Will this do?
Dear Livelong - I'm not sure if any of these will help. We once landed in a holiday cottage without an oven or outside barbecue. Bread on the barbie is great fun. But I had to make-do with pots and pans only.
I made my usual bread dough, adding some milk instead of water, and after knocking down turned them into small balls or rolls. I boiled water in a saucepan, found a cooling rack which fitted the saucepan and inserted this over an upturned ovenproof dish to lift the rack above the water. Sound complicated?
The buns then rested on the rack and steamed for 10 to 12 minutes. This worked well and can be done easier in a steamer. You can also add butter and/or an egg and sugar to the dough for a softer and sweeter taste.
The Chinese love steamed date buns, once again using a basic light bread dough (say 1 tablespoon dried yeast, 2½ teaspoons sugar, some lukewarm water - about 3 tablesp - and ½ pint milk for 1 lb sifted flour). After knocking down lard, stoned dates and canned red-bean paste is rolled into small balls and covered with rolled out rounds of dough. Steam for 10 min.
A mixture of roast pork can also be placed on flat rounds of dough and then rolled so that the dough completely covers the filling. I've also come across recipes which refer to crabmeat or prawn fillings.
Good luck
Maws
