Steamed Buns in Stew Recipe

Traditional dishes that we grew up with have a special place in our memories. Today I’m sharing with you one of my favorite childhood meals. My mom always called it strudeln, not the same as german apple strudels though. The strudelln I’m talking about are steamed buns, however again not the same as is the Japanese Nikuman or Chinese baozi.

Doing some research I found it under the name strudli. Strudli or strudeln are steamed buns in a stew. A whole one-pot meal. Very delicious. 

Even though the whole recipe is surprisingly simple, the dish is nothing short of a feast. Surprise your loved ones and see how they like it. Warning, you might get a request to make it again and again. 

The buns for the stew

For the buns, you can use your favorite bun or sandwich bread dough recipe. You want to choose a dough that is low in fat since we use oil to form the buns.

It might also work with frozen dinner rolls dough from the grocery store. I have never done it, but can’t see why not.

Personally, I always make the dough from scratch, starting with whole grain berries, grinding it into flour, and making the dough. Our favorite recipe that I use is here. 

Start with the dough a good 2 hours prior to dinner time. You want to leave enough time for the dough to rise and steam. 

Once the dough has been made and is rising in a warm spot in your kitchen, we can turn to the stew. 

Stew varieties

As with most traditional recipes, it seems that every family had their own favorite version. This fits very well with my overall freestyle cooking. 

My mom made the stew for the strudeln, using meat, onions, and potatoes. She would use very little water and add cream to the stew once the buns were done. Coating everything in cream sauce. 

Since we eat plant-based I use vegetables. For example onions, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes. See one of our simple versions below in a recipe.

Traditionally also sauerkraut is used, it makes for a unique Eastern European taste.

I have also seen tomato-based stews being used. 

As you see, there is lots of room to make the recipe yours. 

Important

The only important factor is that the stew is thick. Go light on liquid and use lots of potatoes, so you get a dry surface. The buns should not be in liquid but on top of the vegetables. 

If you prefer a more liquid stew, you can save some of it to add when the buns are done, as my mom did with cream. Once you remove the buns, add the liquid, bring to a boil again, adjust the seasoning, and there you have your stew to your liking. 

You can also use a divider, it makes it a bit easier to separate the buns from the stew once it is all cooked. But it is by no means needed. 

Using a steamer basket is also not required. The buns should be able to take in some of the stew aroma and taste. 

Just choose a big enough saucepan or pot, so the buns can rise with a closed lid. If you have a lid with a hole, plug it up with some dough. You want to keep all the steam in the pot. 

Forming the buns

I think here the buns got their relations to strudels, in the rolled dough, similar to cinnamon buns.

Roll out the dough, brush with butter or oil, roll and cut into buns.

I usually do not do that. Instead, I take an egg-size piece of dough into my hands, pull it apart, dip it into oil or butter and roll the dough around my pointer finger. In seconds I have about the same look as a cinnamon bun. 

Steamed Buns in Stew Recipe

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