These days, I am so busy that I don’t have much time to explore blogoshere, so I rely on websites like Tastespotting to discover really good food blogs, and that’s how I discovered My Kitchen. Lydia Teh is a fellow Malaysian and her blog My Kitchen is full of great recipes and very beautiful food photography. Lydia is also a great cook and makes some of the most authentic Chinese and Malaysian dishes around. Please welcome My Kitchen to Rasa Malaysia as she shares her Char Siew Bao/Char Siu Bao recipe (Chinese roast pork or barbequed pork buns) with us. What’s more, she made her Char Siew Bao/Char Siu Bao (叉烧包) from scratch. Now, that’s what I call a no-cheat great cook!
(Check out my char siew/char siew recipe. Highly recommended!)
Char Siew Bao/Char Siu Bao (叉烧包)
Guest Writer: Lydia Teh of My Kitchen
A while ago, I received an email from Bee–Rasa Malaysia. I have been following her blog for quite some time but never expected to be invited as a guest writer on her blog. What a big surprise and honour to me!
What dish should I bring to Rasa Malaysia? Bee suggested char siew (Chinese barbecued pork) but since I made char siew before, we settled on char siew bao/char siu bao (steamed bun with char siew filling). Char Siew Bao/Char Siu Bao is one of the signature dishes in dim sum restaurants around the world. This irresistible little steamed bun is soft and fluffy, filled with slightly sweetened char siew…(get char siew bao/char siu bao recipe after the jump)
It is a must order item whenever we visited a dim sum restaurant. My other half loves it too, but he usually eats only a quarter of bun. He is a small eater, would not be able to eat other dim sums if he had a char siew bao by himself. Now, I am glad that I can share this yummy bun with my 14 month-old boy. Yes, I have made him a char siew bao lover too!
In Malaysia, char siew bao/char siu bao is also available in Kopitiam (literally means coffee shop in Chinese dialect) together with other savoury and sweet steamed buns. Compared to char siew bao served in restaurants, Kopitiam version is bigger in size and has no opening on the top. Taste wise, they are similar.
Steamed buns made with the mixture low-protein flour and wheat starch are fluffier and softer than those using only low-protein or all purpose flour. For the filling, I used ready-cooked char siew since I am living in Malaysia now and it is readily available. If you are making your own char siew, the recipe is available on my blog.
(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Ingredients for dough (makes 16 buns):
Bun
8g instant dry yeast
160ml lukewarm water
½ tsp white vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
280g low-protein flour aka hong kong flour
100g wheat starch
90g icing sugar
30g shortening or vegetable oil
10g baking powder
10ml cold water
Fillings
A
250g char siew, diced
½ tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp sugar*
1 small onion, diced
1 tbsp oyster sauce*
1 tbsp soy sauce*
1 tsp. sesame oil
1-2 drops red food colouring (optional)
B
150 ml water
1½ tbsp corn flour
Salt to taste
*Some store-bought char siew comes with sauce, use it for preparing filling. Omit sugar, oyster sauce and soy sauce.
Method:
Fillings
1. Heat oil in pan, sauté onion for 1 to 2 minutes. Add in all other ingredients A, stir fry for 1 minutes.
2. Mix together water with corn flour, add mixture into the pan and stir well. Simmer until gravy is thickened.
3. Transfer to plate and allow to cool.
4. Divide filling into 16 portions if desired, set aside for later use.
Buns
1. Sift together flours and icing sugar. Place sifted flour mixture in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle.
2. Fill well with lukewarm water, vinegar and yeast. Use a spatula, gently stir the water to dissolve the yeast then slowly bring together flour mixture.
3. Add in shortening or oil and knead for 10-15 minutes until soft dough is formed. It should be smooth on the surface.
4. Cover dough with damp cloth and let it rise for 30 minutes or until it is doubled in size. I used bread maker’s dough mode to prepare my dough up to this step.
5. Dissolve baking powder in cold water, sprinkle over dough and knead until well combined. Divide dough into 16 equal portions and flatten with a rolling pin to make a 3” circle. Then place a heap teaspoon of filling in the middle, wrap and pleat the dough to seal. Place it on a 1.5” square parchment paper, seal side up.
6. Arrange buns into a steamer, leave about 1” gab in between buns. Spray water mist over buns, and steam in a preheated steamer on high heat for 12 minutes. Remove buns from steamer and cool on rack to prevent soggy bottom.
