Chinese Steamed Buns with Meat Filling

I spent a good part of my childhood growing up in Southeast Asia. One of my favorite memories is buying Bao Tzes (Chinese Steamed Buns) at the stalls at the Wednesday Night Market in Singapore. This recipe is the real thing and brought all those wonderful memories rushing back to mind. I tested it out on my family all of them Bao Tze connoisseurs and they raved over them! It is a little work to make, but well worth it!

These dumpling-like buns are absolutely delish. I made mine about the size of a fist, though, and there was no WAY I could have squeezed 24 out of the dough. It turned out to be more like 6. That's okay though; I liked that there was a higher meat to dough ratio. My boyfriend and I just polished off the first batch; I did the dishes and am starting a second! Also, I didn't mix the shrimp in with the pork, but I made seperate pork buns and shrimp buns.

Absolutely wonderful recipe Carol. The kids flipped over these delicious and authentic tasting buns! Thanks so much!

I grew up in Hawaii and the buns were just like the ones I grew up with. We call it manapua and since I no longer live in Hawaii this was one of the foods I've craved. Now I can have it...when I'm ready to do some work! One thing that I encountered when making the dough was that it was quite sticky when kneading. I didn't want to add too much flour when kneading. Did anyone else have that same problem? Also, when making it, I put too much filling and I made the dough too thin so when I steamed it, the meat was showing through. It suppose to be all bun til you bite inside to get a wonderful mouthful of filling with the yummy bun. Otherwise, this was great and I'm excited I can make it now! follow up: I wanted to add, they're great to make a bunch at a time, freeze it in bags. When reheating, wrap in a damp cloth or papertowel and microwave for about a minute (usually less).

The buns were decent, but the filling was awful. If there is a next time, I will try the BBQ pork filling instead. This is a time consuming but fun recipe. Rather than 24 buns, I made 11, each the size of a small fist. This allows more meat filling, which is usually my favorite part. On step 4, I squeezed the meat mixture into a small compact ball, to make enclosing it with dough easier. Also, I used a spoon sprayed with PAM to push out/extend the edges of my circle, so the bottom was thicker. This also made the enclosure easier. I don't have a steam wok, so I used a pressure cooker. I boiled an inch or two of water, had to coffee mugs inside, and had the holed plate on top. Then I put the buns on top for steaming- worked great! Changes of recipe: I substituted sherry for rice wine and didn't include the shrimp.

This filling was just ok. The dough recipe however, I highly recommend. I omitted the shrimp, due to personal taste, and I substituted the rice wine for sherry. I grated my ginger root instead of mincing and doubled the amount called for, but the ginger strength was still wimpy. I think these would be better wrapped in wonton wrappers and fried, then dipped in hoisin or peanut sauce. The flavor in a steam bun just left too much to be desired.

It's just like the ones u have at the restaurant. Really yummy, very easy to make. Thanks for the recipe~!!!

the filling is sooooo delicious!!! i'm going to use the filling to make egg rolls sometime.

These turned out great. We used different fillings such as chicken, crag meat and even ground beef. These can be time consuming, use the ing. that you like. After trial and error we loved them, thanks for the post.

These came out pretty poorly for me, but i've never tried to make anything like this before ,so I think it might've been moreso me then the recipe...definately a tough one to put together correctly. I couldn't get dough thin enough, and the filling was simply not all that yummy...

I made this with chicken instead of pork and it was pretty darn good, though much leaner. I would also add Chinese five-spice, which gives it an astoundingly fantastic flavor!

this was my first attempt at making these. it turned out great! i loved the semi-sweet taste of the buns and its soft, lush texture. yummy!

Perfect. Reminds me of the ones I've had when I visited Japan and lived in Hawaii. Even my brothers loved them and asked for them again. I've also used chicken filling, when I've run out of pork and they were still good. Thank you!

I pan fried the buns instead of steam them. To pan fry the buns: Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with 1 T oil. Put the buns in and fry for 1 minute. pure 1/4 cup water into the skillet, cover and cook until there is no more liquid left. Remove the cover and cook until the button of the buns are golden brown.

These are delicious. The only thing I changed is that I did not use the shrimp and instead of chopped pork I used ground pork. My picky husband loved them!

i had such high hopes for these buns but they were a disaster. the texture of the dough came out dense & inconsistent, not pillowy like they should be. i will just buy the frozen ones from now on. much easier than making them :)

awesome recipe! very tasty filling. Used ground pork instead of chopped and it worked out well!

When my hubby walked into the house he said that smells like real chinese food... not like that fake stuff we usually try to make! Ha ha! This is a fantastic recipe!!

Loved them! I used ground pork and chopped it after it was cooked.

I just made this and was very tasty. Never spent so long trying out a new dish but I am a novice cook. Made about 16 buns and like others added more flour than recipe suggests. As I couldn't find pork mince in my local shop, I bought good quality sausages, cut open the skins, then used the nicely seasoned meat inside. For a first attempt they could have looked whiter maybe but they tasted very good! Nice and juicy filling with light, airy, sweet dough.

I should have made double, it was delicious :). I did use shredded beef roast instead of the pork & shrimp, but it still came out fantastic! Thank you!

Like everyone else, I made it but I changed it! I wanted to make the steamed buns and use up some leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I used roughly the same spices as above and put it all through the grinder attachment on my mixer. Cooked turkey breast was a little dry so I added some extra mirin, sesame oil, and corn starch. I think the dough will take some practice. I did have to add flour to be able to work it, and my first try at these didn't come out nice and round like a pro, but still cooked up fine and are nice and fluffy. Looking forward to making these again.