Today’s recipe I’ll teach you how to make Nikuman, Japanese steamed buns filled with delicious pork, shiitake mushroom, cabbage, and scallion. It’s the best kind of savory snack.
Do you have any food that evokes a special memory of your life? One of my dearest memories is snacking on a warm steamed bun called Nikuman during my commute home from college in the cold months. For me, Nikuman (肉まん), or Japanese-style Steamed Pork Bun, was not only my favorite winter snack but also a taste of nostalgia.
I used to stop by a convenience store for my Nikuman treat; the steaming hot bun kept my hands and heart warm. By the way, Japanese convenience stores sell not only snacks and drinks, but a dizzying array of items like a mini supermarket. If you visit Japan, it’s definitely one place you should take a peek inside – it’s literally a “convenient” store.
Watch How To Make Nikuman (Steamed Pork Buns)
Learn how to make Nikuman (Japanese Steamed Pork Buns) at home! These soft fluffy buns are filled with savory juicy pork, shiitake mushroom, cabbage, and scallion.
What is Nikuman (肉まん)?
Nikuman is the Japanese name for the Chinese baozi (包子,肉包), also known as Chūka Man (中華まん). These steamed buns are made from flour dough and filled with meat and other ingredients. In western Japan (西日本) including Osaka, they are called Buta Man (豚まん).
The savory buns are usually steamed inside the bamboo steamer and taste the best when you enjoy them right out hot and fluffy. The texture of the buns is tenderly soft and moist, and when you take a bite, the inside is bursting with sweet-savory, juicy meat mixtures.
During the winter months in Japan, convenience stores sell hot steaming chūka man including Nikuman, Kare–man (curry flavor), An-man (with red bean paste), and Pizza-man (pizza flavor).
Yokohama, Japan’s 2nd largest city I grew up in, has the largest Chinatown and I just loved walking around to see the traditional Chinese steamed buns that are as big as my face being sold at the stores. Or at least that’s how I remembered as a small child.
Homemade Nikuman
My mom used to buy packaged steamed buns from the store and they tasted pretty good as I remembered. I never thought this dish is something we could make at home until I visited my high school friend’s house for lunch years ago.
She made homemade nikuman for us and I was very impressed that she made the pork buns from scratch. To my surprise, she told me that they are very easy to make. The buns were so good as they were freshly made and everyone loved them. Since then I started to make my own and my family simply can’t get enough, especially my daughter who loves the soft white steamed buns.
You might wonder if it’s really worth your time to make the steamed buns at home, especially if you can just buy pre-packaged stuff from the grocery stores. But, let me tell you why you’ll love the homemade buns:
Why Make Nikuman at Home:
- Healthier – Prepackaged steamed buns tend to have additives or less ideal ingredients. It’s different when you make the buns from scratch.
- Customization – Don’t like pork? Then use your favorite ingredients for the fillings. Make it vegetarian or vegan. These steamed buns are for YOU! I like to make them in two sizes, big ones for the adults and small ones (like today’s recipe) for the kids.
- An approachable recipe – I was so glad when I discovered how easy it was to make my own steamed buns. Watch my video, and follow the step-by-step instructions. You’ll see how easy and straightforward the recipe is.
- Taste fresh and delicious – Nothing is better than food made fresh, right in your own kitchen. Steamed buns are definitely one of those dishes. These nikuman are so fresh tasting and satisfying!
- Freezer-friendly – Leftovers can be kept frozen and reheated easily to enjoy later.
Making these steamed buns do pose some small challenges, but nothing too hard to stop anyone from giving the recipe a try!
The Challenges:
- Requires some time – You have to let the dough rest and it’s necessary for good steamed buns.
- Wrapping & folding technique – Making the steamed buns look good will require a little practice. BUT don’t worry. I’ll show you an EASY METHOD in the recipe (Step 18) and in my video tutorial, so you can follow along with confidence.
Mastering The Folding & Pleating for Steamed Pork Buns
This is the part that intimidates people most. For many years, I folded the dough with the EASY METHOD I shared in my recipe (Step 18). My Nikuman tasted great, but the look could be better.
When my friend Maggie of Ominivore’s Cookbook shared her Kimchi Pork Steamed Bun recipe, she showed her mom’s technique of folding and pleating in her youtube video. Since then, I’ve been wrapping my nikuman the same way. I still need to perfect my skill, but I’ve seen huge improvements with the method.
So I leave it up to you on how you want to wrap the dough. The nikuman taste great either way. Meanwhile, I’ll keep practicing my folding and pleating!
PS: If you enjoyed these steamed pork buns, I think you ought to check out Shumai and Manju too!
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Nikuman (Steamed Pork Buns)
Video
Ingredients
For the dough
- 10.6 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour) (plus more for dusting; 300 g (10.6 oz) is ROUGHLY 2 ⅓ cups)
- 2 scant Tbsp sugar ("scant” 2 Tbsp means “just barely” 2 Tbsp. 2 Tbsp granulated sugar is 25 grams but we only need 20 grams)
- ½ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, rice bran, canola, etc)
- 160-170 ml water (start with 160 ml of water and add more if needed; depending on the weather, you might need more or less)
For the filling
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ cup water
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 6.3 oz cabbage (4 leaves)
- 1 tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; use half for table salt)
- ¾ lb ground pork
- 1 knob ginger (Roughly 1" or 2.5 cm or 15 g)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 Tbsp potato starch/cornstarch
- freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
- Put 10.6 oz flour, scant 2 Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp instant dry yeast, and 1 Tbsp oil in a large bowl. While mixing the mixture with chopsticks or a wooden spoon, slowly pour 160-170 ml water into the mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Lightly dust your hand with flour to keep the dough from sticking too much. Use your hand to knead the dough, pressing it down and reshaping it. Form it into a ball.
