Char siu steamed pork buns

Your ingredients

Get ready: Saucepan, bowls, rolling pin, baking-paper squares and covered steamer.

• 🥣Filling: ½ tbsp neutral cooking oil
• 🥬Filling: ½ onion, sliced
• 💧Filling: 120 ml water
• 🥣Filling: 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 🥣Filling: 1 tbsp Char Siu sauce
• 🥣Filling: 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 🍚Filling: 2 tbsp tapioca starch , mix with 3 tbsp water
• 🥣Filling: 130 g Char Siu
• 🍚Dough: 350 g bao flour/cake flour, or plain flour
• 🍯Dough: 2 tbsp sugar
• 🥣Dough: 2 tsp baking powder
• 🥣Dough: 2 tsp instant dry yeast
• 🥣Dough: 1½ tbsp neutral cooking oil
• 🍚Dough: 190 ml lukewarm water, adjusted slightly as needed with plain flour

Let’s make it

1. Cook filling sauce

   Warm filling oil and fry onion until lightly golden. Add filling water, oyster sauce, char siu sauce and dark soy and boil briefly. Lift out onion. Stir starch with its 3 tbsp cold water, add and cook while stirring until thick.

2. Cool and add pork

   Transfer sauce to a shallow bowl and cool promptly. Mix with finely chopped cooked char siu. Keep refrigerated while making dough.

3. Make the dough

   Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, yeast and dough oil. Gradually add lukewarm water to form soft, non-sticky dough. Rest covered for 10 minutes, then knead until very smooth.

4. Shape fourteen bao

   Divide dough into 14, keeping covered. Roll each to about 9–10 cm across with thinner edges. Divide filling between them, pleat or gather edges and seal firmly.

5. Rest and steam

   Set on paper squares with room to expand. Rest about 30 minutes until light and plump. Steam over boiling water for about 10 minutes, longer until dough is cooked and filling is steaming hot throughout. Cool slightly before biting.