A Vietnamese Banh Bao is the PERFECT breakfast meal or afternoon snack for everyone. Freezer-friendly and great for lunch boxes, you’ll love how easily they reheat. The best part? Each one still tastes just as amazing as day one!
The fluffiest bao everyone will love
When it comes to a breakfast of champions, the classic Banh Bao is a meal every Vietnamese child is familiar with.
Growing up, my brother and I often had frozen store bought baos that Grandma would steam for us while we got ready for school.
Each bun had enough substance to fuel the entire morning and came packed with a deliciously hearty mince filling. Bonus points if you got it fresh out of the steamer!
While they were a quick and easy way to start the day, everything changed when we started making our own.
Homemade Banh Bao comes out airy and fluffy with enough hold to wrap snugly around the meatball.
The filling is springy and unbelievably moist, oozing porky juices. Then you’ll be hit with nostalgia when you bite into a creamy quail egg and sweet Chinese sausage slice.
This Banh Bao recipe might take a bit more time than others, but it is worth EVERY minute. You’ll know what I mean when you take them out of the steamer and each one is piping hot with steam!
Why this recipe works
- The dough is given AMPLE time to rest and work its magic so that you’re left with a smooth, kneadable dough.
- Using full cream milk and lemon juice helps the bread stay naturally whiter.
- Adding water chestnuts to the filling gives the meatballs a sweeter flavor and an incredible crunchy texture.
What you’ll need
For the bao
About the liquids
We use full cream milk for a whiter dough, but you can replace it with just water instead.
For the filling
About the ingredients
You can find canned quail eggs as well as canned water chestnuts at Asian supermarkets in their preserved ingredients section.
How to make this recipe
The Bao
Combine the flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl then pour in the water and milk. Mix it in until incorporated then let it rest for 3 hours so the yeast has time to activate.
Note: Depending on where you live, you may need to let it rest for another 1-2 hours. The warmer the climate, the quicker the yeast will activate.
Pour the remaining flour, self-raising flour, sugar, lemon juice, egg white and oil into the activated mixtue and knead it for 20 minutes or until a smooth dough forms.
Let the dough rest in a bowl for 30 minutes with a cloth or glad wrap over the top.
The Filling
Meanwhile, combine the pork mince and pork paste along with the pepper, chicken bouillon powder, salt, sugar, oyster sayce and fish sauce.
Tip: Use a pestal and mortor to mash the ingredients together which helps to give it a smoother consistency.
Mix in the wood ear mushroom, water chestnuts, shallots, fried onions and spring onions.
Roll about 1/4 US cup of the pork mixture into a ball, flatten it in your palm and place a quail egg in the center.
Wrap the mixture around the quail egg and roll it to form a sphere then push a sliced Chinese sausage on the surface.
Leave it to sit on a plate as you roll the rest of the mince. Depending on each ball size, you’ll get roughly 6 balls.
Wrapping the baos
There are many ways to wrap a bun bao, but this is the way that I grew up with.
Cut 15 cm x 15 cm (6″ x 6″) squares out of baking paper.
Divide the Banh Bao dough into equal segments and roll them into balls. Cover using a cloth as you work on each to avoid drying.
Flatten each ball into a circle approximately 20 cm (8″) wide using a rolling pin or a smooth cup.
Place a meatball in the center of the flattened dough.
Bring the top and bottom parts of the Banh Bao dough in and pinch to stick together over the meatball.
Repeat the same steps with the left and right sides of the rolled dough.
Where the openings are for each corner, push the tips in to form a heart shape. You’ll end up with four hearts.
Pinch each heart’s tips to close the openings.
Hold one pinched tip and pull it to the center, pinching it with the dough in the middle to allow it to stick. Repeat with all pinched tips.
Give the center one final pinch to seal all the dough.
Place the wrapped bun on a baking square.
Set up your steamer to a boil and steam the baos for 30 minutes or until the meatball is cooked.
Note: Alternatively, steam the meatballs before wrapping and steam the whole bao for 10 minutes or until the Banh Bao dough is cooked.
Serve fresh as is or with a drizzle of Sirarcha!
FAQs
While both are known to be light and fluffy on the outside and can have a pork mince filling on the inside, the main difference is in the seasoning and added ingredients.
