Tangerine or Mandarin Oranges 橘子 and steamed buns 蒸包子 are two traditional Chinese New Year foods with meanings of wealth, thriving and good luck.
During Chinese New Year, the oranges are given to family and friends to usher in prosperity.

In this recipe, I will guide you step by step (also a few tips) to replicate Mandarin Orange into these beautiful Tangerine Buns.
The most fun part, you can peel these sweet bun as if you peeling a citrus.
And the Pandan Mung Bean Paste filling are not just so fragrant but easy to make as well, the stalks and leaves are edible too ☺️

I highly recommend to use fresh Pandan Leaves for best result.
If you use Pandan Paste or Pandan Leaf Powder, they usually have a slightly bitter taste or a rough texture in your filling.

WHY IS THE BUN DOUGH A BIT HARD?
To maintain the characteristic shape of the Tangerine buns, a denser buns dough is needed. 
The bun dough should not be too soft. 
If it's too soft the bun will lose its shape (the shape of the steamed Tamarind Buns won't be round but rather flattened 😳).

CAN I USE OTHER FILLING?
Feel free to use other fillings according to your taste as long as the filling firm enough to hold their shape, that should be fine.

WHY MILK INSTEAD OF WATER?
We will be use cold milk in this bun dough recipe. Yeast is less active at cold temperature so it will give yourself more time for modelling the buns.
You can use cold water, but full cream milk adds flavour and nutrition to the buns and also a natural emulsifier that can make steamed buns whiter and help them stay softer for a longer period of time.

STIR THE SUGAR UNTIL COMPLETELY DISSOLVED
When making the dough, it is important to stir the sugar in the milk until completely dissolved; Because if there are still granules of sugar in the dough, you will knead the dough for too long to dissolve the sugar (your hands will warm the dough); 
And the warmer the dough, the faster it will ferment and rise.
So I’m worried that you won't have enough time to shape the buns;  they will over-proofed and you will have a coarse texture on your final buns.

WHAT IS OVER-PROOFED BUN?
Over-Proofed bun is likely to have a very open crumb structure.
Due to the development of excess CO2 during the proofing stage, the gluten ends up being over-stretched and unable to hold up internal structure of the buns.
You might just have a deflated buns with very coarse and crumbly texture.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT STEAMER
Bamboo steamer is the best choice in my opinion because their lids doesn't collect condensation.
If you are using metal or plastic steamer, make sure that you cover the lid with a piece of cloth
so the condensation during steaming won’t ruin the look of your buns.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN DOUGH IS DONE PROOFING
Proofing time depends on room temperature (so please pay attention); It may take longer or may not take that long (Cold temperatures make it harder for yeast to be active so you will need more time to proof; and vice versa).

After fermentation, the proofed buns should feel lighter and rise about 50% of their original size.
And if you gently press it with your finger, the dough will make indentation and be able to slowly bounce back into shape.

DON'T PROOF THE STALKS AND LEAVES
It is important to roll the green dough into a very thin layer and don’t proof them (I've tried proofing it before and after steaming it looks like a FAT LEAVES, it looks so weird) 😳

These beautiful Tangerine skin is bright and shiny 💥 🥰

Can you see? I am PEELING my bao! 😂🤣🤣 so funny….

The small citrus looks like the sun, and because the sun 🌞 is aligned with the YANG 陽 / 阳  or positive principle, it is a symbol of abundance and happiness. 

The buns is really soft and fluffy, with the fragrant Pandan Mung Bean Paste Filling inside, so tasty and not too sweet😉.
With so much effort, these buns turned out so lovely and delicious.
They are not only used as decorations, but given as gifts when visiting family and friends as a symbol of a good fortune.

I hope you can enjoy the beauty of this Tangerine Bao 😘❤️
Love you All…!

TANGERINE BUNS 橘子包子
Yield: 9 buns
Active Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 4 hours

INGREDIENTS
🌱Pandan Mung Bean Pastę
50 g Mung Beans + 500 g Water 
15 g Pandan Leaves
150 g Water
40 g Caster Sugar
5 g Wheat Starch
1/8 tsp Salt
20 g Vegetable Oil

🌱Buns Dough
110 g Cold Milk
45 g Caster Sugar
3/4 tsp Instant Yeast
225 g All-Purpose Flour
1/4 + 1/8 tsp Baking Powder
10 g Unsalted Butter
Orange and Green Food Colouring

