Char Siu Bao
These easy-to-make Char Siu Bao (Steamed Pork Buns) are one of my favorite Chinese Dim Sum Dishes! Back in the day, I used to teach English to Chinese students and they would be so amazed that I was so interested in learning about their culture and food.
Chinese food (real Chinese food) is some of the most delicious food on the planet. And although I love and respect how long some recipes are supposed to take, I love a good short-cut whenever I can find one! I saw that some people have had success making Bao using pre-made biscuit dough, so I decided to try it out myself.
What is Bao flour made from?
Bao flour is normally made by stirring together all-purpose flour, instant yeast, baking powder, canola oil, sugar and water. However, in this recipe, I use biscuit dough as a short-cut and it comes out so fantastic!
What is Char Siu sauce made of?
I already knew how I wanted the filling to taste because I have made spare ribs with this seasoning before. Instead of BBQing some pork, I decided to used ground pork. So, there are a whole bunch of shortcuts in this recipe, but I GUARANTEE you that the results are better than you could’ve ever imagined!
I used a metal steamer to steam these Char Siu Bao (Steamed Pork Buns), but a bamboo steamer would be better! I steamed each bun for 20 minutes and the results were these amazing super fluffy pork buns that absolutely blew me away. Who knew you could steam biscuits?
EQUIPMENT
- Bamboo Steamer(Or metal steamer)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 3 Green Onions Chopped with the green and white parts separated
- 1.25 tbsp Ginger Paste
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine You can use Dry Sherry Wine or Mirin(Japanese Sweet Cooking Wine)
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 4 tbsp Hoisin Sauce I used Organic Hoison Sauce which I found at Whole Foods!
- 1/2 tbsp Fish Sauce Optional, but encouraged! The smell is strong when you first add it in but once the flavors mix together during cooking it will not smell fishy. If you are sensitive to the smell, use half the amount.
- 1/4 tsp Salt Optional! Taste the mixture before you add the salt and see if you want it.
- 1 pack Buttermilk Biscuits 8 count
Char Siu Bao (Steamed Pork Buns)
Equipment
- Bamboo Steamer(Or metal steamer)
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 3 Green Onions Chopped with the green and white parts separated
- 1.25 tbsp Ginger Paste
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3/4 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine You can use Dry Sherry Wine or Mirin(Japanese Sweet Cooking Wine)
- 2 tbsp Honey
- 4 tbsp Hoisin Sauce I used Organic Hoison Sauce which I found at Whole Foods!
- 1/2 tbsp Fish Sauce Optional, but encouraged! The smell is strong when you first add it in but once the flavors mix together during cooking it will not smell fishy. If you are sensitive to the smell, use half the amount.
- 1/4 tsp Salt Optional! Taste the mixture before you add the salt and see if you want it.
- 1 pack Buttermilk Biscuits 8 count
Instructions
- Put the ground pork in a pan on medium heat with the soy sauce, white parts of the onion and ginger paste. Let it cook for 5 minutes
- Add the rest of the ingredients (minus the salt) and let it simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes, until the meat is cooked and flavors blended. The mixture should be darker and slightly sticky looking from the hoisin sauce and honey.
- Taste the mixture and see if you want to add a little salt. It depends on your palate and whether or not you add the fish sauce.
- Add some of the green parts of the onion to the mixture once it is done cooking and stir them in.
- Cut out 8 little square of parchment paper, so that you can place each Pork Bun on a Parchment square once you finish making it.
- Open your biscuits, and lay them out on a flat surface. Take each biscuit and flatten it to a 4-5 inch round. The biscuit should be equally flattened.
- Place 1.5 – 2 tbsp of the ground pork mixture to the center of each biscuit and then wrap the biscuit around the filling. Pinch the ends of the biscuit together to seal it, and then place the bun sealed side down on a parchment paper square.
- Repeat with all of the buns
- Add water to the bottom of a pan, and place a bamboo steamer (or metal steamer) on top. Add four buns at a time(on the parchment paper squares), and steam the buns on medium low heat for 20 minutes.
- *Note – to reheat these buns, you can put them back in a steamer and steam them with water. Or you can wrap them in a damp paper towel and pop them in the microwave for 90seconds for two buns. If you are reheating more try adding 15 seconds per bun.
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I have had Bao buns before and purchased them from stores like Costco & Trader Joe’s so when I saw this recipe and how easy it looked I knew I had to try them for dinner! Most of the ingredients I had already in my pantry allowing for an easy dinner to prepare. I would have never guessed that steaming biscuit dough would give them such a similar texture to authentic Bao Buns but they do! They were very light and fluffy and held all the filling in side! The filling was sweet and savory and tasted amazing on its own with the fresh flavors from the ginger and green onion. I also added some garlic to the mixture and they were great! I will definitely be adding these into our dinner rotation! I served them with a side of roasted broccoli.
This was delicious – my kids devoured it !!!
Was amazing my kids loved it !!!! So delish
Tried these, they were great! Made a couple very minor substitutions, but the original recipe must be great too. Maybe someone else will benefit: I had no honey, used sugar, and it was great. I like, but don’t love Hoisin, so I used 2 tbsp and 2 tbsp of Oyster sauce. I omitted the salt, but added a little dark soy sauce for color. I will absolutely make these again, possibly many times. The biscuits made it very easy and convenient. Next I’ll try your biscuit donuts, and I bet they are great too. Thanks for the recipe.
I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe!!