In Taiwan, breakfast shops and carts line the streets of the cities. While there are many options to choose from, you can never go wrong with a fresh steamed bun. Simple yet delicious, steamed buns are great either alone (how they are traditionally eaten) or made into a breakfast sandwich. It would be helpful to use a scale while making this recipe (as measurements in Taiwan are in grams, and are sometimes difficult to convert exactly), and you will need a steamer basket with perforations (either bamboo or stainless steel) to steam the buns properly.

Ingredients:

Part 1:
260g warm milk
1/3 tsp sugar
5g yeast

Part 2:
500g all-purpose flour
30g milk powder
40g condensed milk
30g sugar
15g butter, melted

Directions:

1. (Part 1) Add sugar to warm milk and stir, then add yeast, stir and rest for 5 minutes.

2. (Part 2) Put flour in a large bowl. Add milk powder, condensed milk, and mixture from Part 1 to the flour. Use a mixer to beat at a low speed until dough is formed.

3. Add butter and continue to beat at a low speed until butter is absorbed by the dough, then increase the speed until the dough sticks together and is smooth. Shape dough into a ball.

4. Knead the dough about 10-20 times. Roll out into a rectangular shape, brush it with some water and rub the water in until the surface of the dough becomes sticky.

5. Roll up the dough into a tight log.

6. Cut the log into pieces, and then put into the steamer basket (with a piece of square parchment paper under it) to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

7. Add cold water to the bottom of the steamer, and place the steamer basket over it, covered with the lid. (Or, place steamer over pot of cold water.) Bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, steam the buns for 15 minutes. Turn off the fire and wait for 5 minutes before opening the steamer.