Bao buns are a classic Asian street food, and they are commonly eaten in American dim sum restaurants. They are also an economical meal to make at home, easily spread over several days if cooking solo or an enjoyable group project to make with friends and family on a laidback weekend at home.
The dough for these pillowy little U-shaped buns are a cross between Western-style dumplings and biscuit dough and can be filled with any variety of meats, vegetables or beans. In East Asian countries, they are steamed to order and eaten at all hours day and night. The Chinese version of bao buns uses quick-rise dough leavened with yeast, while the Vietnamese variety uses a similar dough using baking powder as the rising agent. Both are enriched with milk and a little sugar. To get that perfect shape without crushing the delicate dough, use a chopstick to fold and transport them for their next round of rising.
Seasoned appropriately, any combination of meats and vegetables make excellent filling for these mini sandwiches. Typical fillings usually include cabbage, a leafy green, onion, and a protein like fish or chicken. Feel free to improvise and use any leftover roast or grilled meat you may happen to have waiting in the refrigerator.
This recipe divides the process over two days, but it can easily be accomplished during one ambitious day of cooking. It’s also not necessary to cook all the buns at once. Steam some of the buns empty and freeze them up to six months. Then pull them from the freezer later for easy dinners, say with leftover char sui pork and homemade pickles.
A few tips for those new to bamboo steamer baskets: First, bamboo steamers are traditionally lined with cabbage leaves to prevent the food from sticking to the basket. We found that lining the steamer with greased parchment paper and slicing holes for the steam to rise through worked much more efficiently. The parchment paper lies flatter and can be reused multiple times without sticking to the buns or tearing. To use your steamer, place it directly into the wok. Be sure to keep enough water simmering the entire time; as the name suggests, they don’t work well without steam!
These bao buns are a new family favorite and make great leftovers – if you can keep from eating them all as they come out of the steamer!
The Gameplan Day 1: Make the fillings.
Day 2: Make, fill and steam the buns.
The Shopping List 4 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. hoisin
½ tsp. ground white pepper
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. canola oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp. minced ginger
2 cups shredded zucchini
4 cups sliced shitakes or portabellas
1 Tbsp. natural mushroom seasoning**
4 cups shredded bok choy
1 cup bean sprouts
4 cups chopped Napa cabbage
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Vietnamese pork sausage**
½ lb. ground pork
1 lb. shrimp or scallops
1½ cups milk
2 packages (3½ tsp.) yeast
5 Tbsp. lard or vegetable shortening
Sriracha
Special equipment: A bamboo steamer basket
*This list assumes you have sugar, an onion, garlic, kosher salt, canola oil, baking powder, baking soda and flour at hand in your kitchen. If not, you will need to get those, too. **Mushroom seasoning and Vietnamese pork sausage can both be found at Seafood City in Olivette. Vietnamese pork sausage is raw and must be cooked before eating.
Vegetable Filling Makes enough for 16 to 18 buns
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. hoisin
3½ Tbsp. water, divided
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. ground white pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. canola oil
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ tsp. minced ginger
½ tsp. minced garlic
2 cups shredded zucchini, peeled and seeded
2 cups sliced shitakes or portabellas, stems removed
1 Tbsp. natural mushroom seasoning
½ tsp. kosher salt
4 cups shredded bok choy greens, stems removed
1 cup bean sprouts
? Day 1: In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, hoisin, 2 tablespoons water, sugar and ground white pepper and set aside.
? In another small bowl, stir the cornstarch and the remaining 1½ tablespoon water together to create a slurry and set aside.
? Heat a wok over high heat and add the canola oil, swirling it around the pan so it creates vein-like lines on the surface. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir quickly, 10 to 20 seconds, until the onions begin to turn translucent.
? Add the mushrooms, mushroom seasoning and salt and cook, stirring quickly, about 1 minute, until the mushrooms begin to release their liquid. Add the zucchini and stir-fry 1 minute.
? Stir in the bok choy, 30 to 45 seconds, then stir-fry the bean sprouts and the soy sauce-hoisin mixture until the bok choy beings to wilt. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and stir 1 minute to cook the starch and thicken the mixture.
