Nikuman (肉まん), also known as Bāozi in China, are the Asian equivalent to sandwiches in the West. With a savory meat and vegetable filling wrapped in dough and steamed, they make a complete meal that can be eaten on the go without utensils.
While convenient, I’ve always been a little wary of the mystery-meat filled bun you can buy at the store. They taste good, but the bleached white dough is often too sweet, the skimpy filling a little prepubescent, and the unidentifiable meat inexplicably pink.
On a recent trip to Kyoto, I made the mistake of boarding a noon train without buying lunch. By the time the bullet train reached Kyoto station I was ready to start gnawing on the seat in front of me. It didn’t help that the guy sitting next to me had brought on a bento box and a tallboy of beer.
As I entered the station from the platform, the sweet smell of pork perfumed the air. Led by my nose like a bloodhound, I soon found myself standing in front of a stalled called Horai 551, in line with a bunch of other hungry travelers.
I don’t know if it was my hunger or Horai 551’s recipe, but it was the best nikuman I’d ever had. With a relatively thin bun and incredibly soft and juicy filling redolent of onions, I ended up back in line for a second bun.
I’ve been trying to recreate Horai 551’s nikuman since that trip, getting closer with each batch. Today’s batch not only met my expectations, I dare say it was better than Horai’s. The filling is moist and tender with loads of umami coming from the meat, mushrooms and onions. The fluffy, mildy sweet bun is a wonderful contrast to the dense savory filling.
The trick is to use a mixture of ground pork and sliced pork belly, the extra fat ensures that your filling is juicy. The trouble is, too much juice, and your bun gets soggy. That’s where the cornstarch and egg white comes in. They not only act as a tenderizer, they also help bind the juices to the meat so they don’t absorb into the bun.
This recipe makes 8 large meal-sized buns, but you can just divide everything into 16 segments to make appetizer sized buns that are perfect for bringing to potlucks.
They’re best straight out of the steamer, but they do take a bit of time to make, so I like to make a large batch and freeze them. Nikuman keeps for about a month in the freezer. To bring them back to life, just wrap them in a damp paper towel and microwave for a few minutes.
Ingredients
For dough
- 500 grams all-purpose flour
- 100 grams granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
For filling
- 1 medium onion (finely diced)
- 5 scallions (white part only, minced)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 300 grams pork belly (thinly sliced, then roughly chopped)
- 100 grams ground pork
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms (rehydrated, then chopped)
- 2.5 centimeters fresh ginger (grated, about 1 tablespoon)
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons potato starch (halve is using cornstarch)
- 1 egg white
- 8 pieces parchment paper (cut into 12cm pieces)
Steps
- Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and baking powder together in the bowl of a stand mixer, then add the water and oil and combine. When the ingredients are combined, affix the bowl to a mixer fitted with a dough hook and knead until the dough is elastic and shiny. You can also knead the dough by hand if you don't have a mixer.
- Form the dough into a ball and put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until its doubled in size (about 1 hour).
- While you're waiting for the dough to rise, make the filling. Sauté the onions and scallions with the sesame oil over medium heat until translucent, but not browned. Set them aside to cool.
- In a bowl, combine the pork belly, ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, ginger, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sake, sugar, black pepper, cornstarch and egg white and knead well with your hands (gloves are advisable), add the cooled onions and continue kneading until the meat is shiny and well combined.
- Punch down the dough and roll it into a log. Cut the log into 8 even pieces and form each piece into a ball. Space the balls apart on a baking sheet and cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
- Use a sharp knife to divide the meat filling into 8 pieces. Flatten a piece of dough on a parchment square until it's about the size of the piece of paper, and then scoop 1/8th of the meat filling onto the middle of the dough.
- Pinch one edge of the dough with your right hand and twist it up towards the center of the bun. Use your left hand to hold the flap in place. Repeat about 10 times, always bringing the flap up to your left hand and pinching together with the past flaps.
- Cover the finished buns with a damp towel to keep them from drying out. Fill a steamer with water and boil the water. Place a few buns into the steamer basket, being careful not to overcrowd it as the buns will expand.
- Lower the steamer basket into the pot of boiling water. Cover the steamer with a damp towel and cover with a lid. This prevents the steam from condensing on the lid and dripping onto the buns. Fold the dangling flaps of the towel back onto the lid to prevent the towel from burning.
- Steam the buns for 15 minutes. Depending on your steamer setup it may take a little more time, so split one open at 15 minutes to make sure it's cooked through. Serve the nikuman with spicy mustard, hot sauce, or vinegar.
Yep it’s sticky and makes for quite a workout if you don’t have an electric mixer, but fully developing the gluten should not only improve the texture of the bun, it will also make it a lot easier to work with when you stuff it (i.e you shouldn’t need to use flour).
Were you really weary (tired) of the store-bought nikumans, or were you WARY of them (feeling or showing caution)?
Too much sugar. Makes the dough taste like bread from Chinese stores.
I found the steamed dough to be too sweet compared to European standards…
Thank you for posting and sharing this recipe. I’m hoping to make these for mmy boyfriend for his birthday this month. He lived in Japan when he was younger, he was a military kid. I hope this brings back memories of his favorite places from that time. Thank you so much!
Would it affect the flavor/texture of the filling if the mushrooms were omitted? These look and sound amazing, but there are mushroom allergies in my family and I really don’t want to risk it.
Hi Mallory, it will effect both, but this should still taste good without them.
Hi there
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I made it as a first time making pork buns at home and omg this recipe is so yummy! I can’t wait to make them again!
do you have to eat it hot?
Hi Paloma, yes ideally this is eaten hot. Though it’s fine at room temperature as well. It will not taste very good refrigerated though.
Hi Marc, can one make this vegetarian?
I can’t believe how long it took me to try this -all the wasted years! The dough was perfection. I did sub out 100g of AP flour with pastry flour, lowering the gluten and imparting that perfect, pillowy texture. And I added some salted cabbage and carrot to the filling to lighten it a bit. I really loved the textures! I only wish there was a video so that I could watch how you pleat the tops. I did okay, but when I watch you, I always improve.
Hi Kathy, better late than never😉 I’m glad to hear you enjoyed this, and thanks for the reminder about this, now I’m craving these. Great idea using pastry flour for the dough and adding some veggies. This one would be a 2-day shoot (+3 day editing) which makes it a little challenging to fit into my weekly schedule, but I’ll see if I can squeeze a video for it in somewhere.
I understand that you’re busy, and I get by with my “technique”. Glad to return the favor of giving you cravings! Your site is literally overwhelming with all of the incredible recipes! I have to keep a napkin close by when I read through it to sop up all the drool.🤤 So many things I want to try. Even if I don’t get to cooking everything here, I am so grateful for the tips and techniques I am picking up. What a fantastic achievement and a great record of your development as a cook, teacher, and writer.👏🤩💖
Thanks Kathy 😊
Hi there Marc,
I made these a very long time ago and my son happened to ask for them last week. For the life of me can’t remember if it is the Japanese ウスター sauce the recipe calls for.
Hi Michi, this recipe does not call for Worcestershire sauce. It’s seasoned with oyster sauce and soy sauce.