Chinese Steamed Buns

I haven't made these yet, but I just wanted to point out that you can throw leftovers in the freezer and freeze them for long periods of time. When you're ready to eat them, just put them in the refrigerator to thaw at least overnight and steam them for 10-15min. If you only want to eat a couple at a time, just fill a high saucepan with one inch water, put a wire rack at the center and steam the buns directly on the rack, or on a small saucer. DO NOT let the buns touch the water. Another alternative is to fry the leftover buns and serve them with condensed milk - the way traditional Chinese people eat them.

This is the best steamed bun recipe I've ever tried. I stuffed it with red bean paste like what I used to eat at home in Singapore and it tastes way better than that. My picky-eater kids and husband like it too. I followed the recipe quite closely....except that I put everything into my bread machine to churn and it needed more flour than stated....but then measurements in cups are never really accurate. But I knew what to look out for and it turned out perfect. I don't have a bamboo steamer (it will be better in a bamboo steamer becoz of the fragrance from the bamboo), so I used Alton Brown's brilliant idea of poking holes in my disposable pie pan and placing it on top of a metal cookie cutter in a wok. I didn't line it with paper coz I didn't have that either and it didn't really stick....at least not enough to bother me...and I hate cutting small pieces of squares. Overall, we LOVE it. It's definitely a keeper. Thank you so much for sharing.

AWESOME RECIPE. The tips left by user Mukinsvivi ROCK & helped me ensure my steamed buns came out ultra tasty. NOTE: the dough does look very odd after first rise & it has a very sticky texture. You can punch it down just like the directions say & Mukinsvivi's advice to add about 3/4 cup xtra flour @ this point is spot on. Didn't utilize the entire 3/4 cup, but I came close. Eye the dough & at some point you know it looks right: the texture is smooth & elastic instead of sticky. To ensure I didn't overdo it, extra flour was added slowly. Adding a bit of lemon juice to the dough & vinegar to the boiling water is also great advice & my buns came out very white accordingly. Didn't use baking soda, but I did use baking powder (it contains baking soda already). My steamed buns came out large & yielded about 12. Prior to steaming I stuffed them w/shredded curry chicken, onions, potatoes, cabbage & bell peppers. My steaming pot is small so it took a while to steam all the buns & they wanted to stick to the steaming plate a bit. Once removed from the steaming plate I found it handy to sit the buns on a simple wrack of bamboo skewers that I placed on top of a plate. This allows bottom of buns to dry nicely. Sitting them directly on a plate gave me a bun w/ a slightly soggy bottom & placing on paper towel = bun w/ paper towel bits stuck to its bottom. Next time I make these I may make them w/ fruit stuffed inside just to see what happens!

My friend's father used to make this and was not able to get the recipe. Turned out very well and everyone enjoyed this. Remember if you are making the buns with filling, keep the centre thick and thin out the edges

These steamed buns are exactly like the ones I can buy at the chinese supermarket bakeries (T&T). They are slightly chewy and VERY light, almost "airy". I used half the dough for 12 buns (as per recipe's instructions), and with the other half, I made 6 medium sized buns. The larger sized buns were much easier to work with and much tastier. The small buns were harder to fill with meat filling and much too delicate. I think this recipe is more for 12 buns than 24. When making the buns, remember to make the edges thinner than the center. Although this recipe is easy and tasty, I prefer a chewier, denser bun. I will keep looking for my 'perfect' bun recipe, but will keep this one as well.

I scaled this to make 6 rolls (not 24) since I was trying this recipe for the first time and didn't want to end up with too many rolls if I didn't like them. Not sure if this is allrecipe.com's fault or the recipe's fault, but I needed to add a LOT more flour than the recipe called for in order to not end up with watery mush ... which threw off the balance of the yeast, baking soda and sugar. I basically ended up with chewy dinner rolls ... the LOOKED like dim sum, but they tasted pretty marginal.

I liked it, it's very good with butter when it's warm. Don't be tempted to make more than you actually eat and save in the fridge, when it's not fresh it's uneatable. For the unexperienced, I recommend to start with that recipe before trying to make some filled buns.

Time consuming but worth it!

