture until all of the ingredients are dissolved, then set it to the side to let it cool down.^[3]
- Using warm water will combine your ingredients much faster than chilled water.
Add the yeast mixture to the bowl. Grab your bowl of yeast and water and pour it into the larger bowl, then mix it in just slightly. Make sure your mixture has cooled down to room temperature before you do this, though, or the yeast could be affected.^[4]
- The yeast is what combines your dough ingredients together and makes them fluffy.
Knead the dough in the bowl until it gets thick. Right now, your dough is probably looking pretty watery. To make it into an actual dough texture, keep your ingredients in the large bowl and use your hands to gently knead the mixture. You'll know it's ready when you can see long strands of dough on the outer layers.^[5]
- The long strands of dough on the outside means that the gluten bonds are starting to form.
Rinse the bowl and brush it with sesame oil. Take the dough out of the bowl and place it to the side, then rinse out the bowl you were using and dry it off. Use a pastry brush to wipe of sesame oil all over the inside of the bowl to make it smooth and slippery.^[6]
- The sesame oil will keep your dough moist, and it will add some flavor to the outside.
Put the dough back in the bowl and wrap it with plastic wrap. Pick up your dough again and drop it into the bowl, then grab your plastic wrap. Cover up your dough inside the bowl and make sure it's airtight so it can rest for a while as you make the filling.^[7]
- Make sure the plastic wrap is airtight! It's important to keep your dough both warm and moist as it rests.
Leave the dough in a warm room for about 1 hour. The dough needs to double in size, and to do that, it needs some time in a warm environment. Shut your dough in a room that's a little warmer than room temperature and get to working on the filling for your delicious manapua.^[8]
- You can also put your dough in the fridge to rise, but it will take 3 to 6 hours instead of 1 hour.

[Edit]Cooking Traditional Filling

Bake the char siu in the oven for 20 minutes on both sides. The char siu that you buy will probably come in long strips, kind of like bacon. Lay them out on a baking sheet, then cook them in the oven at for 10 minutes. Take them out, flip them over to the other side, then bake them for another 10 minutes.^[9]
- When the meat is cooked, it should look slightly charred (hence the name).
- You can also fry the char siu if you'd like to do that instead.
Chop the char siu into small cubes. Spread your strips of char siu out on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to chop them up. Try to get the pieces down to about squares so that they're easy to eat once they're stuffed in the dough.^[10]
- Don't worry about making the pieces look perfect. They'll be covered in so much filling, you won't have time to analyze if they're all the same size before you dig in.
Heat water, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a pot for 1 minute. Pour of water, 2 tbsp (28 g) of cornstarch, 2 tbsp (28 g) of sugar, and 1/2 tsp (2.5 g) of salt into a small pot. Put it on medium heat and let it simmer for about 1 minute, or until the mixture gets thick. Use a whisk to combine the ingredients as they cook until everything dissolves together.^[11]
- There are a few different variations of manapua filling that you can try, but these ingredients are the most traditional.
Add in the char siu and the food coloring. Pour your chopped char siu into the thick liquid, then fold it in with a baking spatula. If you'd like your filling to look more red (and more traditional), stir in 1 to 2 drops of red food coloring and use your whisk to mix it in.^[12]
- The food coloring isn't totally necessary, but it can make your manapua brighter and more enticing.

[Edit]Making Vegetarian / Vegan Filling

Dice 2 large portabella mushrooms. Set 2 large portabella mushrooms on a cutting board and grab a sharp knife. Cut up the mushrooms into large cubes, a little larger than bite-sized. You don't have to make them look perfect, but try to get them all roughly the same shape.^[13]
- Portabella mushrooms are a perfect meat substitute. While they might not be quite the same texture, they'll absorb the flavors and act like chunks of meat, just like char siu.
- If you want more of a meat flavor and texture, pick up some vegan meat crumbles and use those instead.
Sauteé 1 green onion in a saucepan. Chop up 1 medium green onion and set it in a saucepan with a little bit of olive oil. Turn the stove on medium heat, then cook the onions for 1 to 2 minutes to crisp them up just a little bit.^[14]
- You can also use shallots instead of a green onion (or even use both).
Fry the mushrooms for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan and let them simmer in the heat for 1 to 2 minutes, just until they start to crisp up. Move them around with a wooden spatula to keep the bottoms from burning as they cook.^[15]
- This is what will give the mushrooms their crispy, crunchy texture, so don't skip this!
Add in soy sauce, plum sauce, sesame oil, and Five Spice. To finish off your filling, add in of soy sauce, {{convert|1|tsp|mL|abbr=on}] of sesame oil, of plum sauce, and just a dash of Five Spice. Let those ingredients simmer on the heat for 1 to 2 minutes to really combine and get a little thicker, then turn off your stove.^[16]
- Five Spice is a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechuan peppercorns, and you can find it in the spice aisle of your local grocery store.