- Sprinkle the working surface with flour. Transfer the dough onto the surface and start kneading. This is how I knead. First, press the top half of the dough, pushing forward slightly. Then pull it back and fold it in half and press it forward again with the heel of your hand twice. Then turn the dough slightly and repeat this process for 10-15 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth and silky. Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour at a time to help decrease the stickiness.
- Form the dough into a smooth, round shape, gently tucking loose ends underneath. Coat the bottom of the bowl with oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, about 30-60 minutes.
- While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, make the filling. First, soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in ½ cup water. Place something heavy on top so the whole shiitake will be submerged. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
- Thinly slice the scallion. Remove the tough core of the cabbage and chop into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces.
- Sprinkle the chopped cabbage with 1 tsp salt to draw out excess water.
- Once shiitake mushrooms are hydrated, squeeze the liquid out, cut off the tough stem, and mince the mushroom tops.
- In a large bowl, combine ground pork, scallion, and shiitake mushrooms. Squeeze the excess water out from the cabbage with your hands and add it into the bowl.
- Grate ginger and add all the seasonings (1 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp potato/corn starch, and freshly ground black pepper).
- Knead the mixture well until it is well combined and looks pale and sticky. Set aside (or cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge) until the dough is ready.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, dust the working surface with flour and divide the dough in half and then roll each piece of dough into a log. Cut each log into 5 even pieces and then cut each piece in half. You can divide into fewer pieces of dough to make bigger buns. It's also easier to work with smaller dough to make nice pleats when you wrap because it's hard to hold a big dough and filling in one hand. Form each piece of dough into a ball and dust the dough balls with flour to avoid sticking to each other. Space each ball apart and cover loosely with a damp kitchen cloth to avoid drying out. Let them rest for 10 minutes.
- Take a ball of dough and flatten it with your palm. Then roll it with a rolling pin into a round sheet. Here’s how I roll the dough. Hold the top of the dough with the left hand and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough with the right hand. You only need to roll up and down on the bottom half of the dough. After rolling 1-2 times, rotate the dough about 30 degrees with the left hand. Repeat this process until the dough becomes thin. The center of dough should be thicker than the edge.
- Scoop 1 ½ Tbsp of filling (I use this 1 ½ Tbsp cookie scoop) and place in the center of the dough.
- Hold the dough with the left hand and seal the bun using the right index finger and thumb. First, pick up a corner of the dough with your right index finger and thumb and pinch together (left picture). Without moving your thumb, use your right index finger to pick up the dough and pinch it with your thumb while rotating the dough clockwise with your left hand (right picture).
- Repeat this process about 10-12 times (= 10-12 pleats) until you seal the last part of the dough by pinching it tightly. Here are some tips: your left thumb should hold down the filling and use your left fingers to turn around the wrapper. Use your left index finger to help to pleat. Also, lift up the pinched pleats slightly while you make the new pleat so the filling stays inside the dough.
- Once you finish sealing the last part of the dough, twist the pleats further with your right index finger and thumb to maintain a tight seal. If you’re left-handed, reverse the directions.
- Easy Alternative Option: Wrap the filling by bringing the dough up around the meat to the top, forming little pleats with the excess dough, then slightly twisting the dough to close it and pinching it firmly to join the edges.
- Place the bun on a piece of parchment paper that fits the bun (for small size, 3” x 3”). Cover the finished buns with plastic wrap and repeat this process with the rest of the dough. Let the buns rest for 20 minutes.
- Bring water to boil and set a steamer. Once the water is boiling, place the buns and parchment paper in the steamer tray leaving about 2” between each bun (buns will get larger while being steamed). Close the lid and steam over high heat for 10 minutes (10 for small buns, 13 for medium, 15 for big). If you use a regular pot for steaming, wrap the lid with a kitchen cloth to prevent the condensation (formed on the lid) from dripping onto the buns. Enjoy immediately.
To Store
- The buns keep well in the fridge till the next day and freeze well after steaming. Wrap them in plastic wrap and then pack them in freezer bags (I suggest to consume in 1 week). To reheat, steam frozen buns for a couple of minutes.
Similar Savory and Sweet Treats You’ll Enjoy:
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Mar 16, 2015. It’s been edited and republished in April 2020.
Hi Nami! I have a question regarding the use of shiitake mushrooms. Can I use fresh instead of dried? When soaking them, is it best to use warm or hot water? Can I substitute another type of fresh mushroom?
Hi Vanessa! You can definitely use fresh shiitake mushrooms or other kinds of mushrooms you like/can get. I used dried ones because they have more flavors. The “proper” method to rehydrate dried shiitake is to use water (possibly overnight in the fridge). The hot or warm water will destroy the umami coming out from shiitake. There is some scientific reason for it (which I should have remembered precisely…but sorry forgot!). Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi Vanessa! It depends on how thick the mushroom tops are…but usually 15 minutes for small size. I usually start off soaking before I begin prepping. Or I soak overnight. Hope that helps!
I made the buns but without the filling as I have been craving for mantou bread 😄
I am missing the slight sweetness of the bun and was wondering if I just need to add a bit more sugar? If yes, how much quantity on top shall I add? Thanks Nami!
Hi Jacqueline, You may add 1 Tbsp extra of sugar to this recipe and see if you would like the sweetness. The sugar will change the buns’ texture, so please adjust by adding a little at a time to find your favorite sweetness if you are adding more than 1 Tbsp. Thank you for trying this recipe!
