My Little Simple Fun Blog: Sourdough Tofu Oats Chinese Steamed Buns (Mantou)

The nutritious and healthy oatmeal is many people's morning go-to breakfast. Consuming it helps to lower our "bad" cholesterol and keeps our heart healthy. It has a low glycemic index and aids in regulating our blood sugar level. Prepared correctly (to soak it overnight), oatmeal keeps us feeling full longer.

Traditionally, oats are soaked before cooking. However, due to the modern hectic lifestyle, this practice is slowly forgotten. Oats contain phytic acid, an anti-nutrient substance which binds to important minerals (such as copper, iron, zinc, etc.), inhibiting the body's absorption of those minerals. Soaking the oats overnight with some acid, eg. lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, yogurt, whey, buttermilk or kefir, improves digestibility and in the process reduces the phytic acid present. Without the soaking, some people may experience bloatedness or digestive issues after consuming oatmeal. Thus, it is advisable to soak the oats for at least 8hours, or up to 24hours, before cooking them.

Further reading: OVERNIGHT OATMEAL
How to Cook Oatmeal (the RIGHT way)

Ingredients

30g Organic old-fashioned rolled oats
110g Water
1TBS Plain yogurt

54g Silky Tofu
64g Active Sourdough starter
160g Plain flour
10g Sugar (add more if prefer to be sweeter)
2g Oil of your choice

Instructions

1. In a glass bowl, add rolled oats, water and yogurt. Give it a good stir. Cover and let it stand overnight (at least 8hrs) at room temperature.

2. Pour the soaked oats into a mashed strainer. Rinse and drain well.

3. In the stand-mixer bowl, add drained oats, silky tofu, sourdough starter, plain flour and sugar.

4. Using a pair of wooden chopsticks, stir to combine then use hands to mix until a shaggy mass is formed.

5. Add in the oil and manually knead the dough briefly.

6. Using the stand-mixer, starting at the lowest speed, knead the dough very briefly (5-10sec).
7. Proceed to knead the dough on the next speed for 8minutes or until the dough is soft.

9. Cover and rest the dough for 10min.
10. After 10min, lightly sprinkle the rolling mat with some plain flour. Flatten the dough a little with our hands.

11. Using the rolling pin, roll out the dough to form a vertically long rectangle.

12. Fold 1/3 of the dough onto itself.

13. Overlap the bottom 1/3 of the dough onto itself, forming a rectangle.

14. Turn the dough 90°.

15. Repeat steps 11-14, 3 to 5 times.
16. Using the rolling pin, flatten the dough to form a large rectangle.

17. Roll the dough like making swiss roll.

18. Form a log dough.

19. Divide and cut the log equally. Put all the cut dough onto parchment papers and put them onto the steamer tray.

20. Fill up the steaming pot with 1/3 water. Heat up this water to about 50°C-60°C.

21. Place the steamer tray, covered, on the steaming pot.

22. Proof for about 90-120min or until the dough feels light when lifted.

23. Remove the steaming tray and bring the water in the steaming pot to a boil.
24. Put the steaming tray back on the steaming pot. Steam on medium low flame for 12min.
25. Turn off the flame and rest for 3min.
26. Remove the cover slowly.
27. Voila! The Sourdough Tofu Oats Chinese Steamed Buns is ready!