Baked Cha Shao Bao Recipe (Chinese BBQ Pork Buns)

If you buy or bake BBQ pork (Cha Shao 叉燒) and can’t finish it at a meal, you can save it to bake this beautiful BBQ pork buns (Cha Shao Bao 叉燒包). Most Chinese restaurants have baked Cha Shao Bao available as dim sum (點心). The BBQ pork inside the buns is so juicy and succulent. You can’t miss it if you haven’t tried it before.

Makes 6 buns

Ingredients for buns:

• 8 gm dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 2 cups plain flour

Ingredients for brushing buns:

• 1 egg yolk, whished
• Syrup (1 teaspoon sugar + 2 teaspoons water)

Ingredients for fillings:

• 200 gm cha shao (chao siu, BBQ pork, homemade or bought from Asian BBQ shops)
• 2 shallots
• 1/2 onion

Seasoning for cha shao:

• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons corn flour
• 4 tablespoons water
• a dash of sesame oil

Method for baking buns:

1. Mix all ingredients for buns except plain flour together (picture 1). First, put sugar in hot water, let sugar melt completely. Add milk and oil, mix well. Allow cool to 40C, add yeast and stir well. Coat a cotton towel for 10 minutes and let it rest. Then the mixture would become something like the picture 2 shown.
2. Add sifted plain flour into the mixture, mix well (picture 3).
3. Knead dough until not sticky to hand. Cover with a clean cotton towel for 25 minutes. The dough will be more than double in size.
4. Cut dough into 6 parts in equal size and stuff with cooked cha shao (cha siu, BBQ pork),
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 200C and brush with egg yolk, then bake for another 5 minutes. Brush with syrup (sugar in water).

Method for cha shao fillings:

1. Cut cha shao, shallots, onions into small cubes.
2. Add oil into wok on medium heat, sauté onion, shallots until aromatic, put in cha shao and continue to sauté. Pour in seasoning, lower heat and simmer until preferred consistency. Set aside to cool down and ready to use.