READY IN 4 hr

Chinese Steamed Buns With BBQ Pork Filling

Read Reviews (19)

"This is a simple recipe for Char-Siu Bau. A wok equipped with a stainless steel steam plate, a plate with holes to allow steam to pass, is required to make these tasty buns." — Carol chi-wa Chung

Directions

Mix together pork, barbecue sauce, shallots, flour, chicken stock, soy sauce, oil, and sugar. Chill in refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
Prepare dough for Chinese Steamed Buns.
Shape dough into balls. Roll each out into a circle, (like Won-Ton wrappers). Put 1 tablespoonful of prepared meat mixture in the center of each circle, and wrap dough around filling. Place seams down onto wax paper squares. Let stand until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Bring water to a boil in wok, and reduce heat to medium; the water should still be boiling. Place steam-plate on a small wire rack in the middle of the wok. Transfer as many buns on wax paper as will comfortably fit onto steam-plate leaving 1 to 2 inches between the buns. At least 2 inches space should be left between steam-plate and the wok. Cover wok with lid. Steam buns over boiling water for 15 to 20 minutes.
REMOVE LID BEFORE you turn off heat, or else water will drip back onto bun surface and produce yellowish "blisters" on bun surfaces. Continue steaming batches of buns until all are cooked.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 50 mins
COOK 30 mins
READY IN 4 hrs

Footnotes

Get the recipe for Chinese Steamed Buns.

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Jan 25, 2004

Add the first step which is grind or finely chop pork, then add other ingredients. This is very different from the Char Siu pork I have had but this is tasty. Kids will like the little buns and the sweet taste. I made this in my pressure cooker and put the buns on the rack and took the gasket out of the pressure cooker. It worked fine as a steamer.

—Fastcooker

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Dec 21, 2008

These were time-consuming and didn't taste half as good as the ones from the local market. In fact the sauce was way off. They weren't horrible, and I'm sure it was something I did to make them taste and look weird. Oh well, I'll just keep going to the market!!

—yarnieface

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26 Ratings

Apr 05, 2006

I modified this recipe to be vegetarian- my husband has never had bao because he's veg. (whereas I am a dim sum fanatic), so I decided to fix this problem. I made the bao using seitan (cut up very finely and marinaded overnight) as a substitute for the pork- and he nearly polished off all 12 bao that I made! =) I also cheated and used a store bought flour recipe- which actually turned out really well. You can find it at most Asian food stores. The brand I used was 'D and D Gold product' on the front, in addition to some pics. of bao, it says, 'Bot Lam Bahn Bao Saigon', in big letters. =) With the premixed flour, it only took me about 2 hours once I had the dough mixed to make the bao. (20 minutes to cook each round of 4 bao) I'm sooo happy! Thanks for the awesome recipe!!

—ENDLESSSKY

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Jan 18, 2006

Carol certainly has some really good recipes on this site. This time I combined her two filling recipes for her buns using both the pork and the shrimp. I had leftover frozen fresh ham from our Christmas dinner, which when I sauteed it with the shrimp, used Hoisen Sauce. I absolutely love that stuff. The buns were incredible, however, because I don't remember what I did last time, I should have sprayed the waxed paper with PAM because they really stuck. I had to reseal them which of course was not so fun. Anyway, these babies were so incredible and once more, I thank you Carol for a tremendous asian dinner tonight!!!!

—LINDA MCLEAN

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Jan 25, 2004

I have wanting to try this at home for a long time! Thanks

—DCASE81

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Jul 11, 2006

MMMMMMM Yummy!!! I was craving for "dim sum" from my home country and was really happy when I found this recipe. Tried it today and wow!!!!! it was really good.....just like the steamed buns from back home. My husband thought they were delicious too. I made the dough by hand and had to add about 1 more cup of flour like one reviewer did. Thanks so much for the recipe, Carol. Now, I don't feel so homesick. :)

—sapphireml

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Jan 09, 2007

Made plenty for four or five eaters, about 17 medium buns. Do not use bread flour; even with the AP suggested it was more glutinous/chewy than I'd like, though that might be because I only had bread machine (fast rise) yeast! I skipped the first dough step, as per the yeast directions, and just mixed everything all the ingredients from step 1 AND step 2 together at once before leaving it for 3 hours in microwave. This worked fine. Left filling mixed overnight in the fridge. I subbed ordinary onions for shallots which wasn't good - the almost-raw onions caused indigestion. Could use green onions. Cooked with a saucepan and steamer set, doesn't have to be a wok. Do 15 minutes at most or they get chewy. Very good flavour, dough texture was a tad off, but it'll be our recipe...for when we have lots of time, haha. Oh, the filling is very sweet, which is how I like it, but if you want more savoury, just be sure to use a sweetish BBQ sauce and then leave out the white sugar entirely.

—alarose

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May 31, 2008

I followed the recipe exactly for the bun part, but like other reviewers have mentioned, I had to use more flour when kneading...it was way too sticky. I placed the seam side down onto the wax paper and at first they didn't look too great but by the time it came to steam them they were all smoothed out. Came out fluffy, moist and delicious. A bit time consuming but worth it. I made a bit of a bigger bun and it made 12. I didn't use the bbq pork recipe and instead picked up 1/2 lb of char siu and I asked for extra sauce. Just chopped it up and mixed with the sauce and stuffed the buns with it. The only bummer is they aren't so good when reheated in the microwave a day later and I even did the damp paper towel trick.

—ErikaEats

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Nutrition

Calories
28 kcal
1%

Carbohydrates
2.7 g
< 1%

Cholesterol
4 mg
1%

Fat
1.1 g
2%

Fiber
0 g
< 1%

Protein
1.7 g
3%

Sodium
109 mg
4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Chinese Steamed Buns With BBQ Pork Filling

Serving Size: 1/24 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 24
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 28
Calories from Fat: 10

% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1.1g 2 %
Saturated Fat 0.3g 1 %
Cholesterol 4mg 1 %
Sodium 109mg 4 %
Potassium 41mg 1 %
Total Carbohydrates 2.7g < 1 %
Dietary Fiber 0g < 1 %
Protein 1.7g 3 %
Sugars 1.9g
Vitamin A < 1 %
Vitamin C < 1 %
Calcium < 1 %
Iron 1 %
Thiamin 4 %
Niacin 5 %
Vitamin B6 2 %
Magnesium < 1 %
Folate < 1 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.