Hi Nami! This is another gorgeous recipe, I was wondering however,do you have any posts on hit to use pot instead of a steamer? I noticed the bit about the dish cloth, but other than that is there any trick? or can I just put them into a pot on parchment and heat it up? Sorry if this is a silly question!
Hi Victoria! Let’s say, you don’t own a bamboo steamer or a steamer (like stainless steel) and the biggest pot is a pasta pot. You can put water in the pot, put jar or mug that can sustain a plate that fits into the pot… then you can put the nikuman on top to steam. Make sure to cover the lid with cloth to avoid the condensation dripping down. It should work. 🙂 Hope that helps!
I remember my mom making these in her rice cooker. She had a perforated metal plate that fit in the bottom of the rice cooker. She would add water, cover with the plate and put the buns on top. And push the start button. My rice cooker did not come with this plate, but I wonder if I could improvise?
HI Pam! Is your mom’s rice cooker Chinese one? My mother in law uses it to steam buns too. You basically need to elevate the plate from water. I’m not sure what kind of rice cooker you own, but any heat resistant cup or jar that you can put in and plate on top? But the height has to be low enough that you can put nikuman and cover the lid without touching it… Hope this helps. 🙂
That does help. And good to know I can use my rice cooker to steam these. I showed your video to my mom and she was impressed. I think she is now wondering when I will bring her nikuman for supper! Thank you.
Hahaha! I hope you and your mom will enjoy this recipe! 🙂
I love you Nami! Thanks :-). Can’t wait to try!!!
Hi Bastien! Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! 🙂
Thank you so much for reading my blog and watching my videos! So happy to hear your enjoy them! Yes you can substitute pork with other meat, seafood, or vegetables of your choice. 🙂 Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Thank you, Nami, for such a yummy recipe. My family really loved it. I used ground chicken instead of ground pork because my local supermarket doesn’t carry any unseasoned ground pork. It turned out great. I should send you pics. Thank you.
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and writing your kind feedback. I’m so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this dish! 🙂
Hi! Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour? 🙂
Hi Aina! Sure, you can. 🙂
I made these this weekend and we loved them. Next time I will do a double batch of dough at once since I used 1 lb of meat and had more filling. Would it be OK to double the dough or make two batches? I used my bread machine for the kneeding and rising part–saved time and my wrists.
Hi Ilonka! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Yes, you can double the dough, but if you don’t eat all at once, I actually prefer to make the dough when it’s needed (especially you have bread machine!). Step 4 resting can be longer, but not Step 16 (20 mins max). When the filling is inside, you should not wait more than 20 minutes because the filling contains some water and you don’t want to make the dough wet and also, the pleats will get too puffy when you leave for a long time (dough will expand too much)…and it won’t look pretty. 🙂 Hope this helps.
Hi Nami. I found you on YouTube and have to say your recipe are the best I’ve tried. Regarding this flour, their baozi flour sold at the Chinese grocery market . It’s much easier than making your dough and you don’t have to wait for the dough to rest. I live in San Jose and can easily get it. The package will have Chinese and Vietnamese writing on it. Banh bao.
Hi Kristi! I’m so happy to hear you found my site from YouTube! I didn’t know about baozi flour. I’ll check it out in the Asian shop next time I go! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Hi
I was wondering if the dough could be made ahead of time, like 6 hours
Great recipe!
I haven’t tried making the dough ahead of time. I’m a little bit worried about over-proofing the dough so I haven’t tested before. I have made the filling ahead of time but not the dough…
If anyone tried it let us know! 🙂
These are now in our regular rotation–so good!!! I make a big batch of filling, freeze half, then defrost and make the dough. A couple of things that make life easier–I use my bread machine to knead the dough. I let it rise in the machine (manual setting) and then take it out and work with it. Saves so much time. Yesterday I threw the ingredients in after work, set it, walked the dog and did laundry and then made the buns. Also, I spray my metal steamer with nonstick cooking spray–otherwise I have a hard time removing the wax paper from the buns. LOVE this recipe. The best part–leftovers!!!
Hi Ilonka! I’m so happy to hear you like this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing your tip! It’s very helpful for us! Next, be creative with your filling! 😉
Actually, I had dough left over recently and had a can on anko–made an-man–they were great! I LOVE the classic pork filling, so it’s tough to think about anything else…
Actually, I agree. 🙂 It’s like me always eating matcha or red bean ice cream because I just can’t pass it… 🙂
Hi 🙂 I found your website months ago but only looked at your yakisoba recipe.
But in the last week or two I’ve started having a proper poke around.
Your site is awesome!
I really love it 🙂
I have question regarding these very delicious buns.
If I want to make medium or large sized buns, how should I divide up the dough?
Hi Food lover! I am so happy to hear you enjoy my site. Thank you for re-visiting! I’d say mine is small size, and with this recipe I can make 20 buns. I make 4 logs out of the dough, then cut each log into 5. For you, you can make 2 bigger logs into 5-8 pieces. So total buns can be 10-16, depending on how large you want to make. Make sure to steam for a longer time too. Hope you like the recipe! 🙂
Thank you very much! I’m making my nikuman tonight 🙂
i’ll be trying to make these tomorrow morning to show my mother just how good steamed buns are! i hope i can also make successful curry-man in the future too since i love curry
Hi Scarlet! Good luck! I tried to explain in details in the recipe (not too many tips explained in the video) just in case you want to follow it precisely… Hope your mom will enjoy these! 🙂
I want to make these buns, only I want to make them vegetarian. Can I still use this filling recipe, or will the filling come out too wet?
