Pizzaman are steamed hot buns stuffed with “Italian” flavored filling. Just like Nikuman, they are often seen at Japanese convenience stores, or you could say they’re most likely only seen at convenience stores. Their cheesy and savory flavor is quite popular in Japan, especially among young students, and these hot treats are great in a cold season.
Pizzaman is simply bread and filling. The white bread part is soft and tender. The filling is tomato and meat sauce with cheese, which supposedly tastes like pizza topping. Like Nikuman and Anman, the name Pizzaman comes from the name of the cake, Manjyu, a filled sweet. Even though Manjyu are Japanese sweet cakes, this is like a savory Manjyu Japanese people love eating for a snack or light meal.
Steamed hot buns originated from Chinese Dim Sum steamed buns, and variations of buns in Japan have evolved to fit Japanese tastes over the years. Pizzaman are obviously not a traditional Japanese dish, and they certainly aren’t Chinese or Italian. They’re really more junk food than anything else. However they are also something a lot of Japanese people grew up with, and the taste is something they crave time to time. When made at home with fresh ingredients, Pizzaman feels less junky, too. Try our Pizzaman, and you will find it may make more sense than it sounds at first.
Pizzaman Recipe
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Ingredients
Bread Dough
- 100 ml warm water
- 2 tsp yeast
- 200 g all purpose flour
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp oil
Filling
- 1/4 brown onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 100 g ground beef
- 1/8 tsp salt
- pepper
- 2/3 cup tomato sauce
- 1-2 Tbsp ketchup
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- For the bread dough:
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- In a separate bowl mix the flour, sugar, paprika powder, and baking powder. Mix yeast water and dry ingredients with oil in a stand mixer using a dough hook for 10 minutes or until the dough becomes elastic and smooth.
- Shape the dough into a ball and put it back in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 30-40 minutes until doubled. Deflate the air from the dough and it’s ready to use.
- For Pizzaman:
- Chop onion and garlic finely. Heat oil in a frying pan with garlic. Add beef and cook until the beef is browned, breaking apart into small pieces as it cooks. Add chopped onion and cook for a few minutes until onion gets very tender. Season with salt and pepper. Then add tomato sauce and ketchup, and cook for a couple of minutes. Cool the meat filling to room temperature, and add cheese.
- Cut the prepared dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Roll a ball into a 5″ (12.5cm) round, and put 1/8 of the meat mixture in the middle of the dough. Pinch the dough to wrap the filling, and shape into a ball (watch our video to see exactly how). Repeat for the remaining dough and filling to make 8 Pizzaman balls.
- Place the Pizzaman balls on 3″ (7.5cm) parchment paper squares. Put them in a hot steamer (place them 2″ or 5cm apart), and cook at medium high heat for 10- 12 minutes.
Video
