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    Home » Recipes » Chinese noodles

    Baked Char Siu Bao

    Last Modified: October 9, 2022 by Elaine| 53 Comments

    Jump to Recipe

    Pillow soft baked char siu buns with homemade char siu.

    baked char siu bao | chinasichuanfood.com

    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.

    baked char siu bao | chinasichuanfood.com

    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

    Baked char siu bao filling|chinasichuanfood.com

    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).

    water roux-Tangzhong starter

    Main Dough

    • 195g (1+½ cup) bread flour
    • 90g (¾ cup)cake flour
    • 6g  (2 tsp.)instant yeast
    • 30g (2 tbsp. )sugar(or reduce to 10g for a salty bun)
    • 3g (½ tsp.)salt (or extra 3g for a salty bun)
    • 1 middle size egg
    • 80g (scant ¼ cup) milk
    • 45g (3 and ½ 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.

    Char Siu Bao

    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.

    Baked char siu|chinasichuanfood.com

    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. 

    baked char siu bao | chinasichuanfood.com

    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.

    baked char siu bao | chinasichuanfood.com

    🧾Recipe

    Char Siu Bao-Baked Buns Recipe

    Elaine
    Super soft Tangzhong baked buns with Chinese Char Siu Pork as filling.
    4.60 from 5 votes
    Print Recipe
    Prep Time 20 minutes mins
    Cook Time 10 minutes mins
    Total Time 30 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Chinese
    Servings 8
    Calories 246 kcal

    Ingredients
      

    For the filling

    • 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

    Roux

    • 20 g 2 tbsp. flour
    • 100 g 100ml water

    Main dough

    • 195 g 1+½ cup bread flour
    • 90 g ¾ cupcake flour
    • 6 g 2 tsp.instant yeast
    • 30 g 2 tbsp. sugar(or reduce to 10g for a salty bun)
    • 3 g ½ tsp.salt (or extra 3g for a salty bun)
    • 1 middle size egg
    • 80 g scant ¼ cup milk
    • 45 g 3 and ½ tbsp.unsalted butter, softened under room temperature

    Egg wash and decorating

    • 1 egg whisked + 1 tbsp. water
    • 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
    • 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

    Instructions

    Water roux

    • 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.
    • 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).

    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.

    Wrapper

    • 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.
    • 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.
    • 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.
    • Set aside for the second proofing until the buns are doubled in size again.
    • Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree C. Brush egg wash and top with white sesame seeds.
    • Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until well golden brown colored.
    • (optional) brushing some melt butter and serve after cooling down for several minutes.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 246kcalCarbohydrates: 37gProtein: 6gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 44mgSodium: 347mgPotassium: 66mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 240IUCalcium: 25mgIron: 0.6mg
    Keyword buns, Char Siu
    Tried this recipe?Mention @ChinaSichuanFood

    baked char siu bao|chinasichuanfood.com

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kelly

      November 21, 2016 at 1:06 pm

      Thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I used to live in Vancouver, BC, Canada where I had easy access to Chinese Curry Beef Buns. They look like the buns in the above pictures. I am hoping you have the recipe. Sadly, we don't have any Chinese stores in my community so I try to make all my own sauces and sometimes finding sichuan peppers can be challenging. Our stores don't stock a lot of the sauces and I don't like to buy stuff online. So I'm trying to remember what they look like and I think your recipes look right. I will be trying them in the near future but I would be soooooo grateful if you could provide me with the recipe to the Chinese Curry Beef Bun recipe. Looking forward to your response. Thank you so much for your help.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        November 22, 2016 at 8:15 am

        Curry beef bun is a great suggestion. It is not hard to make one at home. Stay turned, I will bring it on the blog.

        Reply
        • Kelly

          November 29, 2017 at 4:19 pm

          Elaine, did you ever post the Chinese Curry Beef Bun recipe? Thank you so much.

          Reply
    2. Chloe

      May 27, 2017 at 12:47 am

      These look lovely, I may try them this weekend. Thanks for sharing!