One of my favorite is veggie filling. Yes, you can. Make stir fry veggies and place in the middle. I use corn starch to make the filling thicker though, so that in case the water from vegetable comes out, it won’t be too wet. When you’re about to finish stir fry veggies, add corn starch + water mixture to thicken. That will help. 🙂
Namiko, is it really fine to eat steamed ground pork? Since I was little I would hear my elders talk about the risk of trichinosis when cooking pork and am still afraid of preparing it to this day, even more if it’s only steamed (and I’m not sure if I could trust my country’s production practice to be completely clean) (perhaps I am just over-thinking things?) … Nonetheless, I’m sure this is a great warm snack for cold winters! I look forward to your new recipes
Hi Paola! Pork is commonly used in Asian dishes, and we are extra careful when we cook pork, making sure it’s no longer pink when you cook the meat. Steaming doesn’t mean weak cooking (if there is such word…). Stir fry can be more dangerous if you burn outside too fast and try to finish cooking while inside may not be cooked through. Steaming takes sometime and if your bun is bigger, it will need more cooking time. We always need to check if inside is cooked through before eating it. If you’re not comfortable, you can use other meat or shrimp, etc. 🙂 Let me know how I can help you. 🙂
I wasn’t sure how this would work, but I used this recipe last night and the pork was cooked perfectly (I steamed for 15 mins to be sure in a bamboo steamer on a wok). My first time ever trying a bamboo steamer or steamed buns 🙂
Hi Julie,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe! We are so happy to hear it came out perfectly!☺️
Hello Nami
This is a beautiful recipe.
I was wondering if you knew if you can alter the recipe in order to use a sourdough start/levain? And also, when using pork, is there a risk of it not cooking all the way through when steaming it for the 10 minute amount of time? And if there is a risk, will it still be delicious if I precooked the filling?
Thank you so much!
Waloo
Hi Waloo! Thank you so much! I”m not sure about sourdough start/levain…. sorry!
Unless your filling is bigger than mine, 10-12 minutes should be good. Remember, mine is smaller than “typical” buns. For the first time, I recommend cutting in half to make sure.
If you pre-cook, the filling will be harder and lose all the juice. I highly recommend steaming it – it won’t hurt by steaming it for a longer time. In a store, they keep steaming (and keeping it warm). 🙂
Hi Nami
Firstly, thank you for the amazing authentic Japanese recipes! ???
I have seen nikuman and butaman in so many Japanese dramas and I am a vegetarian and I want to try a vegetarian version. Can you suggest a vegetarian version? Also is there a fried version for nikuman?
Thank you!!
Srita
Hi Srita! I don’t think I’ve tried fried nikuman. Is that deep fried?? Wow. For vegetarian, I think you should cook the filling first – use your favorite veggies and season (like soy sauce base) and then add corn starch + water mixture to the filling at the end of cooking in a frying pan. That way, all the veggies will be easy to handle. Also that will prevent from water coming out from veggies while steaming. Hope you enjoy a vegetarian version! 🙂
Hi Nami
Yesterday I tried the vegetarian curry version. I didn’t have soy sauce in hand but I used the S&B Golden Curry and Potatoes+Mushrooms+Green Onions. It turned out great but I think I can do better… 🙂
Thank you! 🙂
Hi Srita! Ohhh! That’s a wonderful idea! I love curry man, and curry flavor is so delicious! I love your filling idea too. Hope you can adjust to your liking. Thank you so much for your feedback, Srita!
Hi Nami, I have a question about the soy sauce. I was at an Asian grocery store today, and I saw a large variety of soy sauces. I wasn’t sure which type would be good for this recipe, and what you typically use for majority of your recipes. There were types that stated “Superior dark” “Superior light” “naturally brewed” and I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking for. What do you prefer?
Hi Christina! I use this organic soy sauce that’s imported from Japan:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/soy-sauce/
A Japanese supermarket (ans Chinese supermarket) nearby sell this, and I like it among other ones I tried.
Are they Japanese brands? What company? I could help you pick if I have a picture… We don’t really have dark or light soy sauce in Japan (Chinese soy sauce, yes). I wonder if that translate Koikuchi Soy Sauce and Usukuchi (light-color) soy sauce. I’m sorry I’m not familiar with English translation names… If you find the same brand online (pic), let me know. I’ll be happy to take a look. 🙂 Or shoot me message with a pic from a store. 🙂
I believe the company is Pearl River Bridge. I honestly didn’t know that japanese soy sauce differed from Chinese soy sauce. I’ll make sure to look out for the two types on your soy sauce page. Out of the two you use, which one do you use more frequently in your cooking?
Yes, we have different soy sauce and to me, flavors are different. 🙂
I use the top one, but if you don’t go to Japanese supermarket, it might be hard to find that particular brand…
Kikkoman and Yamasa are big Japanese brands here in the US. It should be easy to find Japanese soy sauce with that brand. 🙂
Ok! Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it! I got some extremely useful information that will certainly help me in the future! I can’t wait to make these pork buns!
I’m glad! Good luck, and please feel free to ask me anytime. 🙂
Hi Nami!
This recipe is amazing. We tried it tonight with my familiy. I will make it often ???? I made it with metal steamer, but i think the flavour is better with the bamboo one.
Greetings from Austria
Bettina
Hi Bettina! I’m so glad to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for your feedback! 🙂
I want to get making these soon!!! One quick question though…no one in my family likes mushrooms of any sort. I’ve tried to eat them but they are the one thing I just can’t eat without gagging. Can I leave them out without changing the quality and texture?
Hi Jenny! You can omit mushrooms. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I have been looking for this recipe for a long time. I am glad I’ve got it.
