Bánh Bao (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Bun)

I often make lots of bánh bao and store them in the refrigerator for my family to enjoy. I personally don't like bánh bao at the stores. First of all, I do not like green peas and carrots that are often mixed into the meat; Second I like to eat them straight from the steamer.

The first time I tried to make bánh bao was when I was in High School, but it all started with my mom.

My mom used to make delicious, tasty bánh bao; Our house would be full of them. My father helped her to kneed and roll out the dough. My sisters helped her to assemble them. They would often laugh at each other' s funny looking bao.  Every time a new batch of buns came out, we all looked at them to see what shape they would take. It was a lot of fun. 

Now, every time my daughters see me making bánh bao, they would sit next to me and help roll out the dough balls and pass out the circle papers that go under the bao. They always get to taste my first batch of fresh, steaming bánh bao.

Pork buns might look difficult to make but it's actually a piece of cake.  After volunteering my two hours weekly routine this morning at my kids' school , I came home and started working on these buns to get them ready for my girls to snack on after school. For convenience, consider making big batches of these buns for your family to munch on through out the week.

my little one watched me making bánh bao when she was 2

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a year and a half later, she and her big sister made bao with me.

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RECIPE: Steamed Pork Bun

make 20 buns
printable recipe

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Ingredients

Dough

1 bag Steamed Bun Flour

1 cup Milk or Water

2/3 cup Sugar

1 tablespoon Vegetable or Canola Oil

1 tablespoon Lime Juice 

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Filling

3/4 pound Ground Pork

3/4 -1 small Onion, chopped

1/2 cup Dried Wood Ear Mushroom (nấm mèo đen), soaked until soft, rinsed and chopped

1 bunch Vermicelli Bean Threads (bún tàu), soaked until soft,  chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons Oyster Sauce

1 tablespoon Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Black Pepper

2 Vietnamese Sausages (lạp xưởng), each cut into 20 round slices

5 boiled eggs, each cut into 4 pieces

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20 Paper Circles using paper or parchment paper

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Directions

she is an expert at making buns at  5 years old

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Making Dough

Pour a bag of flour into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, lemon and milk until sugar dissolved. The purpose of using lime juice is to make the bun white.  Keep about 2 tablespoons of the milk mixture on a side. Pour the remainder into the flour bowl. Mix the ingredients well with a wooden spoon in preparation for kneading.  Keep stirring it with a spoon until all the ingredients are combined, then you're ready to start kneading. You should use the palms and heels of your hands to push forward on the dough. If the dough is dried, add a a teaspoon of milk mixture at a time to soften the dough. Add a teaspoon of flour to achieve a nice soft dough if the dough is too tacky. How much liquid all depends upon your brand of flour, how old it is, and the temperature and humidly of the room.  
After about 5 minutes of kneading the dough, test it by touching the dough with your clean and dry hand.  The dough should be soft and should not stick to your hands.  Add oil and knead it for another minute.

Cover the mixing bowl with a cloth or towel. Leave it somewhere that is not cold (I usually warm the oven up for a few minutes then  turn the oven off and leave it in the oven) and let it rise for about half an hour to 45 minutes. Divide dough into 20 balls.  Cover dough with a towel to keep the surface of the dough from drying out.

While waiting for dough to rise, prepare the filling.

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Preparing Meat

this batch I used shiitake mushrooms

Mix all the ingredients except sausages and eggs.  Divide the meat into 20 balls. 

Roll out each dough ball but not too thin.

Place a meat ball in the center of dough.  Add 2 pieces of sausages and 1 piece of egg.

Hold the edges of dough over the filling with your thumb and index finger and start folding it into layers while using the other hand's thumb push down the filling. At the end, twist all the layers to make it stick together.  Put the completed bun on a piece of circle paper.

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Steaming

Boil 3/4 of water in a bottom layer of steamer at high heat.  Arrange buns on the other layers of steamer.  Leave space between each bun to make room for it to rise and expand.  Steam the buns when water starts boiling.  After 20 minutes, the buns should be puffed up and they are ready to eat.

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Presentation

Enjoy the buns and cups of hot green tea as a breakfast treat or midday snack.

Ăn Ngon!