Char Siu Bao Recipe (BBQ Pork Buns)
A classic baked char siu bao with honey glaze.
Ingredients
Milk Bread
- 1/3 cup milk lukewarm
- 2 tbsp water lukewarm
- 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 Egg beaten
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 Egg beaten
Char Siu Filling
- 1/2 char siu recipe see char siu recipe post
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/3 white onion diced
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp char siu pan juices
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp five spice powder
Glaze for Buns
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp honey
Instructions
Char Siu Filling
- Cut char siu into bite sized pieces.
- Add in pan juices from char siu and char siu marinade. Allow to heat. Strain out coagulated blood, leaving only the sauce.
- Then add in hoisin sauce, honey, five spice powder, water, and salt. Heat on medium high until thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.
- In a separate pan, heat oil on medium high heat. Add in diced onion to saute for 3 minutes.
- Add in sauteed onion and chopped char siu pieces to the char siu sauce. Mix thoroughly then set aside to cool.
Milk Bread & Making Baos
- Heat water and milk and allow to become lukewarm. Add in dry yeast and mix until yeast dissolves.
- In a large mixing bowl mix dry ingredients: flour, salt and sugar.
- Melt butter and allow to cool to room temperature. Then add melted butter and 1/2 beaten egg into the yeast mixture.
- Using a spatula, add the yeast mixture into the flour mix. Mix until just combined.
- Place dough onto a clean floured surface and knead with hands for 10 minutes. The dough will become round, smooth, and elastic.
- Put the dough in a greased big size bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in at room temperature (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours).
- If you are making this during cold weather, you can heat your oven at the lowest temperature for about 3-5 minutes, then turn off your oven. Leave the door open and allow and place the dough into the oven to prove.
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces and flatten the dough into thin discs. Stuff char siu mixture into each disc, folding and pinching it like a large xiaolong bao/soup dumpling. Make sure your buns are completely sealed. Place buns fold-side down onto a lined baking sheet.
- Cover buns with plastic wrap and allow the buns to rest and rise again for 1 hr-1.5 hrs. Do the fingerpoke test to make sure that your dough is coming back halfway. At that point, your buns are ready to bake.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brush the tops of your buns with a beaten egg. Bake for 13-18 minutes or until golden brown.
- While baos are baking, make glaze for the buns by mixing in sugar, water, and honey and boiling on high until thickened to coat the back of a spoon.
- Take buns out of the oven and allow to cool until lukewarm. Then brush on the glaze onto the buns. Serve warm.