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Pillow-soft char siu bao, or Chinese BBQ pork bun, is the most popular Cantonese savory steamed Chinese bun. With a one-time proofing method, let’s make perfect, home-kitchen-friendly BBQ pork buns.

I always have leftover char siu as a char siu lover since I made lots of char siu at home. Leftover char siu is a fabulous ingredient for many dishes, including egg foo young,  char siu fried rice, and this char siu bao. We have two versions of char siu bao (Chinese BBQ Pork buns), one is steamed and the other is baked char siu bao (叉烧餐包). 

Filled steamed buns (Baozi) can differ in both flavors and wrapper. Bao wrappers in Northern China are strong, elastic, fluffy, and without too many flavors. However, the wrappers in  Southern China, especially in Guangdong cuisine, are pillow-soft, frail, and sweet. If you have ever visited an authentic dim sum hall, you may know what I am talking about. But the dim sum style char siu bao cannot be reproduced at home without the help of “臭粉”, ammonium bicarbonate, which can help quickly produce a large amount of bubbles. But we have another way to go: an ordinary steamed buns dough but still reach the pillow soft texture.

The Char Siu filling

Let’s begin with the filling, as you need to refrigerate it for a while, making it easy to handle. To start with this easy char siu bao, create your char siu first the previous day, and then cut the cooled char siu into small dice.

Or let’s make an easy char siu fresh. Mariante the pork butt or even pork belly if you prefer a fat cut with all the seasonings for 4 hours. Take out and roast for 15 minutes on both sides. Then cut the pork into small dice.

Next, let’s make a char siu sauce to accompany the diced char siu meat. In a small pot, combine 100ml of water, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce. Stir until the sauce is well combined. Then, mix in the char siu dice we made in the previous step. Cover and place the filling in the fridge to firm it a little bit so we can wrap it easily in the following steps.

Char Siu Wrapper

Now, let’s compare the dough to common dough. This time, I used a larger batch of yeast and employed a one-time fermentation process, which can greatly shorten the time.

Wrapper

• 300g all purpose flour + more for dusting
• 40g sugar
• 2 tsp. Sugar-tolerant instant yeast
• 160ml warm water (or 180ml to 185ml warm milk), the best temperature for liquid is around 35 °C.
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil (corn oil)
• a tiny pinch of salt

Cook’s note for wrappers

1. If you read the ingredients for the dough and compare it with other Chinese steamed buns, this dough for char siu bao contains more liquid (water and oil) and a larger amount of sugar. When well kneaded, the final dough should be soft but not sticky.
2. I use a one-time proofing method for the wrapper, which significantly saves time and makes the buns more fluffy and less chewy. You can resort to a traditional Chinese pork bun method of two proofing methods (二发法). The yeast is also increased so that the buns can be well proofed within a short time.

Steps

Place all dough ingredients in a stand mixer and knead for 7-9 minutes slowly. Then cover and rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Knead the dough until smooth.

Now divide the dough into 12 equal portions.  Re-knead each one until smooth, and then roll the wrapper dough into round wrappers around 10 cm in diameter with thin edges. If you need more instructions on assembling the buns, check this video. Assemble all of those buns.

I am using a  Chinese Bamboo Steamer Set

One time proof

Cover the lid, and now we begin the one-time fermentation process.

• In a hot summer, cover the lid and let the buns sit for 20 to 30 minutes until they are bigger and softer.
• On cooler days, heat the water in a pot for several minutes until warm but not boiling. Place the steamer over the pot and wait for another 20 to 30 minutes. The buns can expand very fast with warm temperatures and higher air humidity. When well proofed, the buns become slightly more significant and softer (around 1/3 times bigger). If you poke a small hole, it will not recover or recover at a very low speed.

Steam the buns

Restart the fire and steam the buns for 15 minutes. Turn off the fire and let them stand for another 5 minutes before enjoying. Now we have pillow-soft char siu bao with a homemaking-friendly dough.

Wrapper

• 300 g all purpose flour + more for dusting
• 40 g sugar
• 2 tsp. sugar tolerant instant yeast
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 160 ml warm water ,or 180ml to 185ml warm milk
• 1 tbsp. Lard
• a tiny pinch of salt

Make the filling

• Mix cornstarch with water and set aside for couple of minutes until well combined.

• In a small sauce pot, add starch water, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, light soy sauce, sugar and heat over slowest fire until there are big bubbles. Then mix with the char siu dices.

• Cover the filling and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Make the wrapper

• In a stand mixer, place all of the dough ingredients in and then knead for 7-9 minutes at slow speed. Then cover and rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

• Slightly re-knead the dough for another 2 minutes until the smooth becomes very smooth. Shape into long log first and then divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Re-knead each wrapper dough until the surface becomes smooth.

• Roll each of the wrapper dough into a round wrapper around 10cm in diameter with thin edges. Scoop around 1 tablespoon of filling in the center and seal the buns completely. Repeat to finish all of the buns.

• Place the buns on baking papers and then place in steamer. Cover the lid and rest for another 20 minutes at a room temperature around 28 degree C to 30 degree C. In cold water days, heat water in a pot for several minutes until warm but not boiling and then place the steamer on the warm water, rest for 15 to 20 minutes.

• Start the fire and steam the buns for another 20 minutes, turn off fire and stand for 5 minutes before enjoying.

• Re-steam the buns if they are cooled. No changes for the taste.

The Nutrition Facts is based on each single char siu bun.

Calories: 247kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 124mg | Potassium: 34mg | Sugar: 4g | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1.2mg