Custard Manju (Japanese Steamed Buns), Sweetened with Monk Fruit
Sweets and drinksSteamed CakesJapan20 minutes cooking the filling, proof until doubled, 10 minutes steaming
Custard manju is a steamed bun with a soft white skin wrapped around a smooth custard center. Everything in it comes down to flour, eggs, milk and butter, so the shopping is easy. The hardest part is the custard, since high heat without stirring turns it lumpy.
Open the lid and stir about once a minute through the full 20 minutes of cooking. Leave the steamed buns in the pot for another 2 minutes before lifting them out, because a sudden change in temperature wrinkles the skin.
This batch weighs about 944g, at roughly 200 calories per 100g.
Method
Make the filling: beat 2 eggs, 90ml oat milk and 144g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend together in a large bowl. Add 50g melted butter, then sift in 50g all purpose flour a little at a time, stirring as you go until smooth.
Set the bowl over a pot of boiling water and cook over high heat, lifting the lid to stir about once a minute.
After a full 20 minutes, take it off the heat, cool the custard and roll it into small balls.
Make the dough: put 190ml warm water at about 35 degrees C in a bowl with 5g yeast, a little salt, 4.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and one third of the 300g all purpose flour, then mix.
Add the remaining flour, mix again and rest the dough until doubled in size.
Pull the dough into equal pieces, roll them into balls and flatten them.
Set a ball of custard in the middle and gather the dough closed so the bun is evenly round.
Put the buns in the steamer, rest for 15 minutes, then steam over high heat for about 10 minutes. Leave them in the pot for another 2 minutes before lifting them out.
Tips
The filling and the proofing take time, so both can be done the night before and the buns steamed or microwaved in the morning.
Flour, eggs, milk and butter are all easy to find in Vietnam.
Drape a cloth over the steamer lid so drips do not pit the surface of the buns.
Chill the custard until firm before wrapping, since warm custard runs and splits the skin.
Cooled buns freeze well and come back soft after 5 minutes of steaming.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so rest the egg and milk mixture for 5 minutes and stir it again before sifting in the flour.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.