Bao buns: snow white, steamed, no oven needed
Bao are not baked but steamed, which is why they stay snow white and have the texture of a sponge: soft, slightly chewy, quite unlike any European bread. Two things decide whether they work. The dough must be kneaded until glass smooth, because every flaw shows on that white surface. And the pan must not be opened early — a sudden drop in temperature makes the buns wrinkle and collapse.
Your own work in that: 1 h.
- Dough 20 min
- Rising 90 min
- Steaming 40 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneKnead until glass smooth
Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk with the sugar and wait 5 minutes. Add to the flour mixed with the baking powder and salt, add the oil and knead 12 minutes, until the dough is glass smooth, matt white and soft. That is longer than for an ordinary roll, and it is necessary.
Ingredients: 400 g plain white flour · 200 ml milk · 6 g dried yeast · 40 g sugar · 1 tsp baking powder · 1 tsp salt · 2 tbsp oil
TipNothing browns in steam, so a bao's surface stays exactly as your hands left it. Every crease, bubble and flaw will show on the finished bun.
Glass smooth, matt whiteLet it rise
Move to an oiled bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm 60 minutes, until doubled. Then knock the air out, working it briefly on the counter — large bubbles would leave craters after steaming.
Doubled, then thoroughly knocked backShape and fold in half
Divide into 12 pieces of 55 g, roll into balls and flatten into 12 × 8 cm ovals, 5 mm thick. Brush the top with oil, lay a chopstick or spoon handle across the middle and fold the oval over it. Slide the stick out.
Ingredients: 2 tbsp oil
TipThe oil between the layers is what lets the steamed bun <b>open like a little book</b>. Without it the halves fuse and cannot be filled.
Oil between the layers so they openProve in the basket
Set each bun on a square of baking paper and arrange them in a bamboo steamer or sieve, 3 cm apart — twelve buns usually take two or three steamer tiers. Cover and leave 30 minutes. They should be visibly puffed and light to the touch.
Three centimetres apart; they grow again in steamSteam for twelve minutes
Bring water to the boil in a pan, set the basket over it (the base must not touch the water), cover and steam 12 minutes over medium heat. Then turn off the heat and wait 5 minutes before lifting the lid. A sudden chill makes bao wrinkle and sink. If they don't all fit, steam in batches and keep the waiting buns covered somewhere cooler.
TipWrap the lid in a tea towel so condensation doesn't drip onto the buns and leave wet patches.
Twelve minutes, then five with the heat off
Before you start
The classic filling
Braised pork belly in soy sauce with star anise, plus cucumber batons, spring onion and chopped peanuts. Bao are filled at the plate, immediately before eating.
Freezing
Steamed and cooled, they freeze beautifully. Reheat in steam straight from frozen, 8–10 minutes — almost indistinguishable from fresh. A great freezer standby.
Without a bamboo steamer
A metal sieve or a steamer insert works. All that matters is that the buns don't touch the water and that the lid is wrapped in a cloth.
Why they don't brown
Steam is 100 °C, and browning reactions only run quickly above roughly 140 °C. Bao therefore stay white however long you cook them — it is not undercooking.
