Cha siu bao

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Baked cha siu bao dough for this type is different from the steamed version

Cha siu bao (Template:Zh) is a Cantonese baozi (bun) filled with barbecue-flavored cha siu pork. They are served as a type of dim sum during yum cha and are sometimes sold in Chinese bakeries.

Varieties

There are two major kinds of cha siu bao: the traditional steamed version is called (Template:Zh) or simply (Template:Zh), while the baked variety is usually called (Template:Zh). Steamed cha siu bao has a white exterior, while the baked variety is browned glazed.

Cantonese cuisine

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Filling

Although visually similar to other types of steamed baozi, the dough of steamed cha siu bao is unique since it makes use of both yeast and baking powder as leavening. This unique mix of leavening gives the dough of cha siu bao the texture of a slightly dense, but fine soft bread. Tangzhong, a water roux, is sometimes used to keep the bread soft over long periods of time and aids in improving the texture of the bao.

An alternative version of the steamed char siu bao is a baked version. While the dough is very similar, the baked char siu bao is more similar to a baked bun with the same char siu filling. It is often coated with an egg and sugar wash before baking, resulting in a slightly sweeter, more bready char siu bao.

Encased in the center of the bun is tender, sweet, slow-roasted pork tenderloin. This cha siu is diced, and then mixed into a syrupy mixture of oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, roasted sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, shaoxing wine or dry sherry, soy sauce, sugar, and cornstarch.

Philippine cuisine

Template:Main article Siopao (Template:Zh; ), literally meaning "hot bun", is the Philippine indigenized version of baozi. A common variant of the siopao, the siopao asado, is derived from the char siu bao and has a filling (asado) which uses similar ingredients to char siu. It differs in that the Filipino asado is a braised dish, not grilled, and is more similar in cooking style to the Hokkien tau yu bak (Template:Zh). It is slightly sweeter than char siu and can also be cooked with chicken. Siopao is also typically much larger than the char siu bao or the baozi.

Polynesian cuisine

At the invitation of the European powers, the Chinese were recruited as indentured laborers throughout in the Pacific to work on sugar plantations starting in the mid-1800s. Chinese immigrants brought with them foods such as char siu bao which they adapted to their new location.

In Hawaiian cuisine, it is called manapua. Hawaiian pidgin for "delicious pork thing". In Samoa, the item is referred to as keke pua'a, literally meaning "pig cake". In Tahiti, French Polynesia, they are called chao pao.

Vietnamese cuisine

In Vietnam, the item is called xíu páo. It originally came from Guangdong and Chaozhou following a fairly large overseas Chinese community living in Hakka street in Nam Dinh, Vietnam. Ingredients for baking mainly include flour, meat, eggs, flour, lard and some typical spices depending on the family recipe. To make delicious cakes, people often marinate pork tenderloin with minced garlic, fivespice, oyster oil, honey and then baked until it turns golden brown and is fragrant. Char siu meat is diced and mixed with wood ear mushroom, pork fat and a whole boiled quail egg, with the addition of a salted egg yolk in some variants. The word "xíu páo" is considered to be transliterated Cantonese or Hokkien.

See also

• Bánh bao (Vietnam)
• Dim sum
• Goubuli
• Jjinppang/Hoppang (South Korea)
• List of buns
• List of pork dishes
• List of snack foods
• List of steamed foods
• List of stuffed dishes
• Nikuman (Japan)
• Siopao (Philippines)