Easy Japanese Steamed Pork Buns (Nikuman) Recipe

These steamed pork buns, also called ‘nikuman’ in Japanese, are staple Japanese snacks as well as a familiar option in Chinese Dim Sum. The white pillowy buns surrounding the warm savory pork filling that melts in your mouth make them such a satisfying comfort food.

Secret ingredient for easy steamed pork buns

If you love these pork buns, this is an easy recipe that completely cuts down the time by not making the dough from scratch. Even with this unexpected ingredient as the alternative for the made-from-scratch dough, these buns taste just as authentic as the Japanese nikuman you get in Japan. Here is that secret ingredient:

Phillsbury Grands is the secret to my steamed pork buns — Secret ingredient that cuts down the time to make the dough from scratch!

Mushroom options

Try not to skip the shiitake mushrooms in the recipe. They have become more common in the regular grocery stores in the States. Substitute with regular button mushrooms if you must. Or, better yet, have these dried shiitake mushrooms handy to simply soak them in water and they are ready to use!:

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Tools you’ll need

Before you start cooking, there are a few items I want to make sure you have. There’s nothing worse than getting all the ingredients ready and start following the instructions to find that you are missing a critical tool! You may already have them in your kitchen since they are fairly standard cooking tools. But make sure you have these items on hand:

Wax paper or Parchment paper
Stainless Steamer Basket
Deep, 12 inch skillet or 8-quart Dutch oven – with a lid

How to serve steamed pork buns

When these buns are done cooking, they may look brown from the moisture. Take them out of the pot and let it dry out a little bit. Once they have cooled enough to touch, serve with a simple, optional dipping sauce made with soy sauce and little bit of karashi, Japanese hot mustard, on the side (like soy sauce and wasabi for sushi). Don’t forget to remove the wax paper from the bottom before serving!

Pork buns ready to be steamed — **Prepping tip:** Be sure to pinch and close the dough at the top tightly. Otherwise, they’ll open up at the top during the steaming process.

Japanese Steamed Pork Bun Recipe

Steamed pork buns with soy dipping sauce

Japanese Steamed Pork Buns (Nikuman)

Easiest way to make these authentic Japanese steamed pork buns, Nikuman.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Total Time 55

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury Grands! Flaky refrigerated Original biscuits
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling Ingredients

1/3 lb ground pork
2 – 3 Shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup onions, chopped
5 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tbsp Japanese sake
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp potato/corn starch

Dipping Sauce (Optional)

Soy sauce
Karashi, Japanese hot mustard

Instructions

Cut the wax/parchment paper into eight (8), approximately 3 inch x 3 inch squares.
In a small sauce pan, heat the vegetable on medium heat. Sauté chopped onion and shiitake mushrooms until onions are translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients including the sautéed onion and mushrooms and mix well.
Separate dough into 8 biscuits. Press each into flat 5 to 6-inch round. Place about 1 tablespoon of the ground pork mixture filling in center of each round. Going around and gathering the edges of the biscuit to the center and pinch tightly to seal at the top and forming a 2 inch ball. Place a wax/parchment square on the bottom (non-seam) side of each ball.
In a deep skillet or Dutch oven, heat 1/2 to 1 inch water to boil. Water should not touch the bottom of filled buns, otherwise they’ll be soggy on the bottom. Arrange filled buns with the seam side up at least 1/2 inch apart in steamer basket. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Since only 4 buns typically fit into a skillet or Dutch oven, repeat the above process, making sure you have enough water at the bottom of the skillet.
Carefully remove steam buns using tongs since the steam is extremely hot and the buns are delicate! Remove the wax/parchment paper before serving or reheating. Serve with dipping sauce (optional).

Keyword dim sum, ground pork, nikuman

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