Char Siu Bao (Cantonese BBQ Pork Bun) · PrimedTable
Chinese🍞 Bread & bakery
Char Siu Bao (Cantonese BBQ Pork Bun)
🍽 Serves 12
Char siu bao is a classic Cantonese steamed bun featuring a snowy white, cotton-like wrapper that cracks open at the top—a feature called "kai kou siao" (开口笑, literally "smiling buns")—and filled with bright-red, savory-sweet BBQ pork sauce. This perfected recipe uses a simplified two-day homemade starter process combined with traditional techniques to deliver restaurant-quality char siu buns right from your home kitchen.
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Adapted from a video by Souped Up Recipes
The Best Char Siu Bao Recipe (Cantonese BBQ Pork Bun)
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1
Prepare the starter dough phase 1: Mix ½ tsp active dry yeast, 2 tbsp water, and 50g cake flour in a bowl with a spatula until a rough dough forms. Cover and let sit at room temperature (about 24°C) for 12-16 hours until the dough becomes porous and sticky.
2
Prepare the starter dough phase 2: Add 50g cake flour and 30g water to the fermented dough and mix with a spatula until a rough dough forms. Cover and let sit at room temperature for another 12-16 hours.
3
Prepare the starter dough phase 3: Add 100g cake flour and 60g water, continuing to mix until everything is combined. Let ferment at room temperature for another 12-16 hours until the volume doubles and a natural yeast aroma develops.
4
Prepare the char siu sauce filling: In a bowl, combine 2.5 tbsp sugar, 1.5 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, ½ tbsp hoisin sauce, 160g water, and 1 tsp red yeast powder (optional). Mix thoroughly. The red yeast powder provides color but is optional.
5
Heat 1.5 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 scallion stalks, 2 cloves minced garlic, 5 ginger slices, and ¼ thinly sliced purple onion. Stir over medium heat for a few minutes until garlic edges turn slightly golden.
6
Pour the sauce into the saucepan, cover, and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes to allow the aromatics to infuse their flavors into the liquid.
7
Skim out the aromatics and squeeze out any liquid to avoid waste.
8
Mix 2.5 tbsp cornstarch with 2.5 tbsp water. Keep the heat low and stir the cornstarch slurry into the sauce until it thickens to a sticky consistency.
9
Turn off the heat, add the 170g diced char siu, and mix well. Transfer the filling to a container and refrigerate overnight to firm up.
10
The next day, remove the filling from the refrigerator, divide into 12 equal portions of about 30g each, roll each into a ball, and keep in the fridge until ready to wrap.
11
Transfer the fermented starter dough to a large mixing bowl. Add 133g sugar, 4 tsp room-temperature butter or lard, and 8 drops alkaline water. Mix with a rubber spatula for 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves completely and the butter incorporates into the dough, making it smooth, elastic, and very stretchy.
12
Add ½ tsp food-grade ammonium carbonate (baker's ammonia), a powerful leavening agent that rapidly decomposes into ammonia gas and carbon dioxide to help the buns rise quickly and crack at the top. Stir for a few more minutes until completely dissolved.
13
Sift in 150-180g cake flour and 1 tbsp baking powder to remove lumps, mixing with a spatula for a couple of minutes until all flour is incorporated. The flour amount varies by brand absorption rate; start with 150g and gradually add more until reaching the correct consistency.
14
Knead the dough by hand for about 5 minutes until smooth and non-sticky to quick taps, but becomes sticky with longer hand contact. This represents the highest moisture level the dough can handle for softer, fluffier buns.
15
Dust with flour to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a long log, and divide into 12 equal pieces of about 50g each. Cover with an upside-down bowl to prevent drying.
16
Remove the chilled filling from the refrigerator. Take one piece of dough, flatten it with your hand, and roll it into a thin patty about 9cm in diameter by rolling the edges back and forth.
17
Place a filling ball in the center of the patty. Hold the bun with your left hand and pinch the edge with your right hand to create ¼-inch pleats. With left-hand guidance, continue folding pleats all around the bun. At the end, twist and pinch to seal completely.
18
Place the wrapped bun in the steamer with parchment paper underneath to prevent sticking. Continue wrapping the remaining buns.
19
Once all buns are wrapped, steam immediately without additional proofing. Unlike other steamed buns, char siu buns require pre-boiled water in the steamer to force rapid rising so the tops crack open.
20
Place the steamer on and steam over the highest heat possible for 18 minutes. Using low heat will result in incomplete ammonium carbonate decomposition, leaving an unpleasant odor.
21
Steaming is complete. Open the steamer to reveal perfectly cracked buns—these characteristic cracks are called "kai kou siao" (the bun's smile)—with savory filling oozing from the openings.
22
Serve the hot char siu buns directly from the steamer for the best experience. These buns are best enjoyed hot. Leftover buns can be frozen for up to 3 months and re-steamed without thawing whenever needed.
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