Pan-fried Pork Buns is known as Sheng Jian Bao in Chinese, meaning pan-fried directly without steaming. This is a very popular Chinese street snack across the whole county. However Shanghai style might be the most famous version. If you love Chinese dumplings, check Xiao Long Bao too. There are actually several versions popular in China and the differences mainly in the wrapper. Traditional version has a more fluffy texture and thicker wrapper. A new popular version with thinner, chewier wrapper is achieved by the hot boiling water dough (烫面).
The wrapper dough for shengjian is semi-fermentation dough, similar to the bread of Roujiamo (肉夹馍). So it is quite quick to make comparing with traditional steamed buns.
Cook's Note
- Knead the dough for a long time until very smooth, so the smooth of the buns can be smooth too.
- Let the assembled dough rest in room temperature for at least 15 minutes before pan-frying.
- Use slow fire when frying the buns in the initial time, then slightly turn up the fire after adding the water. After 3-4 minutes of simmering, slow the fire again. The bottom can be overcooked very easily, so be carefully and move the pan for a more even fire.
- Watch out when eating as the filling can be extremely hot.
To make the filling
Add hot water to ginger, scallion and Sichuan peppercorn to make the ginger scallion water.
Add the pork, salt, ground pepper, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine and oyster sauce in. Blend for 2-3 minutes with stopping. Then add ginger and scallion water by 2 batches. Blend until the water is completely absorbed.
Transfer the filling out, mix with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Then chop the pork jelly and mix well.
To make the wrapper:
Melt sugar and yeast in water. Stir to flour and combine well. Add pinch of salt and vegetable cooking oil. Use one hand to push the dough and then pull back, change another hand to repeat the process. Use the two hands alternately. You should use the strength of the whole body and knead the dough forcefully. After 5-8 minutes of kneading, the dough should be quite smooth and shinning in appearance.
Cover the dough and rest for 15 minutes until slightly softened. Cut the dough into halves. Wrap and transfer the other half in fridge. And re-knead one half for 2-3 minutes. Shape the dough into a long log and then cut into 12 equal portions. Roll each of the portion to large wrappers and then assemble well. Make sure the buns is completely sealed. After assembling, let the buns rest for another 15 minutes.
Add around 2 tablespoon of oil in a non-sticky pan, and place the buns in. Start frying with very slow fire (the bottom can be burnt very quickly) and move your pan from time to time. After 1 or 2 minutes, the bottom will be hardened and brown. Commonly, the pleated is downside to get the crispy bottom, but I recommend trying with pleated side upside since the juice may come out during the pan-frying process is the bun is not well wrapped.
Pour in hot water (around ½ cup) and cover the lid and simmer for 6 minutes with slow fire. Sprinkle black sesame and green onion in the last minute. 
Transfer out and enjoy, be carefully with the running filling. It can be extremely hot. Look at the juicy filling. Watch your tongue.
🧾Recipe
Pan-Fried Pork Buns-Sheng Jian Bao Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 155 ml water room temperature
- 2 tsp. instant yeast
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- ¼ tsp. salt
Fillings:
- 250 g pork with 20% fat
- 200 g pork jelly or beef jelly or chicken jelly
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. ground pepper
- 1 tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
- 1.5 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tsp. dark soy sauce , optional
- 1.5 tbsp. oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp. sesame oil
Scallion and ginger water
- 1 tbsp. chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp. chopped scallion
- 1 tsp. Sichuan peppercorn seeds
- ½ cup hot boiling water
Other ingredients
- 1 tbsp. oil
- Roasted black sesame seeds for garnish
- Green onion for garnish
Instructions
For the dough
- In a large mixing bowl, mix yeast with flour. Stir in warm water. Combine all the ingredients and then knead into smooth dough. Cover and rest for 15 minutes.