Vietnamese baos use fish sauce and have their iconic quail eggs and Chinese sausages in the center whereas Chinese baos use five spice.
You can add some vinegar to lighten the color, but keep in mind that doing so will also slightly alter the taste.
Tips for the best results
- Don’t overknead the Banh Bao dough. For a light and fluffy bao, knead quickly until everything has just come together. Overworking the dough will result in a tough and hard bun.
- Let the dough rest. Resting dough (especially after kneading) is super important because it gives the gluten a chance to relax, making it easier for you to roll and shape.
- Use fattier pork mince. Having more fat in the pork means a much juicier bite!
More Vietnamese appetizers for everyone
- Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls (Gỏi Cuốn) – Fresh, healthy and seriously addictively, these iconic wraps are the go-to for every occasion.
- Bo Bia (Rice Paper Rolls with Chinese Sausage and Eggs) – Warm and juicy, just like a Banh Bao! This time it’s made with rice paper and stir fried vegetables.
- Bi Cuon (Shredded Pork Rice Paper Roll) – If you love a smoky flavor, this version of a pork rice paper roll is just the one for you.
- Chao Tom (Sugar Cane Shrimp) – If you’re after a savory treat, you’ll adore every bit of the aromatic and springy chao tom fresh from the fryer.
- Vietnamese Stuffed Chicken Wings – Make these with your family or share it with your friends. There’s everything to love about these super flavorful wings.
- Canh Ga Chien Nuoc Mam (Fish Sauce Chicken Wings) – A classic that every party must have. These are super crunchy and coated in the most incredible sweet savory sauce!
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Banh Bao (Vietnamese Steamed Pork Buns)
Equipment
- Baking paper
- Steamer
Ingredients
For The Yeast Activation
- 170 g / 1 1/2 US cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 75 mL / 0.3 US cup milk (full cream)
- 75 mL / 0.3 US cup water
For the Dough (To Be Added After The Yeast Activation)
- 170 g / 1 1/2 US cup all-purpose flour
- 10 g / 1/8 US cup self-raising flour
- 50 g / 1/4 US cup sugar
- 1/2 lemon's juice
- 1/2 egg white
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
The Filling
- 100 g / 0.22 lb pork mince
- 50 g / 0.11 lb pork paste (from the frozen section in Asian supermarkets)
- 3 g / 0.006 lb rehydrated woodear mushroom (finely chopped)
- 2 water chestnuts (finely chopped)
- 1/2 Chinese sausage (thinly sliced)
- quail eggs (sold fresh or in cans in Asian supermarkets)
- 1 red shallot (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp spring onion (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp fried onion
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/3 tsp fish sauce
Instructions
The Bao
- Combine the flour, yeast and sugar in a bowl then pour in the water and milk. Mix it in until incorporated then let it rest for 3 hours so the yeast has time to activate.Note: Depending on where you live, you may need to let it rest for another 1-2 hours. The warmer the climate, the quicker the yeast will activate.
- Pour the remaining flour, self-raising flour, sugar, lemon juice, egg white and oil into the activated mixtue and knead it until a smooth dough forms.
- Let the dough rest in a bowl for 30 minutes with a cloth or glad wrap over the top.
The Filling
- Meanwhile, combine the pork mince and pork paste along with the pepper, chicken bouillon powder, salt, sugar, oyster sayce and fish sauce.Tip: Use a pestal and mortor to mash the ingredients together which helps to give it a smoother consistency.
- Mix in the wood ear mushroom, water chestnuts, shallots, fried onions and spring onions.
- Roll about 1/4 US cup of the pork mixture into a ball, flatten it in your palm and place a quail egg in the center.
- Wrap the mixture around the quail egg and roll it to form a sphere then push a sliced Chinese sausage on the surface.
- Leave it to sit on a plate as you roll the rest of the mince. Depending on each ball size, you’ll get roughly 6 balls.
Wrapping the Baos
- Cut 15 cm x 15 cm (6″ x 6″) squares out of baking paper.
- Divide the Banh Bao dough into equal segments and roll them into balls. Cover using a cloth as you work on each to avoid drying.
- Flatten each ball into a circle approximately 20 cm (8″) wide using a rolling pin or a smooth cup.
- Place a meatball in the center of the flattened dough.
- Bring the top and bottom parts of the Banh Bao dough in and pinch to stick together over the meatball.
