China · Chinese
Plum-blossom steamed buns
A fermented bun topped with cut-and-folded dough petals forming a plum blossom, modelled on Hubei’s meihua zaoni bao. Public reference · home adaptation, not a historical original.
Public reference · Home adaptation Plum-blossom shaped pastries are a banquet table piece in Jiangnan and Hubei with spring-blessing associations; Hubei’s meihua zaoni bao is the best-documented example. The Manchu–Han banquet lists “plum blossom buns” under the same name, but no reliable source ties them to this snack, so only the shaping method is borrowed. **The Hubei Provincial Library page originally cited here was also unreachable from this machine (the site root fails the TLS handshake), so it has been removed in this pass; the method here rests directly on the baidu baike entry for *meihua zaoni bao*, with allergen notes from the FDA food-allergies page.**Traditional uses a long-maintained starter; instant yeast is substituted here. Dates must be steamed, deseeded, sieved and fried into smooth paste — that step is kept. Dough ratios, second proof and steaming time are editorial for 4 (makes 8). Petals use a simplified cut-and-fold technique. Contains wheat (gluten) and sesame. Vegetarian: no meat or seafood. 百度百科：梅花枣泥包 — Three-slice chopstick petal technique and the 8-minute high-heat steam reference. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%A2%85%E8%8A%B1%E6%9E%A3%E6%B3%A5%E5%8C%85/2146056 FDA: Food Allergies — Basis for declaring wheat and sesame allergens. https://www.fda.gov/food/food-labeling-nutrition/food-allergies AI-generated illustration; not kitchen-tested.
Ingredients
- medium-gluten flour300 g
- instant dry yeast4 g
- sugar40 g
- warm water150 ml
- red dates (jujubes)150 g
- sesame oil10 ml
Directions
- 1
Soak red dates in cold water for 1 hour, steam 20 minutes until soft, remove stones and sieve to a smooth paste.
- 2
Heat sesame oil over low heat, melt in the sugar, add the date paste and stir continuously for 8–10 minutes until the moisture evaporates and it is smooth and non-sticky. Cool.
- 3
Knead flour, yeast, sugar and warm water into a smooth dough, cover and prove about 40 minutes until clearly risen.
- 4
Degas the dough, divide into 8 balls, roll into rounds, wrap the filling and pinch the seam underneath.
- 5
Roll a small piece of dough into a rope, cut it into slivers; stack three and pinch the middle with a chopstick to form petals. Attach the petals to each bun as a blossom and press a small yellow dough dot in the centre as the stamen.
- 6
Cover and proof a second time for about 15 minutes. Steam over a full boil for 10 minutes, then rest 2 minutes off the heat before lifting the lid to prevent collapse.
Source: WorldBite · public-reference adaptation · Source-attributed editorial adaptation; AI illustration; not an authenticated original recipe.