Very good. After I made this recipe for many times, I figured out the easiest way. I mix the first 4 ingredients together first but don't have to let it stand for 30 min. Keep adding all the rest of ingredients and kneed. Devide the dough into 6-8 pieces (depents on how big you wanna make a each bun) and stuff with meat etc. Now let it stand for a while until the dough is doubled in size. Then steam for 15-18 min. depends on the size of the bun. It's easier and tastes the same.

These were yummy. I use to eat them, when I was a kid. My friend's father use to make them for us and I never thought I would have these again. Thanks for the recipe.

I did two batches of baos. I added water and the exact sugar amt. the recipe called for in the first batch. I replaced water with milk and added 4 table spoons of sugar in the second batch. The second batch turned out to be more fluffly and closer to the original baos I had from home (Taiwan). For fillings, I seasoned some grounded beef and finely chopped green onions with sesame oil, white pepper, soy sauce and salt. To be adventurous, I also use italian sausages for fillings too! To make some sweet treat, i melted some chocolate chips and spread it onto a flat dough and rolled it up to make a chocolate buns! They are all very delicious!

This, like any bread type recipe takes some time to allow for rising etc. The actual hands on time wasn't too bad however. I used some left overs to fill the buns and the kids and husband thought it was wonderful. A rare compliment from my fussy lot.

This was a great recipe for dumplings. Lightly sweet, soft and chewy - just the right texture. Unfortunately the filling recipe I used failed to do these justice, so I'm off in search of another filling. I did have to add a couple extra tablespoons of flour to get it kneadable at first, but otherwise, I followed the recipe to a T. Great stuff!

I've had many failures trying to make steamed buns and this was my first time I had success. Hooray, great recipe! I followed the recipe closely but ended up using 1/2 cup more flour when kneading b/c it was too sticky. I found that after 2 hours, my dough stopped rising. I put my dough in the oven at a warm temp and allowed it to rise. I used quickrise yeast. Very happy with the delicious fluffy result!

Fabulous! I followed the recipe to a T and the flavor was just what I was hankering for. As someone else said, the rise time is kind of a pain, but I just put the dough in my closed microwave - NOT ON!! - which is the perfect temp for bread recipes and went about my business. I also left them alone a little longer for the last rise which gave me a lighter bun. I think the people ending up with lumpy buns are probably handling the dough too much and/or allowing water to touch them (drip on them) as they steam - not good. The only downside to this recipe...24 balls is WAAAY too many for this amount of dough. This recipe really only makes enough bread for 12 buns.

Good receipe. I made 1/2 to test my family's reaction -- the kids loved them and were begging for more (which is impressive for my clan!) They are small and bite sized -- 1/2 receipe did yeild 12 1.5 - 2 inch diameter rolls.

Wonderful. Just like the ones I have when visiting Japan and when I lived in Hawaii. My brothers continually ask for them, even the littlest one and he doesn't like anything but cupcakes.

Very nice. I live in China, and gave my husband and a friend of ours a taste. They both really liked it. They said it's different from the ones they are used to, which are no sweet at all, but they liked it better. I also used milk. I made them twice actually. The first time I followed others' advice and added the baking soda, to counteract the sourness, which really wasn't necessary. I ended up adding it, and then had all these brown spots and strips in the buns. Word of advice, if you add b soda, make sure you knead it in really well...I think that's what I did wrong. The second time I didn't add the soda at all, and it was still great. However, I still kneaded in the baking powder really well. It turned out great. Thanks.

I also had to add a bit more flour to the recipe and I subbed sesame oil for the vegie oil. They came out great and everyone in my family loved the results. Thanks Carol!

So... good! They're good plain, and they're good when you create your own fillings. I made these in the steam basket of my rice cooker, and they took about 15 minutes a batch. I got some inspiration from other websites, and made a meat filling with sausage (of all things,) scallions, mushrooms, hoisin sauce, and a little oil. Quite good, though I will try the standard pork next time.

It's time consuming but worth it! The buns were moist and light. They were like those you would find in dim sum, except the buns were a lot smaller when made as directed. Each one was about a couple of bites. My family loved it. When steaming, make sure you have enough water to last through the 15 minutes. I will try it with filling next. I'm definitely keeping this recipe :-).

