Dim Sum · FFET10271
Nai wong bao (custard bun)
A steamed yeast bun around a sweet egg-and-milk custard, a dim sum item of Guangdong and Hong Kong teahouses.
A round white porcelain plate holds soft steamed buns made with milk, cut open to reveal yellow custard made with eggs, milk, light cream and butter enclosed in white dough, with wooden chopsticks resting on the plate's rim.
The small dishes served with tea in a tea house.
Nai wong bao is a steamed yeast bun filled with a sweet egg-and-milk custard made from butter, eggs, milk, sugar, flour, cornstarch and custard powder. This Cantonese bun is found in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau and served as dim sum in Hong Kong teahouses. Accounts from 2017 and 2019 describe a Hong Kong hotel's Chinese restaurant using this filling in 1986 to make a custard mooncake based on the very popular custard bun; the bun's own origin and date remain undetermined.
What
Nai wong bao is a soft steamed yeast bun with a sweet egg-and-milk custard filling, a Cantonese dim sum item.1,4,5
When
Accounts from September 2017 and September 2019 differ: the former says that when a Hong Kong hotel's Chinese restaurant opened in 1986, its dim sum chef replaced lotus paste with Western-style custard in a bun that became very popular, then made the mooncake. The latter says he based the mooncake on the already very popular Hong Kong custard bun. Neither establishes when the bun originated; they show only that it existed by 1986.2,3
Where
Nai wong bao is found in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau and served as dim sum in Hong Kong teahouses.1
How
The custard is made from eggs, butter, milk or condensed milk and starch, thickened over simmering water or steamed for about 1 hour, then cooled and portioned. It is wrapped in yeast dough, given a short proof and steamed for 8 to 12 minutes.4,5
Why
Nai wong bao is a Hong Kong teahouse dim sum item, with a flowing salted egg yolk filling as a variation.1,5
Impact and influence
Accounts from 2017 and 2019 describe a Hong Kong hotel's Chinese restaurant making a custard mooncake from this filling, launched in 1986 and sold at retail from 1987.2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is my simplified home version of nai wong bao. The custard amounts and the way of thickening it over simmering water, the flour, sugar and yeast in the dough, and the proofing and steaming times follow the former recipe, by a named author of a family food blog; I use milk alone where it uses coconut milk and milk, in an amount of my own home choosing, and the conversions are mine. The latter recipe comes from a Chinese cooking blog that names no individual author; it steams the custard for about an hour, chills it for 3 hours or more and uses lard and baking powder in the dough. I did not follow it and borrowed just the 3-hour chill. The way I check that it is done is my own.
Ingredients
- Eggs for the custard 2
- Powdered sugar for the custard 60 g
- Milk for the custard 60 ml
- Light cream 45 ml
- All-purpose flour for the custard 25 g
- Cornstarch 30 g
- Milk powder 30 g
- Butter 30 g, melted
- All-purpose flour for the dough 235 g
- Powdered sugar for the dough 22 g
- Yeast 2 g
- Milk for the dough about 135 ml, lukewarm
Steps
- Whisk the eggs and 60 g of powdered sugar in a bowl, add the milk, cream, 25 g of flour, cornstarch, milk powder and melted butter, stir until no lumps remain and strain once.
- Set the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water and stir constantly until it is thick like a paste and the eggs are cooked through (the way of thickening comes from the former recipe).
- Cover the custard closely, chill it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (from the latter recipe), then divide the cold, firm custard into 12 portions, roll into balls and keep them chilled.
- Knead the flour, powdered sugar, yeast and lukewarm milk into a smooth dough, cover and proof for 1 hour (from the former recipe).
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces, roll them round and flatten, wrap each around a cold custard ball, pinch the seam shut and set it seam side down on a small square of parchment paper. Cover and proof for another 30 minutes (from the former recipe).
- Bring the water in the steamer to a boil, set the buns apart and steam over medium heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and rest 5 minutes before lifting the lid (from the former recipe). I break one open, and it is done when the dough is cooked through and the custard is hot.
Tips
- I make sure the custard is fully cold before wrapping, because soft custard is hard to wrap, and chill it a little longer if it is not firm.
- The author of the latter recipe also gives a flowing salted egg yolk filling, which I have left out here.
Allergens: wheat, egg, milk