Authorfoodistisch
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Cha siu bao is a Cantonese soft, fluffy steamed bun filled with Chinese BBQ pork or char siu. Get this easy char siu bao recipe!

Instead of the typical bao bun for Cha Siu Bao 叉燒包 I opted for a mantou style bun recipe. Usually the buns from Cha Siu Baos are more like a fine soft bread.

Wikipedia sums it up: Although visually similar to other types of steamed baozi, the dough of steamed cha siu bao is unique since it makes use of both yeast and baking powder as leavening. This unique mix of leavening gives the dough of cha siu bao the texture of a slightly dense, but fine soft bread.

Encased in the center of the bun is tender, sweet, slow-roasted pork tenderloin. This cha siu is diced, and then mixed into a syrupy mixture of oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, roasted sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, shaoxing wine or dry sherry, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch.

After trying the recipe for Char Siu Bao buns by thewoksoflife though, I wasn't very convinced by the dough. I found that the recipe used too much baking powder that gave it that chalky taste. I might give this dough another try though.

I halved and fused the recipes by s whattocooktoday for the Bao bun and the filling by pepper.

bbq porrk bao bun

Yields12 Servings

Bao Bun
BBQ Pork Filling

External Products
bao-steamer
bao-steamer

Make the Filling
1

In a pan over medium high heat, add some oil and the pork belly.
Cook pork until it begins to brown.
Add in soy sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, and sugar, stirring to combine.
Add first ½ cup of water and stir, then place a lid over pan and cook until pork is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove lid and stir in water and cornstarch mixture.
Cook filling until very thick.
Remove from heat and place on a plate/tray in a single layer and cool completely until hard and easy to scoop.

Prepare the dough
2

Place the all the flour, cornstarch/wheat starch, instant yeast, sugar, oil in a mixing bowl. Mix until you get a rough dough (it's not going to be smooth yet). Cover and rest it for 15 minutes. Then go back and knead it. You'll be surprised by how easier it is to knead it now. Knead until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 10-15 minutes. At any point during kneading, you can always stop and rest the dough if you find it hard to knead. This is to relax the gluten. Then go back to knead again and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes by just resting the dough before kneading again. It's easier for you too

3

Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is not to proof the dough. It shouldn't double in size. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough, then proceed to next step that's applicable to you

4

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Work with one dough at a time. Knead the dough a few times to push out any air bubbles (if any). Then pull and tuck the dough so the seams are at the bottom and the surface is smooth and round. Roll the dough into a smooth round ball in between the palm of your hand or as I did in the video. REALLY make sure the dough is smooth.

Assemble
5

Flatten the dough with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll it out to form a circle about 4-5 inches, with a slightly thicker middle part. This is to support the weight of the filling. Don't roll the dough too thin. If you roll the dough too thin, the filling might make the steamed buns "wrinkle" later when you steam. Place the filling at the center and then gather the sides to enclose the bun and pinch to seal. Flip the bun so the seam side is down now

Poofing
6

Let the dough rise at room temperature or at a warm place. If it's winter where you are, you can use your oven "bread proof" function to let them proof in there, or simply turn on your oven to lowest temperature and then turn off and after 15 minutes, place the shaped buns in there to let them proof. They won't necessarily double in size, but at least puff up to about 50% of original size. This may take about 10-15 mins at warm temperature. For active dry yeast and fresh yeast, you may need a bit longer for it to proof compare to instant yeast. If you use more sugar in the recipe, you may need to proof a bit longer too. Do not overproof your dough however
They will be about 50% bigger than their original size AND when you lift them up, they should feel lighter. If not, let them proof a bit longer.

Steaming
7

Most likely your steamer won't be able to accommodate steaming all buns at one go, unless you have something like this 3-tier food steamer (which I really love). You may need to steam in 2-3 batches, which means, the rest of the batches will sit longer and continue to proof while waiting for the steamer. Not good for the buns! Here's what you can do: Make sure to cover them with plastic wrap and then place them in the refrigerator to slow down the yeast activity or halt it all together until they are ready to be steamed

8

Bring the water in your steamer to a boil. Wrap the lid of your steamer with a kitchen towel to prevent moisture dripping back on the steamed buns as this will create "burn" spots

9

LOWER THE HEAT TO MEDIUM. Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between. Cover with a lid but leaving it about 1/4-inch gap for some steam to escape. Steam on medium heat for 15 minutes for plain medium-large buns with no filling, 20 minutes for large buns with raw meat filling. This is especially important if you see that you have overproof the steamed buns (the steamed buns have doubled in size and they have widened to the side). As long as you steam them like this, the buns will not wrinkle and collapse later when you take them out from the steamer

10

After steaming, turn off the heat. DO NOT OPEN THE LID of the steamer. Let the buns sit there for 5 minutes or longer like this. The buns will not sink or wrinkle due to the sudden change in temperature

Cooling:
11

Immediately remove the buns to wire rack to let them cool down. This is to ensure the bottom of the steamed buns will not be wet and soggy

Storing
12

If you make extra and plan to store them, let the already steamed buns cooled down completely and then place them on a baking sheet, not touching each other, and then put the entire tray inside the freezer for about 1 hour. They will harden, but not completely frozen yet. Transfer to a freezer bag and they will not stick to each other anymore. Try not to keep for more than 1 month

Reheating
13

They can go straight from freezer to steamer when you ready to eat them. Steam on high heat for 5 minutes and they are as good as new

Tried this recipe? Mention @foodistisch I would be super happy to see your cakes!