Pretty good recipe but still not as fluffy as I was looking for.

Great versatile recipe. I get 8 buns from this recipe; I tried to double the recipe to get more buns but it doesn´t work. By the time I get to steaming the last batch or two, they´re over-proofed, giving them a bland flavor (sugar turned to alcohol) and poor texture. The buns freeze well; just re-steam them until soft.

These buns were so yummy! My husband loved them. We will use thhis recipe agian.

if you're looking for dim sum buns, then i guess this is it, but if you want authentic chinese buns that authentic northern chinese people eat, this won't be it, because those buns would only need yeast and not baking powder.

Easy to follow recipe that gives expected results: light, fluffy steamed buns. We make them plain to serve with a meal or fill with a stirred custard as a desert bun.

Great! A lot of work but taste really good. For the filling, I used the Chinese Steamed Buns with BBQ Pork filling from this site.

This is my first try for Chinese Buns. I am so happy about the result. It’s time consuming, but it's worth it. I made 1.5" diameter buns (before raise) with 1/2 TBSP filling* inside, turned out about 2.5" buns, 2 bite size. I steamed 1/2 of buns and baked 350F/10mins. rest of them. Brush honey on buns still warm, looks tasty and gives you a little sweetness. You have to eat the day you baked; next day would be a little dry out. Don't worries they will be gone to people mouth so fast, no leftovers!!!!!! Wonderful recipe. Please see my photos. Filling: Sauté everything with 1TBSP oil 1/3lb ground chicken 1 TBSP hoi sin sauce (or soy sauce + 1 TBSP honey) 4 TBSP chopped mushrooms 1 chopped green onion Salt & pepper for taste.

YUM! I was hoping to make barbecued pork buns like what you can buy at the Pike Place Market in Seattle, and this recipe was awesome. I made my own filling with a boiled, finely chopped pork chop mixed with equal parts barbecue sauce and teriyaki sauce and a tablespoon of sugar. I followed the recipe for the buns just like it said, except let it rise for 3 1/2 hours . It had tripled it's size in two hours, but the dough was awful- like taffy so sticky. I'm glad I didn't give up though because with the additional time, it was perfect. I only made half a batch of these and ended up making two really big buns with it, they were delicious. We ate them with Cilantro Fried Rice and egg drop soup and it was a great dinner. I'm also going to try these with different fillings, experimenting with fruits.

my 8 year old daughter and i made these. they reminded us of the steamed buns her philipino nanny used to make. We filled them with a chicken adobo mixture. Absolutely wonderful.

Not exactly what I've had at Dim Sum restaurants, but quite good. I accidentally added the baking powder with the rest of the ingredients (in step 2) so maybe that was the reason. I also followed the suggestions of another user and added a pinch of baking soda to the mix. I made half plain and added strawberries to the middle of the other half.

These were a bit plain without any filling but still quite tasty. They definitely took a good bit of time for the end product, but they weren't too hard to make and my mom said they came out just like the ones she had while she was living in Asia! Thanks for the recipe

I'll add to the chorus! Made the pork buns recipe that uses this dough (Chinese Steamed Buns with BBQ Pork Filling); plenty for four or five eaters, it made about 17 medium buns. Do not use bread flour; even with the AP suggested it was more glutinous/chewy than I'd like, though that might be because I only had bread machine (fast rise) yeast! I skipped the first step, as per the yeast directions, and just mixed everything all the ingredients from step 1 AND step 2 together at once before leaving it for 3 hours in microwave. This worked fine. Cooked with a saucepan and steamer set, doesn't have to be a wok. Very good flavour, texture was just a tad off, but it'll be our recipe...for when we have lots of time, haha.

These turned out great. There are some recipes out there that ask you to use bread flour. Do not use bread flour as the buns will turn out brown rather than white. Also, I would recommend using flour instead of baking soda. Baking soda will add a salty flavor to the dough which is unappetizing. Using more flour is a better choice. One thing missing from the recipe is what the dimension of a traditional chinese steamed bun is. This recipe produces buns about 2" wide. Chinese street vendor buns are almost twice this size.

These were truly delicious and I never dreamed I could ever make these to taste so authentic. I filled the buns with a left over curried spam we had the previous night for dinner and they were so good!

