Baked Char Siu Bao (Roast Pork Buns)

Found an incredible good recipe here at Jessica Su's blogsite:
Chinese New Year Bash Roast Pork Buns.  She adapted her recipe from The Chinese Kitchen by Eileen Yin-fei Lo.

Ingredients - Filling
  • 5 tablespoons chicken stock or broth 
  • 2 1/2 tsp sugar 
  • 2 1/4 tsp tapioca or corn starch 
  • 2 tsp ketchup 
  • 1 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce 
  • Pinch ground white pepper 
  • 1 1/2 tsp Shao Xing rice wine 
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  •  1 small onion, chopped
  • 3/4 - 1 cup diced barbeque pork
Ingredients - Bun Dough
  • 1 envelope active dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup warm water (110° F)
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 1 large egg, beaten - use 1/2 of the egg in the dough and other half for brushing the buns before baking
  • 2 tbsp vegetable shortening or oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions
  • Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, then add all the other ingredients and mix. Knead with the dough hook attachments on the mixer. Let it rise, covered, for about 1-2 hours in a nice warm place.
  • Combine all the filling ingredients (except the onion and pork) in a small bowl. Stir fry the onion in some oil, then add the sauce mixture and the pork, cook until the sauce thickens. Set filling aside to cool.
  • After the dough has doubled or tripled in volume, punch it down and cut into 12 equal pieces for the buns. After forming the buns, place each one on a piece of parchment paper, or use foil sprayed with non-stick spray. Fill them and pinch them closed, then leave them on a tray to rise again for up to 1 hour. Cover the buns up with a damp towel or cloth while they are rising.
  • Brush the buns with beaten egg before baking at 350° F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.
I just used my own BBQ pork leftovers and after a couple of times, I have found some tweaks that make the process go better.
  • First, I just use the pre-packaged rapid rise yeast packet; mix with warm water and sugar and stir well.  I don't let the yeast liquid sit for an hour, I just mix up all the rest of the ingredients and knead the dough right away. Then let it rise for an hour or two.
  • Second, I only used 2 tbsp of vegetable shortening instead of oil or lard. I use bread flour or high-gluten flour for the right consistency.
  • Third, I use the dough hooks on my Kitchenaid hand mixer to knead the dough for about 5 minutes. It clearly does a much better job of kneading than my hands. When I tried to knead by hand the dough just didn't get elastic enough.

After filling the bun with meat, pinch the dough several times to seal, then twist and flatten.

Pinch the dough at the bottom and twist
I also don't let the buns rise a second time for a whole hour. Fifteen minutes to half hour is plenty. The egg wash is mandatory for a nice golden color.


These look and taste very close to the dim sum restaurants in Chinatown!
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