Notes:
1. If bigger bun is desired, divide dough into 12 equal portions in step 5.
2. There is no need to rest the dough after adding in baking powder, but if time allowed, rest it for 10 minutes or so to get fluffier buns.
3. Adding a few drops of vinegar into steaming water will produce whiter buns, but this is optional.
4. Steamer must be preheated otherwise bun would not rise to the volume as it should be.
5. Spray the surface of bun with water mist helps to produce buns with smooth surface after steamed.
6. DO NOT open the lid during the steaming process.
7. If there are yellowish spots on the steamed buns, it means the baking powder is not fully dissolved.
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{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Awesome awesome awesome awesome!!! When some people think of comfort food, soup or mac and cheese or burgers come up– mine is siu bao :) I’ve always wanted to make my own! Thanks Lydia (love her blog, btw)!
… Might have a problem finding low protein flour, though. Don’t want to use cake flour! I don’t think it makes a good result!
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My Kitchen replied:
You are welcome! I like this bun, but I would say big bao in Malaysia will be my comfort food. It is hard to find low-protein flour, but I think you can find Hong Kong flour or bao flour easily in Asian market, they are low-protein flour for bao.
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I love char siew and making it so I think I am just a few steps away from making these buns! Delightful post!
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My Kitchen replied:
Thanks! How’s your char siew and buns making?
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char siew bao… my facourite and must have during dim sum time… yum yum…
make it myself… very tough la….
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My Kitchen replied:
You know where to get good one, don’t have to make.
Other than Shanghai Ding, where to get good char siew bao and dim sum in Penang?
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I love those steamed pork buns but have never attempted to make them! These sound good.
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My Kitchen replied:
Try to make some, you can make them with variety fillings.
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My husband loves char siew pau but not the steamed kind. He likes the baked ones. Can I put these in the oven? or does it need a different kind of pastry?
thanks,
Pat
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My Kitchen replied:
Pat,
You will need different pastry, something like puff pastry. I think the one your husband likes is siew bao (烧包), with crispy and flaky pastry. Actually I baked some of those and 叉烧酥 today for a mahjong gathering at friend’s house. Will post the recipe on my blog soon… check it out.
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I have been on the lookout for a recipe for these things for ages! I have such wonderful childhood memories of going to Chinatown for them…now all I need is a good soup dumpling recipe and I’m all set.
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My Kitchen replied:
I missed those days going to coffee shop with my dad before school, and we had roti canai there. Even though we had little thing to talk about but I missed those moments.
I think the soup dumpling recipe is available on Rasa Malaysia too.
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http://saltysavorysweet.blogspot.com/2008/11/otasty-pork-buns-one-for-frozen-food.html
I recently found this at at Ralphs in California, in a mostly caucasian city. It’s fantastic. I always have a bag in the freezer now.
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My Kitchen replied:
The frozen bun looks so prefect! Btw, I made my own frozen buns with this recipe. Steamed, cooled, keep in ziplock bag and store in freezer. When I need it, just thaw and heat up in microwave or steamer (5-10 minutes).
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Gosh these buns look so yummy. I’ve tried using the premix flour… but I will try this recipe for sure. Thanks for sharing Lydia/Bee.
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My Kitchen replied:
My first attempt on steamed bun was using the premix. Now, I am happy with this recipe and no more premix. Hope you will like this recipe too.
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Those look positively heavenly! The texture just looks so perfect.
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My Kitchen replied:
Thanks for compliments!
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wah….my favourite “bao”! great post. thanks for sharing~~
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My Kitchen replied:
You are welcome.
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This is the recipe I have been searching for. Must give it a try one day. Tks for sharing, Lydia. Great post! I am giving your pao a 5-stars rating!
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My Kitchen replied:
Thanks. I hope this recipe still get 5 stars-rating after your attempt. :D
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lydia, my wife makes them with prepacked Pau flour.
Are they the same with the hong kong flour in this recipe?
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My Kitchen replied:
Most probably same with hong kong flour, but please check the ingredients listed on the package. I used bluekey brand and it contains low-protein flour and approved food conditional.
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Very impressive ! It sure looks so tasty. Thanks for sharing
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My Kitchen replied:
Thanks for compliments.
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Bee, thanks for giving me a chance to share my recipe here.
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hi lydia. i have been looking for this recipe for so many years!! I tried so many recipes but cant do it right……It is so hard to find the hongkong flour…..Would u be kind enough to share what brand u are using…any pictures pls…..so i can look for this in asian store. thanks again …
God Bless,
gracey
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Yummers!! I made these last night, there were delicious – the dough was exactly like the restaurant, light and fluffy. But I have just one question, how do you get to bao to “smile”, that is puff up and “break open” during the steaming process (like the restaurant)?
