Char Siu Bao – A Chinese Typical Dish

by

Char Siu Bao – A Chinese Typical Dish

Char Siu BaoThis steamed pork bun is yummy and soft. This simple, original, and easy to follow recipe will give you the YUMMIEST Char Siu Bao you’ll ever have!!

Char Siu Bao which is a Cantonese barbeque pork filled bun is a typical dish served in many Chinese dim sum restaurants around the world. Char Siu is Chinese words for pork filling and Bao is a Chinese word for Bun.

Two kinds of Char Siu Bao are available. The first one is the steamed Char Siu Bao, white surface pork bun and the other one is baked Char Siu Bao, browned and glazed surface pork bun.

Now, just try to picture nice and fluffy Cantonese white steamed pork buns filled with tasty Char Siu or Chinese BBQ pork filling in sweet and tasty char siu sauce. Wow, it’s really, heavenly delicious isn’t it?

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TO HAVE TASTY CHAO SIU BAO AT HOME?

Firstly, a mixture of wheat starch and low-gluten flour is important if you want to make nice and fluffy steamed buns at home.

If you don’t have the low gluten flour, it is possible to use the cake flour to change the low-gluten flour, and you still have nice and fluffy steamed buns.

STEAMED PORK BUNS COOKING TIPS

It is highly recommended if you please, follow these cooking tips if you want to have the tasty Char Siu Bao at home.

  1. If you want to have a bigger bun, the dough is divided into 12 equal portions.
  2. To rest The Char Siu Bao dough is not necessarily done after putting into the baking powder.
  3. Prepare the steamer. Preheat the steamer before the buns are steamed because without the hot steam, the buns will not rise well.
  4. The exterior of the buns is sprayed with water mist to help to have beautiful and smooth exterior for the steamed buns.
  5. IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to open the steamer’s lid during the steaming process.
  6. If the steamed buns have yellowish marks, it means that the baking powder is not well-dissolved.

CAN STEAMED PORK BUNS BE PUT IN THE FREEZER ?

It is not advisable to freeze the steamed pork buns, but it is fine to keep them in the fridge. If there are some remaining of the buns, use a plastic bag and the remaining of the buns can be kept in the refrigerator for maximum 1 week.

If you want to serve the remaining of the buns, for 1 minute in a steamer or microwave, the remaining of the buns are reheated. And for the best filling, it is much better to make your own pork filling.

HOW MANY CALORIES PER SERVING?

Every bun has only 193 calories.

WHAT OTHER MEALS TO SERVE WITH CHAR SIU BAO?

Some other meals such as shrimp dumplings and chicken shu mai can be served together with this steamed pork buns or Char Siu Bao.

Char Siu Bao

COURSE : APPETIZER

CUISINE : ASIAN ( CHINESE )

KEYWORD : CHAR SIU BAO

PREP TIME : 30 MINUTES

COOK TIME : 10 MINUTES

ADDITIONAL TIME : 30 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME : 1 HOUR AND 10 MINUTES

SERVING SIZE : 1

CALORIES : 138 CALORIES

INGREDIENTS  :

 THE FILLING OF CHAR SIU :

  • ½ tablespoon of cooking oil
  • 1 small diced onion
  • 250 g or 9 oz of diced char siu
  • 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
  • Salt to your taste
  • 1 ½ tablespoon of corn starch
  • 150 ml of water

 THE DOUGH OF CHAR SIU BAO :

  • 280 g or 10 oz of low-protein flour or cake flour.
  • 100 g or 3.5 oz of wheat starch
  • 90 g or 3 oz of powdered sugar
  • 8 g ( 1 scant tablespoon) of active dry yeast or instant yeast
  • 160 ml of lukewarm water
  • 30 g or 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 10 g or 2 teaspoons of baking powder
  • 10 ml or 2 tablespoons of cold water

INSTRUCTIONS :

FOR THE FILLING OF CHAR SIU :

  1. Prepare a pan. The oil is heated in a pan. For 1 to 2minutes, the onion is sautéed. Put the char siu, oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil into the pan. For 1-2 minutes, stir fry and salt is added to your taste.
  2. The corn starch and water are mixed together and they are put into the filling. Until the sauce thickens, simmer on low heat.
  3. The filling is removed from pan. Let it cool.
  4. The filling is divided into 16 portions. Put them aside.

 FOR THE DOUGH OF CHAR SIU BAO :

  1. The flour, wheat starch and powdered sugar are passed through a sieve. They are removed into a big mixing bowl. A well is made in the center of the flour and the yeast, lukewarm water and vinegar or lemon juice are put into the bowl. With the water, the yeast is slowly liquefied. The flour mixture is slowly brought together and the vegetable oil is put into the bowl.
  2. With hands, squeeze for 15 minutes or until it forms a soft dough. It should be shiny and smooth on the exterior.
  3. With a slightly wet cloth, the dough is covered. For 60-90 minutes, let it rise or until it becomes bigger in size.
  4. With the cold water, the baking powder is liquefied. Sprinkle over the dough and squeeze until they are mixed well. To have softer buns, the dough is rested for 10 minutes after putting into the baking powder.
  5. The dough is chopped and divided into the same 16 portions.
  6. A rolling pin is used to roll and flatten each dough ball to a 3” circle. A portion of the filling is placed in the center.
  7. The dough is wrapped and folded up.
  8. To enclose the opening, pinch and twist. The char siu bao must be sealed strongly at the top. On a 2”x3” piece of parchment paper, and then, the bun is placed. Repeat 16 times to make 16 buns.
  9. On a steamer, the buns are arranged and about 1” gap is left between the buns. Water droplet is sprayed over buns and for 10 minutes, the buns are steamed in a preheated steamer.
  10. The buns are removed from the steamer and warmly served The Char Siu Bao.
Rate this post

Leave a Comment