Baked char siu bao (also sometimes spelled cha siu bao), or Chinese BBQ Pork Buns, consist of soft milk bread and a savory filling of Chinese BBQ Pork.
They’re a favorite among kids and adults alike, and also happen to be one Chinese bakery bun that we really prefer homemade!
Note: This recipe was originally published in February 2014. We have since re-tested and re-photographed it. This new and improved version also contains more detailed instructions, a video showing how to assemble the buns, and an FAQ section. I’ve also included the old version of the recipe at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!
When choices were easy (Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network?) and you saw the entire world from two feet lower to the ground. When your biggest concerns were in the vein of running home fast enough from school to catch the ice cream truck.
My particular version of childhood involved a lot of sinking Titanic reenactments in my friend Reema’s above-ground pool (we were very melodramatic children), reading at recess, strong lobbying for a family puppy acquisition, the collected cinematic works of John Hughes, and my see-through purple Gameboy Color.
It also involved Saturday morning car rides into Manhattan and Flushing Chinatowns, when we would visit my grandparents or cousins, grab dim sum, and inevitably stop by a Chinese bakery for some warm bread.
There were always the usual suspects…
- pillowy soft butter buns arranged in round pans
- sweet, crumbly pineapple buns
- the hot dog buns (another one we prefer to make at home with our Chinese hot dog bun recipe)
- and of course, the “char siu bao,” or baked BBQ pork buns, which are filled with a savory, slightly sweet filling of Cantonese roast pork.
You can find baked versions of these buns at such bakeries, as well as steamed versions at dim sum restaurants.
