Chines steamed buns are a popular fall-winter snack in Japan.
Now they have all different kinds of filling, from savory to sweet.
But when I was a child, there were basically only two fillings you can choose from: pork(savory) and red beans (sweet).
My mother made a lot of things, but this is something she never made herself, so we would buy pre-made ones and steamed them at home.
They were not bad, but they were never my favorite.
But it has been such a long time since I had my last one, so I decided to give it another try.
This time, homemade.
One of the things I was not crazy about my childhood buns was the pork filling.
So since I no longer eat meat, I made my own filling using eggplant and walnuts.
I love this process of forming bun pouches.
Another thing I did differently was frying the bottom in addition to steaming the whole buns.
(This time I fried first and then steamed them, but next time I may steam them first and then fry later to achieve even more crispness.)
It was a good idea to create the crispy bottom.
You can enjoy the crispness and the softness both from one bun!
These buns were absolutely delicious!!
Nothing like the ones from my childhood (which is a good thing in this particular case!).
Come back to see another version in my next post.
