Black Sesame Steamed Buns 黑芝麻包 with Homemade Black Sesame Paste

Since young, I was told that eating black sesame seeds can make my hair grow darker or make my grey hair disappear!!!

Until today, I'm still skeptical with this belief! Whether I am believer in this saying or not, I still like to eat any food that is made with black sesame seeds particularly Chinese steamed buns or Chinese glutinous rice dumpling (Tang Yuan 汤圆) made with sweet black sesame filling.

Prior all these years of blogging and cooking, I know that I would walk into a Asian grocery store and buy packs of frozen Chinese steamed buns or Chinese glutinous rice dumpling (Tang Yuan 汤圆) to bring them home to steam or cook with less fuss and also without much hesitation. These days, I question myself the source or the contents of the food that I put into my mouth... Geez! What have I done to myself to become so fussy???

You might ask... Why am I (Zoe) going through the hassle of making my own black sesame seed paste? Well, these are my reasons... 1) After I question the contents of black sesame paste, I know that the sweet paste is obviously made with heaps of sugar and fat and so I like to make mine with just the right amount of sweetness and fat. 2) Some commercial food are made with unknown source of fat. Some are not so healthy which contains trans fat or high amount of saturated fats. I like to be the one who choose and use the healthier oil in my food. So, here I'm making my own black sesame paste with trans fat free rice bran oil.

Black Sesame Steamed Buns with Homemade Black Sesame Paste

To start, I have to roast my sesame seeds in a pan.

Then, I processed the seeds into a nutty paste.

Not smooth enough??? This is what I did.

Then, I cooked the paste using the rice bran oil that I like.

The sweetness of this paste is just right... Please do not reduce the amount of sugar further.

These can be kept in the fridge for about a week or in the freeze for 3 months.

To make the bun dough, I started by using a mortar and pestle to grind a small amount of  black sesame seeds. 

These are the divided and rested bun dough and they are ready for wrapping.

Shaping the buns with the black sesame filling

The bun dough is very easy to handle...

... and the buns can become pretty big after resting and steaming!

See!

That's because they are extremely fluffy!!!

It is true that these black sesame steamed buns are very very very fluffy but they are fluffy because they are made with 450g of flour with 2 teaspoon of baking powder!!! ... which is more or even double the amount of baking powder that I have used in some steamed buns recipes, for instance at here. Due to this addition, my husband can taste some bitter aftertaste in the plain flower buns but my son and I can't. Interestingly, all of us can't detect any aftertaste when the buns are wrapped with black sesame filling. So, should we use so much baking powder to make these buns??? Obviously, if I reduce the amount of baking powder added, the buns will yield denser with less fluffy texture... Geez! Why can't we have the best of both world???

Apart from this hard-to-perfect black sesame steamed bun recipe, I have to say that this homemade back sesame paste made with trans free Alfa One rice bran oil and right amount of sweetness is more than perfect to me! After making these buns, I have decided to set myself another mission... It is to find an ideal black sesame steamed bun recipe! Wish me luck!

Update on 20 Aug 2015: I have found my best black sesame bun recipe at here!

Here is the recipe that is mostly adapted from Food.com and Vivian Pang's Kitchen

To make smooth and velvety black sesame seed paste:

Makes about 2 cups or 25-27 medium steamed bun portions
160g (1 cup) black sesame seeds
150g caster sugar*
1 cup boiling hot water
1/4 cup rice bran oil

*This amount of sweetness is just right for us. If you prefer the paste to be sweeter or flowy, you need to add more sugar and reduce the cooking time to retain higher amount of moisture in the paste.

Place sesame seeds in a saucepan. Using medium heat, toast sesame seeds with occasion stirring for about 5 mins or until the seeds are fragrant and start to have a few popping sound. Be careful not to over-toast the seeds as they can be bitter if they are burnt. Allow it to cool completely in the room temperature.

Transfer the cooled sesame seeds into a processor or a container of a hand held processor. Add water and process into a smooth paste as much as possible. You may add more water to process mixture into smoother texture but adding more water means that you will need a longer time to cook it off later.

For a smoother texture, ground processed mixture in batches into smoother paste using a mortar and pestle and transfer the ground paste into a clean saucepan.

Add oil into the ground paste and cook with medium heat and stirring until mixture is pasty and fragrant. Then, add sugar. You will notice that the mixture will become wet and darker after the addition of sugar. Continue to cook with medium heat with constant stirring until the liquid dry up to form a firm paste.

To make the black sesame steamed buns:

Makes 12 medium buns
180ml water, lukewarm but I had to add extra 2 tbsp water because the dough is too dry.

15ml (1 tbsp) oil, preferably something light like canola oil*

450g (3 cups) Hong Kong flour (1 pack) or any low protein (7-9%) bleached flour
2 tsp** baking powder, preferably double acting baking powder
10g black sesame seeds, roughly ground by mortar and pestle
20g caster sugar
1 tsp yeast
black sesame seed paste, chill in fridge for at least 1-2 hr, divide into portions and shape them into 3-4 cm (diameter) balls

*Due its lightness, canola oil or corn oil is most appropriate to use to make steamed bun dough. To add on, I like to clarify that it is ok to use rice bran oil to make steamed bun dough but I would prefer oil that is lighter in colour and texture.

**This amount is required to make the bun extra fluffy but might give the buns a little bitter aftertaste.

Place water, oil, sugar, flour, baking powder, ground sesame seeds and yeast according to this order into a breadmaker and use "dough” setting to knead and prove the dough for 1 hr or double in size.

If breadmaker is not available, kneading by hand is possible. Combine flour, baking powder, yeast, caster sugar in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour mixture, add water to form a dough, then add oil to knead into a smooth and elastic dough (at least 20 mins) and then let it rise for 1 hr or double in size.

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Shape into balls and allow them to rest for 10 min. Flatten each portion and place each portion of filling in the middle. Wrap and seal the sides of the dough to completely enclose the filling. Place each bun on each paper cup liner or a small piece of baking paper with its seam sides down. Rest the buns in warm mist for about 20 mins or until they look puffy. Steam bun for about 12-20 mins until done. The steam timing varies if you have multiple layers of baos to steam. The layer that is closest to the direct steam will take 15 mins to cook, When ready remove the buns immediately from the steamer and serve warm.

Happy Steaming

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