Char Siew Bao - Pork Roast Steamed Buns

5.0 from 2 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: Bread

Cuisines: Chinese

Ingredients: Pork

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 16 buns

Ingredients

• Char siew filling
• 250 gram char siew, diced into 1/8"
• 200 gram onion, diced into 1/8"
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• corn starch slurry (1 1/2 tablespoon corn starch + 150 ml water)
• Bao skin
• 2/3 cup (160 ml) warm water (38 Celsius/100 Fahrenheit)
• 8 gram active dry yeast
• 10 gram sugar
• 250 gram Hong Kong bao flour (or cake flour)
• 100 gram wheat starch (tang mien)
• 80 gram sugar
• 30 gram oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
• 10 gram baking powder
• 10 gram water

Instructions

• Char siew filling
  1. Heat oil in a frying pan on medium high, and sauté onion until translucent.
  2. Add char siew, sugar, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Cook for 1 minute.
  3. Pour corn starch slurry and keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
  4. Transfer to a mixing bowl and let the filling rest in the fridge while we prepare the bao skin.
• Bao skin
  1. Mix together warm water with active dry yeast and 10 gram sugar, and let it rest until foamy, about 15-20 minutes.
  2. Sieve together Hong Kong bao flour (or cake flour), wheat starch, and sugar into a mixing bowl.
  3. Make a well in the flour, then add foamy yeast solution, oil, and vinegar. Knead until the dough is non sticky, soft, smooth, and elastic. Hand kneading is about 15 minutes.
  4. Place the dough in a mixing bowl, cover with a wet kitchen towel/saran wrap, and let it proof until volume is doubled. About 1 hour in a warm kitchen.
  5. Mix together 10 gram baking powder and 10 gram water. Sprinkle this on top of the dough, and knead the dough again until the baking powder solution is fully incorporated into the dough.
  6. Divide the dough in 16 portions.
• Char siew bao
  1. Take a piece of dough, flatten into a 4" circle. Place one medium ice cream scoop of char siew filling (1 1/2 tablespoon) on the center of the dough. Gather the edges and make pleats to seal the filling inside the dough. Place on a cupcake liner.
  2. Repeat for the other 15 portions.
  3. Prepare a steamer on medium-high. Steam the buns for 12 minutes, then turn the heat off, and let the buns rest inside the hot steamer for another 2 minutes. Remove the steamer lid, take the buns out, and serve the buns hot.