Homemade Bao

[Flystripper]

Ok I have this awesome spicy pork recepie that I think would be perfect in a delicious steamy pillow of asian goodness. Has anyone here ever made Bao at home? If you have done it it how did it go and were you successful?

mmmmmm bao! I am craving bao right nao!

[TripletDaddy]

Yaoza!

I have no recipe but if we come across a good one, count me in for some homemade manapua. I can down a tray of those no problem.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Paging nikuman.

[TripletDaddy]

Paging nikuman.

Also let's get some input from our resident Hawaiians. Can anyone get a manapua recipe from their auntie? Yum!

[Surfah]

Ok I have this awesome spicy pork recepie that I think would be perfect in a delicious steamy pillow of asian goodness. Has anyone here ever made Bao at home? If you have done it it how did it go and were you successful?

mmmmmm bao! I am craving bao right nao!

My mom makes manapua and it's the bomb. She usually makes cha siu and the dough and then steams them in bamboo steamers. Best snack food ever.

[Flystripper]

My mom makes manapua and it's the bomb. She usually makes cha siu and the dough and then steams them in bamboo steamers. Best snack food ever.

OK I need the dough recepie. I can probably use a steamer that I have even though it isn't bamboo.

Manapua, Baozi, nunu, pau whatever you want to call it. I need some steamed buns and I need them nao!

[Jeff Lebowski]

OK I need the dough recepie. I can probably use a steamer that I have even though it isn't bamboo.

Manapua, Baozi, nunu, pau whatever you want to call it. I need some steamed buns and I need them nao!

nikuman!

[NorthwestUteFan]

When I was a missionary I helped the Relief Society make some, along with dozens and dozens of potstickers and 10 gallons worth of fried rice, for a church party. Unfortunately I didn't get the family recipe. They were very labor intensive, hence the reason they cost upwards of $5 or more from local bakeries. I recall the hoisin and oyster sauces were very important to the final outcome.

My aunt lives in Bangkok, and her Myanmarese housekeeper makes bao all the time. She says they are simply divine. I will ask her for the recipe.

[Katy Lied]

I've made them before. Know prior to starting that it's a lot of work, but the manapua is really good.

Items that the recipe might not call for, but are useful:

1. parchment paper. Cut into little squares. Put the bao on these squares while steaming. Don't remove. Serve on the little squares of paper.


2. Pasta roller. The buns are leavened using baking soda, and have a rubbery consistency which makes it hard to roll. Just keep running each lil pork bun through these rollers until they are the thickness you want.

3. Bamboo steamer
You can steam in any pan, but the bamboo imparts a flavor that you cant get with stainless pans. I do 4 or 5 layers. I don't serve from the bamboo steamers, using them for cooking only.

4. cha siu from the store.
It is exhausting if you make the cha siu yourself prior to making the char siu bao. I'd just go to Panda Express and buy a bunch there. That saves you 90 minutes of time. If you insist on making the char siu yourself, then make it the day before. After the meat cools to refrigerator temperature, it is easier to dice for the bao.

[CJF]

My wife makes Sio Poa, (pronounced show pow) a Filipino steamed bun filled with meat. I can get her dough recipe for you if this would work.

[Flystripper]

I've made them before. Know prior to starting that it's a lot of work, but the manapua is really good.

Items that the recipe might not call for, but are useful:

1. parchment paper. Cut into little squares. Put the bao on these squares while steaming. Don't remove. Serve on the little squares of paper.


2. Pasta roller. The buns are leavened using baking soda, and have a rubbery consistency which makes it hard to roll. Just keep running each lil pork bun through these rollers until they are the thickness you want.

3. Bamboo steamer
You can steam in any pan, but the bamboo imparts a flavor that you cant get with stainless pans. I do 4 or 5 layers. I don't serve from the bamboo steamers, using them for cooking only.
4. cha siu from the store.
It is exhausting if you make the cha siu yourself prior to making the char siu bao. I'd just go to Panda Express and buy a bunch there. That saves you 90 minutes of time. If you insist on making the char siu yourself, then make it the day before. After the meat cools to refrigerator temperature, it is easier to dice for the bao.

Pro tips! THANK YOU!

[MarkGrace]

I'm too lazy to make manapua (and pretty much everything else). I buy it at the grocery store or just wait for my auntie to bring me some from Hawai'i on her layovers. Which reminds me that I still have some poi in the fridge that she brought and needs to be eaten. Where's the poke to go with it?!

[Flystripper]

My wife makes Sio Poa, (pronounced show pow) a Filipino steamed bun filled with meat. I can get her dough recipe for you if this would work.

I am hoping to get some good directions because I am sure the ingredients are very similar from whatever region the recipe comes from. Right nao I have nothing to work with ther than google and I wouild rather try a recepie from a friend (even a cyber friend!)

So YES that would work CJF!

[YOhio]

Trader Joe's has a serviceable frozen cha siu bao. It's not as good as you'd get at the local dim sum, but probably better than you'll make at home on the first few tries. Much easier, too.

[MarkGrace]

For the Chinese version this place at the market rocks: http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/vorac...dishes_bbq.php

But of course I'm partial to the char siu that goes with the manapua version.