The dough tasted kind of weird. After reading some reviews I did make a couple of changes, I had to add about a tad bit over 1/4 cup flour to the dough. I thought 2.5-3 hrs rise time was way too much and saw that someone suggested 1.5 hrs. My first rise I did for just over 1.5 hrs, rose very well,but also deflated very well after touching it. I thought breaking the dough down to 24 was way too small, I only got 12. The 2nd rise was 30 mins, and they were decently sized....but again, as soon as I touched it, they deflated a little...and never rose again during the steaming. The recipe is simple, but yet it takes so long. I'm not sure I would try this again.

I read somewhere that you can wrap the bamboo steamer cover in a small towel before putting on top for the 15 minute steaming and that will stop the condensation dripping on the buns while they steam. You can use any kind of meat or dessert filling. A BBQ pork or shredded coconut in a custard, etc. THAT IS MY FAVORITE.....

first attempt ever making steamed buns. turned out more or less like they do in store. pretty fine :]

I hope to make this recipe as soon as possible. The problem is that I'm currently living in the Sichuan province and no one here seems to have any idea what baking powder is...I've described what its supposed to do, and wonder how they make the buns that i see street vendors selling everywhere without it.

Bland and dry. Does not make 24 buns, more or less 9 medium-sized ones only.

These buns were perfectly fluffy and delicious. I didn't change anything in the recipe, but I paired the buns with some improvised chicken. I shredded chicken thighs and cooked them in hoisin sauce, where I added HBI garlic and soy sauce, then strained it. It was a delicious combination.

The best ones I have ever made and had. Don't need to leave the buns in the steamer too long at all. Too much steam (moisture) will ruin the outside texture of the buns. I did not add the 1/4 cup flour with the yeast. It turned out perfect though!

wonderful recipe! i had every ingredient on hand... next time i'll probably make them bigger.

While the recipe takes a while because of the rising, they come out fantastic. I've made these at least five times and every time they've been a hit. I've filled them with all sorts of things- pork, a fruity rice porridge, savory tofu... It takes a time or two to get the hang of how to fill them, but it's not too bad. :)

This recipe was super easy to follow and both batches I made came out perfect! It deffinitely took longer to rise because its winter here in WA and my house is knd of chilly but otherwise the dough tasted AMAZING!:) Thank you so much.

I was looking for a way to use up my bbq pulled pork and this was a great recipe. Got lots of compliments from my co-workers!

Tasted good but was not like any bao I've ever had before.

This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. It came out texturally perfect, and delicious. I did have to incorporate a bit more flour, as the dough tended to be somewhat sticky. It had no discernible effect on the product. The buns were a hit, and next time I do intend to double the recipe, as they disappeared, literally, in moments.

it was easy.

The bread was perfect! One star off because I don't see how you could get 24 decent sized buns (mine ended up the size of golf balls).

This recipe produces very traditional and homely steam buns. It is a little different from what I am used to and I am wondering if rice flour can be used instead of all-purpose flour or a combination would work to produce the white fluffy steam buns I get back at home.

I made this recipe exactly as indicated but halved it. It turned out wonderful. The key is to let it rise, let it rise, let it rise.

This is a great recipe! I altered the recipe a bit and used half whole wheat flour and half bread flour, and also added about a cup of raisins throughout the bread that I presoaked in water instead of using a meat filling. I used my bread machine to do the initial kneading and proofing, as well as the second 5 min knead. I then rolled out the portions, placed them on squares of wax paper, and let them double in a microwave (not turned on) along with a cup of steaming water with the door closed for 30 min before I steamed them in a large pot. The result was the softest and possibly most delicious batch of steamed buns I have ever eaten - much better than store-bought! I plan to come back to this recipe again and make more in the future with different kinds of fillings. Thank you for the recipe!

I never rate these recipes, but this one was so good and consistently gives me perfect chinese buns that I had to rate it. It was amazing! As a twist: baked a meatloaf with lipton soup recipe, then crumbled it and stuffed the bread before steaming. It was AMAZING! Seriously the best thing I've ever made.

A lot of work but well worth the effort. Thanks for sharing!

