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Char Siew Bao (Char Siu Bao)

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Char Siew Bao (Chinese Roast Pork Bun/叉烧包) - you can make these from scratch! | rasamalaysia.com

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!)

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.

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.

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Char Siew Bao/Char Siu Bao (Chinese BBQ Pork Bun) Recipe

Char Siew Bao (Chinese Roast Pork Bun/叉烧包) - you can make these from scratch! 

Servings 16

Ingredients

Bun:

  • 8 g instant dry yeast
  • 160 ml lukewarm water
  • ½ tsp white vinegar or lemon juice optional280g low-protein flour aka hong kong flour
  • 100 g wheat starch
  • 90 g icing sugar
  • 30 g shortening or vegetable oil 10g baking powder
  • 10 ml cold water

Fillings:

  • A
  • 250 g 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

Instructions

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.

Recipe 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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154 COMMENTS... read them below or add one

  1. 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!

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

    • Hi, I’m from Central Java and I like to say thank you for sharing this recipe. I’ve made these buns many times with variations of fillings and never failed. My entire family love these buns. Thanks again

      Reply

  5. 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

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  6. 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.

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

    • 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).

      Reply

  8. 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.

    Reply

  11. 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!

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

      • Hi My Kitchen,
        When you said low -protein flour such as bluekey brand low-protein flour , what is the Protein content in g per 100g of flour? Thank you.

        Reply

  15. 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

    Reply

  16. 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)?

    Reply

  17. 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?

    Reply

  18. 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?

    Reply

  19. 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?.

    Reply

  20. 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.

    Reply

  21. 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?

    Reply

  23. can i use cake flour as a substitue for low protein flour, as its very difficult to find where i live?

    Reply

  24. 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!

    Reply

    • 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 :)

      Reply

  25. 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!

    Reply

  26. 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.

    Reply

  28. 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.

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  29. 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!!

    Reply

  30. 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.

    Reply

  31. 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?

    Reply

  33. MMMM!! I have been craving this for years, and I’ve been looking all over the internet for the right recipe! Thanks so much for having this available! I LOVE your site!!! Both of you!

    SOOO GOOD! I’ll be obsessing over this site for a long time. What a great find today! :)

    Reply

  34. Is it possible to get the bun recipe in standard measurements instead of metric measurement? (for example, 1/4 cup VS 60ml… etc)

    I would LOVE to make this. Looks better than the baos at our local Chinese restaurant.

    :)

    Reply

  36. I just did the steamed pow. The filling was good but the dough was the not as soft as i expected it to be. Followed your recipe closely but…. is there any reason y? HELP….. Its my all time favourite and i want it to be good. Will be selling it for charity in church….. HELP…….

    Reply

  37. Hi! Thank you for this recipe and I have tried it. It comes out a bit dissapointed cos the yellow spots did appeared on the pau. Can you please advise me how long do the baking powder mixture need to dissolve before adding to the dough? Thanks.

    Reply

  38. I love char siew buns very much and i tried to make it for my parent, but have afew problem with buns after second steam it become dark yellow on the whole dough , if you don’t mind pls held me how to solve this problem .

    Reply

  40. I have given up on baos…none of the past recipes I tried produce the soft, fluffy ones found at Dimsum places but I shall try one more time, using this recipe.

    From what I understand…hong kong flour is basically bleached all purpose flour which has lower protein than bread flour and bleached so the baos will be whiter. Wheat starch is supposedly flour from which the protein had been removed, again an attempt to lower the protein content of the flour mixture. Protein in flours is what produces gluten which is responsible for the “stickiness” that produces crusty breads (artisan). I think bao was discussed more extensively at one point at the kitchencapers.com forum.

    Hope these help!

    Reply

  41. I forgot…supposedly, the yellow spots are due to undissolved/unevenly distributed baking powder…oversteaming also produces yellow baos.

    Reply

  42. I’ve always wanted to make bao, since they were my favourite special treat when I was growing up. I’ve tried making them before, but they were pretty bad, since I only had regular flour and they came out very heavy, yellow and yeasty.

    I had a bit of trouble while using this recipe – my yeast sachets were 7g instead of 8g, and I couldn’t find Hong Kong flour or wheat starch over here in Scotland. For Hong Kong flour I used a mix of 180g self-raising fine cake flour and 100g plain gluten free flour (a mix of rice, buckwheat, potato etc flours), and for wheat starch I used the same quantity of cornflour (cornstarch). The gluten free flour seemed to need more water than regular flour, so I added a couple of tbsp extra.

    The dough didn’t seem to rise at all, and I was really worried about ending up with stodgy lumps, but when they were steamed they were perfect! They ended up very slightly beige in color rather than white, but they were fluffy and tasted right.

    Thanks for the recipe :)

    Reply

  44. Can u pls tell me where can i get “Sau Pau” (longevity buns) in KL/PJ. This pau is mainly for birthday celebration only.

