Dim Sum Char Siu Bao: Two Styles

Ingredients

• For the char siu filling (both styles)
• 400 g char siu (Cantonese roast pork), finely diced
• 60 ml char siu sauce, thick; sufficient to bind the diced pork to a sticky, cohesive mass
• For the baked bao dough (sing bao)
• 300 g plain flour
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 30 g caster sugar
• 150 ml whole milk, warmed to hand temperature
• 30 g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
• For the steamed bao dough
• 300 g plain flour
• 10 g baking powder
• 2 g baking soda
• 5 ml rice vinegar, a small amount; activates the chemical leavening
• 30 g caster sugar
• 150 ml water, room temperature; no fat, no milk, no egg

Method

1. 1
   Make the filling. Combine the finely diced char siu with the thick char siu sauce. The mixture must be cohesive and slightly sticky — loose enough to portion cleanly but dense enough to hold its shape inside the bun. Rest at room temperature while the doughs are prepared.
2. 2
   Make the baked bao dough. Combine flour, sugar, and yeast. Add the warmed milk and softened butter. Bring together into a smooth, elastic dough. Prove until doubled in volume. The surface should spring back slowly when pressed with a fingertip — the dough is neither slack nor tight.
3. 3
   Divide the proved baked dough into eight equal pieces. Flatten each piece, place a portion of filling at the centre, and gather the edges upward, pinching firmly to seal. Arrange sealed-side down on a lined baking tray, spaced well apart.
4. 4
   Brush each bun evenly with beaten egg. Bake at 180 °C until the tops are a uniform, deep golden colour and the surface is glossy. The egg wash produces the defining sheen of sing bao — a pale or matt surface indicates insufficient wash or underbaking.
5. 5
   Make the steamed bao dough. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Add the water and the small measure of vinegar. Mix to a smooth, soft dough. Do not over-work. This dough contains no fat, no milk, and no egg — its whiteness and neutrality are deliberate.
6. 6
   Divide the steamed dough into eight equal pieces. Flatten each, fill with char siu, and pleat closed at the top — the pleated crown must be sealed firmly but left slightly gathered rather than perfectly smooth, so the steam has a natural line along which to split. This is where the dish lives or dies: the quantity of baking powder, the presence of baking soda and vinegar, and the integrity of the seal determine whether the top splits open evenly during steaming. An oversaturated or underseasoned dough, or a seal that is too tight or too loose, will produce a closed top or an irregular tear rather than the clean, even split that is the sole quality indicator of correctly made steamed char siu bao.
7. 7
   Place the steamed bao on squares of parchment paper inside a bamboo steamer over vigorously boiling water. Steam until the tops have split open cleanly and the exterior is fully white, pillowy, and slightly domed. The buns should yield softly to the touch with no raw resistance at the centre.