Leftover Chinese Steamed Coconut Buns | Julie Nolke

Leftover Chinese food only thing in the fridge? Feeling creative? Julie shows us how to spruce up those leftovers by turning them into delicious steamed buns. Cute buns, Julie! ;)

INGREDIENTS

3 cups leftover takeout Chinese food (or store-bought frozen works too, prepare ahead of time according to package directions)
1 can (14 fl. oz) lite coconut milk
3 1/3 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp baking powder
2 pinches salt
Black sesame seeds
Chives, finely chopped (for garnish)

RECIPE

Strain off any sauce from the leftover takeout and reserve in a bowl until ready to use.

Place a large pot of water on the stove, cover and bring to boil.

To make the dough, combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Make sure they are well combined. Stir in the can of coconut milk with a wooden spoon until combined.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough for about 1 minute. If dough is too sticky add more flour.

Roll the dough out into a log and cut equally into 10-16 portions depending on the size of bun you’d like. Taking one portion, flour both sides of the bun and the rolling pin; roll out into a circle about 1 cm thick.

Spoon a heaping teaspoon of the leftovers into the centre of the circle.

To seal, dab one finger in water and run it along the edges of the circle. In a folding and fanning motion, gather and pinch the dough as you work around the circle until the filling is covered and the dough is sealed.

Turn the ball over so that the seams are down and continue to squeeze and rotate the bottom, rolling it lightly into a ball shape. Be careful not to work roughly so that the filling doesn’t escape.

Place each ball into a paper muffin cup. Lightly brush the tops of each bun with water and then sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Place buns in steamer basket and set basket on the pot of boiling water with a lid. The buns will need 25-30 minutes to steam. *Don’t open the lid in this time!*

While the buns steam, reheat the reserved sauce for dipping.

Remove buns from the steamer and garnish with chopped chives.

Serve with extra dipping sauce on the side. Enjoy!

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[comtraya]

Totally used to do this with my mom for weekend lunches to use up scraps from the week. The folding Julie used is less traditional but seems like it worked anyways! Kudos for showing off an awesome way to make use of leftovers.

[nidonemo]

Oh my god this is PERFECT!! I can finally make steam buns without having to get twenty ingredients for them! Why didn't I think of this?! Thank you so much for sharing!!

[waynerandles]

Making good use of leftovers I reckon one of them would be quite filling, Julie is a dab hand at cooking 🧑🏻‍🍳🥇🏆

[RennAndJuliet]

"it almost looks like dim sum" no...

[Mykasan]

will there be a new season of raw vegan not gross with laura miller? :(

[OnTheGoWithGlo]

Oh wow, that looks very delicious and filling :))! I always have leftover Chines and it's never as good as the first day- nice alternative!

[LifeByRaych]

What type of flour was used? Any gluten free recommendations?

[PamelasLas]

Can I steam them on the double boiler?

[FoodLifeHacks]

Great! I know that the taste of the dish is very dependent on the quality of the dough ;)

[buzzik]

Looks delicious! So, like the buns Jamie Oliver made using coconut milk and with leftover chicken? Are these inspired by his recipe? x

[i_am_a_crybaby_and_i_am_pr]

I actully like her better on her channel she acts more like her funny cool awsome self

[kgrim]

Great idea, i always end up with way too many leftovers when i have chinese food :)

[waynerandles]

Julie would love to see you make a Aussie Pavlova the favourite at all Aussie party’s 🇦🇺

[andaiibori]

I'll probably try a vegan variation of this; creative idea.

[linlupin]

additionally, you could really put whatever you'd like into a dumpling, doesn't matter where the origin of the insides are.

[Skegon]

Who has this much leftover chinese food?!

[fuzzllama]

they look like the ones i once made. raw.

[benisturning]

@ 1st I thought this was fucking stupid but it's kind of a cool way to repackage leftovers.

[MoreChannelNoise]

Tried it and it was a disaster! It's made to look simple but I would say it's for experienced cooks. For me the dough fell apart when I tried to transfer it to a steamer, I gave up after the first one and instead used the rest of the flour mixture to make tortillas.

[Ezumii]

haha, to bad I'm allergic to coconut