    Reply

  45. Hi,
    I’m from Trinidad and Tobago (Caribbean), and here Char Sui Bao is called ‘Chinese Pow’ and is incredibly delicious!
    I cannot wait to try your version of ‘Trini Pow’ :)
    Only got my steamer yesterday and already have made Shu Mai dumplings :)

    Reply

  47. this recipe looks wonderfully fluffy! i am now sure if low-protein/hong kon flour is available at my asian supermarket, but i see some recipes calling for glutinous flour. would that work?? if so, is there a difference between glutinous flour and glutinous rice flour?

    Reply

  48. I am really excited to try this recipe! I wasn’t able to find Hong Kong flour. I picked up the lowest protein flour that I could find that was Rice Flour. Will that work? or should I just use all purpose flour? I want to make them for the new year today since we are celebrating with our neighbors

    Reply

  50. Hi I tried the recipe and buns turn out quite well except the buns are polka dotty ;( caused by the undissolved baking powder. How do u sure they are completely dissolved? When I add in the baking powder in the cold water, it became foamy and then I knead into the risen dough. Please advise if I miss out any step or appreciate any tip. Thanks.

    Reply

    • HI, I also faced with the same problem; polka dots.. How can we know the baking powder is properly dissolved???? Pls help… Otherwise the pau is superb!!!!!

      Reply

  54. Hi guys, I replaced the low-protein flour and wheat starch with the same weight in all purpose white flour (because I didn’t have either of them). They turned out fantastic! Fluffy and yummy. :)

    Reply

  56. Hi Bee,

    I did what the instruction said and my buns came out dense. What do you think I did wrong?? I will never quit, I will make it again until I succeed:)

    Reply

  58. I just made these last night (after a few repeated failures from other recipes). It was perfect!!!!
    Thank you for putting up this recipe!

    Reply

  60. is there anything cheaper than wheat starch that is almost the same because i have been to the shops and there are soo many which is best

    Reply

  61. This bao recipe is the BEST! I had wheat starch on hand because I make har gow frequently. The low protein flour I had to seek out, and my local asian grocery doesn’t have everything labeled concisely in English but I found one (it said “Special Bun Flour” but I had to make sure that it didn’t contain any leaveners already mixed in). I also found out that using cake flour (a comparable low protein flour) will work just as well. Anyway, I’m still working on my shaping-the-bao technique, but one trick I found pretty useful was using a small round mustard dish to drape the rolled-out dough on. This leaves a convenient little pocket for my filling and leaves me two hands to pleat and pinch the bao closed. I was able to put a lot more filling in each bao, and keep the pleats clean of filling residue so they would seal better. Maybe someday I’ll be as dexterous as all of the YouTube demos I’ve watched of ladies producing these flawless doughy gems, but until then my mustard dish method helps my baos from looking like misshapen lumps (and speeds up the whole process).

    Reply

  62. Hi, Miss Bee! I am Fililpino currently based here in saudi arabia, I tried your chicken noodles recipe last night and got great comments from my Saudi “eaters”. So now, I’m planning to try this. Thanks for these delicious recipes. God bless and more power.

    Reply

  63. I spent yesterday afternoon hitting the Asian markets and was able to find a Red Lotus special flour for steam buns. It’s a white flour with about 8-8.5% protein content.
    Using Lydia Teh’s recipe, I’ve made 3 batches of dough. While easy to use,the buns are flat and dense in consistency. I’ve made dough using recipes with all-purpose and self rising flour that also produced dense buns. In fact, I just bought and made buns with one of those ready made flour mix. They are yellow and dense.
    How do I make buns that are light and fluffy in texture like what is served in the tea houses and steam box of the Asian markets.

    Reply

      • Can you please expand your answer. Tell the 2 ladies above how to determine whether the baking powder is dissolved. You have not reply to their enquiries. I would like to know too inorder to avoid the dots. Thanks in advance.

        Reply

        • This recipe is from guest blogger Lydia Teh. The step said to dissolve baking powder in water. You have to make sure that there is no more lumps in the water and that the baking powder is completely dissolved before using. To be very sure it’s completely dissolved, you can filter the mixture and dissolve the remaining solids. Hope this helps.

          Reply

  66. hi,

    I like your recipes, and they usually turn out very well. Do you think I can replace pork with chicken because some of my family members do not eat pork?

    Reply

  67. I could eat a dozen of these things in one sitting. Can’t imagine only eating a quarter of one. It’s probably why I’m so fat.