INSTRUCTIONS
Pandan Mung Bean Pastę

1. Rinse mung beans until the water runs clear and transfer it to a medium pan.
   Add in the water, cook over medium high heat until the beans are tender; Set aside. 50 g Mung Beans; 500 g Water 
2. Cut the Pandan Leaves into small pieces
   Using a food processor, blend the leaves with some water (it doesn’t have to be so smooth). 15 g Pandan Leaves; 150 g Water
3. Strain Pandan mixture into a clean non-stick pan.
   Add in the sugar and Wheat Starch, mix well. 40 g Caster Sugar; 5 g Wheat Starch
4. Then add the blended cooked mug beans along with salt and vegetable oil. 1/8 tsp Salt; 20 g Vegetable Oil
5. Cook over medium high heat and keep stirring (please note, never leave it out when cooking this mixture).
   This process will takes for about 20 minutes. The water will slowly evaporate and the mixture start to thickened.
6. Once the mixture formed a thick paste, turn down the heat to medium low (be careful not to burned it); And continue cook until the paste comes together and no longer stick to the pan.
7. Once it’s done, pour it into a plate.
   Cover it with a cling wrap to prevent from drying out; And store it in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up.
8. After 1 hour in the fridge, the filling gets harder (knead it for a few seconds, the paste will become pliable again)
   And then, divide it into 9 equal portions (about 20 grams each), roll each portions into a ball; cover it with a cling wrap while waiting for the buns dough.
    

Buns Dough

1. Combine the milk and sugar, stir until the sugar completely dissolved (Don’t skip this important step). 110 g Cold Milk; 45 g Caster Sugar
   * If there are still granules of sugar in the dough, you will knead the dough for too long to dissolve the sugar; Your hands will warm the dough (the warmer the dough, the faster it will ferment and rise); So I’m worried that you won’t have enough time to shape the buns and you will have a coarse texture on your final buns.
2. Add in the yeast, mix well. 3/4 tsp Instant Yeast
3. For the dry ingredient, in a large bowl simply combine the All-Purpose Flour and Baking Powder. 225 g All-Purpose Flour; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp Baking Powder
4. Pour in the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
5. Add the butter, knead the dough for about 3 minutes until it form a cohesive ball and become really smooth. 10 g Unsalted Butter
6. Set aside 35 grams of the dough for the leaves; 120 grams for the orange skin (colour each portions).
   And leave the rest dough white (about 235 grams) for the inside part of the Tangerine.
7. Divide the white dough into 9 equal portions (about 26 grams each); Roll each piece of the dough into a smooth ball.
   Do the same things for the orange dough (about 13 grams each).
   * Don’t forget always cover each dough with a plastic wrap along the process to prevent from drying out
   
   

Fill and Shape the Buns (Kindly follow video instructions for more details)

1. Take 1 portion of the white dough.
   With the smooth side facing down; press and roll into an 8 centimeters diameter disc.
2. And then, place 1 portion of the filling to the centre of the dough.
3. Using your right hand, slowly squeeze and push the wrapper up while left thumb press the filling down; Pinch to seal.
   * Make sure that you seal the buns well to prevent the filling from leaking out when steaming
   Continue with the rest white dough…
4. After all the white dough is done, we will wrap it with the orange colour dough to create it’s rind.
5. So for the Tangerine skin, take 1 portion of the orange dough.
   Press and roll into a 10 centimeters diameter thin disc
6. And then carefully lift and place the orange skin on top of the white dough;
   Turn it over 
   Gently pull the orange skin a little by little until wrap the entire white dough (The orange skin dough is very elastic, so if you do it patiently, you will definitely be able to cover the entire surface).
7. Once it’s done use dough scraper or blunt wooden knife to create the segment 
8. And then, make a hole on center of the top, insert some green dough to create the pedicel.
9. Place the bun onto a piece of parchment paper.
   Using some toothpicks puncture the surface of the skin (mimicking the pores texture of the Tangerine rind).
10. After all the buns is done, put them in the steamer (make sure that you give some space in between the buns so they won’t stick one another after fermentation or steaming).
    * In the meanwhile you can start preheat your steamer.
11. Cover and allow to rise for about 20-45 minutes (please pay attention, it depends on room temperature; It may take longer or may not take that long)
12. After fermentation the proofed buns should feel lighter and rise about 50% of their original size. And if you gently press it with your finger; the dough will make indentation and be able to slowly bounce back into shape.
13. Over medium heat, steam the buns for 15 minutes.
    *If you are using metal or plastic steamerMake sure that you cover the lid with a piece of cloth so the condensation during steaming won’t ruin the look of your buns.
14. After 15 minutes, take the steamer off from the heat (Do not open the lid) and let it sit for another 3 minutes; and then serve.
    
    

NOTES

1. The Pandan Mung Bean Pastę filling is best consumed as soon as possible.
   If you are not using it right away, you can keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to a month.
2. If you make this filling in large quantities;
   Before freezing, I suggest to divide the paste into small portions so that you can be flexible on how much to use each time.
   When you are ready to use, you can defrost in the fridge overnight.
3. The buns can be stored in the fridge (in an airtight container) for 5 days or frozen for a month.
4. I highly recommend to reheat the buns in the steamer
   To reheat: Place the frozen buns on a plate; put the plate on top of the trivet in the steamer and let them steam over high heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.
5. If you want to reheat it in the Microwave
   Place the frozen buns on a plate; wet some paper towel (wring out the excess water) and place the paper towel on top of the steamed buns (to prevent the buns from drying out).
   Microwave on high for 30 seconds (add the time as needed until heated through).