Butaman

These are the Japanese version of the Steamed Pork Bun.  We love them.  My sister-in-law from Osaka taught us how to make these.  They are comfort food for my kids now.  I am sure you will love them too.

Miyuki's Butaman

Ingredients for filling:
2 pounds ground pork
1 8 oz can bamboo shoots, minced
6 shiitake mushrooms, minced after hydrating
2 tsp fresh ginger grated or ground
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp miso paste
4 tsp sugar
pinch of black pepper
4 tsp corn starch
1 onion, minced
2 tsp salt
1 green onion chopped
2 Tbsp sesame oil

Brown 1 pound pork with the bamboo, mushrooms, and ginger.
Mix the soy sauce, miso, sugar, and pepper.
Mix into the pork.  Remove from heat and set aside.
Coat the onions with the corn starch.
Mix with the raw ground pork, salt, green onion, and sesame oil.
Add to the cooked pork and mix well.  Set aside to cool.
(I have added other vegetables to this part of the mix... shredded cabbage, grated carrots, etc. My kids like it with more veggies.)

Ingredients for the Buns:

Mix A:
3 1/3 cups flour
2 cups Warm water
4 tsp sugar
4 tsp yeast
Mix well and set aside to proof for 30 minutes.

Mix B
10 Tbsp evaporated milk
2/3 tsp salt (ish... 3/4 is ok)
6 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp butter
Combine and warm in a sauce pan.  Be careful not get it too hot.  Add to Mix A after it is done rising.

Mix C
3 1/3 C flour
4 tsp baking powder
Mix and add to Mix A & B.  Kneed until smooth.  Divide in 32 equal pieces.

Assembly:
Divide your cooled filling into 32 equal portions.
Roll a ball of dough, place a portion of the filling in the center and pinch the dough up around the filling, forming a little bundle.  Place the little bundle on a small square of parchment or waxed paper. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling.  The parchment paper keeps the dough from sticking to the pan when cooking and to the counter when making the bundles.
Steam the buns on high heat for 10 minutes.
Serve with soy sauce.  We like it with a mix of mustard and soy sauce.
To steam them we boil 2-3 inches of water in a large stock pot that has a steamer basket and lid.  My sister uses a bamboo steaming basket.  There are may other options.  If you are worried that they aren't cooked through... check one.  We have found that 10 minutes on high heat works for us.
I am sorry there aren't any more pictures... we had company tonight and we were in a rush and almost didn't get a picture at all.  The sad little but we did get a picture was the very last one... they snaffed them all.  This made enough for 9 people with each person getting at least 2 buns.  The finished buns are very large... about 3 1/2" wide and about 3" high.

We are still on budget.  This dinner came from shopping at home.  The pork came from our own pigs we had processed this past year.  Everything else came from the fridge or pantry.