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Chasiubao (叉烧包) BBQ Pork Buns: From Scratch

Author: Kathy Yuan | The Mala Market | Inspiration & Ingredients for Sichuan Cooking

Equipment

  • Steamer

Ingredients

Chasiu Marinade/Meat

  • 4-5 cloves fresh garlic, peeled, smashed and roughly chopped
  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
  • 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine or other liaojiu (rice cooking wine)
  • 1½ tablespoons dark soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
  • 1½ tablespoons oyster sauce (Megachef preferred)
  • 1½ tablespoons hoisin sauce (Guangwei Yuan preferred)
  • 1 cube red furu (fermented beancurd)
  • 1½ tablespoons liquid from red furu (fermented beancurd)
  • 4 tablespoons hongtang (black sugar/Chinese brown sugar) if unavailable use Western brown sugar, preferably dark
  • 1½ teaspoons ground five spice
  • ½ teaspoon ground fermented white pepper
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt more or less to taste
  • 1 tablespoon honey or maltose
  • 3 pounds pork shoulder or skinless pork belly between 30-50% fat

Bao Dough

  • 10 grams active dry yeast (approx. 3 teaspoons)
  • 80 grams powdered sugar, divided (approx. ⅔ cup)
  • 300 grams lukewarm water, divided (approx. 1¼ cup)
  • 600 grams cake flour (approx. 5 cups) to sub AP flour, use 15% by weight potato starch or cornstarch, i.e. 510 grams AP + 90 grams potato starch
  • 8 grams baking powder (approx. 2 teaspoons)
  • 20 grams lard, room-temperature (approx. 1 tablespoon)
  • splash white vinegar for steaming

Cha Siu Bao Filling

  • ½ cup cold water
  • 2 tablespoons potato starch
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1½ tablespoons oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 scallions or Chinese celery
  • 4 tablespoons reserved chasiu marinade
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce (Zhongba preferred)
  • ⅔ cup warm water
  • 1½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil (Cuizi preferred)

Instructions

Marinade/Glaze

  • For the marinade, drown the chopped garlic in all the sauces and spices except the honey. Be sure to smash the furu cube into a paste, mixing until the marinade reaches a smooth consistency with no furu chunks. Set aside 4 tablespoons of the marinade now in a small bowl for tomorrow's cha siu bao filling.
    Reserve another three tablespoons of the marinade for the glaze in another small bowl (or just remember to leave enough behind after marinating). Mix this with the honey and save it to baste the meat later.
    Refrigerate until needed.

Chasiu

  • Section the pork butt/shoulder into thick slabs/steaks, about 1½ inches thick. If it's pork belly, cut it into long square strips.
    Wash the raw meat, pat it dry, and throw it in a deep mixing bowl. Proceed to stab it all over with a fork to help the marinade seep in. Add the marinade sauce and mix it all up. Cover the bowl and leave it in the fridge overnight or at least 6-8 hours (but no more than 24 hours).
  • An hour before you plan to bake, take the marinated meat out of the fridge to bring it back to room temperature.
    Preheat the oven to 375F (190C). Lay out the slices on a wire rack over a foil-lined roasting or sheet pan to promote air circulation, and drizzle in some water to prevent drippings from burning. Bake for 15 minutes. Retrieve and generously baste the top side with the marinade/honey glaze. Bake for 10 more minutes, then generously baste both sides, leaving it opposite side up. Bake for 10 additional minutes. Remove from oven, stick a thermometer in and if it's not yet at 145-150F (mine is usually done by now), reglaze and continue baking in 3 minute intervals until it reaches that range.
    Let the cooked meat rest for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Dough

  • Bloom the active dry yeast in a small bowl by mixing it with a cup of the warm water and a spoonful of the sugar. You want the water warm, but not super hot—somewhere around 105F/41C. You should be able to hold your fingertip in it for at least 5-10 seconds. The yeast is ready when it has at least doubled in size.
  • In a large bowl, bring together the flour, baking powder and rest of the sugar. Gradually mix in the bloomed yeast and rest of the warm water, stirring to incorporate. Switch over to kneading with your hands once it becomes tough to stir. At the point that a smooth dough comes together and doesn't stick to the wall of the bowl or your hands (about 15 minutes), add the room-temperature lard.
    Knead together until smooth again, cover with a cheesecloth and let proof in a warm, draftless place for 15 minutes. Briefly re-knead the dough (about 2-3 minutes), folding it onto itself and working out any air bubbles, then cover again and let proof about an hour while you make the filling.

Making the filling

  • Dice the cooled meat. Make a slurry with the cold  water, potato starch and cornstarch. Heat the oil in a saucepan and cook the onion and optional scallions/Chinese celery until it starts to brown. Discard the scallion/celery and keep or discard the onion.
    Add the reserved chasiu marinade, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and water to pan and mix well. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat briefly to drizzle in the cornstarch slurry while stirring. Return to a boil and simmer on low heat for 30-60 seconds to thicken while continually stirring. Pour the thickened sauce over the chopped meat, mix well to coat and let cool.

Wrapping the bao

  • Set up your steamer and heat some water with a splash of white vinegar for proofing (again, you should be able to comfortably stick your fingers in the hot water). The white vinegar helps make the buns whiter. Line each level with a cheesecloth or cabbage leaves so the buns don't stick (you can also cut squares of parchment paper to sit each bun atop).
  • Knead out any air bubbles in the dough and roll it out into a wide rectangular sheet about 1/4" thick. Roll the sheet up into a log, chop it in half and pinch off dough balls: for small buns, you'll get about 14-15 dough balls about 30 grams each from each half (30ish buns total) or for medium buns, you'll get about 10 dough balls about 45 grams each from each half (20ish buns total).
    If you don't have a scale, you can eyeball it by aiming for the size of a pingpong ball or golf ball. Keep the extra dough/dough balls covered so they don't dry out while you fill the buns.
  • Press or flatten out each dough ball into a circle about the width of your palm, 3-4 inches. You want it thin enough to be a wide circle for stuffing with the filling, but thick enough to hold the filling without breaking, no thicker than a couple millimeters. If you're measuring, add about 18-20 grams filling to each small bun or 30 grams filling to each large bun. If you're nervous about the dough breaking, just start with less until you work up the skill to fold more. Pleat or otherwise seal the buns and set aside to proof in the low-heated steamer for 30 minutes, or until when you gently press the bun, it leaves an indentation that slowly springs back.
  • When you're ready to steam the buns, bring the water to a boil and steam over high heat for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the buns alone to rest for a couple minutes before you take them out of the steamer. Enjoy immediately or let cool completely before refrigerating or freezing for later!