This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Make these cute, soft, and, fluffy the year of rat Chinese steamed buns to celebrate the Chinese lunar new year with this easy recipe.
Chinese New Year and the 12 Chinese zodiacs usually go hand in hand. Each year is represented by one of the 12 animals. If you are into cute adorable Chinese steamed buns, you definitely want to try to make this rat steamed buns. Last year I made the piggy steamed buns using my favorite basic soft and fluffy steamed buns recipe. So this year I thought why not do the same for the year of the metal rat for 2020. The Chinese believe in the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, water. The Chinese believe that one’s luck and personality are determined by the Chinese zodiac and also the elements.
I’m not an expert in Chinese zodiac and astrology, but you can definitely google more about it if you are interested to read more. I can show you how to easily make these adorable rat steamed buns though. Let’s get started, shall we?
HOW TO MAKE THE YEAR OF RAT STEAMED BUNS (SOFT AND FLUFFY TOO!)
1. START WITH BASIC SOFT AND FLUFFY STEAMED BUNS
Pinch off about 10 gr of dough for the rat’s ears and 5 gr for the nose. So now you have 1 large dough and 2 smaller ones for ears and noses
2. COLOR THE EARS AND NOSES
Drop about 1 crop of orange gel food color to a 15 gr dough and then knead it to distribute the color. Divide into 24 equal balls for ears and 12 smaller pieces for the tails. Drop a tiny drop of red gel food color to the 5 gr dough and then knead it to distribute the color. Divide into 12 tiny pieces.
Flatten the large orange balls to shape like ears and roll the smaller orange dough between your palms to shape into tails
3. SHAPE INTO RATS
Lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Flatten the large white dough with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll it out to form a circle about 4-5 inches, with a slightly thicker middle part. Place the filling at the center
Gather the sides to enclose the bun and pinch to seal. Flip the bun so the seam side is down now.
Cup the dough with both palms and move the dough in a circular motion to shape it taller. Then shape it into a slightly oval shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel
Dab the part of the dough where you will attach the ears and tails with a bit of water and gently attach the ears and tails there.
Do the same for the nose and the eyes. The water helps them stick to the large white dough. Repeat with the rest
4. PROOFING
Place on a baking sheet. Cover the shaped rat buns with clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature. They won’t necessarily double in size, but at least puff up to about 50% of original size. This may take about 10-15 mins at warm temperature. Do not overproof your dough
5. STEAMING
Bring the water in your steamer to a rolling boil. Wrap the lid with a kitchen towel. LOWER THE HEAT TO LOW (Yes, I type this in caps so you don’t miss it!). Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between and steamed on LOW heat for 5-8 minutes for plain medium-large buns with no filling, 10-12 minutes for large buns with filling
6. COOLING
Remove the buns to a wire rack to let them cool down. This is to ensure the bottom of the steamed buns will not be wet and soggy
IMPORTANT TIPS
1. USE GEL FOOD COLORING
Gel food coloring is concentrated and will not make the dough wet and difficult to work with
2. MAKE THE DOUGH WITH COLD LIQUID
This will ensure that your dough will not rise while you are working on shaping them, which will make the steamed buns not smooth
3. DO NOT OVERPROOF THE DOUGH
If you let the dough rest for too long after shaping, they will not be smooth when you steam them. Overproofing can weaken the dough. They won’t double in size, just as long as they puff up about 50% of their original size, they are ready to be steamed
POSSIBLE VARIATIONS
COLORS: You can color the ears, tails, and nose with your other favorite colors or you can leave them all white and just use black sesame seeds or black edible marker to draw the eyes
SWEET FILLINGS: You can use dou sha, coconut steamed buns, or mung bean paste like the one I used in ang ku kueh
SAVORY FILLINGS: You can use the fillings similar to char siu bao
My kids said they were too cute to be eaten 🙂 But really, there’s nothing too cute to be eaten in this house LOL!My kids wished they could have this rat as a pet.