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Ingredients

Bao Bun
BBQ Pork Filling

Directions

Make the Filling
1

In a pan over medium high heat, add some oil and the pork belly.
Cook pork until it begins to brown.
Add in soy sauce, hoisin, oyster sauce, and sugar, stirring to combine.
Add first ½ cup of water and stir, then place a lid over pan and cook until pork is tender, about 20 minutes.
Remove lid and stir in water and cornstarch mixture.
Cook filling until very thick.
Remove from heat and place on a plate/tray in a single layer and cool completely until hard and easy to scoop.

Prepare the dough
2

Place the all the flour, cornstarch/wheat starch, instant yeast, sugar, oil in a mixing bowl. Mix until you get a rough dough (it's not going to be smooth yet). Cover and rest it for 15 minutes. Then go back and knead it. You'll be surprised by how easier it is to knead it now. Knead until the dough is smooth and pliable, about 10-15 minutes. At any point during kneading, you can always stop and rest the dough if you find it hard to knead. This is to relax the gluten. Then go back to knead again and you'll be surprised by the difference it makes by just resting the dough before kneading again. It's easier for you too

3

Cover and rest the dough for 15 minutes. This is not to proof the dough. It shouldn't double in size. This is to relax the gluten for easier shaping and rolling the dough, then proceed to next step that's applicable to you

4

Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Work with one dough at a time. Knead the dough a few times to push out any air bubbles (if any). Then pull and tuck the dough so the seams are at the bottom and the surface is smooth and round. Roll the dough into a smooth round ball in between the palm of your hand or as I did in the video. REALLY make sure the dough is smooth.

Assemble
5

Flatten the dough with your palm and then use a rolling pin to roll it out to form a circle about 4-5 inches, with a slightly thicker middle part. This is to support the weight of the filling. Don't roll the dough too thin. If you roll the dough too thin, the filling might make the steamed buns "wrinkle" later when you steam. Place the filling at the center and then gather the sides to enclose the bun and pinch to seal. Flip the bun so the seam side is down now

Poofing
6

Let the dough rise at room temperature or at a warm place. If it's winter where you are, you can use your oven "bread proof" function to let them proof in there, or simply turn on your oven to lowest temperature and then turn off and after 15 minutes, place the shaped buns in there to let them proof. They won't necessarily double in size, but at least puff up to about 50% of original size. This may take about 10-15 mins at warm temperature. For active dry yeast and fresh yeast, you may need a bit longer for it to proof compare to instant yeast. If you use more sugar in the recipe, you may need to proof a bit longer too. Do not overproof your dough however
They will be about 50% bigger than their original size AND when you lift them up, they should feel lighter. If not, let them proof a bit longer.

Steaming
7

Most likely your steamer won't be able to accommodate steaming all buns at one go, unless you have something like this 3-tier food steamer (which I really love). You may need to steam in 2-3 batches, which means, the rest of the batches will sit longer and continue to proof while waiting for the steamer. Not good for the buns! Here's what you can do: Make sure to cover them with plastic wrap and then place them in the refrigerator to slow down the yeast activity or halt it all together until they are ready to be steamed

8

Bring the water in your steamer to a boil. Wrap the lid of your steamer with a kitchen towel to prevent moisture dripping back on the steamed buns as this will create "burn" spots

9

LOWER THE HEAT TO MEDIUM. Place the buns in there, leaving about 1-inch space in between. Cover with a lid but leaving it about 1/4-inch gap for some steam to escape. Steam on medium heat for 15 minutes for plain medium-large buns with no filling, 20 minutes for large buns with raw meat filling. This is especially important if you see that you have overproof the steamed buns (the steamed buns have doubled in size and they have widened to the side). As long as you steam them like this, the buns will not wrinkle and collapse later when you take them out from the steamer

10

After steaming, turn off the heat. DO NOT OPEN THE LID of the steamer. Let the buns sit there for 5 minutes or longer like this. The buns will not sink or wrinkle due to the sudden change in temperature

Cooling:
11

Immediately remove the buns to wire rack to let them cool down. This is to ensure the bottom of the steamed buns will not be wet and soggy

Storing
12

If you make extra and plan to store them, let the already steamed buns cooled down completely and then place them on a baking sheet, not touching each other, and then put the entire tray inside the freezer for about 1 hour. They will harden, but not completely frozen yet. Transfer to a freezer bag and they will not stick to each other anymore. Try not to keep for more than 1 month

Reheating
13

They can go straight from freezer to steamer when you ready to eat them. Steam on high heat for 5 minutes and they are as good as new

Steamed BBQ Pork Bao Bun
IngredientsDirections