- Cover the dough and rest for 15 minutes until slightly softened. Cut the dough into halves. Wrap and transfer the other half in fridge. And re-knead one half for 2-3 minutes. Shape the dough into a long log and then cut into 12 equal portions. Roll each of the portion to large wrappers and then assemble well. After assembling, let the buns rest for another 15 minutes.
For the filling
- Add hot water to ginger, scallion and Sichuan peppercorn to make the ginger scallion water.
- Add the pork, salt, ground pepper, sugar, soy sauce, cooking wine and oyster sauce in. Blend for 2-3 minutes with stopping. Then add ginger and scallion water by 2 batches. Blend until the water is completely absorbed. Transfer the filling out, mix with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. Then chop the pork jelly and mix well.
Assemble and Frying
- Assemble the buns according to this direction one by one. Brush some oil on your pan firstly and transfer the assembled buns to the pan. Do leave some space between each one. Cover with lid or a wet cloth and rest the buns for around 15 minutes.
- Fry for around 2 minutes until the bottom is crispy; pour starch water and cover the lid to cook for around 5-6 minutes until the water are completely evaporated so that the buns will be cooked thoroughly. Sprinkle roasted black sesame seeds and green onions.
- Use a thin slicer to remove the buns from pan to serving bowl. Serve directly or with dip sauce if you prefer.
Nutrition
If you add some starch in the hot water, it gives a lovely flour shape at the bottom.
Jennie
Hello! I was super excited when I found your website! I lived in China for three and a half years, and being back in the states now I really miss the food! I’m hoping to make this recipe, but had a couple of questions. First, what is the purpose of using starch with the water - is that for texture? Also, do I pour the starch water just in the bottom of the pan, or over the buns, before cooking them? 谢谢你!
Elaine
Jennie,
Only for decoration! You can skip it.
Jennie
Do I pour the starch water over the buns or just in the bottom of the pan? Thanks!
Stinkatron5000
I don’t think so Jennie. The purpose is mainly to provide water to steam the buns. The starch just then creates the snowflakes once the water has evaporated during the steaming process.
Wendy
Hi Elaine,
I can't seem to locate the ingredients and instructions for this recipe. I can see that the xiao long bao page has a "jump to recipe" button that brings you to the recipe box, I can't seem to find it for this recipe. Would love to try to make this.
Thank you!
Elaine
I have already updated the recipe, Wendy. Something wrong with the editing. Thank you!
Karina
Where is the recipe that shows measurements for the ingredients?
Elaine
Sorry, I got something wrong with the editing.
Pauline
Hello Elaine,
Thanks for a fantastic homepage! I love all recipes that I have tried. Happy cooking and the results are always perfect. Please keep posting more! ?
I wonder what pork/beef/chicken jelly is? I live in Sweden and cannot find it here. Can I replace it with something else or make my own jelly?
Thanks!
Elaine
It is actually the soup made from pork rind, pork trotter, chicken feet or beef tendon. I will explain this in detail along with the video publication.
Elaine
By the way, you can choose to skip the jelly to make regular version.
Ian
You say to cut the dough in half and put one of those halves in the fridge. What is that used for if you only need half the dough to make the buns?
Elaine
Ian,
Please the dough in fridge is to avoid proofing too quickly. Will use the other half too.
samantha
where do you buy pork jelly...
Elaine
Samantha,
Pork jelly should be quite easy to find in supermarket.
Denny Li
These were very good. I added 1 tsp of baking powder to the dough because I have seen that addition in many recipes. I also used warm water because I misread the directions. The filling was delicious. I had gelled tonkotsu ramen broth and used that instead of plain pork jelly.
One question, my baos ended up short and wide. I think they'd look more attractive taller. Any suggestions?
Juliana Zoe
I am very happy to see your website. Love all the recipes that I'm seeing here. I have wanted to learn the techniques on how to do some of them and you explain them very well. I cannot wait to try them out.
Elaine
Thank you Juliana for such a kind and lovely comment.