Dim Sum · FFET10162
Char siu bao (barbecue pork bun)
Char siu bao: a soft bun around sweet-savory diced barbecued pork, steamed until the top splits, a Cantonese morning-tea dim sum.
A honey-brown bamboo steamer lined with white paper holds three soft, matte white steamed buns, each split open at the top to show a little glossy dark red barbecued pork filling, with wooden chopsticks across the rim.
The small dishes served with tea in a tea house.
Char siu bao is a Cantonese dim sum: a soft wheat-flour bun around diced barbecued pork in a sweet-savory sauce made with oyster sauce and other seasonings. The steamed bun is white with a top that splits to show some filling, while the baked bun is brushed with an egg and sugar wash, darker and closer to bread. It is a representative dim sum of Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong. The available information does not date its origin; from the mid-1800s, Chinese workers carried such buns to sugar plantations in the Pacific.
What
Char siu bao is a Cantonese dim sum: a soft wheat-flour bun around diced barbecued pork in a sweet-savory sauce made with oyster sauce and other seasonings. The steamed bun is white with a top that splits to show some filling, while the baked bun is brushed with an egg and sugar wash, darker and closer to bread.1,2,4,5
When
The available information does not date the origin of char siu bao. From the mid-1800s, indentured Chinese workers carried such buns to sugar plantations in the Pacific, so the bun existed by then.2
Where
Tea houses and dim sum shops in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau serve it. Hawaii, American Samoa and the Philippines have related buns with different names.1,2,3
How
The main points of the method: a yeast dough with starch and baking powder is kneaded into a soft wrapper; diced barbecued pork is cooked into a thick filling with oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and a starch slurry, cooled, wrapped and pleated, and steamed over high heat. The 2 home recipes steam for 12 minutes and about 20 minutes, respectively; the baked version is brushed with egg and sugar wash.1,2,4,5
Why
It is a regular on the Cantonese tea table beside shrimp dumplings and siu mai, brought hot in small bamboo baskets. A good bun is soft and splits at the top to show some filling.1,3
Impact and influence
From the mid-1800s, the bun traveled with Chinese workers to sugar plantations in the Pacific, and today it is still one of the dim sum of Cantonese morning tea.2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the steamed char siu bao, the simpler way I make it at home: ready-made barbecued pork, a dough raised with yeast and baking powder, and no baked kind. It is a Cantonese home version, not a tea-house chef's method. The amounts and timings below are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour 200 g
- Cornstarch for the dough 60 g
- Sugar for the dough 40 g
- Yeast 3 g, about 1 teaspoon
- Warm water about 150 ml
- Vegetable oil 1 tablespoon
- Baking powder 1 teaspoon
- Barbecued pork (store-bought, or roasted yourself until cooked through), diced small 200 g
- Onion 1/4, chopped
- Oyster sauce 1 tablespoon
- Light soy sauce 1 teaspoon
- Dark soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon
- Sugar for the filling 1 tablespoon
- Cornstarch for the filling, mixed with water 1 tablespoon in 100 ml water
- Sesame oil 1 teaspoon
Steps
- Mix the flour, cornstarch, sugar and yeast, add the warm water and oil and knead into a smooth dough. Cover and let it rise for about 2 hours, until clearly bigger.
- Filling: in a small pot cook the onion with the oyster sauce, soy sauces, sugar and a splash of water until the onion is soft. Stir the starch slurry and pour it in, cook until thick, add the sesame oil and fold in the diced pork. Let it cool, and chilling it a while makes it easier to wrap.
- Knead the baking powder into the dough, rest it for 15 minutes and divide it into 10 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a round that is thick in the middle and thin at the edge, put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center, then pleat and turn the edge as you go and pinch the top shut.
- Set each bun on a small square of parchment in the steamer, with gaps between them. Once the water boils, put the steamer on and steam on high for about 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and wait 5 minutes before lifting the lid.
- Check one: the bun should be risen and soft, with the top splitting a little. Eat hot.
Tips
- I always let the filling cool before wrapping, because a hot filling softens the dough and makes pleating hard.
- I wait a few minutes after turning off the heat before lifting the lid, so the buns do not collapse.
Allergens: wheat, soy, shellfish, sesame