I tried this stuff bun about 20 years and I’ve been thinking about it all the time that one day I will get the recipe.
Now I can try to cook it.
Thank you
Hi Letia! I hope you enjoy this recipe. It takes some time but it’s so worth it!! Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe! We just made them and they were very delicious. We will definitely have them again^^
Hi Jane! So happy to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
nami i tried to make nikuman based on this recipe and ive waited for more than 1 hour but the dough didnt rise 🙁 , is it the yeast ?
Hi Ima! Do you think your yeast was old? How was the temp in your kitchen where you left the dough?
I so love this!!!! Made those Just now and finished rating. Just now…. I have to Tell you… I had one when wisiting Japan last year, but the they were tasting somewhat sweet… they were good, but sweet to much. … those ones are Just perfect. Thank You o much for your websides…..
Hi Andrea! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe and thanks for writing your feedback! You’ve made my day! 🙂
Hi Nami,
How much do I adjust the steaming time if I’m using several stacked bamboo steamers?
Thanks!
Hi Charlotte! Same time is okay. 🙂 Make sure it has enough airway to go up to the top layer.
Hey Nami! I did it! I made Nikuman! They family loved them, I only have 2 left and I don’t think they will be there much longer! They were so easy and so good. Definitely will be making more! Your recipe is perfect and spot on. The buns were so tender and the filling so flavorful! Thanks!
Hi Mary! Yay!!! I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! Thank you very much for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hi, i´m looking forward to making these, just one question, if freezen them, or steamed buns in general, when should I do it? Before or after cooking them?
And if one day you fell like it a pizzaman recipe will be nice! Thank you! 🙂
PIzzaman! Such a nostalgic food!!!! You can add pizza ingredient (The mixture of ham or any meat, cheese, pizza sauce, other choice of ingredient like onion etc) in the dough to make it. I recommend steam first and freeze it. 🙂
Thank you!
Hello Nami!
Thank you so much for this recipe, I’ve already tried it twice and I love it!
I’m planning on making a lot of butaman for a dinner with friends, and I was wondering if I can prepare them in advance (like in the afternoon), store them in the fridge, and then cook them only when the guests get here for dinner.
Can you help me?
Thank you!
Cheers from Italy
Cri
Hi Cristina! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe!
I haven’t tried making the dough ahead of time. I’m a little bit worried about over-proofing the dough so I haven’t tested before. I have made the filling ahead of time but not the dough…
If anyone tried it let us know! ????
Hi Nami. Can you pls tell me what went wrong? My nikumans looked good before steaming. They had the pleats and everything. I steamed it for 15 mins under high heat using a stainless steel steamer. I also wrapped the lid with a cloth. When they came out, all the pleats were gone. The surface of the buns were bumpy. It looked nothing like it’s “pre-steam” state. Could it be over rising? It look me a long time just to wrap 1 bun. Temperature too high and over steaming? Although they looked like monster nikumans, they were delicious!
Hi Mandy! From what you wrote, I feel like it might be due to over-rising, especially when you say there was no pleats. It does become plump but should have some pleats afterwards. When over rising, you lose that pretty shape. Either you could start steaming the one you have made and do in batches. If your bun is rather big, 15 minutes should be okay. I’m glad it tasted okay! I think practice will help. If you feel like you take too much time, maybe some can be the easy wrap. 🙂
My son just got back from 6 months study abroad in Japan and said that the food he’ll miss the most is the convenience store food. In particular he mentioned the Nikuman which he described as “the perfect lunch”. So I can’t wait to try to make these and see if they’ll satisfy his craving until he can get back to Japan. Do you have a recipe for the curry or red bean paste filling by any chance?
Hi Andrew! Although I worry about preservatives used in foods served in Japanese kombini (convenience store), I have to agree they serve pretty good quality and delicious foods (unlike American convenience stores I find here). I hope you enjoy making this homemade Nikuman recipe! Curry man and Anman are my favorite too. I should share the recipes one day…. For anko paste, you can find the recipe here: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-make-anko-red-bean-paste/
Hello Nami-san, and thank you for the recipe, they turned out great. Have you ever tried making these with sourdough? It took much longer of course, but the sourdough gives an additional something to the taste!
Hi Dave! I’m so happy to hear your nikuman turned out well! No, I’ve never made this with sourdough. I would love to taste it!
Excellent recipe. So precise. Thank you
Hi John! Thank you so much for your kind feedback!
Another day, another recipe 🙂
I tried these today and much to my disappointment they failed.
The buns turned out hard and chewy and in some places almost like glass. I had no problems in getting the dough to rise or making the buns themselves, but your comment about water dripping from the lid got me thinking, because that seems to be the case with my metal steamer with glass lid. Also, the bottom of the buns were in water, because of that I assume.
Anything else I should be considering?
Thanks Nami!
Hi Lawrence! Did you wrap the lid with towel? It’s very important so that water doesn’t drip onto the dough. The “glass” like texture and wet buns on the bottom seem like the result of dripping water. Hope it will work out next time! 🙂
Tried this one again and this time MUCH better, it was actually edible 🙂
Only thing I noticed is that the dough was quite firm when kneading and also not as fluffy as I had hoped after steaming, still quite firm or solid.
I added 160ml of cold water to the dough, but hear people saying warm water is better, or better yet, use milk.