I've tried different recipes for steamed buns, this is definitely the fluffiest! I filled mine with homemade red bean paste.

My Chinese Steam buns turns out GREAT! but here is a little Tip may help if your buns turn out little yellow color, you can add a tespoon or two of vinegar into the water, before you place any buns into the steam pot, and yes dont let any water drip onto your chinese buns. Good Luck Steaming...

i don't think you should let it rise for 2-3 hours . thats too long , and it gives a kind of sour smell to the dough .

These disappear faster than I can make them!

OUTSTANDING

Great recipe. Had to add a little more flour to make it work for me, but I loved it. Very soft and fluffy.

Everyone lOVed it! I used warm milk instead of water,added a little more flour (didn't measure but just enough for it to be easier to work with), and added about a teaspoon of sugar. Made my own chicken curry filling with chicken, carrots, onion, and potato all chopped very small. it was aWesOme! Such a great recipe.. You can play with the fillings and make it your own!

This is time-intensive, but its worth it. We tried it with various fillings, but it just didn't go well. I like the plain buns best-without filling. They're moist and sweet. Just be sure to use the wax paper-otherwise they stick to the steamer.

Wow, this is incredibly authentic, and one of the easiest bun recipes I have ever prepared. I added a little more flour (1/4 cup), enough so that the dough was not so sticky. For those who complain the dough is too wet - just use common sense and add a bit more flour until the dough is not sticking to the sides of the bowl - the final steamed bun will not taste any drier/denser because of the added flour. I made 24 filled buns (in accordance with the recipe), and they turned out the size of a slightly flattened tennis ball (there was about a tablespoon of filling in each). Anyone can make this - I rarely work with yeast and so was a bit nervous, but the instructions are very clear and the product was delicious!

Wonderful recipe! I used warm milk instead of water and had to add a bit more flour, but everything else was perfect! I don't know if there is a person alive who likes this bread more than I do. Thank you so much.

yummy! I am not used to chinese cooking other than what comes out of the general to go box, but I am trying to cook more stir fry for my family. This was a big hit! It made generally 24 (I froze 12). It was light and tasted great with a little honey brushed on after I took it out of the steamer. I used a filling I made of 6 mushrooms, 2 carrots, a little ginger, onion powder, honey, soy sauce and a spoonful of sour cream pulsed and then heated for 40 seconds in the microwave. I'll try a 2nd filling of carrot-apple-ginger next time. Thanks for the recipe!!!!!

This will make 24 buns, but they are pretty tiny. The dough was very sticky and difficult to work with but I managed to fill all the buns with the judicious use of flour. It took forever, but I thought they were well worth it! Next time however, I will follow one the the other reviewer's suggestions and add baking soda and sugar. Also, I think larger buns would be easier to fill so I'd recommend making 12 instead of 24. I used my own beef/cabbage/ginger filling and my father said they reminded him of dim sum in Houston! (Houston has a large Asian population) But for that much work, next time I'm doubling the recipe and making a lot more. They disappear so quickly!

This recipe really only makes 12 stuffable buns. If you get 24, i still never got more then 20, they are incredibly small even after allowing them to rise. if you don't intend to stuff them then you will not have an issue. I agree with other reviewers, adding more sugar does help. Generally a good start off recipe and easily adjusted to suit your needs

I tried this recipe when I saw it on the TV call The Essence of Emeril. I love this recipe. Very authentic to my country. You can use char siu pork bought from Chinese restaurant. Is very good.

So cool and easy to cook rolls this way and very soft.

I made these with a sweet red bean paste filling. They were good, but why do the surface get so bubbly and even? The steamed buns I have at my favourite dim sum place always have such a smooth, shiny, white surface.

I baked these instead of steamed. They were at 350 for about 30 minutes. Prior to baking I put an egg wash on them. Once I pulled them out of the oven I put a tablespoon of honey on top and brushed it around. They were very good. I am going to cook them again but at a little higher temp to see if I can get them even crisper. Filling was of my own creation of smoked pork butt and sausage.

