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Char Siew Pau ~ 蒸叉烧包


I have been itching to try out a Pau recipe and vaguely remember that I did make it once, long, long ago.  So I  got hold of my old file of recipes and finally managed to retrieve it.  I did it recently and must say that I'm satisfied with the result.  The texture of the Pau was soft and a bit chewy, wholesome and filling too.  Naturally, they didn't look so nice and round like the ones sold in the dim sum restaurants, but nonetheless I think homemade ones can be just as delectable as well.




Pleated Pau before proving and steaming.  Steamed Pau .... a bit out of shape!
I'm still an amateur where pleating the pau is concerned, but find it very therapeutic and challenging.  More practice, that's certainly what I need!


The outer layer of skin can be easily peeled off but of course this homemade pau is not as white as those from the dim sum joints as I didn't use ammonia, and also they're not so uniform in shape...... handmade!


The fiilling is a bit dry, should make it more wet with gravy oozing out, that's more like it  ...... next time for sure!


Ahhh ... Chinese tea which is the best accompaniment for dim sum ....... Steamed Bun ~ Pau!


Ingredients for the Skin
  • 500 gm Pau flour or Hong Kong flour
  • 2.1/2  tsp dried yeast
  • 100 ml lukewarm water
  • 125 gm caster sugar
  • 5  tsp Crisco shortening
  • 2.1/8  tsp baking powder
  • 1/4  tsp salt
  • 110 - 115 ml water
Ingredients for the Filling
  • 250 gm chicken breast - diced into small cubes
  • 1/2  tsp salt
  • 1 tsp light soya sauce
  • 2  tsp each of   - sesame oil, oyster sauce and dark soya sauce
  • 3  tsp or more sugar
  • 3/4 cup  water
  • 2.1/2  Tbsp cornflour + 2  Tbsp water to thicken
  • Oil for frying
Preparation for the Filling         -  (Cook this a day earlier and keep refrigerated).
  1. Heat up a pan with the oil and mix in the diced chicken meat with all the sauces, stir fry.
  2. Add in the water and let simmer till chicken meat is cooked.
  3. Fine tune to taste and add in the thickening.
  4. Dish up and let cool before refrigerating.
Preparation for the Skin
(A)
  1. Mix the dried yeast with lukewarm water, stir well.
  2. Add in 130 gm sifted pau flour, mix well with the yeast mixture.  Roughly form into a ball of dough and set aside for 15 mins.
(B)
  1. Mix the balance 370 gm sifted pau flour with the baking powder, sugar and salt, stir well.
  2. Pour this mixture into (A) above.  Add in the shortening and water sparingly, knead till dough doesn't stick to the hands.
  3. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hr. to 1.1/2 hrs or till double in size.
  4. Knock down dough to expel some air, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a while.
  5. Weigh out 50 gm of dough and roughly shape into a ball.  Makes 18 pieces.
  6. Flatten and roll out the dough into a circle.  Cup it in the palm of your hand, spoon in the cold filling onto the centre of the dough and pleat up the sides and seal.
  7. Place the pau onto a piece of greaseproof paper, on the rack for steaming.  Cover with a piece of damp cloth and let rise for another 15 mins.
  8. Steam the pau under rapidly boiling water on high heat for about 10 to 12 mins.
  9. Remove from steamer and serve, hot.



Comments

  1. I love pau! For me, pau for breakfast, lunch & dinner. Not a problem at all. hehe.... Hope you're having a fabulous day!
    Cheers, Kristy

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  2. I actually like this type of traditional pau rather than the dim sum place kind. I normally used the ready mix pau flour here but they are not very nice. They are gummy and very chewy. I like the texture of you pau better. I am going to try this out once I can find some pau flour here.

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  3. Looking at your delicious bao makes me want to make some too. It has been awhile!

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  4. I think they look great, I would eat them! You did a fine job!

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  5. These look perfect to me. I can't get the pau flour here so the pau are yellowish. Now I do wonder whether they bleach the pau flour to make it white.

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  6. Great job with these, they look terrific! I would love to try!

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  7. Oh Kristy, didn't know that you're such a pau lover. I like it too.

    Thank you, Angie

    ICook4Fun
    This pau is filling, I like the slightly chewy texture.

    penny, do make some. Find that homemade ones taste better.

    Lyndsey, thank you.

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  8. I love pau too and your pau looks to yummy! Is pau flour same as HK flour?

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  9. 5 Star Foodie, thank you.

    Mary
    Oversteaming the pau made with all purpose flour will make the pau yellowish. Looks don't matter as long they taste good. Perhaps the pau flour is bleached, no idea.

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  10. O you call a steamed bun Pau? We call a mini baked bun Pav. I like this version.

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  11. Anncoo
    Yes, pau flour is similar to HK flour.

    Shirley
    Pau or Bao is the Chinese term for steamed bun.

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  12. I also like Gert, prefer this kind of traditional pau rather than those serve in dim sum restaurant. I feel so hungry see this pau since is lunch time now, I wish i can have two for my lunch, hehehe..
    By the way, can i omit the shortening or subsitue with others? I dont have this ingredients.

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  13. Sonia
    I think the other substitute for shortening is lard, maybe get some fatty pork and fry till the oil comes out of it, then wait for it to solidify and use it. Traditionally, Chinese cooking involves lard.

