{"id":69143,"date":"2026-07-16T13:21:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=69143"},"modified":"2026-07-16T13:21:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T05:21:58","slug":"the-chinese-indonesian-chef-transforming-mumbais-bread-scene-with-her-heritage-baking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=69143","title":{"rendered":"The Chinese-Indonesian chef transforming Mumbai\u2019s bread scene with her heritage baking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">In a converted warehouse in the light-industrial area of Byculla on the eastern seaboard of <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Mumbai<\/span>, India, chef Shannen Alexandra pulls a tray of mantou, or milk buns, from a rack of baked goods. Her ponytail bobs as she excitedly explains how she tweaks the classic Chinese recipe to create her buns, which, rather than the typical round shape, resemble bow ties.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Her mantou differ in other ways, too. The classic version is usually made from simple milk bread, which is then steamed or fried; Alexandra uses a richer brioche recipe as well as <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">poolish<\/em> \u2013 a pre-ferment that rests overnight \u2013 in the dough to give it a softer texture and a gentle sweetness.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The bow-tie-shaped mantou are steamed in the bakery before being delivered to Mumbai hotspot The Table, where they are fried tableside and accompany a shovel-nosed lobster in a dish called Lobster Fra Rothschild.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cI wanted to tweak the mantou recipe just because it\u2019s fun,\u201d Alexandra says with the bubbling laugh that often spills out of her. \u201cI like to have influences from my culture in the products I make.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1qeofuq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Alexandra holds a tray of her baked goods, including steamed mantou bow ties. Photo: Food Matters Group\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/07\/15\/3f2c1e2e-df63-4552-bba8-c9aff465c948_e920c990.jpg\" title=\"Alexandra holds a tray of her baked goods, including steamed mantou bow ties. Photo: Food Matters Group\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Alexandra holds a tray of her baked goods, including steamed mantou bow ties. Photo: Food Matters Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 type=\"h3\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"eh0yk8h0 css-17x7qa9 e1pqa4re1\">Alexandra\u2019s baking journey from Indonesia to India<\/h3>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Her name may be deceiving, but Alexandra is Chinese-Indonesian \u2013 her father\u2019s side of the family is Hokkien and her mother\u2019s side is <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Hakka<\/span>. She was born in Bandung, a city about two-and-a-half-hours\u2019 drive from Indonesia\u2019s capital, Jakarta. Her all-English name is the result of a clerical error.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/food-drink\/article\/3360611\/chinese-indonesian-chef-transforming-mumbais-bread-scene-her-heritage-baking?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a converted warehouse in the light-industrial area of Byculla on the eastern seaboard of Mumbai, India, chef Shannen Alexandra pulls a tray of mantou,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[16766,5894,809,26608,2382,26609,1373,15412],"class_list":["post-69143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-baking","tag-bread","tag-chef","tag-chineseindonesian","tag-heritage","tag-mumbais","tag-scene","tag-transforming","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}