Birthday Cha Siu Bao

My brother Eric turns 26 this year! While in some ways I still think of him as a kid who can’t possibly be old enough to hold down a full-time job, travel alone, or date(!), he’s actually a pretty great adult. He certainly doesn’t need my approval, but I am really proud of the guy he’s turning out to be.

I asked him what he likes to eat for his birthday, and one of his answers was a food near and dear to my heart: Cha Siu Bao (say: “cha seew bow” [the last like in bowing down]. These are a Chinese dumpling sort of thing, soft bread on the outside and savory-sweet barbecue pork inside. You can buy them at Chinese bakeries, but they’re often seen at dim sum (say “deem some”), which is a traditional Cantonese lunch. You sit down and waitresses (usually waitresses) bring you water, tea if you want it, which you do, and a paper list of the menu items. They also bring around carts loaded with baskets and plates. You point at what you want (or ask by name, if you speak enough Chinese) and they mark it off on your paper. At the end, they count up how many dishes you ate and that’s your total. But in the meantime, you’re stuffing your face with cha siu bao, ha gow (shrimp dumplings), beef chow fun (big flat noodles in gravy), potstickers, and chicken feet (I don’t. My grandparents do).

There are only a few dim sum restaurants in Orlando, and to be honest I’ve not tried them. I’m a little spoiled by visiting the San Francisco Chinatown with my dad’s parents—I find it hard to believe that dim sum here can be the same, mostly in the emotional sense. Dim sum is so tied in with my family and childhood that I’m not sure what it would be like out here.

Funny story: last year, Robby, Eric, and I were in San Francisco to see family and we sneaked off to Chinatown for the afternoon with our youngest cousin (she’s 14). We went to a dim sum place—first time going without any parents, and we were all sort of scared that the waitresses would see right through us (yes, I know three of us were legal adults). Then a little boy behind us started chanting “Cha siu bao! Cha siu bao!” and we started laughing because it was more or less what we were all thinking. And then we ate basically everything.

[Some of these are smudged with cha siu gravy. Mmmm.]

There are two ways to make cha siu bao: baked, which I’ve done here, and steamed, which Eric did the same week I made these (our whole family was very impressed by itself). The baked kind are a little more convenient if you want to carry them around, for lunch or for bringing to a friend’s place. It is a bit of a time commitment because there are two rise cycles plus bake time, but it’s not difficult. It also calls for cooked cha siu, which you can find at a Chinese deli, or you can try this recipe for making your own (that one’s on my list!).

A few notes:

• The original recipe suggested bringing the cold ingredients to room temperature before mixing into the bread, although I think you can get away without this.
• Here in summer Florida, I needed to add quite a bit of flour; your mileage may vary.
• The bread calls for some cake flour, which I don’t keep around. You can substitute easily, though. To make 1 cup “cake flour,” use 1 cup all-purpose flour – 2 tablespoons. Replace those tablespoons with 2 of cornstarch.
• As with all bread recipes, you can save your arms some trouble by mixing it up in a stand mixer; or you can knead by hand.
• My filling was a little heavy on the sauce, so there was extra sauce inside the bao. Usually bao are pretty dry inside, but the sauce was quite tasty, so choose your own adventure here.
• The simple syrup brush might seem weird, but it’s what gives bao its signature slightly sweet taste.
• If you aren’t sure about how to fold them closed, I found this nifty video for you!

Both the milk bread and the filling recipes are from The Woks of Life.

Baked Cha Siu Bao

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Cha Siu Bao is a classic Chinese food. This baked version is great for lunch or portable snacks–the best6 of Chinatown in your hands!

• Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 0 hours
• Total Time: 3 hours
• Yield: 16 bao 1x

Ingredients

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Bread

• ⅔ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 large egg
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ cup cake flour (or 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch)
• 3½ cups bread flour
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• Egg wash: 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water
• Simple syrup: 2 teaspoons of sugar dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
• Sesame seeds

Filling

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ cup finely chopped shallots (or red onion)
• 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• ¾ cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups diced cha siu (Chinese barbecue pork)

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Instructions

Bread

1. Combine most of the ingredients, cream through salt. Knead until smooth (in a stand mixer, about 15 minutes on Stir), adding flour or water as necessary.
2. Allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Filling

1. Heat vegetable oil over medium-high. Saute shallots for a couple of minutes; then add soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Stir until it bubbles.
2. Add chicken broth and flour and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir for a few minutes until the sauce has thickened. Turn off heat and stir in the pork. Allow to cool while the dough rises.

All together now:

1. Cover a baking sheet (or two) with parchment paper.
2. Cut the risen dough into 16 pieces, forming each into a ball. One at a time, flatten each ball into a circle somewhat smaller than your hand. Spoon in a little filling, then crimp the circle closed. Place bao seam-side down on baking sheet. Allow filled bao to rise for another hour.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.Brush bao with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
4. Put bao in oven and immediately reduce heat to 350. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
5. When they come out, brush with simple syrup. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before stuffing face.