BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
Pillow-soft steamed buns filled with sticky, caramelized barbecued pork in a glossy sweet-savory sauce. The classic teahouse treat, made foolproof at home from scratch.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Marinate the pork
In a bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, , five-spice powder, sugar, 1 tablespoon of the honey and the fermented bean curd if using. Rub this all over the pork strips, cover and refrigerate.
- 500 g pork shoulder strips
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey (half of the divided amount)
- 1 tsp fermented bean curd, optional
✅ Done when: the pork has marinated at least 2 hours (overnight is even better for deeper flavor)
Roast the char siu
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Set the pork on a wire rack over a lined tray with a little water underneath to catch drips. Roast for about 20 minutes, then brush with the remaining honey and roast 5 minutes more, until the edges are deep mahogany and caramelized in spots and the pork is cooked through. Let it rest 10 minutes, then dice into small, roughly 1 cm cubes.
- 500 g marinated pork (from step 1)
- 1 tbsp honey (remaining half, for glazing)
✅ Done when: the pork is cooked through to at least 71°C (160°F) inside, with sticky caramelized edges
Make the filling sauce
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Make the dough
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Let it rise
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Shape the buns
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Steam the buns
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Marinate the pork
In a bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, , five-spice powder, sugar, 1 tablespoon of the honey and the fermented bean curd if using. Rub this all over the pork strips, cover and refrigerate.
- 500 g pork shoulder strips
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp
- 1 tsp five-spice powder
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp honey (half of the divided amount)
- 1 tsp fermented bean curd, optional
✅ Done when: the pork has marinated at least 2 hours (overnight is even better for deeper flavor)
Roast the char siu
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Set the pork on a wire rack over a lined tray with a little water underneath to catch drips. Roast for about 20 minutes, then brush with the remaining honey and roast 5 minutes more, until the edges are deep mahogany and caramelized in spots and the pork is cooked through. Let it rest 10 minutes, then dice into small, roughly 1 cm cubes.
- 500 g marinated pork (from step 1)
- 1 tbsp honey (remaining half, for glazing)
✅ Done when: the pork is cooked through to at least 71°C (160°F) inside, with sticky caramelized edges
Make the filling sauce
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Make the dough
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Let it rise
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Shape the buns
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Steam the buns
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The Story Behind the Dish
Char siu bao grew out of the Cantonese tradition of roasting pork on open hooks, a style known as char siu. Clever teahouse cooks found a way to turn the leftover trimmings and sauce into a filling, tucking them into a soft, slightly sweet steamed bun so nothing went to waste.
The bun quickly became a fixture of yum cha, the leisurely tea-drinking and small-plates tradition of Cantonese teahouses. Served alongside other dim sum classics, it traveled with Cantonese communities to Hong Kong and overseas, becoming one of the most recognizable Chinese snacks in the world.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It is beloved for the contrast between the cloud-soft, slightly sweet bun and the rich, sticky-sweet pork filling inside, a textural and flavor pairing that defines great dim sum.
💡 Fun Fact
The word bao simply means a wrapped or stuffed bun, and the fluffy white dough is prized almost as much as what is hidden inside it.
Guangdong province and Hong Kong, in southern China
22.32°N, 114.17°E
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