Hi Laurence! You got me thinking… are you using instant dry yeast or active dry yeast? If you’re using active dry yeast, it requires being activated in a little bit of warm water (110F/43C) before being added to the rest of the ingredients; otherwise, the yeast won’t dissolve nicely. More about the difference between instant dry yeast and active dry yeast here:
http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-active-dry-yeast-and-instant-yeast-54252
I cannot thank you enough!! These steamed buns were absolutely amazing! 5 minutes after I finished steaming the first batch of buns, they were all gone. I cannot get enough of these, they were delicious! Thank you for this amazing recipe 🙂
Hi Min! Yay! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. 🙂 I know, these are popular at my house too. I need to make them soon before warm season comes up! 🙂
Is there a way that I can use non instant, active dry yeast instead?
Hi Nadia! If you’re using active dry yeast, it requires being activated in a little bit of warm water (110F/43C) before being added to the rest of the ingredients.
This look delicious, Nami! My friends from Japan say Nikuman are one of the foods they miss most from Japan. I know they are usually eaten as a snack, but are Nikuman commonly eaten as a meal with vegetables?
Hi Rebecca! I do serve this as a main dish with some side dishes. 🙂
Hi Nami 😉
My husband and I found your site tonight while we were looking for a goyza recipe. We loved yours! I’m super exited to try your nikuman recipe tomorrow! I have one question though. We had dim sum while we were in California this summer and we tried some buns that had no filling. Will your recipe work for these? I’m gong to try the pork filling but I also thought about making some buns with no filling, and wanted to hear your thoughts on this. Thank you for sharing such amazing recipes!
Hi LeRae! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my gyoza recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback.
You can make this without filling. 🙂 Though I’m thinking what you had without filling has slightly different texture… those are more finer texture than this one, I think? Hope you enjoy this recipe!
We had your steamed buns last night and they were amazing!!!! I did like them stuffed better than plain. I stuffed a few with some crab ragoon filling I had on hand and a few with some left over filling from the goyza WOW!!! soooooo yummy! Thank you thank you thank you ???? If you happen to have a recipe for the plain steamed buns I would love to try it!
Hi LeRae! Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, and thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Hmm I don’t have the plain recipe but I’ll remember your request. 🙂
Do you think this will work with pizza dough??
Hi Nadia! I don’t think so… but I had never tried so I can’t tell how it will be like.
Do you have recipes for kare-man and pizza-man? I miss being able to get them in convenience stores!!!! You are so right about the convenience stores in japan! Thanks!!!
Hi Lisa! Hmm for Kare-man, you can use my Kare pan (Kare Bread) recipe for curry part. Pizza man… hmmm have to test and see… but should be easy with regular pizza ingredients (but proportion and quality ingredients may matter most). 🙂
Hi Nami,
My daughter made these last night with chicken and shrimp and they turned out great. We were wondering if you had a recipe similar to the beef they use I’m Takayama. We really enjoyed those beef buns. Thanks for the clear instructions. Folding is going to take many tries, but it was so rewarding for a first timer to make something with dough from scratch. Thank you.
Hi Carmen! I’m so happy to hear you and your daughter enjoyed this recipe. The beef from Takayama is probably hida beef (if you had it from a popular shop) and I remember it was so delicious… it was mostly beef, right? Use thinly sliced beef (and maybe sliced onion for additional sweetness and texture), and season with soy sauce, mirin, sake, etc. 🙂
Hi, I know this is an old recipe but I’ve made these Nikuman twice already this week and I simply love it! Not only is the filling juicy and delicious, but the dough even on it’s own makes for a perfect snack or bread when steamed. However I was wondering if you know whether it’s possible to freeze the dough to fill and fold later? Or is it smarter to use the time to pack bigger batches of Nikuman and freeze those ready to steam?
Hi Louis! Unfortunately you can’t make the dough and freeze later for you to wrap and you also can’t freeze the uncooked steamed buns. You have to steam first, then freeze. When you are ready to eat again, you just steam to “warm up”. I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Thank you for your kind words!
Thank you for the reply! that really clears it up for me 🙂
This is my second time making them and I can say from experience that these are absolutely amazing! The filling is juicy and flavourful, the dough it perfectly soft, just wonderful. I like the filling so much, sometimes I use this in gyoza or wontons.
Hi Nikolai! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. It made my day! 🙂
I wonder if I could use bread flour for the skin so it’ll be softer? What do you think?
Hi Jos! I’ve never made it with bread flour – it’ll be not necessarily “softer”. I’d use cake flour if I want the texture to be more fluffier…
Hi Nami! I’m making these delicious pork buns tonight, and I was wondering what type of dipping sauce you recommend that go well with these?
Hi Christina! I am sorry for my late response. Japanese eat it by itself (as the meat inside is seasoned) but some (including myself) like to dip on soy sauce just a tiny bit.
I love nikuman, but the ones you can buy at the Chinese supermarket are just not yummy, I think some manufacturers use cartilage and cheap ingredients. So I usually buy freshly made ones at food festivals… but with your recipe it was so easy to make my own! I can exactly adjust the ingredients and taste to my liking and my friends were really impressed when I made fresh nikuman and gyoza for them. You make cooking always easy! Thank you!!!
Hi Lilly! Yeah, the quality of ingredients from the store-bought and restaurants can never be higher than what you can get on your own. I’m glad you gave this recipe a try and thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m happy everyone enjoyed the dish! 🙂
Hi, I was getting the ingredients to make this and I saw that it had sake. My family tries to avoid alcohol and I was wondering if the recipe would be okay without it, or if there was a substitute for it?
Hi Adele! All the alcoholic content will be evaporated completely (there is no alcohol in food), but if you do not want to use it at all, then you can add water or chicken broth etc. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Hi Nami! These are always a family favorite, so I am making them once more. As for the dough, do you recommend making the dough and steaming the same day, or can the dough be pre-made the day before it’s steamed?
