Once You Try These Chinese Tuna Buns, You Won’t Want to Eat Anything Else!

Introduction

Chinese tuna buns or Hong Kong tuna buns, whichever one you prefer to refer to these delicious buns, is an everyday staple at a lot of Chinese bakeries all around the world. For me, my first exposure to these buns was when I was growing up in Chinatown and had access to a number of Chinese bakeries within walking distance.

At the heart of the HK tuna bun is a soft and slightly sweet milk bread that you typically find in most Chinese baked buns, but the filling is where it truly shines. Inside of the bun, you’ll find a mouthwatering tuna filling that is made using canned tuna, mayonnaise, onions, and seasoning. You can sort of think of it as a Asian version of a tuna salad sandwich but on the sweeter side. This contrast between sweet and savory is what makes these buns irresistibly good and tantalizing to the taste buds.

Luckily for you though, you won’t need to visit a Chinese bakery to enjoy these buns because I’ve recreated this classic bun recipe that anyone can make right in the comfort of their own home.

Besides, there’s nothing quite like freshly baked bread, especially Hong Kong style tuna buns that have come right out of the oven.

So without further ado, let’s get baking!

Ingredients

Tangzhong:

• Water 100 ml
• Bread flour 20 g

Dough:

• Bread flour 300 g
• Milk 110 ml
• 1 Large Egg
• Instant yeast 5 g
• Unsalted butter 20 g
• White granulated sugar 40 g
• Table salt ¼ tsp
• Milk powder 6 g

Tuna Filling:

• 2 can of tuna (approximately 240g drained)
• Table salt ¼ tsp
• Black pepper ¼  tsp
• Medium yellow onion ½ (diced)
• Kewpie mayo 3-4 Tbsp

Egg wash:

• 1 egg
• splash of milk

Topping:

• Kewpie mayo
• Dried parsley

Ingredient notes

Try to use bread flour if you have it available. It just tastes so much better when baking bread with it vs using all-purpose flour.

I recommend that you use Japanese mayonnaise (kewpie mayo) rather than western style mayonnaise as the Japanese version is more milder in taste and has a hint of sweetness to it that goes very well with this recipe as a topping.

You can use either dried or fresh parsley as a topping. I’ve used dried in my recipe as that is what I have available to me and it keeps well.

I recommend that you use canned tuna that has been filled with water instead of oil as I found the oily tuna not to taste as good as the canned ones in water when mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.

Substitutions

For those of you that are lactose intolerant, you can substitute cow’s milk with a plant-based milk or even water.

You can substitute fresh parsley in place of dried parsley.

If you don’t have any Japanese kewpie mayo, you can use regular mayo, however don’t expect it to taste the same!

Directions

Tangzhong

To start off, we’re going to create our water roux, known as a Tangzhong by adding our bread flour along with water onto a small sauce pan and cook it over low heat while constantly stirring it to prevent it from clumping up and burning.

Once our Tangzhong becomes thick and gelatinous, remove it from the stove, transfer it to a small bowl or dish, and cover it with plastic wrap. Then place it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes to let it cool down.

After our Tangzhong has cooled down, we’re going to make our dough.

Dough

In a stand mixer mixing bowl, we’re going to add in our bread flour, white granulated sugar, table salt, instant yeast, milk powder, an egg at room temperature, and our Tangzhong from earlier.

Put the mixing bowl onto the stand mixer and give it a quick few whisks then slowly add in your room temperature milk to the dough.

Now continue kneading the dough for 3-4 minutes then add in your room temperature butter.

Continue mixing it for an additional 9-10 minutes.

To check and see whether or not your dough has been sufficiently kneaded, grab a small piece of the dough and stretch it out with your fingers until it becomes somewhat translucent and you can see light passing through it. If you do not see any rips or tears or very little, then your dough has been sufficiently kneaded.

Now transfer the dough to a greased large bowl.

Now apply a little bit of oil to your hands and then shape the dough into a round ball.

Place it back into the bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel and let it proof in a warm place until double in size, approximately 1 hour.

Tuna Filling

While the dough is proofing, prepare your tuna filling.

In a bowl, add in your canned tuna that has been drained along with some diced onions, a ¼ tsp of table salt, a 1/4 tsp of black pepper and 3-4 Tbsp of kewpie mayo.

Mix everything well together and then store it in the fridge for later use.

Dough continued

Once our dough has finished proofing, de-gase the dough and transfer it to a floured countertop.

Shape the dough into a round ball and then weigh it out on a scale.

Now divide it into 8 pieces and weigh out each piece so that you get equal portions.

Next, shape each piece into a round ball.

Once done, cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes to relax the dough.

Once 15 minutes has passed, grab one piece of the dough and flatten it out. Now roll the dough out into a circular shape, making sure that the middle part of the dough is thicker than the outer edges.

Now take your filling out of the fridge and scoop a generous portion of the filling onto the bun.

Now grab the opposite edges of the bun and bring them together in the center and pinch them together. Repeat this for all of the edges until the bottom of the bun is sealed.

Now turn the bun over and roll it on the countertop to round everything out.

Repeat this process for all of the other pieces.

Once done, place the buns onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and cover the buns with plastic wrap or a towel and let it proof in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

While the buns are proofing, prepare an egg wash by whisking 1 egg together with a splash of milk.

Once done, set the egg wash aside and preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

Once the buns are finished proofing, apply the egg wash to the top of the buns.

Now bake the buns for 15-16 minutes at 350°F (180°C) or until the top of the buns is golden brown.

Once done baking, immediately take the buns out of the oven, and apply some kewpie mayo to the top of the buns and then sprinkle in some dried parsley to the top as well.

Then immediately place the buns back into the oven but don’t turn the oven on. Leave them buns in the oven for about 3-5 minutes so that the topping gets cooked.

Then take the buns out of the oven and let them cool down.

Once the buns have cooled down, they are ready to be served.

F.A.Q.S

Can I use dry active yeast instead of instant yeast?

Yes, absolutely! If you’re using dry active yeast make sure that you proof the yeast in a warm liquid such as water or milk in our case along with some sugar. You should see the yeast foam up at the top and produce a very yeast like smell. If you see this, that means your yeast is good to use.

How long can I store the buns for?

You can store the buns in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Make sure that you reheat the buns either in a microwave or the oven if you stored them in the fridge or freezer to give them back their nice soft texture.

How come my dough is not rising?

There could be a number of reasons such as the following:

• Your yeast is dead. Check if your yeast is still alive by adding 1 tsp of yeast, along with 1 tsp of sugar in 1/2 cup of warm water, give it a good mix, then let it sit for 10-15 minutes. If it starts to foam at the top with a very yeasty smell then your yeast is still alive.
• Your environment is too cold. Yeast rises best in a warm environment
• You mixed in hot water with the yeast and killed it.
• You didn’t knead the dough sufficiently enough. Use the window-pane test to check if your dough has kneaded properly.

I’m lactose Intolerant, can I substitute cow’s milk with something else?

Yes, you can use either water, or some sort of nut milk such as almond milk.

I don’t own a stand mixer, can I hand knead the dough?

Yes, you can, however do realize that the dough is sticky and will be more difficult to knead by hand, that is why it is strongly recommended that you use a stand mixer to make life easier for you . Furthermore, you may need to spend a little more time to knead it compared to using a stand mixer, however it is definitely possible to hand knead it.