Nikuman is Japanese Steamed Pork Buns filled with juicy ground pork, shiitake mushroom, and cabbage inside. The hot and fluffy buns fresh out of the steamer basket will warm your heart and soul. It‘s surprisingly easy to make this delicious snack at home!
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.
What is Nikuman?
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 We 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 such as:
- Requires to rest the dough for some time – You have to let the dough rest and it’s necessary for good steamed buns.
- Needs lots of practice in folding and pleating – 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 and in my video tutorial, so you can follow along with confidence.
But don’t worry, nothing is too hard to stop anyone from giving the recipe a try!
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. 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!
Similar Savory and Sweet Treats You’ll Enjoy:
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Nikuman (Steamed Pork Buns)
Video
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour) (plus more for dusting; weigh your flour or use the “fluff and sprinkle“ method and level it off)
- 2 scant Tbsp sugar (20 g; 2 Tbsp sugar is 25 g, so measure 20% less)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil (plus more for coating the proofing bowl)
- ⅔-¾ cup water (start with 160 ml and add more, if needed)
For the Filling
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- ½ cup water
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 4 leaves green cabbage (6.3 oz, 180 g)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ¾ lb ground pork
- 1½ tsp ginger (grated, with juice; from 1-inch, 2.5-cm knob)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp sake
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch
- freshly ground black pepper
For Serving
- soy sauce
- Japanese karashi hot mustard
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. I highly encourage you to weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Click on the “Metric“ button at the top of the recipe to convert the ingredient measurements to metric. If you‘re using a cup measurement, please follow the “fluff and sprinkle“ method: Fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle the flour into your measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more flour than you need.Prepare one square piece of parchment paper for each bun you will make, about 3 x 3 inches (7.6 x 7.6 cm) for small buns. Set aside.
To Make the Dough
- Put 2½ cups all-purpose flour (plain flour), 2 scant Tbsp sugar, ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp instant yeast, and 1 Tbsp neutral oil in a large bowl. While mixing the ingredients with chopsticks or a wooden spoon, slowly pour ⅔-¾ cup water into the bowl and mix with the other ingredients until they are incorporated and there are no dry spots of flour left in the bowl. Tip: Start with 160 ml water and only add the rest if you need it to achieve the right dough consistency. You may need more or less depending on the humidity of your environment.
- Lightly dust your hand with flour to keep the dough from sticking too much. Use your hand to knead the dough in the bowl, pressing it down and reshaping it until you can form it into a ball.
- Sprinkle a 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, about 30 degrees, and repeat this process. Continue turning and kneading the dough 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 the loose ends underneath. Coat the bottom of the bowl with oil and place the dough back 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.
To Prepare the Filling
- While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, make the filling. First, soak 2 dried shiitake mushrooms in ½ cup water. Place something heavy on top to completely submerge the shiitake. Set aside to rehydrate for 10–15 minutes.
- Thinly slice 1 green onion/scallion. Remove the tough core of 4 leaves green cabbage and chop the leaves into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
- Sprinkle the chopped cabbage with 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt to draw out the excess water.
- Once the shiitake mushrooms are rehydrated, squeeze the liquid out, cut off the tough stems, and mince the mushroom tops.
- In a large bowl, combine ¾ lb ground pork, the sliced scallion, and the minced shiitake mushrooms. Squeeze out the excess water from the cabbage with your hands and add it to the bowl.
- Grate the ginger and add 1½ tsp ginger, grated (with juice), to the pork mixture. Then, add 1 tsp sugar, 1 Tbsp sake, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 Tbsp potato starch or cornstarch, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Knead the mixture until it is well combined and looks pale and sticky. Set it aside (or cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge) until the dough is ready.
To Form the Buns
- Once the dough has doubled in size, place it on the work surface that you‘ve dusted with flour. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and then roll each piece into a log. Cut each log into 5 equal pieces and then cut each piece in half. You should have 20 pieces of dough. You can divide the dough into fewer pieces of dough to make bigger buns, if you wish. However, it‘s easier to work with a smaller piece of dough to make nice pleats when you wrap because it‘s hard to hold a big piece of dough plus filling in one hand. Form each piece of dough into a ball and dust the dough balls with flour to keep them from 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 wrapper. Here’s how I roll the dough: Hold the top of the dough with your left hand and use a rolling pin to roll out the dough with your 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 1½ Tbsp of filling (I use this 1½ Tbsp cookie scoop) and place it in the center of the dough.
- Hold the dough with your left hand and seal the bun using your 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 more 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 (for 10–12 pleats) until you seal the bun closed by pleating and pinching the last piece of dough tightly. Tips: Your left thumb should hold down the filling while you use your left fingers to turn the wrapper. Use your left index finger to help pleat the dough. Also, lift up the pinched pleats slightly while you make a 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 square piece of parchment paper that fits the bun. Cover the finished buns with plastic wrap and repeat this process with the rest of the dough. Let the buns rest for 20 minutes.
To Steam
- Bring water to a boil in a large wok (or a pot) and set a steamer on top. Once the water is boiling, place the buns with their parchment paper squares in the steamer tray, leaving about 2 inches between each bun (as they will get larger while steaming). Close the lid and steam over high heat for 10 minutes for small buns (or 13 minutes for medium buns and 15 minutes for large buns). 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.
To Serve
- Serve the hot Nikuman with soy sauce and Japanese karashi hot mustard on the side. Enjoy immediately.
To Store
- The buns keep well in the fridge until the next day and freeze well after steaming. Wrap them in plastic wrap and then pack them in freezer bags; I suggest to consume them within 1 week for the best flavor and freshness. To reheat, steam the frozen buns for a couple of minutes.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Mar 16, 2015. It’s been edited and republished in April 2020.
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 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 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…
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! 🙂
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 🙂
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. 🙂
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). 🙂
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.
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. 🙂
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. 🙂
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.
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! 🙂
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
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! 🙂
Excellent recipe. So precise. Thank you
Hi John! Thank you so much for your kind feedback!