Komugi Manju (Steamed Wheat Buns with Red Bean Paste)

Quick answer

Total time: 42 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients: 6

About this dish

Komugi manju is a steamed bun from Utsunomiya in Tochigi.

Cake flour and baking soda are sifted twice, mixed with sugar water into a dough slightly softer than an earlobe, wrapped around 30 g portions of red bean paste, and expanded over medium-high steam. Wheat thrived in the region's double-cropping system, so households made these buns for annual observances, weddings, funerals, and especially Obon when fresh flour became available. The baking soda also gives the name tansan manju. On the first day of the seventh lunar month, called Kamafuta Tsuitachi, families offered Kamafuta manju so ancestors beginning their journey home from the other world would not go hungry. Minimal kneading, a complete seal, and generous spacing in the steamer produce a soft, evenly risen white skin.

Ingredients (10 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
cake flour	250	g
baking soda	10	g
sugar	125	g
water	125	g
red bean paste	300	g
cake flour for dusting	300	g

Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

7 steps

1

Control

Divide the red bean paste into ten exact 30 g portions and roll each into a smooth ball.

Keep covered so the surfaces do not dry while making the dough.
2

Prep

Combine 250 g cake flour with 10 g baking soda and sift through a fine sieve twice.

Put in a large bowl and make a wide well in the center.
3

Season

Dissolve 125 g sugar in 125 g water until almost no grains remain.

Add the sugar water to the well in three additions, mixing with a spatula into dough slightly softer than an earlobe.
4

Step

Spread dusting flour generously on a board and transfer the dough.

Coat the surface, roll into a long cylinder, and divide evenly into ten pieces. Do not force unused dusting flour into the dough.
5

Step

Press one dough piece into a round with a thicker center and thinner edge.

Set one paste ball on it, draw the edge up, pinch completely closed, and set seam-side down.
6

Step

Line a steamer that is already producing abundant steam with parchment.

Space the buns at least 4 cm apart and mist the surfaces very lightly with water.
7

Control

Cover and steam over medium-high heat for 10 to 12 minutes.

Turn off the heat, open the lid away from your face, and transfer the buns immediately to a basket to cool quickly without sticky surfaces.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Cake flour and baking soda are sifted twice and mixed softly with sugar water.
Finish cue: Coat the surface, roll into a long cylinder, and divide evenly into ten pieces.
Avoid this: Keep covered so the surfaces do not dry while making the dough.