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  14. Your pau look very nice...still very smooth after steaming. Good job!

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  15. hi,
    i would like to thank you for the excellent pau recipe-i made 15 paus with this recipe and they were very well received!the texture was just right and quite easy to make. thanks again!
    lara

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  16. lara
    Oh, so glad that you tried the recipe. I've made this same pau with different fillings. Will post later.

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  17. hmm... the pau looks so tempted :)

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  18. Jane Chew
    So nice of you to drop by! Will hop over to your blog soon!

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  19. it's look great!! love the soft texture of your pai skin.. hop over from nasi lemak ...now I must try your pau recipe...I wish my expired pau flour will work !! bought from Msia 2 years ago...*pray the flour still can raise*

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  20. Beachlover's Kitchen
    Gosh, 2 years ago.... maybe it can still be used if you've kept it in the fridge, if the flour is still white and don't have any crawlies or smell! It's the yeast and baking powder that'll aid in the rising not the flour. Oh, thanks for dropping by, will hop over to your blog soon! Perhaps you can try half the recipe first, just in case! Good luck!

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  21. Found your recipe and love the texture of this pau. I didnt manage to pleat well as a couple of the pau burst open during steaming, but still taste good. Thank You for sharing.

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  22. JK
    Thanks for dropping by. Practise makes perfect. I'm still an amateur at pleating the pau!

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  23. i try this recipe but it was a failure. the dough was dry and so chewy. very brown and there is like spot of grease on the pau. can you tell me what happen? :(

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  24. Janice
    I really have no clue how come the dough can be so dry. I've used this recipe a couple of times and I didn't encounter any difficulty.
    Failure can be due to a lot of factors, like the kind of flour used, the type of shortening, weather, yeast, proving time, etc. Others have successfully tried the recipe. Maybe you can try again.

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  25. Janice

    If I'm not wrong you have mistakenly used baking soda instead of baking powder. Baking soda will make the Bao very brown, :)

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  26. Hi Catherine
    Thanks for dropping by. It could be due to baking soda if she had unintentionally used it. I can't go into your blog though.

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  27. Hi, I love the fluffy skin. I follow your recipe but the dough seems very wet and difficult to pleat the pau. Should I reduce the water.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't experienced this before, but as I've said in the recipe, to 'add water sparingly'. So, you don't add in all the water at one go, gradually, as soon as the dough doesn't stick to your hands, then it's fine. Sometimes it can be due to the nature of the flour, weather, etc.

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  28. To me it looks great. You did a good job.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your compliment and hope to see you more often.

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    2. You are most welcome and I'm going to try this recipe out.. Thank you for sharing.

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  29. does anyone know where can i get baker's ammonia in kl malaysia... been looking for it everywhere :(

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    Replies
    1. I think you can get this from those shops selling baking ingredients. It's available from the shop in Ipoh where I usually get my supplies.

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  30. Hi Your pau looks great. I am going to try your recipe and hope it will turn out nice. Thank you.

    Lily

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  31. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to try these.

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  34. These are some of the best baos i have seen online! they look so fluffy and soft, and there is no nasty ammonia additives or lengthy sponge starter! I shall try these with a minced pork and cabbage filling, thank you for posting!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the compliment and also for stopping by my blog!

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  40. Hi Soke Hah, one more of my NY resolution accomplished. I tried this pau skin recipe. Turns out well, lovely and nice. I did some adjustments to the ingredients [for easier measuring], luckily they are still good. I'll use this recipe when I want to make more paus [20-24 pieces]. Thanks for shraing.

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    Replies
    1. Glad that you tried the recipe and like it. It's been quite a while since I last made 'Pau'. The hot weather is making me very lazy to work in the kitchen....

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    2. I had no choice cos' I needed to make paus, buns and kuih for Qing Ming Festival [my in-law and mum's side]. I prepared the fillings earlier, it wasn't that bad.

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    3. I salute you, Kimmy. I'd rather buy all these stuff instead of DIY. As for me, we do it vegetarian, the Buddhist way.

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  41. Hi,
    Do you mean regular baking powder or double action baking powder? And the final proofing time before steaming is only 15mins? How come some recipes insist that it must proof for 45mins? And others say that over proofing results in wrinkled pau.....help!! I'm confused.

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    Replies
    1. Regular baking powder. The first proving time was an hour or more, the 2nd time is about 15 mins. before steaming. You can give my recipe a try, perhaps half the recipe.

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  42. Thanks for the great photos of your paus, I just tried making the paus, they are fantastic ! My link of my homemade red bean pau http://cookingescapade.blogspot.com/2014/11/pau-chinese-steamed-bun.html

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for dropping by and for trying my recipe. I always look forward to good feedback. Will go to your link soon.

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  43. Thank you for this pao skin recipe! It is soft and fluffly with a nice chewy outer layer as you've described. I used just half of the recipe with a hand held mixer and made 8 big pao. Will be making more the next time soon. Appreciate your detailed instructions and photos.
    ~ Alice Koh

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    Replies
    1. So glad that you like my recipe. I'm always happy to receive feedbacks from my readers.

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  44. Can i use the same pau skin recipe for fried Mantou?

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    Replies
    1. I'm not so sure as I've never made fried Mantou before. But I do have another post on 'Steamed Mantou'
      http://www.nofrillsrecipes.com/2011/06/mantou-flower-bun.html

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