Pillowy soft steamed buns filled with a sweet, savoury saucy pork filling. Homemade Chinese Pork Buns are truly just like the ones you swipe off the dim sum trolleys. These will blow your mind!
Sunday morning Yum Cha is almost a religious ritual here in Sydney. Large groups descend upon vast restaurants from mid morning, with steaming trolleys piled high with dumplings and buns rattling around the room. The familiar sound of bowls being banged onto tables, the bottomless Chinese tea, and the brisk, borderline rude service.
Itβs all part of the experience. Polite service at Yum Cha is almost creepy. Itβs just wrong. π
The trolley-chasing protocol differs from restaurant to restaurant, but Iβm shameless. Where thereβs a will, thereβs a way. And when I need pork buns, I will stalk trolley after trolley until I find it!
CHINESE STEAMED PORK BUNS
Homemade Pork Buns arenβt a quick and easy recipe but they are worth the effort because it will blow your mind how similar they are to Yum Cha / Dim Sum. Plus, if youβre addicted as I am to pork buns, youβll save stacks because itβs probably 70 β 80% cheaper to make at home.
And they are the ultimate freezer standby. 1 minute in the microwave from frozen = pork buns that youβd swear just came out of a bamboo steamer.
HOW TO MAKE PORK BUNS
There are 4 main steps to making steamed pork buns.
1. THE FILLING
Made withΒ Chinese Barbecue PorkΒ (Char Siu), chopped then coated in a simple sweet and savoury sauce. Use either store bought or homemade Char Siu. Full blown home made Char Siu requires at least 24 hours marinating time, so if time is of the essence, refer to the recipe notes for aΒ quick homemade Char Siu.
2. DOUGH FOR PORK BUNS
Just like making any yeast bread or rolls, the dough is pretty standard and effortless if made using a stand mixer!
The dough is soft and elastic dough, very easy to work with.Β The recipe video is helpful to see the dough consistency.
3. STUFF βEM!
OK, so thereβs no denying this is the part that takes some practice and Iβm no Pork Bun Goddess.Β But it doesnβt matter. Even if you just bundle it up like a money bag and get that filling sealed inside, itβs still going to taste just as good!
The recipe video is the best way to learn how to wrap pork buns, but hereβs a brief step by step description:
Roll out pretty thin rounds, making the edges thinner so you donβt end up with a huge thick wad of dough when you pinch it together;
Place it on your hand and top with Filling. Pinch the dough around the edges (#6 below) to make pleats β around 8 times;
Moving around the edge, gather together the pleats, bringing them together so you end up sealing the bun at the top (#7 and #8 below);
Pinch to seal and give it a good twist (#9).
Voila! Youβre a Pork Bun Master!
4. Steam!
I use a bamboo steamer set over simmering water in a wok. Any steamer will do, but if you want the truly authentic pork bun experience, itβs worth getting a bamboo steamer because it imparts a subtle fragrance into the buns.
They arenβt expensive and you can find them at most Asian stores.Β Then you can make Chinese Steamed Fish, Shumai β Japanese Steamed DumplingsΒ and Steamed Chinese Dumplings!
Nifty tip: How to make the paper liner for the bamboo steamer. Fold baking paper, line up with centre and trim off end (#1), then cut little diamonds along the edge (#2), unfold (#3) then plonk into your steamer!
ALL CREDIT TO WOKS OF LIFE
I want to be very clear about giving credit for this recipe because it is not an original recipe by me.
This is a recipe that was meticulously researched and created by Judy and Bill from Woks of Life β their Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. Really good people, excellent taste, exceptional cooks and a very high standard of quality. I trust their recipes completely.
Judy and Bill β we salute you!
Itβs worth every minute of effort. Tastiness aside,Β everyone is always soooooo impressed by homemade Pork Buns.
