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Bánh bao

Bánh bao

Vietnamese steamed bun

Vietnam
Steamed

Vietnamese filled steamed buns influenced by Chinese baozi, often containing pork, egg, sausage, and mushrooms.

About this dish

Vietnamese filled steamed buns influenced by Chinese baozi, often containing pork, egg, sausage, and mushrooms. The recipe here chooses one named variation from that wider tradition; household fillings, shapes and serving styles may differ.

Recipe

8 buns
4 servings

Vietnamese bánh bao with pork and quail egg

Dough

  • 350 g all-purpose flour
  • 190 ml milk
  • 4 g instant yeast
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 35 g sugar
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Filling

  • 300 g ground pork
  • 8 hard-boiled peeled quail eggs
  • 1 Chinese sausage (60 g), diced
  • 5 g dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked and chopped
  • 1 small onion (80 g), minced
  • 2 scallions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  1. 1

    Dough: 350 g all-purpose flour; 190 ml milk; 4 g instant yeast; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Knead dough ingredients until smooth; cover and rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Mix dry ingredients first, knead supple and rise covered until visibly doubled.

  2. 2

    Filling: 300 g ground pork; 8 hard-boiled peeled quail eggs; 1 Chinese sausage (60 g), diced; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Mix pork, sausage, drained mushrooms, onion, scallions and seasonings. Divide into 8 and form each portion around a quail egg; keep cold. Soak mushrooms until expanded, rinse, discard tough bases and squeeze dry. Chop filling finely and keep cold.

  3. 3

    Deflate dough and divide into 8. Roll into 14 cm circles with thick centers, wrap around filling balls and pleat shut at the top. Thin rims more than bases, leave a clean sealing edge and pinch the top shut.

  4. 4

    Put on parchment squares and proof 20 minutes. Steam over boiling water 25-30 minutes, checking pork reaches 71°C/160°F. Rest covered off heat 3 minutes. Leave expansion room, time from steady steam and measure the filling center, not outer meat. Open the lid away from buns after resting.

Note

This from-scratch dough avoids relying on a proprietary flour mix. Quail eggs are cooked before filling; leave expansion room in the steamer.