DID YOU MAKE THIS THE YEAR OF THE RAT STEAMED BUNS RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real
Chinese New Year The Year of Rat Steamed Buns
Ingredients
- 180 gr all-purpose flour 1 cup + 5 Tbsp, plus more for dusting
- 180 gr cake flour 1 cup + 5 1/2 Tbsp
- 4 gr Instant yeast About 1 1/4 tsp. See notes
- 3 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
- ¼ tsp salt optional
- Start with 150 ml about 2/3 cup to 185 ml of milk or water (cold or at least room temperature). Add more as needed
Filling:
- 400 gr red bean paste or other sweet or savory filling of your choice
To color and decorate the rats:
- orange color
- red color
- Black sesame seeds
Instructions
Make the dough with a machine:
- Place the flour, instant yeast, sugar in a mixing bowl. If you are using a stand mixer, use a dough hook attachment. Add cold milk or room temperature water. Add cooking oil. You may need to add more milk/water if the dough is still a bit dry. Add more teaspoon by teaspoon until the dough comes together and continue to knead for 10-12 minutes until the dough is very stretchy and smooth
Make the dough by hands:
- Place the flour, instant yeast, sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix until you get a rough dough (it's not going to be smooth yet). Cover and rest it for 15 minutes. Then go back and knead it. You'll be surprised by how easier it is to knead it now. Knead until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 15-20 minutes. At any point during kneading, you can always stop and rest the dough if you find it hard to knead. This is to relax the gluten. Then go back to knead again and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes by just resting the dough before kneading again. It's easier on you too.
Rest the dough (not supposed to double in size):
- Wrap the dough with a plastic wrap and let it rest for 15 minutes before shaping. This is to relax the gluten, not to proof the dough. Pinch off about 15 gr of dough for the rat's ears and tails and 5 gr for the nose. So now you have 1 large dough and 2 smaller ones for ears and noses
Color the ears and noses:
- Divide the large dough into 12 equal portions, cover with a plastic wrap to prevent from drying out. Drop about 1 drop of orange gel food color to a 15 gr dough and then knead it to distribute the color. Divide into 24 equal balls for ears and 12 smaller portion for the tails. Drop a tiny drop of red gel food color to the 5 gr dough and then knead it to distribute the color. Divide into 12 tiny pieces.
Shaping:
- Flatten the large orange balls to shape like ears and roll the smaller orange dough between your palms to shape into tails. Cover them with plastic wrap to prevent from drying out. Lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Flatten the large white dough with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll it out to form a circle about 4-5 inches, with a slightly thicker middle part. This is to support the weight of the filling. Don't roll the dough too thin. If you roll the dough too thin, the filling might make the steamed buns "wrinkle" later when you steam. Place the filling at the center and then gather the sides to enclose the bun and pinch to seal. Flip the bun so the seam side is down now
- Cup the dough with both palms and move the dough in a circular motion to shape it taller. This part is important so your steamed buns come out tall instead of spreading to the side after steaming. Then shape it into a slightly oval shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel
- Dab the part of the dough where you will attach the ears and tails with a bit of water and gently attach the ears and tails there. Do the same for the nose and the eyes. The water helps them stick to the large white dough. Repeat with the rest
Proofing:
- Cover the shaped rat buns with clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature. If it's winter where you are, you can use your oven "bread proof" function to let them proof in there, or simply turn on your oven to lowest temperature and then turn off and after 15 minutes, place the shaped buns in there to let them proof. They won't necessarily double in size, but at least puff up to about 50% of original size. This may take about 10-15 mins at warm temperature. Do not overproof your dough
- Most likely your steamer won't be able to accommodate steaming all buns at one go. You may need to steam in 2-3 batches, which means, the rest of the batches will sit longer and continue to proof while waiting for the steamer. Not good for the buns! Here's what you can do: Make sure the cover them with plastic wrap and then place them in the refrigerator to slow down the yeast activity or halt it all together until they are ready to be steamed
Steaming:
- Bring the water in your steamer to a rolling boil. Wrap the lid of your steamer with a kitchen towel to prevent moisture dripping back on the steamed buns as this will create "burn" spots
- LOWER THE HEAT TO MEDIUM. Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between. Cover with a lid but leaving it about 1/4-inch gap for some steam to escape. Steam on medium heat for 15 minutes. This is especially important if you see that you have overproof the steamed buns (the steamed buns have doubled in size and they have widened to the side). As long as you steam them like this, the buns will not wrinkle and collapse later when you take them out from the steamer
- After steaming, turn off the heat. DO NOT OPEN THE LID of the steamer. Let the buns sit there for 5 minutes like this. The buns will not sink or wrinkle due to the sudden change in temperature
Cooling:
- Remove the buns to a wire rack to let them cool down. This is to ensure the bottom of the steamed buns will not be wet and soggy
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
Marv's Recipe Notes
Check out this Soft and Fluffy No-Yeast Chinese Steamed Buns. These are so good and super easy to make!
2 comments
So creative! How can you possibly eat these when they look this cute? Thank you for this recipe. I will give these a try using the wheat starch in my flour mix. I have not been successful (using other recipes) to make bazoi soft enough. I think milk cannot be switched for water.
I hope the recipe works for you. I agree that I prefer steamed buns made with milk too.