Letβs be honest. The prospective praise seals the deal.πΒ β Nagi x
MORE GREAT DUMPLINGS OF THE WORLD
- Potstickers (Chinese pan fried dumplings)
- Gyoza (Japanese dumplings)
- Shumai (Japanese steamed dumplings on my motherβs site, RecipeTin Japan!)
- Wontons
- Browse theΒ Yum Cha recipeΒ collectionΒ
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WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Chinese Steamed Pork Buns
Ingredients
Yeast Activation:
- 1 tsp active dry yeast powder
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml warm water
- 1 tbsp white sugar
Dough:
- 1/2 cup /125 ml warm water
- 4 tbsp /70g white sugar
- 2 cups / 300g plain flour (all purpose)
- 1 cup / 155g cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pork Filling:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup finely chopped escalot or white onion (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce , regular or light (not dark)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (can sub Hoisin)
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 cups Chinese Barbecue Pork , diced (Note 2)
Instructions
Dough:
- Yeast Activation: Place yeast, sugar and water in a small bowl. Mix, then set aside for 10 minutes until it becomes foamy.
- Place flour, cornflour and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Mix briefly to combine.
- Add yeast mixture, oil and water. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes until a smooth ball of dough forms. It should be soft and elastic, not so sticky it gets stuck all over your hands. Adjust with a touch of flour/water if required to get the dough consistency right.
- Cover with cling wrap and place in a warm dry place for 2 hours until it doubles in volume. (Note 3). Meanwhile, make Filling.
- Remove cling wrap, scatter over baking powder. Return to stand mixer and mix on low for 2 minutes.
- Turn dough out onto work surface, sprinkle with flour. Knead lightly to form a smooth round disc.
Making Buns (watch video):
- Cut dough into 4 pieces. Take one piece, roll into an even log, cut into 3 pieces (so 12 pieces in total).
- Take one piece of dough, cover remaining with cling wrap or tea towel.
- Roll into round 4.5β³ / 11 cm in diameter, making the edges thinner.
- Place dough in hand, put 1 1/2 tbsp of Filling in the centre.
- Pinch 8 pleats around the edges. Then gather the pleats together one by one to seal the bun. Pinch the top the twist.
- Repeat with remaining dough β make 12 in total.
- Cover buns loosely with cling wrap and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes.
Steaming:
- Line a large bamboo steamer (or other steamer) with parchment paper punctured with holes (Note 4).
- Place 6 to 8 buns on paper, cover with steamer lid.
- Pour about 4 cm / 1 1/2 inches in a wok / pot (steamer should not touch water) and bring to rapid simmer over medium high.
- Place steamer in wok, then cook for 12 minutes. Check water halfway through, top up if required.
- Buns are ready when they spring back when touched, and the buns have formed a smooth skin.
- Remove steamer from wok, serve warm!
Filling:
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add eschalots and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and water. Mix.
- While stirring, slowly pour cornflour mixture in. Mix until smooth.
- Stir in pork. Cook until sauce is thickened, 1 β 1 1/2 minutes (see video for consistency). Set aside to cool (thickens when cools).
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
LIFE OF DOZER
MOVE! I canβt change the channel!
I made these tonight and they turned out perfectly. I was in a bit of a rush for the dough so I threw he ingredients into the bread machine and mixed on the pizza dough cycle. I made the Char Siu with your recipe also.
I really canβt get over how light and fluffy they are. Next time I will make them a bit smaller to get a few extra out. The video was very helpful.
Will email some pics.
I always use cake flour for a lighter bun (but regular works well too).
Agreed π
I made this for the first time without failing!! π
The buns I made are so fluffy and white exactly like your pictures. My daughter even dotted them with food coloring to make them look like the ones at restaurants in Singapore.π
I wish I could upload my picture so you can see it. π (Can you tell how proud I am with the result?) ππ
Glad I found you and I always follow your food journey. Everything you make is always good and tasty!!
Thanks!!! Happy cooking!!!
