Steamed Buns 3 INGREDIENT SIOPAO FILLING RECIPE (2024)

FAQs

Why is my steamed buns not fluffy? ›

Any rush of cool air could potentially make the buns collapse. If you're making fluffy yeasted buns, let the buns sit covered in the steamer for an extra 5 minutes after the heat has been turned off. This resting time is crucial. If you open the lid too quickly, the cool air from outside might deflate the buns.

Siopao (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈʃopaʊ]), is a Philippine steamed bun with various fillings. It is the indigenized version of the Fujianese baozi, introduced to the Philippines by Hokkien immigrants during the Spanish colonial period.

There's a hack to make it possible to create the perfect dish. Just tightly wrap a clean kitchen towel around your traditional metal steamer lid. It will absorb the condensation, protecting your bao buns from excess moisture just like a bamboo option would.

If your dinner rolls aren't fluffy it could be because of one of two reasons. Either, you added too much flour or you possibly used all bread flour. Alternately, not giving your dinner rolls enough time to proof and get puffy before baking could yield dense rolls.

In order to get white bao, many Chinese American cooks use low-gluten (low-protein), bleached cake flour for their bao dough; cake flour is milled from soft wheat and has 8 to 10% gluten/protein. To make up for the flour's lack of gluten a touch of vinegar is added to result in more chewy dough.

This is my recipe for the the dough for the popular Filipino steamed bun with chicken and pork filling (link to recipe in footnotes).

12 hours in the hot Philippines weather if left unrefrigerated and if you want optimum flavor. Otherwise refrigerate for up to 5 days.

1 pack Frozen Asado Siopao (15pcs/pack). Steam for 20-25 minutes, adjust time according to equipment used. Best when defrosted for at least 10 minutes before steaming.

Place frozen Buns into a lightly oiled steamer and cover. Steam the Buns over boiling water for approx. 15 minutes. Buns are cooked when the meat inside is steaming hot.

Should you refrigerate steamed buns? ›

You can store the steamed buns in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in a tightly sealed ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. To reheat the refrigerated buns, you can place the buns on a plate and cover them with a layer of wet paper towels, then heat them up in the microwave.

Each bun is placed on a rectangular piece of wax paper in a steamer and proofed for 45 minutes (32 °C, 82% RH). The buns are then steamed for about 10 minutes or until fully cooked. Whichever method is used for preparing the dough, steaming remains the most difficult part of siopao production.

Because siopao asado can be seen as a kind of dimsum, it would also be good to eat with other dimsum and dumplings, and street food inspired by our Chinese influences. Many people also enjoy siopao asado with pork siomai, another dimsum packed with flavor and served with a delicious toyomansi mix.

Siopao can be a satisfying and flavorful snack or meal, but it's important to note that it is typically steamed and not fried, which can make it a healthier option compared to other types of buns or pastries. However, the nutritional content can vary based on the filling and the specific ingredients used in the dough.

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

99% of the time this happens, the problem lies with the yeast used. The quality might be compromised, or you might have applied it incorrectly, or under poor cooking conditions. Read on for why your yeast is not working as it should and what you can do to avoid it.