    Reply

  68. Hi, I ve tried this recipe. So far this is the best bao recipe ever. The buns are sooo soft and fluffy. As good as those sold in dim sum restaurant. But I do have one small issue. After steaming , the buns ha ve yellowish spots. I understand is because baking powder not fully dissolved. On my 2nd attempt, I tried to knead it longer but it was still the same. On my 3rd attempt , I actually restart my bread machine after i put in the baking powder mixture to let the machine knead it again for 15 minutes and then followed by hand kneading for another 5 minutes. But end result still the same. Is it possible if I put in the baking powder from beginning or is there other way to do it? Please help

    Reply

  70. I made this with ‘dumpling flour’ and wheat starch from my local Chinese wholesalers – they came out absolutely lovely and fluffy. i’ve been so disappointed with normal flour versions – but these came out as good as any i’ve had in a restaurant.

    Reply

  72. Hi Rasa & MK,

    Can I ask when you say low protein flour, what % of protein is suitable for this recipe? I live in Australia and the lowest protein flour I can find in my australian supermarket is cake flour which is abt 8.7% protein. I haven’t had much luck finding any lower % even in Asian market.

    Thanks.

    Reply

  73. Hello from Aruba,
    I tried this recipe and it turned out great. Still I have few questions: mine were not as white, but I used low-gluten flour which is the same as Hong Kong, right? Bought it at a chinese store and the buns were pictured on it. Why the baking powder with water at the end? Wouldn’t it work better if mixed with the flour? Also: do you need to allow the buns to rise after filling them? Not that they didn’t rise enough: they were nice and fluffy! Anyway, thanks, I will make these again

    Reply

  78. The recipe look yummy, am surely going to try this soon. Just wondering, is it possible to premake and refrigerate this pau, and to steam only when it is to be eaten. If so, for how long does it keep?

    Reply

  82. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
    Just out of interest is the dialect your referring to Hokkien :)

    Reply

  83. I want very much to try this recipe but I don’t know the equivalent of grams. I always make recipes with cups and tablespoon as measurement. Thanks.

    Reply

  84. I have just tried the recipe. buns fluffy and soft but with polkadot on the surface.This doesn’t look good. can I add in the baking powder at the beginning together with other dry ingredients.

    Reply

  86. What a super recipe! I found the flours I needed at a fantastic Chinese supermarket in Bristol, UK where I live and made these last night and they worked beautifully. I strained the baking powder/water mix through a tea strainer before working it into the dough as you suggest and there were no spots or discolouration and the buns had that lovely shine on them. Thank you so much for this!

    Reply

  87. Hi Lydia and Bee,
    Thank you for sharing this great bao recipe. Just made this and they turn out great. Fluffy and soft. Shiny outside and smooth outside. This recipe is gonna be a keeper. Thanks again.

    Reply

  88. Hi, i am going to try this recipe but i cannot find wheat starch. Can i use potato or corn starch instead? Thanks

    Reply

  90. I would like to seek your advise on how to get the pau skin to be white” they turn out nice n fluffy but instead of white , it’s brown. Sometimes lighter, but I made them yesterday n color is on the darker side of brown like I am using brown sugar which is not the case.
    Thaks

    Reply

  92. Made these baos today and they came out soft, and good to the bite! I had wheat starch (Tang Mien), so I decided to give this recipe a try. I have always used my favourite pao recipe and they are just as good but requires certain steps. This recipe is great as I love the chewy and soft texture! The only thing I did differently was to knead 40 mins in my bread machine then according to sequence and added the baking powder accidentally with the flour. However, it came out just as nice and fluffy! Thanks for this recipe!

    Reply

  93. Hi Bee
    The amount of yeast 8gm for 280gm of Hongkong flour (and 100gm of wheat starch) in the recipe. Is that correct? I tried and the dough smell and taste of too much yeast! Please confirm the amount. Thank you. Kind regards.

    Reply

  94. I love your blog, and have booked marked a lot of your recipes. I have been looking for the perfect bao recipe, and is still am. I tried this version of the bao, but mine turned a tad sweet. I tried this version a few times, and I noted the advice above to make sure that the baking powder is well mixed, and I did, but how come my bao still have some brown blotches? Also the dough is “heavy”, i.e. dense.

    Reply

  95. Is the icing powder substitute for sugar . First time I encounter using icing powder for bao dough. Why icing powder instead of sugar?

    Reply

  97. hi Rasa,
    I have also yellow brown bao about 10 mn steaming, but have quite white bao for 5mn steaming,
    My baking powder has been diluted in water and well disolved, and the dough has been worked in my breadmaker…It happened every time I over cooked them, (9-10 mn). all my bao are were well fluffy and tender (white or yellow brown)
    and I used milk instead of water, low protein flour ( Hong Kong flour) .and fresh yeast diluted in warm milk and sugar.,( sometime vinegar or not the results re the same)
    Fortunatly, I make char siew bao, but what about meat ball ? i have to steam them longer, …and I will have a yellow bao surely… help me please, thanks.

    Where is the mistake ?

    55.0

    Reply

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