Vegan Char Siu Bao (BBQ Buns)

Name: Vegan Char Siu Bao (BBQ Buns)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese
Ingredients: 250 g 2 cups all purpose flour (11.5% protein); 30 g 1/4 cup cornstarch; 10 g 2.5 tsp instant yeast; 4 g 1 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp kosher salt; Optional: 1 tbsp sugar; 3/4 cup soy milk (warmed (I microwave for about 30 sec to be warm bath water temperature)); 30 mL 2 tbsp vegetable oil + 1 tbsp for the bowl; 2 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine; 2 tbsp hoisin sauce; 2 tbsp brown sugar (or more traditional: use maltose); 2 cubes of red fermented bean curd; 2 tbsp of red bean curd liquid; 1/4 tsp white pepper; 1/2 tsp five spice powder; 2 cloves garlic (finely minced/pressed); Use 2 cups of your favourite meat substitute; A steamer (I use a two layered stainless steel one but you can do this in two layers of bamboo steamers too); Prepare 6-8 parchment paper squares for your dough to steam on; about 1 L of water for the steamer; Optional: 1-2 tbsp of vinegar (if you'd like your baos to be whiter in the end)

Instructions

Prep:40minCook:25min

These BBQ buns are a dim sum favourite and have been a labour of love to perfect! If you'd like to save these for later, I typically wrap the cooled bao individually in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. We don't usually have any left over though, so this doesn't happen very often ;)

Updated at: Sat, 29 Mar 2025 11:34:46 GMT