- Repeat the same steps with the left and right sides of the rolled dough.
- Where the openings are for each corner, push the tips in to form a heart shape. You'll end up with four hearts.
- Pinch each heart's tips to close the openings.
- Hold one pinched tip and pull it to the center, pinching it with the dough in the middle to allow it to stick. Repeat with all pinched tips.
- Give the center one final pinch to seal all the dough.
- Place the wrapped bun on a baking square.
- Set up your steamer to a boil and steam the baos for 30 minutes or until the meatball is cooked.Note: Alternatively, steam the meatballs before wrapping and steam the whole bao for 10 minutes or until the Banh Bao dough is cooked.
- Serve fresh as is or with a drizzle of Sirarcha!
Notes
- Don't overknead the Banh Bao dough. For a light and fluffy bao, knead quickly until everything has just come together. Overworking the dough will result in a tough and hard bun.
- Let the dough rest. Resting dough (especially after kneading) is super important because it gives the gluten a chance to relax, making it easier for you to roll and shape.
- Use fattier pork mince. Having more fat in the pork means a much juicier bite!
- We use full cream milk for a whiter dough, but you can replace it with just water instead.
- You can find canned quail eggs as well as canned water chestnuts at Asian supermarkets in their preserved ingredients section.
I love bao. Thanks for sharing a complete tutorial. So excited to make this.
You’re very welcome, Rika! I hope you enjoy it!
These look so delicious and so tasty! I’m putting the ingredients on my list now. I can’t to make these!
Great to hear, Beth! Enjoy!
Hello Jeanette, what is the best way to store any leftovers? Can they be frozen? Wrapped in plastic wrap or whatever would be best?
Hi, James! I would suggest steaming the baos, then letting them cool and wrapping them in a plastic wrap (or any freezer-safe wrapping/container) and storing it in the freezer. They can be reheated through steaming or put in the microwave with a splash of water on the surface to prevent drying. I hope that helps!
These pork buns are on my list to-make now! I love them, and I hope to get the same result as yours. Thanks for step by step photographed explanations!
Best of luck to you, Irina! I hope you end up with wonderful buns too!
I’ve always been intimidated by recipes to make these. They look hard to make, but it wasn’t! Thank you for making it so easy. I really needed those step by step instructions. They turned out beautifully!
You’re so very welcome, Jennifer! Glad the instructions helped!
I love steamed pork buns and yours look amazing! Never made these myself just yet but looks like they’re next on my list!
I hope you enjoy them just as much as we did, Nart!
In process of making now… The measurements for the flour do not match up. 1/2 cup of flour is about 70 g not 170 g. Did you mean 1 1/2 cups flour? I used the 170 g and not the “1/2 cup”.
Thanks so much for that! I’ve edited the recipe to 3/4 US cup. Sorry, I’m from Australia so I often have difficulties with conversions to US measurements >< Enjoy the recipe!
Actually, it’s more like 1 1/2 cups US
Thanks!
Hi Jeannette,
Three hours resting the dough, is it at room temp? If I put it in the oven at the lowest temp (40’C), how long should I leave it? Thanks.
Hi Kim,
I usually leave it somewhere slightly warmer like near the windowsill where the sun might be shining or in the oven. You’re looking for the dough doubling in size, so it could vary from region to region.
These look soo yummy! I have a question before making these, for your recipe, about how big are the buns?
Thanks!!
Thanks, Jason! They’re roughly 10cm/4″ wide 🙂
It’s hard for me to find wood ear mushrooms. Are shiitake mushrooms also a good alternative?
Hi, Sherly! You can definitely use shiitake mushrooms, but slice them thinly. Otherwise, just leave it out altogether 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s the first time I’ve been successful at making Banh Bao. Love this recipe so much even my Mother was impressed.
Hi, Karen! I’m so glad it worked out for you. If your Mother was impressed, then you must have done a fabulous job!
Hi Jeannette,
I’ve made these bao buns before and they were great and I want to make them again for my coworkers, but I don’t have a lot of time so is it possible to activate the yeast overnight in the fridge to save time?
Thank you!
Hi, Noel! I’m glad they worked out for you the first time. I haven’t tried activating the yeast overnight in the fridge before, but you can definitely give it a go! If you do, let me know how to goes 😀