Bánh Bao: Recipe to Cook Vietnamese Steamed Pork Buns

What is Bánh Bao? Banh Bao is Vietnamese steamed buns dish, that is a fusion of Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines when the Cantonese immigrants brought over the Bao that makes up the exterior of the bun and the Chinese sausage that is on the inside. The rest of the dish is Vietnamese. Banh Bao means the wheat flour dough filled with a savoury treat then sealed shut and steamed until cooked. The filling ingredients are usually ground pork and quail/chicken egg, but it can also contain chicken, onions, mushrooms, and some other vegetables.

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The dough of Vietnamese Banh Bao is soft but a bit chewy and slightly sweet. Bánh Bao is eaten as a filling snack or part of a delicious breakfast, lunch or even dinners sometimes. There are some different types of Banh Bao in Vietnam, that includes:

Bánh bao cadé - sweet egg custard
Bánh bao chay - vegetarian
Bánh bao chỉ - sweet, mung bean and coconut
Bánh bao chiên - fried
Bánh bao đặc biệt - "specialty"
Bánh bao lạp xưởng - chinese sausage
Bánh bao nhân thịt - with meat
Bánh bao nhân trứng - egg
Bánh bao nhân xá xíu - cantonese roasted meat

Dough Ingredients:

All purpose flour – You can use AP flour for the desired result because it has the appropriate amount of protein to give the bao the authentic texture.
Baking powder – Baking powder will help the dough expand when it is steaming.
Milk – The warm milk helps activate the yeast and gives it that tender texture. Make sure to use whole milk not reduced fat milk.
Instant yeast – Make sure to check your yeast is alive before using. Combine the warm milk with the yeast, and let it stand for 10 minutes to check.
Neutral oil – Any type of neutral oil should work for this recipe.
Granulated sugar – White sugar helps give the dough some sweetness which is essential to balance out the more salty flavors of the fillings. There is also a bit of sugar in the filling.

Filling Ingredients:

Ground pork – No substitutes for ground pork.
Wood ear mushrooms – Wood ear mushrooms can usually be purchased dried on Amazon Online Store or at Asian grocery stores.
Yellow onion – Sweet yellow onions are the preferred onion to use. A good substitute is white onions.
Seasonings (fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, salt, and pepper) – Fish sauce and oyster sauce are sometimes hard to find. If you can’t find fish sauce, leave it out. If you can’t find oyster sauce, substitute with garlic powder.
Chinese sausage – Adds a salty flavor to the bao. You can leave this out if you can’t find it or you don’t like it.
Eggs – You can use large boiled eggs for this recipe, usually 1/4 of an egg per bao. A substitute for regular eggs is quail eggs.
White vinegar – The white vinegar is added to the water you used to steam the baos. The vinegar helps give the baos their signature white color.

Recipe to make Traditional Banh Bao

First you have to make your dough for authentic Banh Bao! Combine flour and baking powder and set aside. Add the warm milk and yeast to a small bowl. Let it stand for about 10 minutes until it foams. Then add in your oil and sugar, then stir. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix them together until a soft dough forms.

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Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Add more flour if the dough seems too wet. After kneading, the dough should slowly bounce back at you when you poke it. If you want to go the easy route, there are packages of banh bao flour mixtures you can get at Asian grocery stores. Just follow the instructions on the package.

How to make Authentic Banh Bao Filling?

While waiting for your dough rising, you can make your filling. The filling is composed of a ground pork mixture, some Chinese sausage, and boiled eggs. Thinly slice your sausages, boiling the eggs and slice them into 4 pieces.

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You now make your ground pork mixture. Mix ground pork with oyster sauce, fish sauce, salt, pepper, sugar, minced yellow onions, and minced wood ear mushrooms. Divide the mixture into 16 round pieces and set aside. The goal of this process is to make sure you have everything ready to go to make your baos once it finishes rising (proofing).

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How to divide, roll and wrap the Dough of Vietnamese Banh Bao? This next step is to divide, wrap and roll out the dough into the shape with the filling inside the BAO.

