I’m back on my Dim Sum kick and this time I’m focusing on making the best Char Siu Gua Bao! As a big fan of Asian Cuisine, dim sum is one of my favorites.

My first thought when It’s Sunday Brunch time is to go for Dim Sum. It’s a lot of fun waiting in anticipation as the carts go from table to table showcasing the various types of dim sum. You should always be able to find some version of char siu bao in those carts! The literal meaning of dim sum is Touch the Heart. For me, these little plates are the perfect meal. Check here for some of my recipes for Potstickers!

**My Pork and Shrimp Dumplings are perfect for Sunday Brunch Dim Sum!**

So putting together a recipe for the best Char Siu Gua Bao has always been on my to-do list. In the back of my mind, I always thought that making a nice light and fluffy bao would be tough to make. I come to find out…it’s not as hard as I thought! In doing my research and through a little practice I think I came up with a recipe I am sure you will like!

What’s a Bao?

It is my understanding that “Bao” means bun in Cantonese. Therefore, Char Sui Bao is a pork-filled bun. We will be making a Gua Bao which is the Taiwanese version of a “bao sandwich”. You can still use my dough recipe to make the rounded pork-filled bun if you are so inclined. The buns we are making are folded in half and steamed.

What’s Char Siu?

Now the question becomes, How to make the perfect Char Sui? What is Char Sui? It is a Cantonese style of roasted BBQ pork. The dish is recognized by its shiny reddish glaze.

What type of pork do I use? What method of cooking? I figured I would up my game a little. Upon some research, I kept on seeing 2 types of pork cuts of meat being utilized for Char Sui. I could not decide on using a pork belly or a “pork collar”. The term pork collar was new to me. I was surprised to find out that the pork collar is also called the “money muscle”. I am familiar with the term money muscle! It is the favorite part of the pork shoulder prized in BBQ competitions. No wonder this cut of pork is used for Char Sui.

I decided to fix my indecision by trying both cuts of meat. What a great decision. Both cuts are delicious! The texture of the finished dish is different due to the percentage of fat and the cooking process. You won’t be disappointed in using either type of pork.

What About the Marinade

Char siu is recognized by the red tinge of color to the roasted meat. Many of the recipes you find may include red dye to obtain the color. Many of the traditional recipes I found use Red Fermented Bean Curd for color. Since I prefer not to use red dye in my recipe, I used the Red Fermented Bean Curd which I obtained at my local Asian Market. I also used Beet Root Powder to help bring out the red color and to bring some added sweetness.

What are my basic ingredients for the marinade? Many of my ingredients are familiar and can be found at your local markets. The main ones are Tamari/Soy Sauce, Hoisin, Oyster, and Shaoxing wine.

**Soy, Hoisin, Oyster, Red Fermented Bean Curd, and Shaoxing Rice Wine**

One ingredient you may not be familiar with is Maltose. This is another traditional ingredient used in Asian Cuisine and is typically used to obtain the perfect glaze for your pork. Don’t be surprised once you open it a see a super thick syrup. Even more so than honey, which can be used as a substitute if you can’t find Maltose.

Additional Thoughts

For some additional fun. I may have topped off my Char Siu Gua Bao with a Carolina Coleslaw making a Chinese/American BBQ fusion dish. Who does that? The apple cider vinegar does work well when combined with the Sweet-Savory Char Siu. You may want to give it a try. Check out my recipe for Carolina Coleslaw here!

If you want to stay more traditional, try making your own pickled mustard greens or find them at your local Asian Market. (You could make a somewhat quick pickle by combining some rice vinegar, a little salt and sugar, and some pepper flakes in a pot. Add enough water to cover the amount of minced mustard green leaves you are using. Bring all that to a boil. Add your minced mustard greens and take the pot off the heat. When the pickled mustard greens have cooled they can be stored and set aside in the fridge.)

I also pickled some thinly sliced shallots to add some additional flavor. Add some chopped peanuts and you should be set. The pickling from the veggies, the crunch from the chopped peanuts, and the sweet and savory char siu pork make the gua baos quite irresistible. Bet you can’t eat just one!

**Chopped Peanuts, Pickled Shallots, and Pickled Mustard Greens to add for a traditional garnish**

Traditional and classic Char Siu Gua Bao with Pickled Mustard Greens

Please let me know how your Char Sui Gua Bao turned out and what your favorite Dim Sum dish is when you go for your brunch! As always, thanks for Spending Time in My Kitchen!

Check here for my recipe for Dumplings; Wontons

The Best Char Siu Gua Bao

0 from 0 votes

Recipe by David Frank – Spending Time In My Kitchen

Servings

Baos

Char Siu Prep time

minutes

Char Siu Cooking time

hours

minutes

Gua Bao prep time

2.5

Hours

Gua Bao Steam Time

minutes per batch

Gua Bao Rest Time After Steaming

minutes per batch

Ingredients

Ingredients for the Bao Dough
1 Tbl 1 Dry yeast
1 Cup 1 Warm water
4 Tbl 4 Superfine sugar (divided in half) Use granulated as a substitute
2 1/2 Cups 2 1/2 Bleached flour or AP flour
1/2 tsp 1/2 Baking powder
1/4 tsp 1/4 Baking soda
Other Items
Large Sheet Large Parchment paper, cut into 16 – 4 inch square pieces
1/2 Cup 1/2 Warm milk, or (2 Tbl Dry Milk powder)
2 Tbl 2 Canola oil
1/4 tsp 1/4 Salt
Char Siu
2 lb 2 Pork belly
Marinade
1 Tbl 1 Hoisin
2 Tbl 2 Oyster
2 Tbl 2 Shaoxing wine
2 Pieces 2 Red Fermented bean curd
1 Tbl 1 Beet powder
2 Tbl 2 Soy, light sodium
1 tsp 1 5-Spice powder
1 Tbl 1 Garlic
2 Tbl 2 Brown sugar
1/2 tsp 1/2 White pepper
Garnish
Green onion, thin slices on a diagonal
Pickled Mustard Greens
Chopped peanuts
Cilantro
Glaze
3 Tbl 3 Maltose
1/2 1/2 Marinade
2 Tbl 2 Water

