Char Siu Bao (Wei Guo’s 14-bun recipe)

A fluffy Cantonese dim sum bao

This version wraps cooked char siu in a soft yeast-and-baking-powder dough, then steams the filled buns. It makes fourteen bao. The sauce is thickened separately into a jelly, cooled and mixed with chopped, ready-cooked char siu. This bread record uses shop-bought cooked char siu, an option the recipe page explicitly permits; it does not include a separate method for preparing pork.

The author places Char Siu Bao in Canton/Guangdong dim sum and describes a fluffy, sweeter wrapper with filling prepared before wrapping. The open top is a characteristic of this version; a standard pleated close is offered as an alternative. This modern recipe gives no dated first attestation or precise historical birthplace, so the record preserves the regional context without claiming an origin date. The author also names oyster sauce as a seafood-allergy concern and suggests a mushroom-based vegetarian alternative.

Make the jelly filling and dedicated dough

The onion first perfumes a small amount of oil. Water, oyster sauce, char siu sauce and dark soy boil briefly; removing the onion leaves a smooth sauce, though the author allows it to be chopped and retained. A starch slurry then thickens the sauce until it sets like jelly. Cool that base before mixing in the chopped cooked char siu so the filling stays together while the wrappers are shaped.

This dedicated dough differs from the author's other bao methods. The formula combines flour, sugar, baking powder, instant yeast and neutral oil, then gradually adds lukewarm water. Hand mixing includes a ten-minute covered rest and a short knead; the mixer option kneads for about eight minutes. Wei Guo says the added baking powder lets this formula go directly to shaping without a first proof. Flour choices change the water amount: the page gives 180 g for bao or cake flour and 190 mL for all-purpose flour. That distinction is retained rather than averaged.

Fill, shape, proof and steam

Divide the dough into fourteen portions and keep pieces covered until use. Roll each into a 9–10 cm disc with a thicker centre and thinner rim. Put about 20 g filling in the middle. The featured open-top fold is demonstrated in the recipe's tutorial; the author also points to a regular pleated alternative in the linked bao guide. This is a bread-shaping technique only; the char siu itself is already cooked and purchased/prepared separately.

Line steamer baskets with parchment, or lightly oil the metal or plastic surface. Let the assembled buns rest uncovered for about thirty minutes, until they look plump and light. Bring the water to a full boil, cover the steamer and cook over medium-high heat for ten minutes without opening the lid. The page serves them straight from the steamer and gives a three-minute steam reheat for refrigerated cooked buns. USDA guidance says cooked leftovers should reach 165°F (74°C) throughout; check the filling centre when reheating buns containing cooked and chilled char siu. The source gives no measured temperature for its initial ten-minute steam, so that time is not represented as a validated internal endpoint.

Raw flour remains uncooked through mixing and proofing. CDC advises against tasting raw dough and recommends cooking flour-containing dough according to recipe directions, with cleaning after handling. The filling contains oyster sauce; the source identifies a vegetarian mushroom-sauce alternative for readers avoiding seafood.