[Edit]Shaping the Buns

Cut 12 squares out of wax paper and spray them with cooking spray. Rip off a long sheet of wax paper, then cut out squares that are roughly to make 12 squares. Spray each square with a light coating of cooking spray to keep them from sticking to the buns.^[17]
- The squares don't have to be exactly around, so you can just eyeball that measurement.
Punch the dough down with your fist, then divide it into 12 balls. Grab your dough from where it's been resting (hopefully it's doubled in size by now) and take off the plastic wrap. Use your fist to punch the dough down and pop it, then take it out of the bowl. Grab chunks off the dough to make 8 to 12 pieces, then roll the pieces in your hands to make them into balls.^[18]
- Punching down the dough releases the air trapped inside of the dough to make it thicker and less airy.
Roll out each ball into a disc. Working with one ball at a time, flatten it out with the palm of your hand on a flat surface. Then, use a rolling pin to spread the dough out until it's about the size of the palm of your hand. Keep going until you've flattened out all of your dough into round discs.^[19]
- Try to keep the center of the disc thicker than the outside edges, since that's where the filling will go.
Add a spoonful of filling onto the center of the disc. Cup the dough slightly in the palm of your hand, then grab a spoon and dip it into your filling. Drop a spoonful into the center of the dough, trying to keep it from touching the edges.^[20]
- Think of holding the dough like you'd hold a baby bird: firmly, but very carefully.
Pinch the edges of the dough, then twist them together. Keeping the dough cupped in one hand, fold the edges of the dough together and pinch them shut to make a 4-pointed star pattern. Then, grab the top of the dough and twist it once to seal the bun shut and keep the filling in.^[21]
- This sounds hard, but it's really easy to do once you get the hang of it.
- If the dough rips at all, take the filling out and reshape it into a disc, then try again.
Place the bun on a square of wax paper. Spread out a single sheet of wax paper with the non-greased side down. Plop the bun on top of the wax paper and set it to the side as you work on filling the rest of your buns.^[22]
- The dough may rise a little bit more as you work on your other buns, but that's okay.

[Edit]Steaming the Buns

Heat a steamer on the stovetop until it produces steam. If you have a steamer, fill it with water and then put it onto high heat. Wait for about 10 minutes until you see steam covering the underside of the lid. Be careful, as that means it's hot!^[23]
- If you don't have a steamer, you can bake your manapua instead.
Place the manapua into the steamer on the wax paper. Pick up the buns by the bottom and arrange them in the steamer, keeping them sitting on the wax paper. Arrange the buns so they're sitting apart, then put the lid back on.^[24]
- If you're steaming a lot of buns, you may have to do multiple batches. It's better to keep them further apart, so don't hesitate to spread them out if you need to.
- Keeping the wax paper under the buns will prevent them from sticking to the steamer.
Steam the buns for about 15 minutes, then remove it from the heat. Keeping the heat on high and the lid shut, set a timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, take the steamer off the heat but don't open up the lid yet.^[25]
- Use caution here, as the steamer is probably very hot.
Let the steamer stand for about 5 minutes, then open it up. The buns will finish up steaming for the remaining 5 minutes, and they'll get a chance to cool down. Use a tea towel to cover the lid of the handle, then open up your steamer carefully.^[26]
- Keep your face turned away from the steam as you open the lid up, or you could burn yourself.
Remove the buns with tongs and let them cool before serving. Grab your manapua buns out of the steamer using metal tongs and place them on a plate. Let them cool down for just a minute so they aren't burning hot, then serve them up while they're still warm!^[27]
- Manapua buns work great as a quick snack or a main meal. Whichever you prefer!

[Edit]Baking Manapua

Preheat your oven to . Manapuas are pretty thin, so they don't need much time to cook in the oven. If you are going to bake them, you can preheat your oven before you start adding the filling so your oven is warm by the time they're ready to bake.^[28]
- Baking manapua is less traditional, but it is slightly easier than using a steamer.
Spread the buns out on a baking sheet. Keeping the buns on the wax paper, spread them out on a baking sheet with of room in between them. Manapua dough is very sticky, so if they're touching, they will stick together as they cook.^[29]
- You can always do multiple batches if you need to.
Brush the top of each bun with a bit of olive oil. To give your buns a little extra shine, dip a pastry brush into a little bit of olive oil. Brush each bun with the oil just enough to make it shiny, but not so much that the oil runs down the sides of the buns.^[30]
- Using oil is optional, so don't feel like you have to do this.
- You can also brush your buns with egg yolk instead of olive oil.
Cook the buns for 20 to 25 minutes. Put the buns in the oven and set your timer. Take the buns out of the oven after 20 to 25 minutes, then let them cool down for about 1 minute. Serve them while they're hot!^[31]
- Baked manapua will be every bit as soft and delicious as steamed manapua.

[Edit]Tips

Manapuas are best served fresh and hot. You can eat it cold, but the dough will tend to be harder to break and chew.
To save cooked manapua for later, put them in the freezer. Then, wrap them in a paper towel and microwave them for 1 minute to reheat them.