Chinese steamed bread

First time I saw Chinese steamed bread I thought it was half-done, that you need to finish baking it in the oven. That's how much I knew about Chinese cooking. What can I say, I was a stir-fry and chow-mein person.

From a friend I found out that the bread was not at all half-done, but all done and ready to eat. The reason it was so pale was because it has been steamed and not oven baked. I could not believe it, no crust at all?! So of course I had to try it...and all I can say is that I am hooked on steaming. Not only bread (western type of bread included) but anything else that fits in my bamboo-steamer (post about it coming soon).

The steamed bread itself tastes good, despite no crust. It is more chewy, I guess because of steam. But it molds faster than oven-baked bread, again because of moisture. However, what I have been thinking about was bagels. Have to test steaming them instead of boiling in water and then oven-baking. Could be something.