What a great recipe! I am now steaming my second batch (the bamboo steamer only takes 4 at a time) and have just eaten 2 buns which I filled with vegetarian filling. This batch only made 12 but that's because I made them pretty big. I've uploaded a photo which compares the pre and post steamed buns. They are brilliantly fluffy! The only downside is that I couldn't get them white like the restaurants despite adding lemon juice to the dough. Maybe I didn't add enough? I didn't let the dough rest for 3 hrs, only 2. I did what another rater suggested and put some warm water in a bowl underneath the dough bowl. Would make this again but will double it as is clearly going to be finished quickly and can be easily frozen ready to be steamed and eaten next time. Thanks again!

After reading all 106 reviews, I decided to try this recipe, with my own filling and whole wheat flour. I started as the recipe stated, but I think a 1/4 cup of wheat flour was too much, because it became very, very thick. I added more warm water. Though the bag of flour did state to only use 25-50% of what was called for in recipes using APF, I found that I ended up using about the same amount as this recipe calls for, which makes sense since most of the more lengthy reviews said they had to use between 1/4 c. - 3/4c. more. The dough was still very sticky, and I couldn't get it smooth (may have been the flour), but I let it rise for 2 1/2 hours as the recipe stated. Since my goal was to create a healthier version of the steamed buns I used to get at the Hong Kong Market in New Orleans, I only got about 7 buns out of this, and they weren't as big as I would have liked. During the second rising, they didn't appear to rise at all, and they only rose a little while steaming. This might have been me, I may have over kneaded them. However, I found that while filling them, the dough was elastic enough to allow me to pack it in, and using a spoon to get the edges thinner than the center was a good tip! I also added some vinegar to the water before setting the buns to steam, which I think kept the buns sweet. A tip for those using steam plates: I put mine in a large pasta pot and sprayed it with cooking spray, rather than using wax paper squares. It worked perfectly, no sticking!

Turned out perfectly, just like I've had at restaurants.

The buns turned out really well in this recipe! They're extremely fluffy and soft - exactly how they should turn out! The only thing I would change next time is to put a little more "flavour" into the dough to either make it a sweet bun or a salty bun because it a little on the bland side. Although, I did put lotus paste in some and they were great. And I only ended up making 12 buns using the recipe and they were a good size.

Excellent recipe, I followed the directions as written and used the pork filling recipe listed. They were such a hit, even with my fussy eater who doesn't like anything that is not hot dogs and mac 'n cheese, that I had to make a double batch the second day so we'd have leftovers!

I followed the recipe carefully and was not satisfied at the outcome at all. The dough tasted bland, extremely dry, a bit sour and it had a somewhat plastic-type texture as the final product - nothing like the buns served at dim sum or even ones that are purchased at the local supermarkets. I will try this recipe again. But instead of water, I'm using milk all the way (in hopes that it won't be so dry) and instead of using active dry yeast, I think I'm going to use self rising flour because the wait time is a killer.

Great recipe for Bao. My wife loves steamed buns and this dough works great for all kinds: pork, vegetable, pretty much any kind of filling.

This was a very simple recipe for the buns I had been wanting to make for a long time. I put red bean paste in mine. My boyfriend said they were very good and wants me to make them again.

Delicious the best bun recipe, but maybe needed a bit more sugar

I wish the bun is a little bit sweeter. But despite my own doubts looking at it, the taste after the steaming is done is PRETTY GOOD!

My dough didn't rise enough the first rise and then not at all once I filled them. Not sure what went wrong. I bake bread all the time and don't have a problem with the yeast. I still steamed them and they weren't as bad as I thought they would be but probably won't try this again.

I kneaded the dough until it looked shiny and elastic but I think that made the buns too dense in the end. I'm also not a fan of the flavor - too bland for my taste.

Great recipe. Be prepared to tweak the recipe. Like the other reviews, I had to add extra flour too. However, you can refrigerate leftovers and reheat in the toaster oven for a few minutes. I also tried this recipe with pork filling, it wasn't the prettiest, but it tasted great.

This recipe makes buns exactly the same as my favourite restaurant. I found the recipe to be perfectly fine the way it is, although just in case I added a pinch of baking soda along with the milk (instead of 1/2c water) and flour to ward off any sour taste (not that I noticed any). I also added an extra teaspoon of sugar, the reastaurant I like makes their bun dough quite sweet. I did a couple plain as testers and the rest I filled with cha siu pork. They were light and fluffy, and slightly chewy.