WHOOT!!!! I love hearing that! Just hit reply to any email I send out with new recipes and attach the photo, I would LOVE to see it!! N xx
https://photos.app.goo.gl/1YuuN2M2TWW2VsxQ6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9LXkiLd3xGpmdr8DA
That looks amazing. You make everything look so easy.
Hi Joanna! I wouldnβt say this is easy but Iβve tried my best to make clear steps to follow π I hope you give it a go! N x
hahahahaha
These buns look perfect! Great video, Nagi!
Thanks Sabrina!
thank you for the recipe Nagi..made them today for afternoon tea and the entire family enjoyed it!!! btw, my bun had yellow spots on it could it be the baking powder not properly incorporated?? did not affect the taste anyways.,..love love all your recipesβ¦
Yellow spots! How odd! I will ask around about that. Iβm so glad you enjoyed these Ellika! You Porn Bun Master!!
OMG β PORK! PORK not PORN!!!! π
ROFLMAO Nagi the Porn queen.
This blog is amazing β I learn so much from people around the world and we all get to see Dozer, too!! Running off to the coast of Maine tomorrow for the cool breezes, but cannot wait to make the beautiful Chinese steamed pork buns!
Thank you for the compliment Nadine! Have a wonderful time in Maine! N xx
Anything that cooks in a steamer basket is good in my book. We actually have 6 baskets and use them often. We have no proper dim-sum restaurants, so we do ourselves.
Your pork buns look fantastic, I loved watching you form the buns. You made it look so easy. And, the paper liner hack was brilliant. Iβve made many a cartouche, but never though of making them into liners. Now I donβt have to buy those perforated pricey ones at our Asian market.
Itβs not me, itβs my mum! So much easier to film her doing it than trying to film myself so I called in the big guns for this one! π
I love them! I canβt wait to try them! Before that, I have to get new wok and steamer though. Is your work 30 cm diameter? What size is your steamer? Thanks in advance. π
Hi Kozue! I think mine is 30 cm too β I will update when I get back to check!
Char sui?!? Are you kidding me?!? I love that stuff and your recipe for it is the best! As I eat gluten free, I have never tried steamed pork buns and had this vision of them filled with some bland version of pork mince. Now that I know I can stuff them with char sui Iβm definitely going to try these with some GF flour. My partner has a bamboo steamer Iβve always been curious about so Iβm onto it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hello Donna β may I give a wee bit of advice: pinch your partnerβs bamboo steamer, like permanently! Cook most of your vegetables, and potatoes if you eat them, and try the most beautiful Chinese fish in the world and so much else . . . including this and much else from Nagi . . .you will love it and your physician will love you . . . am sorry you are amongst the less than 1% who had to be gluten-free: what a bummer . . . .
Thanks Eha. I did actually look up Nagiβs steamer recipes after I wrote that message and saw the fish one. I will definitely give the vegetables a go and as I live with my partner it wonβt be hard to steal the steamer. π Iβm all for keeping healthier and steering away from needing my physician, π
Donna: did not mean o be βMrs Bossy-Bootsβ β having been thruβ Medical School and still studying nutrition after 30 years I guess I can be an awful βwet blankerβ in a most well meaning way π ! Talk to Mr Google also . . . fish steamed with lemongrass and green onions and garlic and ginger . . . and . . . is just beautiful with a few grains of rice . . . .
All good Eha. I took no offence at all. Thank you for your advice. βΊοΈ
β€οΈ N xx
I would absolutely LOVE to know if it works with GF! A dear friend of mine is GF, I try most of my baking recipes with GF to see how it works π N x
Hi Nagi, since writing that comment, I have been advised to cut back severely (my interpretation of βstay offβ π) grains to try and improve my gut health. Unfortunately gone are the days when I could eat anything I wanted without consequences to my health. So I wonβt be trying the pork buns, at least for a while. π
Oh Nagi β you almost want me to try and make these π ! Of course was also part of the Sydney Sunday Chinese morning brunch rush for decades methinks when living in Sydney. Mostly loved a joint called βMarigoldβ on the edge of Chinatown then: yes, so like your description!. Two differences: would get thruβ a few bottles of dry white alongside the dim sum (can that be called βfusionβ ?) and so, so avoided the pork buns β too much dry uninteresting dough and not enough taste for our palate π ! But yours do look smaller and more filled and moreish and Eha perchance should have another try . . . especially since there is not a dim sum trolley within 40 kms . . .