Directions

Making the Bao
Making the dough
Combine together warm water, warm milk (if used), dry yeast, 1/2 of the sugar, and oil. Whisk ingredients to activate the yeast. Should take about 5 – 10 minutes till you start seeing the bubbles and foaming from the yeast activating.
During the time that the yeast is activating, whisk together the flour, the dry powdered milk (if used) the rest of the sugar, the baking soda and powder, and the salt into your stand-up mixer bowl.
Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using your hook attachment, set speed to low to incorporate all ingredients. Move speed to medium and continue for about 4 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky. If the dough is too dry; add some water a little at a time until it is no longer sticky. If the dough is too wet; add a little more flour.
Remove the dough from the bowl and roll it into a ball until it is smooth. Place the dough back into a bowl and place it in a warm space; cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. It should take about 1 to 2 hours for the dough to rise until it triples in size.
Preparing the Bao
Cut parchment paper into you have 16 – 3 inch square pieces and set aside.
Depending on how much you like to play with your food, there are a couple of different ways to prepare the bao
One Way: Take your dough and cut it in half. Take that half; punch it down and place it on your work service area and roll it flat until you get it 1/4 inch thick. Take a 3 1/2 inch round cookie cutter and cut your individual baos and set them aside.
2nd Way: Take your dough ball and punch it down; cut it into half. Take one 1/ 2 and cut that into half. Take one of those 1/2s, roll it into a log and cut it into 4. This should give you about 16 buns in total. The size of each ball should approximate the size of a golf ball. Keep your dough covered under a towel before you cut them into golf ball size bao and after you cut them into balls as you wait to roll and place them into your steamer.
Take your small rolling pin and roll each golf ball size bao into an oval. Place each bun standing up in your steamer basket and let stand for 30 minutes to slightly rise.
Have a piece of parchment paper on each side of the bao so they don’t stick to each other
Let’s Steam Those Baos
Place water in your wok or deep pan and bring the water to a boil. Place steamer basket over the wok and let the baos steam for 8 to 12 minutes until cooked through and are fluffy and soft.
Pull the pan off the heat and tilt the top of the steamer so that it is set partially to the side in order to allow the steam to slowly dissipate. This helps the buns to stay soft and not deflate.
Follow the same steps for your next batch. Place the just steamed baos in a small rectangular pan and place a towel on top to keep the baos warm. (Or just leave them in your steamer basket and set them aside if you have multiple baskets)
Make the Char Sui
Mix all the marinade ingredients for the char siu into a large bowl. Add sliced pork belly or slice pork collar to the marinade. Combine well. Place all the ingredients in a large vacuum-sealer bag or zip lock bag.
Marinate for at least 8 hours or vacuum pack and let sit for a minimum of 2 hours. Save and reserve the marinade.
The pork collar or pork belly would typically take a lot of low and slow cooking. However, since we have done some good marinating and since we have pre-cut the pork belly and collar into slices they will cook faster.
Since I am enjoying using my sous vide, I started the cooking process by setting my sous vide to 150° and cooked the pork for 2 hours.
I placed the marinade that I saved from the vacuum sealer bag and put it into a saucepot. Placed the pot on the stove over low heat and reduced the sauce to intensify the flavor.
Save and set aside half of the marinade to make our final pork glaze. Take your glaze ingredients and slowly heat them in a saucepot on your stove over low heat. before the glaze becomes too syrupy, take it off the heat. Put the sauce back on the heat right before you need to glaze the pork. (The maltose is very thick. Don’t worry! You will be very happy with the results!)
Place water to the bottom of a roasting pan so drippings from the cooking pork don’t burn
Pre-set the oven to 450°. Place your pork on a wire rack over a large roasting pan (filled with a couple of cups of water) and place it in your pre-heated oven. Cook the pork for 15 minutes. Then drop the heat to 375°. (Alternative is to cook on a grill. Be careful. There is sugar in the recipe so you need to cook over indirect heat until you are ready to get a char on the outside.)
Flip after 30 minutes of cooking. After 45 minutes of total roasting, baste the pork with the heated marinade.
Flip and baste the other side. Cook the pork until you have an internal temperature of 150°.
Once you reached your internal temp of 150°, baste your pork with the glaze marinade.
You can turn your broiler on, to crisp up your pork. Brush your glaze on the pork. Cook until your pork has a little crust to it. Flip and baste the other side of the pork with the glaze and crisp once again. Pull your meat from the oven when done and set it aside.
You are now ready to make your Char Siu Gua Bao!
Plating your Char Siu Gua Bao
Take your gua bao and go traditional or American Fusion BBQ topping with a Carolina Slaw! Or just go plain with the bao, some char siu, and maybe a little green onion… your choice.
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Enjoy!!

Notes

Be careful when opening your bao after it has steamed. They will be very hot! Very soft…very fluffy…but very hot. Let them cool down for a couple of minutes before trying to open them. Be gentle and they will open for you.
You can freeze whatever baos you don’t use. Make sure they have cooled completely and won’t leave condensation in the ziplock to form ice crystals when you put them in the freezer.