Pan Fried Buns Recipe | Homemade Crispy And Juicy Pan Fried Bao Recipe | Sheng Jian Bao

Hi everyone, welcome to Cook Stacey Cook. Today we are making some bao. Bao in Chinese simply means buns. Traditional Chinese buns are usually steamed. But did you know buns can also be pan-fried? That's what we are making today. Pan-fried buns are soft and fluffy just like steamed buns. But they have a crispy bottom that adds a nice contrasting texture along with the juicy and savory filling. These pan-fried buns are very delicious. Let me show you how I make it. We will start by making the filling. You can use beef, chicken or pork. We are using ground pork today. In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer bowl, add the ground pork, some salt, room temperature water, soy sauce, ground or minced ginger, and some white pepper powder. Now start mixing until the filling takes on a pasty texture. It doesn't need to be as smooth as what I have here. This takes less than 5 minutes using a stand mixer. It takes a little longer if you are mixing by hand. Once the filling looks pasty, add a touch of sesame oil and mix it in. After mixing in the sesame oil, scoop out the filling, cover it and let it rest in the fridge. Next, we will prepare the dough. Start by mixing some instant yeast with room temperature water. Make sure you use instant yeast, not active dry yeast. The two kinds of yeast look identical. So the only way to tell them apart is by looking at the label. Once you finish mixing the yeast and water mixture, add some all-purpose flour to the mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl. Then add a little bit of sugar, all the yeast and water mixture, and a touch of cooking oil. Now start kneading the dough until it's smooth and elastic like this. Dust your work surface with flour, then shape the dough into a ball. Cover the dough and let it rest for 5 minutes. While we wait for the dough to rest, we will chop up 6 green onions into small pieces and mix it into the filling. Then cover it back up and set it aside for now. After resting for 5 minutes, we will shape the dough into a log so that it can be divided equally. The easiest way is to poke a hole in the center and shape the dough into a large ring like this. Then cut the ring open and roll it into a straight log. I find this method to be the most effortless. With the dough rolled into a log, divide the dough into 12 identical pieces. You can make light marks on it first to make sure the pieces will be equal. Now cut the dough into pieces and we are ready to make the buns. Firmly press on it with your palm. Then roll it thinner with a rolling pin. Start from the edge and roll towards the center. But stop short of the center. Turn the dough with your other hand after each roll. When you turn the dough all the way around, you will have shaped the dough into a wrapper like this. Here is a look from another angle. Note the center is much thicker. Now place one full tablespoon of filling on the dough and fold the edge of the dough like this. Stop pinching the dough together as you turn it and fold the edge up. Once you make a full turn, the filling will be fully wrapped inside the bun. Make sure the dough is tightly pinched together. If there is too much dough at the tip of the bun, you can pinch off the excess. And we just finished making a bun. Repeat this process for the rest of the dough pieces. It will be much easier after you make a few. Once you finish making all the buns, cover and let it rest for 10 to 20 minutes depending on your room temperature. While we wait, we will make a flour and water mixture. Simply mix all-purpose flour with room temperature water and stir until all the flour dissolves. After resting for 10 to 20 minutes, the buns should look more plump. The surface should be smooth without wrinkles. It should also be 1.5 times bigger than the starting size. Now we are ready to pan fry it. Add some oil to a hot pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, put the buns in the pan like this. Then pour the flour and water mixture into the pan. Remember to stir up the mixture because flour tends to settle on the bottom. And put the lid on. Let the buns cook like this over medium heat for 8 minutes. Make sure the lid fits the pan snugly. Otherwise, the liquid could boil over. After 8 minutes, there should be just a little bit of liquid left in the pan. Now turn the heat down to medium low and cook for 2 more minutes. By the end of the 2 minutes, most water in the pan should be gone. We can remove the lid now and check the bottom of the bun. If there is still a little bit of liquid in the pan when you remove the lid, continue to cook with the lid off until all the liquid is gone. When the bottom of the buns look golden and crispy like this, they are ready to come out of the pan, and your buns should be ready. Look at the golden and crispy crust on these buns. You can feel the crispiness when you bite into it. The filling is savory and juicy. The bun itself is soft and fluffy. All the flavors along with the textures make this bun so delicious. I hope you will give this pan fried bun recipe a try. If you find today's video useful, please share it with your friends and family. Let me know your thoughts about this recipe in the comments. Thank you for watching and see you next time.