Dividing the proofed dough into 2 pieces.
Roll out the dough into a 13 inch log. Make sure the dough is even thickness throughout the length of the dough.
Cut the dough in half to divide it into 2 pieces. Divide each piece into another 2 pieces. Divide those pieces into 2 pieces. You should get 8 pieces from that piece of dough. Repeat the process with the other half. Keep the pieces of dough covered so they don’t dry out.
Take one piece of dough and roll it out into a disk that is about 4-4.5 inches in diameter. The best way to do this is to start in the centre and roll outward. Then rotate the disk a little bit and repeat that rolling method. Make sure the center is thicker than the edges.

How to steam the Banh Bao?

1. First prepare your steamer. Combine 1-2 cups of water and vinegar in the cooking pot and bring the water to a simmer. Make sure to keep your heat on low to sustain that simmer. Check and adjust as you steam your baos.

2. Add the baos to the steamer in batches, ensuring there is 1 inch of space between them. The baos will expand in the steamer and stick to each other if they’re too close together. I did it in batches of 4. Steam for about 15 minutes.

3. Repeat the process until you are done. Finishing your products and now you’re ready to eat the delicious Vietnamese homemade Banh Bao!

Where To Find the Best Authentic Banh Bao in Vietnam?

You can find Vietnamese Banh Bao on the street stalls or in some Vietnamese Restaurants for breakfast, lunch or dinner. And here is our recommendation of some places you can try Banh Bao when traveling in Vietnam:

1. Bánh Bao Bình Mỗ - Best Banh Bao in Hanoi Old Quarter

Address:
- 10 Quan Su, Hang Bong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi - 0845 775 525
- 72 Hang Than, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi City - 0934 262 333

2. Minh Ký Dimsum & Noodles - Best Banh Bao in Hanoi Old Quarter

Address: 44A Phan Boi Chau, Hoan Khiem, Hanoi
Phone: 0963 884 818
Fanpage: www.facebook.com/minhkydimsum
Opening hours: 08:00 - 22:00

3. Thọ Phát Food – Best Bánh Bao in Huế City

Address: 166 Dinh Tien Hoang, City. Hue, Thua Thien Hue
Phone: 0854 017 579
Website: https://thophat.com/
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075747772200
Opening hours: 06:00 - 12:00 | 15:00 - 22:00

4. Ba Hưng Bakery - Best Banh Bao Chains in Da Nang City

Address:
- 40 Le Van Hien, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang
- 91 Le Van Hien, Ngu Hanh Son District, Da Nang
- 47 Nguyen Van Thoai, Son Tra District, Da Nang
- See details of 13 branches at: http://dongtienbakery.com/cua-hang
Phone: 023 6384 7265 & 0914 055 111
Email: info@bahungbakery.com.vn
Website: http://bahungbakery.com.vn/
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/bahungbakery/

5. Bao Fam - Best Banh Bao in Da Nang City

Address: 562 - 564 Trung Nu Vuong, Hai Chau District, Da Nang
Phone: 0906 147 564
Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/baofamdanang/
Opening hours: 10:00 - 14:00 | 16:00 - 21:00

6. Bánh bao Lê Lợi - Best Banh Bao in Saigon, Vietnam

Address: 58 Lê Lợi, Ward 4, Gò Vấp District, HO CHI MINH CITY

7. Bánh bao Cả hai Cần - Best Banh Bao in Saigon, Vietnam

Address: 110 Hùng Vương, Ward 9, District 5, HO CHI MINH CITY

8. Cee Deli – Best Bánh Bao Shops Sài Gòn ngon

Address: 382/6 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Ward 5, District 3, HO CHI MINH CITY

9. Street Vendor - Approximately 155 Bùi Viện Street, in District 1, Ho Chi Minh

Banh Bao is very popular in most of tourist cities in Vietnam, from Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa, Phong Nha, Dong Hoi, Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Phu Quoc, Con Dao, Saigon, to Mekong Delta. So you can easily find the shops selling Banh Bao in many streets, sometimes just outside of your hotels/accomodation.

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