Pillowy soft steamed buns filled with a sweet, savoury saucy pork filling. Homemade Chinese Pork Buns are truly just like the bbq pork buns 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.