      Just to double check, the amount of pork reads as 60g for 12 large buns, is that correct?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 27, 2017 at 8:40 pm

        Yes.

        Reply
    3. Zhu foqing

      July 05, 2017 at 10:53 pm

      I noticed that we can put roux and flour ,etc into bread maker . Can we leave the bread maker to do the mixing and leave it there to rise up or prroof. Do we punch the air out after it double in size?
      Thanks.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        July 06, 2017 at 2:33 pm

        Not suggest to use plain flour anyway. You can leave the bread in the mixer for proofing. And yes, before shaping the buns, you need to punch the air out until it doubles in size.

        Reply
    4. Jessica Zheng

      September 25, 2017 at 7:13 pm

      5 stars
      This is my favorite dim sum. Super soft baked buns with pork as filling, perfect !

      Reply
    5. yoko

      November 29, 2017 at 4:22 pm

      We are great Chinese food lovers! Your recipes are excellent and the photos are beautiful !
      Could you tell me which camera do you use?

      Reply
      • Elaine

        November 29, 2017 at 7:16 pm

        I am shooting with 6D with 50mm and 100mm lens.

        Reply
    6. Patricua

      January 11, 2018 at 1:46 pm

      5 stars
      Hi
      If I'll to use the roux on the same day instead of the next day. Wil it affect the texture of the bun

      Tks.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        January 12, 2018 at 9:18 pm

        As long as the roux is well rested (at least 4 hours), it should work fine.

        Reply
    7. Anh Thu

      November 13, 2018 at 11:55 pm

      Thank you for sharing your recipe! I have a question regarding the bread flour and cake flour. Does it have any other names? I'm not quite sure what to look for at the Asian markets. I love these buns and would like to try and make them.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        November 14, 2018 at 8:33 am

        Hi Anh,
        Bread flour is also called high gluten flour "高粉" or "高筋面粉". Cake flour is also called low gluten flour "低粉" or “低筋面粉”. I hope this explanation helps.

        Reply
    8. Richard

      September 14, 2019 at 10:54 pm

      I tried out your recipe but found that the dough was too wet and hence it is impossible to work. Subsequently I had to add 50g flour to save it and it turned out OK.

      Reply
      • Elaine

        September 15, 2019 at 8:44 pm

        Richard,
        Different types of flour may have different water absorbing. It is just common to add flour if the dough is too wet.

        Reply
    9. Rachel Ashworth

      January 25, 2020 at 12:58 am

      5 stars
      I’ve made this recipe twice now and I absolutely love it. I don’t use a bread machine because I don’t have one but I found that it is just as effective using the dough hook of my KitchenAid stand mixer. I just love the feeling of this dough it is so easy to work with and I will be using it for other types of buns filled with other yummy things as well! I haven’t had to make any adjustments to the original recipe, they come out perfectly exactly as described.

      Reply
      • Rachel Ashworth

        January 25, 2020 at 1:01 am

        Whoops ! I did make an adjustment I forgot, I do not have cake flour and I usually don’t keep it on hand because I don’t bake a lot of sweets; however, all purpose flour works just as well if you sift it very well and mix it with the bread flour. Otherwise as stated above, this recipe is wonderful!

        Reply
      • Elaine

        January 28, 2020 at 2:43 pm

        Thanks Rachel.

        Reply
    10. ‘Cynthia

      May 11, 2020 at 9:30 am

      Hi, this looks good. I would like to try this. But I’m a bit confused with the ingredient amounts. You have listed ’90 g 3/4 cupcake flour‘, is that either 90 grams or 3/4 cups? And then ‘6g 2 tsp.instant yeast’ is this 6 grams of yeast or 2 tsp yeast not 6 grams and 2 tsp? And then ‘80 g scant 1/4 cup milk’. Are the 2 measurements given for either conversions?
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Elaine

        May 13, 2020 at 9:22 am

        Yes, they are different measurement.

        Reply
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