Pan Fried Pork Buns
Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包)
The ultimate bao/dumpling craving right here. I was lucky to take a full-day dim sum class in Hong Kong two years ago and these were some of my favs to make coming out of the experience. Their Chinese name is Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包) and are traditionally served for breakfast, but make a fun snack or indulgent lunch (just double the recipe + share with mates).
What makes these buns so yum and memorable is that not only are they part fried, and crispy on the bottom, but they are also part steamed which makes them light and fluffy on the top half, complementing the light crunch.
They might seem like a bit of effort because they require you to make a yeast-based dough that allows for the baos to be fluffy, but it’s really pretty simple. The only somewhat finicky part is folding the baos into pretty pleats once the filling is in. But there are plently of YouTube tutorials out there to show you how.
Re the filling: if you are not a pork person that’s totally fine, chicken or beef would work with these (or a veggie option of your choice too – use a mix of mushrooms and crumbled firm tofu), just sub it out for the same quantities. Pork is the traditional filling and I must say, is hands down the best of them.
Side note: if you have a spacious freezer and medium-large tupperware, you can freeze the buns (once folded with the filling inside), and the day you wish to eat them simply steam from frozen.
The Fry-Steam-Fry method:
*You can omit the first ‘fry’ step, but it helps add a deeper level of color and crisp on the bottom
Recipe (makes 10 baos)
Prep time: 20 mins
Rest time: 45 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
Bao bun dough:
- +/- 125g all-purpose/plain flour
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp yeast
- 70ml lukewarm filtered water
Bao bun filling:
- 125g pork mince
- 1.5 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp shaoxing Chinese vinegar
- A few drops of sesame oil
- ¼ chicken stock cube dissolved in 1 tbsp. warm water
- 2 stalks finely sliced spring onion
- Large nob of grated fresh ginger
- A generous pinch or two of Chinese 5-spice powder
- A pinch of garlic powder
- A pinch of white pepper
Dipping Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp Chinese black vinegar
- ½ tbsp light soy sauce
- a few drops of sesame oil
- garnish with toasted sesame seeds and spring onion
Method:
Place the yeast and sugar in a bowl with the lukewarm water and mix gently for the yeast and sugar to dissolve. Set aside for 5-10 mins.
Incorporate the flour into the yeast mixture slowly, at first with a spatula and then with your hands with the dough begins to take shape. You will want a dough that does not stick to your fingers and isn’t too wet, but also don’t overdo it with the flour as it’ll make it too dry.
Knead it for 5 mins in the bowl and then take it out onto a gently floured surface and knead for another 5 mins until smooth. Place it back in its bowl-home and cover with a towel to rest for 45 mins – max 1 hour. You don’t want the dough to over-prove or the buns won’t fluff up in the pan.
While the dough is resting, prepare your filling: Mix all the ingredients together, your meat of choice/veggies and the seasoning. Mix well with a pair of chopsticks and set aside to absorb the flavors.
Once the dough has finished resting take it out on to a lightly floured surface and gently knead and fold the dough a few times to wake it up. Shape into a ball and divide the dough into 10 portions.
Using both hands roll each portion into a ball. Then lightly press the ball down with the palm of your hand so you have a circle-shaped, flatter piece of dough.
Using a small rolling pin, not pressing too hard, evenly roll the dough out so you thin it out a little more. You do not want to roll it too thin, or else they won’t be able to hold the filling and will stretch and break when you are pleating them. You’re looking for it to be about 3 mm thick, and just about covering/slightly larger than the palm of your hand.
Do this for all the portions before moving onto the filling. Or, get your friends involved and get a production line going – those are always fun.
Divide the filling into 10 portions before filling the bao’s. I find this helps so that I don’t have uneven amounts of filling in the buns.
Now for the finicky part: Take a flat circular piece of dough and place it in the palm of your left hand. Cup your hand slightly to support it, and spoon the filling into the center of the circle. Now use your right hand to make the pleats (your thumb and index finger make a great team for this part) while after each pleat use your left hands fingers to rotate the bun slightly each time. Your left index finger will be used to pass the next pleat to your right hand thumb and index finger pair, while your left hand thumb is good for helping to give the filling a little tuck into its revolving dough blanket each time.
Once all the bao’s have been wrapped up, and hopefully look a somewhat presentable, place them on a surface/plate with a light sprinkling of flour so that they don’t stick. Grab a non-stick pan and place on a med-high heat with enough cooking oil to just cover the whole bottom layer of the pan.
When the pan is hot, carefully place the bao’s in with a bao’s-worth of space in between each one, and cover with a lid to fry for 5-8 mins. The goal is to help the buns get a lovely golden-brown, crisp bottom.
When golden, pour half a cup of water into the pan and bring down to a medium heat. Careful here as with any remaining oil that might be in the pan, the water will cause it to spit - so watch your hands. Immediately cover with a lid but leave a notch open for air to escape while steaming. The bao’s should take 10 or so minutes to cook through. You’ll see they should proudly puff up, all fluffy and yum.
Most if not all of the water should have evaporated. If not for some reason just pour the remaining water out. Add a touch more oil and bring it back to a high heat for 2 mins just to revive the crispness on the bottoms of the bao’s.
Remove from the pan and while these are piping hot, garnish as desired and whip up the dipping sauce by just mixing the above ingredients in a little saucer.
Enjoy x
