Fish-Shaped Steamed Buns

Flavor: Original; Cooking Method: Steaming; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Moderate.

Detailed Steps for Making Fish-Shaped Steamed Buns

Squeeze out the air from the fermented dough and knead it smooth for later use. Prepare the following ingredients.

For the fermented white dough: 1. Heat milk in warm water to about 40 degrees Celsius, add 3g yeast and stir until dissolved; 2. Crack half an egg into 150g white flour, pour in the milk-yeast mixture gradually in 3 portions, stir the flour with chopsticks until it resembles snowflakes, then knead the dough by hand until smooth and shiny. The dough should be slightly firm, not soft. If it’s too soft, add more flour; if it’s too hard, knead with a bit of milk-yeast mixture. 3. Let it ferment for about 1 hour, depending on room temperature. For the fermented corn dough: 1. Heat milk in warm water to about 40 degrees Celsius, add 1g yeast and stir until dissolved; 2. Crack half an egg into 50g white flour + 50g corn flour, pour in the milk-yeast mixture gradually in 3 portions, stir the flour with chopsticks until it resembles snowflakes, then knead the dough by hand until smooth and shiny. The dough should be slightly firm, not soft. If it’s too soft, add more flour; if it’s too hard, knead with a bit of milk-yeast mixture. 3. Let it ferment for about 1 hour, depending on room temperature.

Take a small piece of dough and roll it into a cylindrical shape, about 8 cm in length and 1.5 cm in diameter.

Flatten one-third of the way down with a rolling pin.

Pinch the end of the cylindrical dough with your thumb and index finger to create the fish’s mouth.

Do not discard the small triangle cut from the dough.

Roll the small triangle into a round strip, then cut two small pieces and shape them into small round discs with your fingers.

1. Use scissors to cut scales on the dough cylinder; 2. Thin out the two triangles (fish tails); 3. Wrap the round strip around the dough, with the joint facing down (where the fish head is separated); 4. Place two small round discs slightly wetted with water on the fish’s head.

Use a toothpick to make a small hole in the center of each round disc, then insert a red bean into each hole.

Now, doesn’t it look like a fish with eyes?

1. Press a horizontal line at the tail end with a toothpick; 2. Slightly pinch the connection between the tail and body of the fish back; 3. Your fish is now complete.

This is how you make a fish-shaped bun.

You can also make fish tails with three sections. (The fish in the images is made with corn dough, hence the less prominent yellow color due to lighting.)

1. Place the fish-shaped buns in a steaming basket and let them rest for about 15 minutes; 2. Place the steaming basket in a steamer with cold water, steam for approximately 20 minutes; 3. After steaming, let the buns sit for 5 minutes before uncovering.

These are the steamed fish-shaped buns. (You can also make fish in various colors, such as purple using purple sweet potato with white flour and yeast, orange using carrot juice instead of milk and flour, and yellow using corn flour and pumpkin puree.)