Thanks for your help and amazing recipes 🙂
Hi Christina! Yes, I recommend making on the same day as you don’t want the dough to over-proofed. It’s best to make everything and re-steamed. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Took me a while to find your website, and also glad I found your Nikuman recipe Nami! Just have one quick question, should I freeze the Nikuman after steaming it or before? Just two of us at home and the recipe yields several of them…Thank you!
Hi Jules! I recommend freezing AFTER you steam. You need to reheat/resteam the buns when you’re ready to eat. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
A *ton* of work, but I knew it would be. I measured everything carefully, but I feel like I had not quite enough dough. I think I’d make a double batch of the dough next time and just make plain steam buns with any leftovers. These ended up thinner than we prefer, but I also have a tiny steamer, so I guess that was just as well for now.
The filling would be really good in gyoza also (which I somehow find less work than these), or even just as meatballs for a bento.
Thank you for trying this recipe, M! Yeah…it’s a bit of work during the weeknight for me, which is why it’s a treat in my house when I make it. I make smaller nikuman compared to ones in Japan. Thank you for your feedback! xoxo
Hi Nami,
Which bamboo steamer do you recommend? I have looked at so many on Amazon but not sure which one to get. Some have metal rings around.
Hi Marale! I wish I remember where I got mine, but to be honest, I don’t remember… it’s been a while. It’s for sure the Chinese one as I never got it from Japan. Mine does not have metal rings around. 🙂
That’s okay. Thanks!
Just wanted to thank you for your amazing recipes. I love them and they have taken my cooking from okay to delicious! You rock.
Hi Larisa! Thank you for your kind feedback! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy cooking my recipes! 🙂
WOW these are so good!! I’ve never made nikuman before and I don’t have a bamboo steamer, but I made a test batch and they turned out amazing! Thank you for such an amazing and easy recipe!
Hi Tessa! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for trying it! 😀
Hey! Love the recipe but everytime i make them there is still some pink in the meat even if i cook them longer than you recommend here. I am using the scoop you suggested so i don’t think i am making them too big. Ideas?
Hi Sky! It’s important to know the internal temperature instead of the color.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2011/05/24/136613898/a-little-pink-is-ok-usda-revises-cooking-temperature-for-pork
Hope this article helps! 🙂
Can you use a regular steamer or it needs to be the bamboo?
Thanks
Hi NBA! Any steamer would be okay. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Nami,
What kind of cabbage did you use?
Thanks!
Hi Cupcake! I use regular cabbage, not napa cabbage. 🙂
Hmmmmm, they were great! I ate almost half of the recipe myself.
There were superhuge! Because I misread and made only 10 out of the recipe. But that’s okay, like I heard in ine video: never underestimate the emotional impact of huge round food. She meant huges cookies. Well I had the same with your nikkuman. It felt so good. One were as huge as a mans palm, big like an orange. I felt like a kid with a BIG BIG delicous ball in my hands. It was a wonderful eating experience!
This almost let me forget that I eat them solo. I was so absorbed in doing the buns that I forgot making something to eat with them. What do you and your familie eat with them? Do you dip them like gyozas? Or eat like them are with a salad or something?
The filling was rich, I especially liked a lot the taste of ginger.
I’m going to store the rest and take it with me tomorrow.
How to close the buns is something I need to train more to look beautiful, but it was really okay for the first time.
Are there vegetarian fillings for this buns? I like everything with dough but don’t eat a lot of meat.
Ah I did them with ground beef instead of pork. It still was delicious.
Thank you a lot Nami! I love your recipes (and japans food, except of natto 😉
Hi Anna! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed making this recipe! Thank you for your feedback. I enjoyed reading it. 🙂
I can totally relate the happiness of the big round fluffy steamed bun. In Yokohama Chinatown, they sell a humongous steamed bun and it makes me happy… We eat this as a snack, lunch, not so much for dinner. This takes a lot of time and effort, so if you serve this as a meal, you can only serve small side dishes that you can make ahead, spinach salad, stir fry… something similar and more veggie focus.
For the vegetable filling, I’d use cabbage or napa cabbage as base, and add finely chopped carrots, shiitake mushrooms (and all kinds of mushrooms – they taste like meat especially king oyster mushrooms!), bell peppers, eggplants…. anything, really.
If you feel the filling can have more taste, serve with soy sauce. 🙂
I’m happy to hear you enjoy Japanese food!
Wow! I would like to eat this enormous steamed bun at Yokohama Chinatown now (and tomorrow too)! I think I’m drooling here a bit … 😉 I LOVE Japanese food, well except natto I guess
I eat them with a green salat with a plain oliveoil, aceto balsamico, herbs, salt, pepper Dressing, worked really good and was super for my bento box, which is since a few weeks in use again.
Like you describe freezing and resteaming worked perfectly. So I think I’m going to make a big batch of a delicious vegetable filling the next time,like you described it and freeze it, so the effort isn’t that much.
Hi Anna! I hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hello! I was wondering if the sugar is necessary for the development of the dough or if it’s just for that slightly sweet flavor. Have you made them without it before?
Thanks!
Hi Angelina! Sugar provides “food” for yeast, which converts it to carbon dioxide and alcohol, along with enhancing the flavor and helping retain moisture. 🙂
Can you pan fried first and steamed these pork buns??
Hi Dorothy! Hmm, I have not tried that before… I’m sorry I wish I could answer.
Hello Nami,
For the steamed buns (no filling) could I steam them in my Instapot? If so, for how long?
