Cha Siu Bao

When I was a teenager I attempted making cha siu bao from scratch. It was a full day task and after all that effort they came out terrible. Full of long scallion pieces (which should have been a warning sign in the recipe to me). Baba found the best frozen variety and I never tried again. But it's hard to find a good one here so I decided to try this again, but this time starting with store bought cha siu. Neither of these recipes is perfect, but it's a starting point to try to figure out what to tweak to get it better for next time.

Red House Spice Recipe - ** - 14 buns
27 Jan 2026 - I started with this one because the dough was quick to make. However, the filling was way too goopy. After filling 4 buns, I chopped up a lot more pork and tossed it in. The recipe asked for 130g of cha siu, but it needed about 200 g for the amount of sauce. I ran out of grapeseed oil part way, so subbed in less than 1 T olive oil. I used regular flour instead of cake flour (perhaps the dough would have been better with cake flour). But in the end, the bread was not sweet like I think a cha siu bao should be, so I would not use this dough recipe again. The folds also all disappeared into each other while sitting to rise. The filling tasted too salty, but then when compared to the next recipe, XBD thought this filling was better. My judgement is reserved for when I do a side by side taste test (I put some of each batch in the freezer to compare later). However, I do like that the shallot (which I used instead of onion) was used just to flavor the sauce, but was not kept in.

Woks of Life Recipe - *** - 10 large buns
28 Jan 2026 - This dough was a pleasure to work with, came out much fluffier and cracked closer to a restaurant style one. It was noticeably sweeter than the first recipe (which makes sense since it has 5 T of sugar instead of just 2). The buns came out huge! I would divide into 12-14 next time instead of just 10, just to have a smaller size. I also couldn't fit in all the filling. The filling still came out too salty. Try reducing the salty items (soy, oyster and/or chicken stock?).

Next attempt

- woks of life dough
- no onion/shallot in filling (only use to flavor the sauce)
- less saltiness
- less sauce:pork ratio
- improve flavor - figure out what is missing or too much

Mantou

DBD has been asking for mantou (Chinese steamed buns) all year so finally got around to making them on a 30+ degree day, choosing this over cookies so I wouldn't have to turn the oven on. I tried 2 recipes - one a quick one using baking powder, and one with only yeast and a rolling method. I liked the rolling method better, and the kids each liked a different flavor better. DBD liked the one with less sugar. The amounts in brackets were from the first recipe. The second dough came out a bit too sticky so I would adjust next time.

• 
  350 g flour [250 g]
  
• 1 c milk (or soy milk or water) [130 ml lukewarm water]
• 1 t yeast [same]
• 2.5 T sugar [1 T]
• [3/4 t baking soda]

1. Add milk, yeast and sugar in bowl of mixer. Stir.
2. Add the flour. Set to speed 1 to knead for 6 min. (Adjust flour or milk as necessary)
3. Transfer dough out of bowl and cover for 5 min.
4. On lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 10"x14" rectangle.
5. Roll the short way, making a tight log. Roll out a bit more to smooth it out to 12".
6. Cut into 8 equal pieces using a serrated knife. Transfer each to parchment piece. (Optional: roll each piece into ball)
7. Place in steamer and let rise for 1 hour, until dough is expanded.
8. Steam for 10-12 min.

Steamed Sponge Cake

This is easy to put together and cooks in a rice cooker steam tray. Note: next time try 2 egg ratio.

• 3 eggs
  
• scant 1/2 c sugar
• pinch salt
• 3/5 c cake flour
• optional: 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/2 t vanilla

1. Beat the eggs and sugar for 5 minutes. The volume should increase quite a bit as air is incorporated.
2. Mix salt, cake flour and baking powder in small bowl. Slowly add to the egg mixture.
3. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Line bottom of rice cooker steam tray with parchment paper (to prevent batter seeping through holes and easy separation). Pour in batter.
5. Add 1/2"-1" of water to rice cooker and place steam tray on top. Cover and turn on. Steam for about 25 minutes, until done.
6. Carefully remove lid so as not to drip water on the cake.
7. Use knife to separate cake from sides and flip over onto plate.
8. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Steamed Green Onion Rolls - Hua Juan

Tried a simple recipe first. Dough was super tough when I was kneading it so added a lot of water as I went. I steamed some in the rice cooker (limit = 2) and some on a plate in a pot (limit = 3). Definitely need to get a proper bamboo steamer to make these again. 

2/3/21 Used a new twisted layer design that came out very nice. No sesame oil (just grapeseed oil). DBD loved it, XBD did not care for it.
6/6/23 Yeast is dying and this did not rise very much. Rolls were very small this time, but still edible.

• 260 ml water, warm
• 2 t or 1 T sugar
• 2 t yeast
• 500 g flour
• 1.5 t baking powder
• green onions (5-6 stalks)
• 2-3 T oil
• 1/2 t salt (or to taste)

Fast Recipe - Fancy Shape

1. Combine water to baking powder into bread machine pan. Start a cycle and let mix for ~10 min until done. Take it out without letting it rise. The dough should be smooth.
2. In the meantime, chop the scallions and pour hot oil over it.
3. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half on floured surface into a rectangle (not as big as the slow recipe below...about the size of a piece of paper).
4. Spread with half the oil and scallion mixture and sprinkle with salt.
5. Fold the dough on the long side into thirds. Cut it into 12 pieces.
6. Stack 2 pieces. Press a chopstick down the middle lengthwise, bringing the layers facing up. Wrap it around the chopstick from behind the short way, pinching together the 2 ends. Twist the chopstick and smoosh it down together into a sphere like shape.
7. Place on lined tray to rest for 30 min. They should rise a little but NOT double in size.
8. Place each bun on parchment piece in a steamer tray. I easily fit 3 on each layer and steamed 6 at a time.
9. Steam for 10 min.
10. Repeat with other half of dough - makes 12 rolls. Recipe may be cut in half.

Slow Recipe - Simple Rolls

1. Combine water with yeast and sugar. Let sit 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, measure out 3.5 c flour. Stir in the yeast mixture.
3. Knead until smooth (10 min). Add water or flour if necessary.
4. optional: place in greased bowl
5. Cover and let rise in warm moist place for 1 hour. (A great place is the oven. Stick a kettle of boiling water in with the covered bowl.)
6. Punch down. Let rise again for another hour.
7. Punch down again. Mix baking powder in with 2 t cold water. Add to dough and knead in until smooth.
8. Roll dough out super big (aim for 24" square, but I only got to 20"). 



only 2 scallion bunches worth

9. Spread thin layer of oil. I used sesame oil, but the flavor was a little too strong. Next time mixture of canola and sesame.
10. Sprinkle with salt.
11. Spread with chopped scallions.

12. Roll up super tight.
13. Cut into 12 rolls.
14. Optional: Press chopstick in the middle to make a more showy design.
15. Steam for 10-15 minutes.
16. Enjoy immediately or freeze.

Notes

• I used sesame oil but the flavor was too strong. Next time just use canola oil.