This was a very delicious recipe. However, the original measurements in the recipe itself is confusing, especially considering that one of the best selling points of this site is its ability to dynamically update the portions you want.

They turned out execellent, will definitely make these again!

This is the good stuff! Just like you get at the teacake places.

I followed this recipe exactly (using the warm milk instead of water). The texture was PERFECT and airy and light but the flavor wasn't as sweet as in used to and it was overly yeast-y. The yeast flavor was just too much for me.

I made this recipe for a new years party I was having with some friends, and it came out great. It seriously satisfied a craving I was having for these things! Not exactly like you'd expect from any self-respecting dim sum restaurant, but very, very close. Definitely do all the stuff other users have said about baking soda; it helped to make the buns white and fluffy. I was a little scared when my buns didn't really rise too much after I had added the filling, but after a good ten minutes in the steamer, they were large, round, and very fluffy balls of goodness. I stuffed mine with sweet adzuki bean paste (it is very simple to make; I used a recipe from about.com), and though it made the buns look a bit speckled and messy (I wasn't the most assiduous bun-stuffer), they still tasted amazing. It's true that they aren't as sweet as you might expect, but they were still great and I would make them again in a heart beat (or several hours)!

Trying to teach my kids different cultures and made this for the Chinese New Year. It was a process but, worth it! The whole family LOVED them. Thank you for a great homemade recipe!

Very nice recipe. I followed other reviewer's advice and added some baking soda and used warm milk instead of water. I wasn't even that fastidious while making them (I let the yeast proof an extra 30 minutes while I went to buy more flour), and they turned out great. You don't have to be an expert to get good results!

As everyone has already said, I used more flour than the recipe indicated. Also, I put some random herbs and spices in the boiling water and that added a bit of flavor. I also put a bit of season-all on the buns before steaming and that added a really good flavor! Oh, and I also steamed them longer than the recipe said. A lot of people have said you can't put them in the microwave to reheat them, but it worked fine for me.

DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR. Yes, it's a very sticky dough, but that doesn't mean it's unworkable. The key is to coat your hands in oil while handling it. The point of a very wet dough with high baking powder and high sugar is a very light and airy sweet bread. I personally steamed flat circles and used with with an orange spicy sweet bbq chicken & cilantro. In the future I'll make the full buns, it was a little messy (but delicious!).

Followed the metric measurements exactly for a half batch. Dough was way too wet and sticky. Instead of adding flour I went with what it was. It rose but collapsed catastrophically and got even more sticky. I just tossed the whole lot out without even trying for a second rise. It was clearly a wrong recipe. Unfortunately, I did not read the poor reviews first or I would have seen what I was experiencing before having to experience it. This is the second asian AllRecipes recipe that has failed me. I do not think I will attempt another.

Great recipe - first time I've made Banh Bao (I took a Viet twist to this - viet-seasoned pork, boiled egg, and shallots) and loved the texture of the dough after steaming. Definitely used more flour than the recipe called for -added an extra 1/4 cup like other reviewers had suggested, and still probably another 1/4 cup in kneading the dough because it kept sticking to the surface of my board. Added an extra tablespoon of sugar for a bit of a sweeter taste. With the amount of dough I ended up with though I was only able to make nine medium-large Bao, not nearly 24. All in all a great (long) experience.

Yum yum! Doubled everything but the yeast and added some baking soda to the dry ingredients as another reviewer suggested. I filled them with some Teriyaki chicken and got about 16 deli sized meat buns. The texture was perfect- just like the ones at the Asian markets!

I used this recipe to make Bao- the end result was absolutely heavenly. The dough was pretty tough to work with when it came to wrapping the filling (very sticky and easy to tear), so I ended up using more dough than I wanted to make each bao (six large bao total, but it was my first time handling the dough so I forgive myself for using so much :) ) and had to enlist the help of my husband. I also tried a variation on this recipe where I used whole wheat flour instead of white- even though the dough was much thicker and the end result was much heavier than the original recipe, this mixture was still very light for whole wheat dough and easier to handle. The wheat flour additionally gave it a sweeter taste. Both variations were excellent- definitely try this recipe for Bao!