Egg and cheese bao buns

Combine about a cup of water or milk with the yeast, sugar, salt and baking powder.

Replace about 10% of the all-purpose flour with starch; add a teaspoon or two of oil.

Stir in as much flour as goes in easily with a spoon, then stop. Cover and rest about 20 minutes so the flour hydrates.

Knead in the remaining flour by hand until the dough is smooth, soft and just barely sticky; it is a low-hydration dough.

Cover and let rise a couple of hours, until roughly doubled.

Roll the dough flat on an unfloured counter to about a centimetre thick and punch out rounds with a pint glass.

Set the rounds on parchment paper (or coffee filters). Gather the scraps and roll again; no rest needed.

Rub a little oil on each round and fold it over on itself so it can be opened later.

Cover and proof 20 to 30 minutes before steaming.

Steam in a roasting tray with a rack holding the buns above boiling water, covered with foil to trap the steam.

Steam until the buns feel springy and cooked inside, about 10 minutes; overcooked buns collapse and turn tough.

Cool a minute. Eat, or freeze on the tray; frozen buns thaw on the counter in about 30 minutes, or faster in a microwave.

Open each bun and push a piece of American cheese inside.

Whisk the egg with pepper, salt and a splash of water or milk. Melt butter in a non-stick pan and pour in the egg for a paper-thin sheet.

When the sheet is solid enough, fold it over on itself and kill the heat.

Tear the egg and stuff it into the buns, then return the buns to the pan and lightly fry the bottoms in the residual butter.

Once golden brown underneath, add a little water, cover and re-steam until the water is gone and the cheese melts.