Thank you,
Wendy
Hi Wendy! I’ve never tried steaming the buns in my Instant Pot, so it’s hard for me to guess. I don’t know if the condensation will drop on the steamed buns… you can’t cover with the towel but the lid is “slightly” curved so the condensation may not drop right above the buns… hard to tell. If you decide to try using your Instant Pot, let us know how it goes! The cooking time should be similar if you use the steam function. But if Instant Pot Steam temperature is higher, then I’m not sure how long it takes to cook through… Please test and see. 🙂
I’d love to try these out but I have no steamer! Is there any other way to steam the buns?
Hi ZJ613! In this post, I explained you can use a regular large pot, aluminum foil balls, and plate. Hope this will work for you.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/steamed-vegetables-with-miso-sesame-sauce/
Is there a way to make this gluten free?
Hi Daniele! I have never tried but you can try it with gluten-free flour? I heard some of my readers tried making Gyoza wrappers with gluten-free flour and I think it should work for Nikuman too, but again I haven’t tried… Let us know if you end up trying. 🙂
It was amazing and worked out really well! I do know that pizza buns are very popular in Japanese convenient stores, have you ever tried making some?
Hi Rebecca! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it. No, I haven’t made, but it’s the topping on top of pizza into the buns (cheese, meat, pizza sauce etc). I only had it a few times growing up (it wasn’t my first choice). 😀
Hi Nami, I like your Nikuman so much. I used to buy frozen meat buns at Asian markets in the DC area but now I can make fresh tasty Nikuman myself. Do you know how long the buns should be steamed in Instant Pot? Can you also tell me how long I should steam in IP if I freeze the buns? I love your recipes, especially IP recipes!
Hi Junko! I’m so happy to hear you like this Nikuman recipe. 🙂 I haven’t tried using IP for steaming Nikuman and Steamed Cake. Mostly because I’m afraid of condensation that might ruin the buns on top. For a steamer or pot that we use over the stovetop, we can cover the lid with the cloth so condensation won’t fall onto the food… but with IP, I’m not sure if the lid is designed in a way that condensation will not fall onto the food. If you try steaming these buns in your IP, let me know how it goes. I’m curious. Sorry I don’t have the answer for you…
Is there a reason why you would use BOTH baking powder and yeast? Usually in baking(making dough) they are not used together in the same recipe.
Hi Lucy! If you look up for recipes in Japanese, a lot of Nikuman recipes use both. I am not too sure the reason actually, but I learned to make these with both. As I haven’t tried using only one of them and compare the results of each texture etc, I can’t answer your question… I’m sorry.
Actually I looked up to see if anyone talked about it and there are few…
Yeast inflates the dough with carbon dioxide and alcohol bubbles from yeast fermentation. It has strong swelling power and creates large air bubbles, so it is suitable for bread made with bread flour (high gluten).
On the other hand, baking powder expands the dough with small bubbles of carbon dioxide generated by the chemical reaction of baking soda and water.
So that’s why do you use both for Nikuman because it is said that you use both because you make the dough using all-purpose flour (middle between bread and cake flour). Some people actually tried it making 3 different types and the conclusion is that swelling and texture are not a problem with yeast alone, but it was better to use both together.
Hope google translation was good enough to explain…
Can you use a stand mixer to knead their dough instead?
Hi Ha! Yes, you can do that. 🙂
Nami-san, is the filling the same as your gyoza filling? Just wondering. When I was small, my mom loved to steam buns and she would fill it with chopped peanuts and sugar. She also used the same filling for mochi. (◍•ᴗ•◍) I would try this next week! Your gyoza recipe is good… The result is always oishii… Thank you!
Hi Francisca,
The filling for this Nikuman is slightly different from Goza filling, and it has a touch sweetness. We hope you would give it a try!
Thank you for your recipes! This looks so good! I want to try it, but I am gluten free by necessity. Do you think the flour could be substituted with an all-purpose gluten free blend, or do you think they would fall apart?
Hi Evvi,
We heard some of our readers tried making Gyoza wrappers with gluten-free flour, and we think it should work for Nikuman too. However, we have not tested this recipe with gluten-free flour. Please let us know how it goes.☺️
I just made them tonight with GF flour and they’re delicious! Ugly but delicious. The ugly is all me, though.
I used Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour because it has more rice flour in it, and that had worked well with bread before. Also had to use more water. The texture is perfect.
My only issue was that I had a lot of leftover filling and I had a bit of trouble getting more than a tablespoon into them without them tearing. I think I will roll them thinner next time.
Thanks again for sharing these recipes! I only had nikuman once in Japan but it’s somehow still nostalgic.
Hi Evvi,
Awesome!!! Thank you very much for sharing your experience and tip with us!!!🤩
Your input is so valuable to all of us. Thank you!😊
Hi Nami! Quick question: how can I reheat steam buns?! I’m making these for potluck tomorrow, and I want them to be nice and hot when I can serve them. How can I do this?!
Thanks,
Emily x
Hi Emily!
Thank you for trying this recipe!
To reheat Nikuman the next day, we recommend using a Microwave. Place the wet paper towel or towel over the nikuman so it will be moist!
We hope this helps!
I made these buns and they are incredibly delicious and soft!!! I only adapted the filling because I do not eat any type of meat and it really worked well! Thank you Nami-san for sharing with us your delicious food recipes. 🙂
Hi Lilian,
We are so happy to hear it worked out well for your Nikuman.
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback. 🙂
Hello!
Thank you for this blog -!!!
The konbini’s buns haunt me no longer!!
（^人^）
Hi Alexsa, Thank you very much for your kind feedback! We are glad to hear you enjoyed this post.😊