The Best Chinese Steamed Buns Pork Baozi Recipe

These pork steamed buns are everything a great bao should be—pillowy soft, light, and packed with an incredibly juicy filling. The secret is a traditional Chinese technique called 生熟馅 (shēng shú xiàn), or raw-and-cooked filling.

Most steamed buns use either a raw filling or a cooked filling. This method combines both. A portion of the pork is gently simmered with aromatics and seasonings to create a rich, flavorful sauce, then mixed with fresh raw pork before wrapping. As the buns steam, the raw meat absorbs all of that concentrated flavor while remaining exceptionally tender and juicy. The result is a filling with incredible aroma, luscious sauce, and layers of savory flavor.

Ingredients
For the dough (makes 12 buns)
1.5 tsp of instant yeast
220g of water
2 tbsp of sugar
454g / 1 pound of all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsalted room-temp butter

For the filling
3 tbsp of cooking oil
2.5 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tbsp of minced ginger
5 scallions, finely diced, whites and greens separated
400g / 14 oz of ground pork, preferably 30% fat content
1.5 tbsp of soy sauce
1.5 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tsp of soybean paste
1 tsp of dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp of Thirteen spice powder
1 cup water