Steamed buns with white sugar

Steamed buns with white sugar

　　 Baoning steamed buns with white sugar were created during the Qing Dynasty under Emperor Qianlong by the pastry chef Ha Gongkui. Made with premium wheat flour and fermented with yeast instead of using alkali, these buns can be crafted into various shapes such as peaches, spires, and pigeons. They are usually made as small, two-part steamed buns. These buns are infused with osmanthus essence, and their snow-white appearance is adorned with two small red stamps, making them both pleasing to the eye and fragrant with a delicate hint of osmanthus. Their texture is soft and tender; when served warm, they are chewy but not sticky, and when cold, they are crisp and refreshing. Even when steamed again after cooling, they remain just as fresh as newly made buns. They are especially suitable as travel food. The renowned painter Feng Zikai, while holding an art exhibition in Langzhong, particularly loved the local steamed buns and oil tea, and even wrote a poem in praise: “Guests linger at the foot of Jinping Mountain; steamed buns and oil tea surpass a lavish feast.” (Langzhong)

　　 Baoning steamed buns with white sugar were first made during the Qing Dynasty by the pastry chef Ha Gongkui. Made with specially selected flour, fermented with yeast rather than alkali, and mixed with white sugar and osmanthus, these buns are sweet in flavor, snow-white in color, and soft in texture. They are chewy yet not sticky when eaten warm, and crisp and refreshing when eaten cold. They are durable for transport and storage, and even when steamed again after cooling, they taste almost the same as freshly made buns.