I love homemade baked BBQ pork buns. These are called char siu bao at Chinese bakeries. And they are often served as dim sum at Cantonese restaurants. If you’ve ever tried them, they are surely already a favorite of yours! In fact, my char siu and my steamed char siu bao recipes have been quite popular. Many readers requested a baked version of the buns, so I created a baked BBQ pork bun recipe that allows you to use your oven to get these yummy flavors packed into heavenly soft milk bread. Talk about combining the best of both worlds! The bun is a variation on my milk bread recipe. For the baked BBQ pork buns, it’s a more simplified version that skips the condensed milk without compromising the result. The buns are super soft and fluffy – the perfect vessel to contain that tender pork. PS. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can use my pineapple bun recipe to fill the BBQ pork. It takes a LOT of work to make but the result is divine.
Ingredients & equipment
If you have a stand mixer, the dough is really easy to put together. It’s a perfect recipe for using up leftover char siu. And if you don’t want to go to the trouble of making char siu, you can still make baked BBQ pork buns at home by grabbing takeout char siu from your local Chinese restaurant. You can just have the dough ready to go and it will be much quicker. If you can’t find char siu anywhere nearby and don’t have time to make it, use regular roasted or barbecued pork. The seasoning for the filling is really flavorful and creates delicious baked BBQ pork buns everyone will love.
Cooking process
Make the dough & 1st rise
Make the char siu filing
Making the char siu filling is super simple.
Cook the sauce mixture until it thickensLet the sauce cool, then mix in the chopped char siu
Form the dough balls
Now that your dough is rested and ready, it’s time to divide it into small dough balls for the buns. NOTE: It’s very important to always cover the dough you’re not working on with plastic wrap. Otherwise it will dry out.
Wrap and bake the BBQ pork buns
NOTE: I like to brush the buns with the milk wash for a muted golden brown look. If you prefer the glossy look, you can also brush the buns with an egg yolk wash. That’s it! These baked BBQ pork buns are super soft and fluffy, with a delicious sweet savory filling! I’ve taken you through the cooking step-by-step with pictures. If you want to see the cooking in action, check out my YouTube video. You can (and should!) make extra because they freeze well and you can have them ready to go for dim sum, any time the mood strikes! Want to learn more about Chinese Cooking? Sign up my newsletter to receive the 5-Day Chinese Cooking Crash Course and recipe update! If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), and take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
More delicious dim sum recipes
Chinese Scallion Pancakes (葱油饼)Pork Zongzi (Cantonese Savory Sticky Rice Dumplings)Pineapple Buns (Bolo Bao)Steamed Custard Buns (nai wong bao, 奶黄包)Chinese Chive Pockets (韭菜盒子, Chinese Chive Dumplings)Chinese Turnip Cake (Lo Bak Go, 萝卜糕)
Lilja Walter is a part of the Omnivore’s Cookbook team and worked closely with Maggie to develop and test this recipe.
