Baozi: the easy recipe for making Chinese Steamed Pork Buns

Imagine fluffy, light buns filled with a flavor-packed pork filling—these Chinese Steamed Pork Buns will become your new favorite! Baozi (pronounced bau-suh) refers to a type of steamed bun with a savory filling.

Oftentimes, people will speak of bao buns, but bao in Chinese simply means ‘bun’, and that does not really describe the dish accurately. Baozi, on the other hand, tells you exactly what to expect. Small baozi buns are often served as part of dim sum — bite-sized morsels that are a big part of Chinese cuisine.

A fluffy bun filled with a flavor-packed savory filling. It’s easy to customize the filling according to your liking. To make the buns, you will need a steamer, parchment paper (or muffin cups), and a few basic ingredients. You’ll be surprised to see how easy it is to make!

How To Make Baozi

Making The Dough

To make the dough, add the flour, yeast, sugar, and vegetable oil to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add enough of the water to form a dough, then knead until smooth. Allow the dough to rise until doubled in size.

Making the filling 

Make the filling by mixing the ground pork with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, oyster sauces, white pepper, and salt. Cook the pork mixture in a bit of oil. The mixture should not be too watery. If there is too much liquid left in the pan after cooking the pork, sprinkle with a bit of cornstarch and continue to cook for a few minutes.

Sealing Baozi 

Punch down the dough and pinch off pieces large enough to create a bun (you will get about 12 pieces from the dough). Flatten the dough with a rolling pin, making sure to flatten the edges (this will make it easier to fold when you fill it).

Baozi buns typically have pleats. To make pleats, hold the wrapper in your non-dominant hand. Using your other hand, pull and pleat the dough, folding and working your way around the wrapper until you get back to the start.

Steaming Baozi

Allow the buns to puff up before steaming (about 20 minutes). Place the buns on a piece of parchment paper in a steamer (make sure there is space between the buns). Steam the buns for about 18 minutes.

Tips

Baozi can be made with a variety of fillings. A combination of pork and napa cabbage is most popular, but you can also use ground chicken or turkey, or add other vegetables like shredded carrot, mushrooms, or noodles.

Serve the baozi with a dipping sauce. Make a quick and easy dipping sauce by mixing equal parts soy sauce and vinegar, and adding a bit of grated ginger. You can also serve it with sweet chili sauce.

How To Store And Reheat Baozi

Store leftover buns in the fridge for up to 3 days. (They can also be frozen.)

Reheat the buns in the microwave for 2 minutes. You can also steam them for 5 minutes, or 8 minutes if they are frozen.

Instructions

Dough

Add flour, yeast, sugar, and vegetable oil to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.

Pour in the water, little by little, and mix to form a dough.

Knead the dough for a few minutes until the dough is smooth. Place the dough in a bowl.

Cover it with a tea towel, and allow to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until double in size.

Filling

Combine the ground pork with the grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, oyster sauces, white pepper, and salt. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat. Add the pork mixture and cook until the pork is no longer pink and the liquid is absorbed. If there is still too much liquid after cooking, sprinkle a bit of cornstarch over the pork and cook until the sauce thickens. Allow to cool.

Assemble buns

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down to its original size. Roll the dough out.

Cut it into 24 pieces.Gently flatten each piece to form a disk.

Flatten the edges with a rolling pin.

Place a spoonful of the filling in the middle of the wrapper.

Then fold over the edges of the dough to form a bun. Make sure that the buns are sealed properly, otherwise the filling will leak out when the buns are steaming.

Continue with the rest of the dough balls and filling. Allow the buns to sit for 20 minutes until puffy.

Cut small pieces of parchment paper of about 3 inches so that you have one for each bun. If you won’t have parchment paper, you can also use paper muffin liners that have been flattened slightly. Spray with oil before using. Once the buns are puffy, place them in a steamer basket, making sure to place a piece of parchment paper beneath each bun.

Close with a lid and steam for 18 minutes.

Remove the baozi from the steamer basket, serve and enjoy!