Thursday 5 May 2011

Japanese Steamed Sweetcorn Bun(Mushipan)

Recently I was addicted to the "NEW" Mango and Matcha steamed cake from one of the well-known local bakery known as Fourleaves. I am not sure whether have you tired it but I love it's fragrant, soft and fluffy texture which I could eat either 2 or 3 during breakfast. In this post, I would share with you this Japanese Steamed Cake/Bun, also known as Mushipan(蒸しパン) which is one of the healthy breakfast or tea-cake that contains no butter or oil in the ingredients.

Thanks to my new overseas foodie friend, Nami from Just one Cook I managed to try out some of the steamed cake recipes from "Cookpad", a Japanese website that Nami gave me. And with some online translation tools I roughly figured out the ingredients and steps for making these lovely quick and easy tea-cake which you might be interested too.

These steamed buns are very simple and easy to prepare and you can even make it for breakfast in less than 30 minutes if you prefer those freshly steamed bun that is pipping hot, fluffy and soft. As you venture further down on the recipe you will notice that the batter mixes up in less than 5 minutes, after which you could spoon it into prepared cups, steamed and enjoy the fluffy steamed bun.

Ingredients: (makes 4)
100g Cake/Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
25g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg, 60g
50ml Water
1/2 Cup Fresh/Frozen Sweetcorn Kernels
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable/Corn Oil, optional


Method:-
1. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. At the same time, preheat a steamer/wok filled with water till boiling point.

2. Using a balloon whisk beat egg and sugar together till foamy and pale in colour before adding in oil and stir till combined.

3. Next divide the sifted flour into two batches, stir in alternately with water to form a smooth batter.

4. Lastly stir in 2/3 of the sweetcorn kernels and reserve the rest as toppings.

5. Spoon the cake batter evenly into 4 prepared foil/ramekins cups that are lined with paper liners.

6. Place the cups in the steamer/wok(with boiling water in it), cover and steam over high heat for about 12 - 15 minutes(depending on the size) or until a skewer inserted into one of the buns comes out clean.


For this first attempt, the texture of these "Mushipan" was still quite alright even though it is not as fluffy as those that I bought from the bakery. But I am sure practices make prefect and on making this  it also widen up my knowledge on another interesting Japanese tea snack that I have not notice before. To read up more on this Japanese "Mushipan", you could also head over to Nami's blog on another related post HERE.



SNACK PREVIEW
Japanese Steamed Matcha Bun with Chestnut


If you prefer Matcha and Roasted Chestnut more than Sweetcorn. Do stay tune for this upcoming recipe.


13 comments:

  1. Very nice & healthy recipe, low fat & sugar! I like your pokka dots cupcake casing! Where did you buy it from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. da jie, u are really creative when it comes to cooking!

    am i going to eat this when i meet u later? hehe

    ReplyDelete
  3. Parsley Sage5/5/11 9:40 pm

    Love these steamed buns. I've bookmarked it to give it a try...although, I'm not a very good baker! Maybe I'll have more luck with steaming :) Thanks for sharing. Can't wait to see the chestnut version!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Honeybeesweets5/5/11 11:31 pm

    Oh yes, I saw this steam cakes selling in several places and I did one version of my own awhile back too, lol! Your two combo looks like a nice match...would try it out next time when I get the right ingredients. ;) looking forward to see the matcha chestnut recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your steamed cakes look very soft and tasty!! I had tried making some lately but yours looks so much better. Will try out your recipe soon. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6.  we dont have these kind of steamed cakes over here. Truly attractive! NOw i know why they were being featured in the papers, look incredibly stunning for a steamed bun!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Ellena,

    thanks for sharing your recipes, would like to try the Japan steam bun but how long you hv to beat the egg n sugar?

    bregds,
    whlim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Whlim,

      This is a pretty quick recipe so you just need to whisk it till bubbles form perhaps less than 5 minutes :)

      Delete
  8. Hello, jus wondering if this recipe can be adapted for Happycall Pan. Can substitude cake/plain flour with self-rising flour?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lolandra, Oh... you mean steam the cuppies in HCP or pour the mixture into the pan and bake? So far I have not try steamed cake with self-raising flour perhaps you can give it a try and share with us how's the texture like :)

      Delete
  9. Hi Ellena,

    I tried making the steamed cakes as per your recipe. It's nice, but I find it a bit dry. Am I doing something wrong? If I add more oil, perhaps 2 tablespoon, will it make the cake more moist? Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Mich

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mich,

      If the texture is a bit dry perhaps it is due to the size of the egg or flour or etc. You can add some water to make the batter more cake like batter rather than sticky pasta form. HTH :)

      Delete

Dear All,

Thanks for leaving down your comments. I do value each and every of your suggestion(s) or comment(s) so if you are signing off as Anonymous, please kindly leave your Name so that I could address you. Thanks

Lastly, please DO NOT SPAM as Spam comments will be deleted immediately.

Regards
Ellena (Cuisine Paradise)

ShareThis