? Remove from heat and let cool. Use for Bao Buns (recipe follows) or store, covered, in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Seafood and Pork Filling Makes enough for 32 to 36 buns
4 cups chopped Napa cabbage
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. canola
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ tsp. minced garlic
½ tsp. minced ginger
2 cups sliced shitakes or portabellas, stems removed
1 Vietnamese pork sausage, finely chopped
½ lb. ground pork
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined, or scallops, finely chopped
? Day 2: Toss the cabbage and salt together and let sit in a colander 10 to 20 minutes. Squeeze out any excess water, place it in a bowl and set aside.
? In a small bowl, whisk together the oyster sauce, soy sauce, water, fish sauce and sugar and set aside.
? In another small bowl, stir the cornstarch into the water to create a slurry and set aside.
? Heat a wok over high heat and add the canola oil, swirling it around the pan so it creates vein-like lines on the surface. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir quickly 10 to 20 seconds, until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add the cabbage and stir thoroughly.
? Add the mushrooms and the soy sauce mixture and stir quickly, about 1 minute, until the mushrooms begin to release their liquid and the sauce is incorporated.
? Add the sausage and the ground pork, using a spatula to break up the meat and brown it while stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the filling to thicken the sauce and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, until the seafood is just cooked through.
? Remove from heat and let cool. Use for Bao Buns (recipe follows) or store, covered, in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Bao Buns Makes 32 buns
1½ cups milk
2 packages (3½ tsp.) yeast
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
5 Tbsp. melted lard or vegetable shortening, cooled to room temperature, plus more for greasing
4 cups flour, plus more for dusting, divided
Seafood and Pork Filling (recipe above)
Vegetable Filling (recipe above)
Sriracha for serving
Soy sauce for serving
Special equipment: Steamer basket
? Day 2: In a saucepan over medium-low heat, gently heat the milk until it is warm to the touch, about 110 to 115 degrees. Pour the milk into the bowl of a stand mixer and gently stir in the yeast and sugar. Let the yeast proof until bubbles form on the surface, about 10 minutes. Affix the dough hook attachment to the mixer, and add the salt, baking powder, baking soda, melted lard or shortening and 1 cup flour on low speed. Continue adding 1 cup of flour at a time, until it is well incorporated and a ball forms on the hook. Continue to knead on low speed for 10 to 12 minutes.
? Grease a large mixing bowl with lard or shortening, place the dough in the bowl and cover with a clean towel. Place the bowl in a warm place and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
? Turn the dough out onto a large floured work surface and shape it into a long loaf. Slice the loaf into 2 equal halves. Roll each half into a 16-inch log 1-inch thick. Cut each log into 16 walnut-sized pieces. Roll piece into a ball and set them 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Cover the baking sheets with clean towels and let rise about 20 minutes.
? Roll out 1 dough ball onto a lightly floured work surface into a 4-inch long oval. Grease a smooth chopstick with lard or shortening and place crosswise in the center of the oval. Fold the top half of the oval over the chopstick to make a thick, U-shape. Use the chopstick to transport the bun to a greased baking sheet. Slide the chopstick out and repeat this process with the remaining dough balls. Let the buns rest 20 minutes to rise.
? To fill the buns, gently place 1 tablespoon of vegetable filling (recipe above) or seafood and pork filling (recipe above) in the fold of each bun.
? To steam the buns, fill a wok with 4 cups water over medium-heat and bring to a simmer.
? Meanwhile, line the trays of a bamboo steamer with parchment paper, poking a few holes in the paper to allow the steam to rise. Working in batches, fill the steamer trays with filled buns, leaving a bit of space between them to rise while they cook. Stack the trays, cover the steamer basket and place inside the wok over the simmering water. Steam 10 minutes, until the buns are cooked though. Add more water to the wok as needed. Place the steamed buns on a plate covered with a towel until ready to serve. Repeat until the desired amount of buns are cooked.
? Serve with Sriracha or soy sauce on the side.
-photos by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in September 2014.