Pillowy soft steamed steamed buns recipe filled with a sweet, savoury saucy pork filling. Homemade Chinese Pork Buns are truly just like the ones you swipe off the dim sum trolleys. Sunday morning Yum Cha is almost a religious ritual here in Sydney.
Large groups descend upon vast restaurants from mid morning, with steaming trolleys piled high with dumplings and buns rattling around the room. The familiar sound of bowls being banged onto tables, the bottomless Chinese tea, and the brisk, borderline rude service. It’s all part of the experience. Polite service at Yum Cha is almost creepy. The trolley-chasing protocol differs from restaurant to restaurant, but I’m shameless. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And when I need pork buns, I will stalk trolley after trolley until I find it!
And they are the ultimate freezer standby. There are 4 main steps to making steamed pork buns. Use either store bought or homemade Char Siu. Full blown home made Char Siu requires at least 24 hours marinating time, so if time is of the essence, refer to the recipe notes for a quick homemade Char Siu.
Just like making any yeast bread or rolls, the dough is pretty standard and effortless if made using a stand mixer! The dough is soft and elastic dough, very easy to work with. The recipe video is helpful to see the dough consistency. OK, so there’s no denying this is the part that takes some practice and I’m no Pork Bun Goddess. Even if you just bundle it up like a money bag and get that filling sealed inside, it’s still going to taste just as good! Place it on your hand and top with Filling.
I use a bamboo steamer set over simmering water in a wok. Any steamer will do, but if you want the truly authentic pork bun experience, it’s worth getting a bamboo steamer because it imparts a subtle fragrance into the buns. They aren’t expensive and you can find them at most Asian stores. Japanese Steamed Dumplings and Steamed Chinese Dumplings!
Nifty tip: How to make the paper liner for the bamboo steamer. I want to be very clear about giving credit for this recipe because it is not an original recipe by me. Really good people, excellent taste, exceptional cooks and a very high standard of quality. It’s worth every minute of effort. Tastiness aside, everyone is always soooooo impressed by homemade Pork Buns. The prospective praise seals the deal. Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Soft fluffy white buns with a juicy sweet and savoury filling. Perfect freezer standby – microwave from frozen and it’s like they’re fresh out of the bamboo steamer! Place flour, cornflour and sugar in a stand mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook. Add yeast mixture, oil and water. Mix on low speed for 3 minutes until a smooth ball of dough forms.