The Best Char Siu Bao Recipe (Cantonese BBQ Pork Bun)

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Char siu bao, also known as char siu bun, char siew bao, charsiu bun, cha siu bao, char siew pau, char siu bow, etc., is one of the best Chinese steamed buns. It took me a long, long time to perfect this recipe because I didn't want to just throw it together. I grew up eating it, and I wanted the perfect steamed BBQ pork bun, which should have a snowy white, cotton-like wrapper, cracked open at the top and a bright-red saucy filling.
In order to reach the high standards, I have been testing and improving my char siu buns on and off for years, and finally, here is the best recipe to guide you step by step, explain the whys behind the hows, to show you some failures and why they happened so you can avoid any possible mistakes, and to provide tips to ensure you achieve the restaurant-quality result right in your kitchen.
Ingredients (Makes 12 char siu buns)
For the char siu bun starter (lao mian)
Step 1:
50g / 1.8 oz cake flour (Amazon Link - geni.us/cake-f...)
30g / 2 Tbsps water
1.6g / ½ tsp active dry yeast (Amazon Link - geni.us/yeast)
Step 2:
50g / 1.8 oz cake flour
30g / 2 Tbsps water
Step 3:
100g / 3.5 oz cake flour
60g / 4 Tbsps water
For the char siu filling
170g / 6 oz char siu, finely diced (Recipe VLink - • The Best Char Siu Reci... )
1.5 Tbsps oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, cut into stalks
5 slices ginger
¼ medium-sized purple onion, sliced thinly
2.5 Tbsps sugar
1.5 Tbsps soy sauce (Amazon Link - geni.us/light-...)
1 Tbsp oyster sauce (Amazon Link - geni.us/premiu...)
½ Tbsp hoisin sauce (Amazon Link - geni.us/Hoisin...)
160g / ⅔ cup water
1 tsp red yeast powder, optional
2.5 Tbsps cornstarch
2.5 Tbsps water to mix with the cornstarch
For the char siu bun wrapper
320g / 11.3 oz char siu dough starter (lao mian)
133g / ⅔ cup sugar
4 tsps lard or room-temperature butter
8 drops of alkaline water (Amazon Link - geni.us/kanshu...)
½ tsp food-grade ammonium carbonate (Amazon Link - geni.us/ammoni...)
150-180g / 5.3 - 6.3 oz cake flour (Amazon Link - geni.us/cake-f...)
1 Tbsp baking powder (Amazon Link - geni.us/baking...)