Could not resist, even on a busy Sunday! My children have had children who have grown . . . they somehow still go βthereβ and thoβ the reviews vary, some others also love the place thoβ it seems to have moved in the interim ? Sydneysiders: if a place manages to turn profit since βancientβ me turned 20, just perhaps . . .
Nowadays you have to get there around 10.30 am if you want a table without too long a wait!!
I KID YOU NOT, Marigold is EXACTLY what I was thinking of!!! My buns definitely are a bit smaller, I find the really giant ones a bit too filling β I need space for all the dumplings!!!
Thank you for publishing my request Nagi. Have already passed it onto my friends.
Youβre so welcome Fran! Iβve been wanting to do it for ages β I think I just needed a kick up the bum to get moving on it! π
Thanks a lot Nagi for this recipe β Canβt wait to try this. I am salivating already.
Oh I forgot β I just love the wonderful tip about the dryer β GENIUS β worth 10 stars
It works SO WELL! I do it for all my yeast baking throughout the cooler months π
Hope you do Jenn! Itβs totally worth the effort π N x
Nagi, Canβt tell you how much I enjoy your recipes and narrativeβs. Pork Buns are one of our all-time favorites. My question is: βCan the Pork Buns be assembled, and refrigerated, several hours before steaming?β
Hi Jack, thanks for the compliment, Iβm so glad you are enjoying my recipes! I havenβt tried doing that, my concern would be how that affects the rise power of the buns. Itβs a great question though and the next time I make them I will try to remember to do it. If youβre wanting piping hot fresh buns, I can absolutely promise that microwaving cooked ones produces a near perfect result, and if you want the extra effect of freshly steamed, I would suggest microwaving just a bit then popping them in the steamer briefly to finish them off π N x
Amaizing video with great final shot!
Very tasty look!
Thank you Dasha! π
Wow yummy buns! Dozer come visit us LUCA IS A TV HOG..just like youππ
Happy Canada Day Vivienne from Gillian in Toronto.. I apologize Nagi for using your site to give a shout out to a fellow Canadian.
I like your pleating technique much simpler than I was shown from a friendβs mother tks
Ha! Why am I not surprised that Luca is a TV hog too? π
βMo-mee! The pictures in my head are flipping by too fast! First Iβm in the park, then Iβm in my crate, then Iβm in the kitchen?!!β Wuzzupwithat?β
Finally, the secrets of Char Siu Bao revealed. Thanks so muchβ¦you make it look approachableβ¦a must try. For Canada Day (this Monday), I will maybe(?) add a slight touch of red food colouring to the pork? That, with the white bun, would be fab.
And NOW heβs planting himself in front of the Foxtel box so I canβt change the channel!!! π The pork I use in the recipe is actually my homemade Char Siu which has red food colouring in it, but if you want more red in the sauce for the buns then by all means! Add away! N xx
Iβm addicted to these! I love them when I go to dim sum at Empress Pavillion in Los Angeles. Glad I know how to make them at home now. Thanks!
I love them too!!! N x
HOW do you read my mind, Magic Woman? I was just wishing for these and wondering if I had the courage to try to make them! YES! Your video makes it look doable.
Thanks, Nagi!
Itβs TOTALLY doable Sheri!! I promise π The hardest part is the wrapping of the buns but I promise, even if you just bundle them up like money bags, they taste just as good π They even look really authentic, they will just be missing the little signature pleats. Hope you do try it! N x