Pillow soft baked char siu buns with homemade char siu.
If you ever tasted Char Siu, you will love the well-balanced sweet and savory taste. Char Siu pork is important ingredient for many other recipes including Egg Foo Yong, steamed char siu bao and this is another popular baked version. I water roux method, which gives them a pillow soft texture even after reheating. But if you are in hurry and there is no water roux on hand, milk bread dough can also be used as a wrapper dough for this recipe.
Filling
- 2 cups leftover char siu dices
- 100ml water
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. sugar
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.This is our char siu starch which shoulder the responsibility of juicy filling.
Then mix the mixture with diced leftover char siu. That’s our filling. Cool down, covered and keep in fridge for 30 minutes
Water roux-Tangzhong starter
- 20g flour
- 100g water
In a small pan, mix flour with water and then keep stirring over slow fire until the mixture becomes thicker and thicker. And the lines of your spatula or egg whisk will not disappear directly. Remove from heat and cool down. Transfer the water roux (TangZhong Starter) mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge at least overnight (I usually use around 1 day).
Main Dough
- 195g (1+1/2 cup) bread flour
- 90g (3/4 cup)cake flour
- 6g (2 tsp.)instant yeast
- 30g (2 tbsp. )sugar(or reduce to 10g for a salty bun)
- 3g (1/2 tsp.)salt (or extra 3g for a salty bun)
- 1 middle size egg
- 80g (scant 1/4 cup) milk
- 45g (3 and 1/2 tbsp.)unsalted butter, softened under room temperature
Before making the main dough, move the water roux to room temperature to set reset for around 30 minutes.Add all the ingredients including milk, egg and tangzhong into a breadmaker or a large mixing bowl. Then add the sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes at slow speed. And add “butter “and continue kneading for another 10 minutes at medium speed. Then set aside and wait for the first proofing. In winter days, we might need hours until the dough is 2 to 2.5 times in size.
Divide the dough into 12 to 14 equal portions and round each one.Take one portion out, press down to a round wrapper. Scoop around 1 tablespoon Char Siu pork filling to the center. Seal the bun completely and then turn it over. Repeat the process to assemble all the other buns.
Place the well assembled buns on a lined baking tray and now we are ready to the second proofing. In hot summer days, you can cover a plastic wrapper and let the dough rest in room temperature for 40 minutes to 1 hour until almost doubled in size. In cold winter days, place the baking tray in your oven with a larger bowl of boiling hot water beneath. This method creates a warm and moist environment, which can speed up the second proofing.
Close the oven and let the buns rest for around 30 minutes until they are all doubled in size.
Take them out and brushing egg wash and top with roasted white sesame seeds. Preheat the oven to 180 degreeC and bake for 18 to 20 minutes on the middle rack. Then take out and brush a thin layer of butter on surface, which creates a shinning and hardened surface.
- 2 cups leftover char siu dices
- 100 ml water
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp. hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 20 g 2 tbsp. flour
- 100 g 100ml water
- 195 g 1+1/2 cup bread flour
- 90 g 3/4 cupcake flour
- 6 g 2 tsp.instant yeast
- 30 g 2 tbsp. sugar(or reduce to 10g for a salty bun)
- 3 g 1/2 tsp.salt (or extra 3g for a salty bun)
- 1 middle size egg
- 80 g scant 1/4 cup milk
- 45 g 3 and 1/2 tbsp.unsalted butter, softened under room temperature
- 1 egg whisked + 1 tbsp. water
- 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
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In a small pan, mix flour with water and then keep stirring over slow fire until the mixture becomes thicker and thicker. And the lines of your spatula will not disappear directly. Remove from heat and cool down.
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Transfer the water roux (TangZhong Starter) mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge at least overnight (I usually use around 2 days).
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Mix cornstarch with water and set aside for couple of minutes until well combined.
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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.
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Cover the filling and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
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Before making the main dough, move the water roux to room temperature to set reset for around 30 minutes.Add all the ingredients including milk, egg and tangzhong into a breadmaker or a large mixing bowl. Then add the sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes at slow speed. And add “butter “and continue kneading for another 10 minutes at medium speed. Then set aside and wait for the first proofing. In winter days, we might need hours until the dough is 2 to 2.5 times in size.
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Transfer the dough to a clean-floured operation board and then divide into 8 equal portions. If you plan to make smaller ones, you can choose 12 to 14 portions and round each one.
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Take one portion out, press down to a round wrapper. Scoop around 1 tablespoon Char Siu pork filling to the center. Seal the bun completely and then turn it over. Repeat the process to assemble all the other buns.
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Set aside for the second proofing until the buns are doubled in size again.
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Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C. Brush egg wash and top with white sesame seeds.
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Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until well golden brown colored.
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(optional) brushing some melt butter and serve after cooling down for several minutes.
What flour did you use for the Roux?
Bread flour or all purpose flour both works.
i am making this recipe right now and i had to add extra liquid, as 1/4 cup milk is definitely not enough. i hope i am able to salvage this
Made these tonight. I started last night by making the filling and the roux. I used weight measurements and these came out so perfect that I wasn’t able to take a picture before they were gone! Will do them again! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Thank you Carol for your feedback. I can feel the texture by reading your words. Happy cooking and hope to see your feedback soon.
I would love to try making my own char sui. Do you have a recipe that you like? I’ve been making pork tenderloin using soups vide method and am wondering if it’s possible to do char sui using this method.
Yes, char siu can be made via thickening the sauce. It is a much quicker method. But I don’t have a post introducing the process yet.
Thank you! That should have read s-o-u-s vide. Not soups vide. I found a recipe and it worked out great! I drained and dried the meat prior to cooking Sous vide then brushed with marinade thickened with maltose and molasses prior to searing on the grill 2 mins a side. It was delicious. Marinade had all the same ingredients as char sui filling. Am now going to try it all over again! Thanks again for a great recipe!
Thank you Carol. You are so kind.
I made this last week. I measure all the ingredients by weight. The bread dough was way too wet and sticky. I had to keep adding ½ a tbspn of bread flour until the dough came together. I must have added ⅓ cup of bread flour.
The pork filling was tasty but a little bit too salty. I would cut down on the soy sauce by ½ next time. The buns rose very nicely during second resting. I baked at 350F for 20 min but the top was still a light golden color. I raised the temperature to 360F and baked for another 5 min to get a darker golden brown but still not as nice as in your picture. Next time I am not going to add water to the egg wash. The bread came out looking airy but tasted dry and not pillow soft. .
Why add cake flour to the bread flour to bring down the protein %? Why not just use 100% all purpose flour?