Since Chris (er, I mean, us) didnât get his (our) Char Siu Bao fix at dim sum last weekend, I decided to whip some up with the leftover shredded pork I had. âChar Siu Baoâ means âBBQ Pork Bunâ, is usually steamed or baked, and generally served at dim sum. These are the steamed versions. Lemme warn you, itâll be a little time consuming. But I did just spoil you with easy Chocolate Mousse in a blender that required no effort. So now Iâll throw you back into reality and make something from scratch that requires a bit of effort. The pulled pork Iâm using needs to be made beforehand. I decided to use pulled pork because, well, thatâs what I had. Typically you can use pork diced into small pieces, and mixed with a Chinese BBQ (Char Siu) sauce. Iâll post a recipe for the shredded pork though, since thatâs what I made. And it is very similar to my Pulled Pork recipe. The pulled pork in itself is very time consuming so Iâll post 2 variations.

Of course, neither variation has anything to do with roasting, since I have yet to actually roast Char Siu the way itâs supposed to be made.

Leave it to me to find multiple, alternate routes for no particular reason….

Char Siu Bao (makes 24 buns)

printable recipe

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BBQ Pork Ingredients Crock pot Variation:

2 lb. Pork shoulder (pork butt)

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup Ginger Ale

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 1/2 cups water

3 Tbsp crushed garlic

2 drops red food coloring (optional)

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

1) In a crockpot, add entire pork shoulder (no need to cut into pieces), 1 chopped onion, and 1/2 cup ginger ale. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. Take out meat and shred with forks. Discard juices in crock pot. Put meat back into crock pot, add soy sauce, water, garlic, food coloring, sugar. Simmer on low for another 3-4 hours, or when sauce has thickened to thick syrup. Set aside to cool, refrigerate until ready to use.

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BBQ Pork Ingredients Wok Variation:

2 lb. Pork shoulder (pork butt)

1/3 cup soy sauce

2 1/2 cups water

3 Tbsp crushed garlic

2 drops red food coloring (optional)

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, water, garlic, food coloring and sugar. Make sure the pork shoulder is thin enough to be fully immersed in the marinade, but keep it in as large of chunks as possible. Picture here. Marinade for 4 hours in the refrigerator.

2) Pour marinade into a wok, bring to a boil then add meat. Boil for 2 minutes, turn heat down to simmer on low for about 45 minutes or until sauce has reduced to a thick syrup. Let cool, dice into small pieces and mix thoroughly with remaining syrup. Set aside to cool, refrigerate until ready to use.

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Dough Ingredients:

1 packet of dried yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

4 1/2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup boiling water

2 Tbsp. sesame oil

Steaming equipment:

24 small squares of parchment or wax paper

Wok with steamer

Char Siu Bao Directions (partially adapted from Chinesefood.about.com) :

1) Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add 1 cup of flour. Mix thoroughly. Cover with cloth. Let rise 1 hour, until bubbles appear.

2) Dissolve sugar and vegetable oil in 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir well. Cool until lukewarm. Pour into yeast mixture. Add 3 1/2 cups flour.

3) Knead dough on lightly floured board until smooth. Put into extra large, greased bowl in a warm place. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

4) Divide into 2 portions. Remove first portion and knead 2 minutes. Repeat with second. Roll each into roll 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Cut into 12 pieces (24 total).

5) Flatten each piece with palm of hand. Roll with rolling pin into 3 inch circles.

6) Place a spoonful of pork in center of dough. Pinch ends together (pinch in half first, then pinch other ends together, etc.) until entire bun is sealed shut. Brush sesame oil on bottom of bun, plop onto a square of wax paper. Place in steamer or plate for steaming.

7) Steam in a wok for 10-12 minutes until buns have puffed up. Set aside to cool for a couple minutes, serve warm. Repeat process until all the buns have steamed.

8) To store, place cooled buns into a single layer (donât overlap) in large zip lock bags. Freeze.

9) To reheat: Steam in a steamer for 10-12 minutes.

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Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. I had a hard time figuring out what lukewarm meant. So I guestimated it was a little cooler than body temperature. Just stick your finger into the water. It worked.

Add 1 cup of flour. Mix thoroughly.

Cover with cloth. Let rise 1 hour, until bubbles appear.

Dissolve sugar and vegetable oil in 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir well. Cool until lukewarm.

Pour into yeast mixture. Add 3 1/2 cups flour.

Knead dough on lightly floured board until smooth. Put into extra large, greased bowl in a warm place. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

Divide into 2 portions. Remove first portion and knead 2 minutes. Repeat with second. Roll each into roll 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. Cut into 12 pieces (24 total).

Flatten each piece with palm of hand. Roll with rolling pin into 3 inch circles.

Place a spoonful of pork in center of dough. Pinch ends together (pinch in half first, then pinch other ends together, etc.) until entire bun is sealed shut. Brush sesame oil on bottom of bun, plop onto a square of wax paper. Place in steamer or plate for steaming.

Sorry my bun is the saddest looking bun on the planet. I didnât even seal the ends shut.

Oh geez, how embarrassing is this? Look away!

Steam in a wok for 10-12 minutes until buns have puffed up. Set aside to cool for a couple minutes, serve warm. Repeat process until all the buns have steamed.

The steamed finished product is the photo below.

This is what the insides look like. The buns in the blurred background look really good thanks to a really shallow depth of field. I couldâve just shown you this picture and only this picture.

But Iâm beginning to think you guys enjoy seeing my hardships, right? Yea, I thought so.

This is another attempt to make it look more pretty. Apparently I failed again. But your belly wonât notice or care what it looks likeâ¦right?

Bah.

I will be attempting these again, one dayâ¦overall they tasted pretty good.

Enjoy!! 🙂