Put the warm water in a mixing bowl, whisk in the sugar, rice starch and yeast until dissolved then add the flour and mix to a dough. Cover and leave for 10 minutes then lightly knead the dough until smooth.

Repeat this cover-leave-and-knead routine twice more, then divide the dough into eight 100-gram pieces (for supersized bao) or 12 70-gram pieces (regular sized). Roll these firmly into neat balls, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

Roll each ball into a disc about 1cm thick with a little flour, brush the top of each disc with oil then fold in half. Sit each one on a disc of non-stick parchment (I use small paper steamer liners) on a tray, dust with flour, cover loosely and leave until doubled.

Place the risen bao in a bamboo steamer and steam for 10–12 minutes until slightly firm. Either serve immediately, or cool, bag and freeze for later. To reheat, either lightly microwave or re-steam until piping hot.

Serving suggestion: Serve with Dan Lepard's spiced pork with miso and apple filling.

Note: Bao are slightly tricky to make at home as they often use a specially treated flour that keeps the texture very light and a pure white colour. Chef David Chang adds to the lightness with baking powder mixed through once the dough has risen slightly, a great idea but tricky without a mixer. What I do is make the dough with a little rice starch to keep the crumb tender, then make them with extra water so they puff more.