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After years of dreaming of making my own char siew pao, I finally made it. Thanks to your Blog!
However I still found my pao not as white as those sold in kopitiam and the texture not as soft. Do the coffee shop paos contain any bleaching agents? Can you or Lydia help please?
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Hi Lydia,
Your buns look so good. However, I cannot find any “wheat starch” in the supermarket. Is there another name for it? I live in Singapore so perhaps it is called something else?
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I am looking for a simple recipe for Roasted Pork which is also one of my favourite dish in Malaysia. What seasoning do you add to the pork prior to roasting which I usually use a griller?.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Have you checked out my char siew recipe?
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Is the Char Siew supposed to be pre-flavored when bought or do you just use regular pork + the listed ingredients? I am confused about that.
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Very nice recipe. Just one question- why does the baking powder have to be added in a seperate addition ? How does it affect the final result of the buns?
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These look great! Thank you for sharing!!!
Love,
Bridge.
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can i use cake flour as a substitue for low protein flour, as its very difficult to find where i live?
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Hi, i’ve been dying to get the perfect recipe for pao buns all these years. I’ve tried many different kinds of flour but have never been satisfied with the result everytime. I have yet to try the hongkong flour, I live in Singapore and I’m going to look for it in the supermarket first thing tomorrow. I want to achieve the soft and fluffy texture like the commercial ones. If I may add, should I put bread improver to the dough mixture? I make bread sometimes, and it really helps. :-) By the way, your version looks promising!
Thanks a lot in advance!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Yes, getting the right char siew bao recipe is challenging. Even in restaurants, you may just get a few that really does a good job on char siu bao. The ones do, ended up supplying to all other restaurants. I am not sure about bread improver. If you have been following my post, baking is really not my best cup of tea :P Let me know how yours turn out :)
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Hi,
I just discovered your blog and followed this link here. Your cooking is impressive to say the least and very varied. I never thought of making my own bao but may just attempt it one of these days.
Someone had asked what is wheat starch. I’m stumped too. Can you tell me what this is?
Thanks very much in advance!
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
It’s the flour to make dim sum, for example: the skin of shrimp dumpling or har gow.
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Hi,
Great recipe!
I wanted to check if 8g of yeast was correct because it seems like a lot?
What should I ask for when I try a Chinese supermarket because they had a limited range of flours and they did not understand what kind of flour I wanted when I explained to them it was for making bao?
Thanks.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Dr. Congo, this is a guest post so please check with the guest blogger for the information. I am sorry I can’t be of much help.
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Hi,
Also what is the purpose of the wheat starch?
Thanks.
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Hi,
I think you mis-understand (or maybe I do!).
I was asking about your recipe that you listed on Apr 16.2009 Char Siew Bao (Char Siu Bao/叉烧包)
q1. Is 8g of yeast correct as it seems a lot?
q2. What is the purpose of the wheat starch?
Thanks,
Dr.Congo.
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Dr. Congo, if you read the article, the recipe is submitted by my guest blogger, so I didn’t make the char siew bao and so I don’t have the exact measurement. You can click on the link to the guest blogger’s site and ask her.
Sorry I can’t be of much help.
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Dr.Congo replied:
Thanks you !
My misunderstanding :)
I thought you put that recipe up !
Hope you are ok.
Dr.Congo
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Hi!
Wonderful blog! i just tried making the bun…but mine wasn’t as soft as it looks on yer blog…
can you please tell me what’s wrong?
Some other blog said that they can use milk instead of the warm water. Do u think it will work? (i think i have to omit the vinegar or it will curdle)
Thanx a lot!!
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I try the bao recipe it turn out ok. My it finish my dough were hard its not soft and fluffy.I think I’m doing something wrong with the conversion. Need help with the conversion.
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Hi:
I live in India but when I travel abroad – All i eat is Char Siu bao – I’ve loved it ever since I was a child.
Anyway I tried your receipe using all purpose flour. I’m to travel to Malaysia over the weekend and wanted to know if you knew where I could possibly get Hong Kong Flour or if you can help me in understanding what I should be looking out for?
Would China town be the best place? Any particular brand of flour?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
You can go to any big supermarket in Malaysia and should be able to find it. Good luck!
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What is a substitute for Hong Kong flour?
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