Name: Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns (Char Sill Bao)
Prep time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: Makes 18 buns
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon oyster sauce; 1½ teaspoons baking powder; 1½ cups cake or pastry flour; 1 tablespoon honey; 1 teaspoon corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil; 1½ teaspoons active dry yeast; 3 tablespoons sugar; 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough; 1 tablespoon lard, butter, or oil; ½ pound char siu (¼ recipe Barbecued Pork), cut into ¼-inch dice; White pepper to taste; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; ½ teaspoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Preparation info

Makes
18
buns

Difficulty
Complex
Ready in
2 hr 30

Appears in

The Best Recipes in the World

By Mark Bittman

Published 2005

About

To make these classic steamed rolls at home, you might pick up char siu—barbecued pork—in one of the myriad of Chinatown restaurants that have roast meats hanging in the window. Or you can make the Barbecued Pork and the buns a day or two later.

Fortunately, the buns themselves are easy to make, and they can be made as much as a month in advance: let them cool to room temperature after they’ve steamed (which should only take 15 minutes or so),