Buns

Steamed buns are one of the great Asian comfort foods, and this collection covers the full freezer range: filled bao, plain mantou and the sweet buns in between. Everything steams from frozen in about ten minutes — no proving, no kneading, no oven.

The filled buns are the headline. Char siu bao — fluffy white buns around sweet barbecue pork — are the dim sum classic, and Royal Gourmet's are the restaurant standard. Siu loong bao bring soup dumplings to the home steamer. On the sweet side, custard buns and salted egg custard buns ooze when you break them open, lotus seed paste buns are gently sweet and traditional, and Malaysian brown sugar sponge cake — malai gao — sits somewhere between bun and cake.

Mantou are the plain cousins: unfilled steamed bread in plain, pandan and chocolate, plus the pretty silver thread buns. Split them for breakfast with a little condensed milk, or serve them instead of rice with a rich braise — they are made for soaking up sauce.

Cooking tip: steam rather than microwave, line the basket, and rest the lid a minute before lifting so the buns do not collapse. All our steamed buns are sent frozen from our Manchester store in insulated packaging, with UK delivery by DHL.