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1
Make the water dough (水皮): combine 150 g plain flour, 30 g icing sugar, 60 g lard, and 60 ml water. Work together until a smooth, pliable dough forms. The dough is ready when the surface is even and it yields without tearing under gentle pressure.
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2
Make the oil dough (油皮): combine 100 g plain flour and 60 g lard. Work together until the mixture is crumbly yet cohesive — it holds its shape when pressed but does not feel wet or sticky.
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3
Make the filling: combine the finely diced char siu with the oyster sauce, honey, hoisin sauce, and cornstarch. Mix until each piece of pork is thoroughly coated. The filling is ready when it is sticky, well-glazed, and holds together as a mass.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Enclose the oil dough completely inside the water dough, pressing the seam shut. On a lightly floured surface, roll the combined mass into a rectangle. Fold in thirds (a letter fold), rotate 90 degrees, and roll out again. Repeat this rolling and folding sequence 3 to 4 times in total. The lamination is sufficient when the dough, held at an edge and flexed, shows no tearing and the surface remains smooth — the dozens of alternating layers are intact beneath it.
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5
Divide the laminated dough into 16 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time, roll it into a circle. Place a spoonful of filling at the centre. Draw the pastry up around the filling, pinching and crimping the seam firmly to seal. Set seam-side down. The seal is secure when no filling is visible and the parcel holds its shape without springing open.
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6
Bake at 200 °C for 15 to 18 minutes. The pastry is done when it is pale gold. Do not overbake — the exterior should be snow-white to pale gold, delicate, and shatteringly thin, not deepened to brown.