叉烧包 Cantonese Dim Sum BBQ Pork Steamed Buns

This is one of many delicious ways you can use up left over BBQ Pork-Char Siew. The dough for this style of Baozi differs from that commonly used for other stuffed steamed breads. The dough used to make Cantonese BBQ Pork Steamed Buns has more of a biscuit like texture but at the same time being light and fluffy like bread.

You will notice the ingredients list has something called wheat starch.Wheat starch is commonly used in Cantonese Dim Sum. It is what they use to get those translucent skins on their many styles of dumplings. Unfortunately you can not use cornstarch or tapioca starch as substitutes. It must be wheat starch. There are three Asian Grocery's in the City I live in and all three carry it so there is a good chance it won't be too hard for you to find. Crossing my fingers!

You will notice that the baking soda is added after the dough has risen. This is because double-action baking powder can be hard to find in some parts of the world and this way everyone will be able to achieve the same results.

This recipe for the bun dough is by Lydia Teh's (found at mykitch3n). I have seen this recipe on several other blogs. I have been confused for a long time about how to achieve the unique texture of these buns. The pictures I was seeing of peoples recreations of her recipe looked right and the ingredient list had a lot of promise so I decided to give it a try. I loved it, the texture was spot on with what I have had in Asia.

If you don't have any BBQ Pork on hand you can just cut  up some raw pork meat and cook with the onions, ginger and garlic. I have seen many Asians do it this way.

Bun dough

1 3/4 cups cake and pastry flour (low-gluten)

1 cup wheat starch

1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

3/4 cup warm water

2.5 tsp. active dry yeast

1/2 tsp. vinegar

2 Tbsp. shortening or vegetable oil

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. water

BBQ Pork Filling

500 grams Cantonese BBQ pork

1 small onion, chopped into small pieces

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger, grated

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp. oyster sauce

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. sesame oil

2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. hoisin sauce

1 tsp. chicken bouillon

2 cups water mixed with 2.5 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup water mixed with 2.5 Tbsp. corn flour or white flour

red food coloring (optional for color)

Mix together 1 3/4 cups pastry flour,1 cup wheat starch and 1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp. powdered sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in 3/4 cup warm water. Add 2.5 tsp. yeast plus 1/2 tsp. vinegar and whisk into the water.

Allow to rest until the yeast is dissolved and foamy then mix with the dry ingredients until you have a soft but not sticky dough. 

If you need to add more cake flour to make it not sticky at this point do it 1 Tbsp. at a time.

Mix In 2 Tbsp. shortening or oil until well incorporated.

This is what the dough will look like.

Allow to rest in a warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.

Mix 2 tsp. baking powder with 2 tsp. water.

Mix 2 tsp. baking powder with 2 tsp. water.

Make the filling while you are waiting for the dough to rise. To make the filling weigh out 500 grams Char Siew.

Chop into small pieces.

Fry onions, garlic and ginger until onions are soft.

Add in the Char Siew.

Stir in oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, hoisin sauce, chicken bouillon, 2 cups water mixed with cornstarch. Cover and reduce the heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer another 5 minutes.

Pour in water/cornflour mixture.

Remove to a container and refrigerate to make it firmer and easier to work with.

Cut the dough into 16 pieces.

Flour a surface and roll each piece of dough out into a 3 inch circle and top with 1 heaping teaspoon of filling.This dough is quite fragile because of it's low gluten ratio so you don't want to roll it too thin because it easily breaks open.

Make pleats around the bun like shown in this video here. You want them to not be pressed and sealed tightly though because you want the bun to burst open while steamed it has that signature Char Siew Bun look. They should

Instead of twisting and pinching at the end like shown in the video link just lightly pinch the top together lightly like shown in the picture below. Place on parchment paper in a steamer, leaving 1 inch of space between each bun, and let rest for 15 minutes.

Heat water over high heat and bring to a full rolling boil. The steam must be very hot to help the buns burst open during steaming. Steam for 15 minutes. Remove from steamer and cool  on wire rack to prevent soggy bottoms.

Enjoy eating famous dim sum char siew buns made by your own hand.

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