Craving Chinese food? Make these crowd-pleasing Pork and Chive Steamed Buns at home with this easy step-by-step recipe! Soft and tender, these baozi buns feature savory pork filling. I also use Napa cabbage, scallions, and chives, a popular addition to baozi. If you have access to Chinese chives, aka garlic chives, or ramps, use them instead of standard chives. The dipping sauce I use for these buns is a simple mix of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and a dash of chili-garlic sauce. Delicious!
To keep the dough-making process easy, I use instant yeast for this recipe. The dough easily comes together in a bowl, but you can use a stand mixer if you have one to ease the process. A bonus for this recipe: If you don’t have a food steamer or bamboo basket, use a wok with a lid and a metal steamer rack that can fit in. This recipe yields 16 delicious baozi buns. Enjoy!
To make the Pork and Chive Steamed Buns, you will need the following ingredients:
In a bowl, whisk together 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast, 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons baking powder.
Add ¾ cup water and 2 tablespoons oil, and mix for about 5 minutes.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it proof in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.
Cut parchment paper into 16 3x3-inch squares and set aside.
In a mesh colander, mix finely chopped ½ pound Napa cabbage and ¼ cup onions with 2 ½ teaspoons salt. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Squeeze the cabbage mixture in small batches with your hands to drain out the excess water. Transfer the squeezed cabbage into a large bowl.
Add in 1 pound ground pork, ¼ cup finely chopped scallions, ¼ cup finely chopped chives, 1 beaten egg, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 4 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 ½ teaspoons minced garlic, 1 teaspoon minced ginger, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, and the remaining salt and mix gently by hand. This recipe makes more filling than is needed for the buns. Sauté the rest and use it to mix into fried rice, if you wish, or freeze for another use.
Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a working surface. Cut it in half and cover with plastic wrap.
Working with one half of the dough at a time, cut it into 8 equal-sized portions. Shape each portion into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Working with one dough ball at a time, roll the dough into 5-inch rounds. Add 2 tablespoons of the prepared filling to the center, then pleat the edges together. Once you have gathered up the dough, twist together to seal. Repeat until all the buns are assembled. Lay the assembled buns on parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap. Let the buns rest for 20 minutes.
Fill a steamer pot with 2 to 3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Make sure the boiling water doesn’t reach as high as the buns. Arrange the buns, with the parchment squares underneath each one, on a steamer rack spaced about 2 inches apart. Steam in two batches if needed. Steam the buns for about 20 minutes until puffy and shiny, and the filling is cooked through. Test one of the buns to check on the filling.
Serve immediately with a dipping sauce of choice. Freeze and reheat the leftovers in the microwave or by steaming.
This savory baozi recipe delivers soft and tender Pork and Chive Steamed Buns that are easy to make from scratch. Give this recipe a try soon and share your thoughts with us below!
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