Tasty, moist pork wrapped with half-soft, half-crispy dough, Shanghai Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包, pan-fried pork buns), traditionally served as breakfast, make a great party food.
Like many modern cities, Shanghai is full of wonderful choices when it comes to food. I had numerous scrumptious meals during my trips there.
The diversity and creativity of this giant city’s culinary profile was quite impressive. However, the most memorable meal I had there was at a humble, busy breakfast stall which served the local speciality: Sheng Jian Bao/生煎包 (pan-fried pork buns).
Sheng Jian Bao/生煎包 (aka Sheng Jian Mantou/生煎馒头) is a type of Chinese pan fried bao buns. The wrapper is made from yeast dough and the filling contains minced pork, spring onion and various seasonings. It’s quite small in size, similar to a golf ball or even smaller.
In Shanghai, Sheng Jian Bao/生煎包 (pan-fried pork buns) are traditionally served as breakfast at little cafes and street stalls. They are often cooked in a large pan in front of the queueing customers.
Truly fresh and super tasty, they are simply irresistible! The wrapper has a lovely soft texture with a golden, crispy base . The filling is very flavoursome and moist.
A few years ago, I got a chance to learn the technique of making Sheng Jian Bao/生煎包 (pan-fried pork buns) from a Shanghainese friend. I found it rather simple as it was very similar to how we cook Shui Jian Bao (水煎包, means water-fried buns literally, often vegetarian) in the North-west of China where I grew up. There are five steps to follow:
1. Make the dough. It’s a type of simple yeast dough used in many Chinese dishes, like the one I shared earlier: Spring onion flatbread.
2. Mix the filling. The minced pork is seasoned with spring onion, ginger, light soy sauce, rice wine, Sichuan pepper and sesame oil, etc. In order to make the cooked filling soft and moist, you need to gradually add quite a bit of water (or even better, chicken stock) to the mixture. Stir constantly until no more liquid can be seen.
3. Shape the buns. In this part, you might find it a bit intimidating to seal the buns. It is time consuming if you are not familiar with the folding technique. But I’m sure you’ll soon get the hang of it (please refer to the images above for instructions).
4. Fry the buns. Firstly, crisp the bottom part of the buns in hot oil. Then pour water into the pan and cover with a lid. The steam will help to cook through pretty quickly. A tip: You can either put the folded side facing up or down (As shown in the photos below, I cooked a panful in two ways). Just remember to securely seal the top if you prefer the latter to avoid any juice leaking from the filling.
5. Sprinkle the garnish. I particular like this final touch. Sprinkle finely chopped spring onion and toasted sesame seeds onto the buns at the very last stage of cooking. The remaining steam in the pan helps these sprinkles to stick onto the wrappers. Not only does it looks pretty, it also adds extra flavour to the buns.
I often make Shanghai Sheng Jian Bao/生煎包 (pan-fried pork buns) for parties. It’s a perfect finger food that’s loved by young and old. If you wish, prepare some dipping sauce on the side. For example, you can use the dressing recipes for dumplings, etc.. Don’t forget to add a dash of homemade chilli oil if you fancy spicing up the buns.
Other bao recipes
Looking for more bao recipes? here are some popular ones to try:
Sheng Jian Bao: Pan-fried pork buns (生煎包)
Ingredients
For the wrappers
- 250 g all-purpose flour - about 2 cups (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried instant yeast - see note 2
- 140 ml lukewarm water - about 9 tbsp
For the filling
- 250 g minced pork - 9oz
- 2 tablespoon spring onion - finely chopped
- ½ tablespoon ginger - minced
- 2 teaspoon light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch ground Sichuan pepper - or Chinese five-spice powder
- 5 tablespoon water - or chicken stock
For frying
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 240 ml water - about 1 cup
For garnishing
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Spring onion - finely chopped
Instructions
Prepare the dough
- In a large bowl, mix flour, yeast and sugar. Pour in water little by little while stirring with a pair of chopsticks (or a fork).
- Then knead with your hand until a smooth, elastic dough forms (see note 3). Cover the bowl with a wet kitchen towel.
- Leave to rise in a warm place until double in size. It will take between 40 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on the room temperature.
Mix the filling
- Put all the ingredients for the filling (except for water/stock) into a large bowl.
- Swirl constantly in the same direction while gradually adding water/stock spoon by spoon into the mixture.
Shape the buns
- Knead the dough on a floured work surface until it goes back to its original size.
- Divide it into 20 equal portions. Roll each piece into a disk-like wrapper.
- Hold the wrapper in the palm of one hand. Place some filling in the middle. Use the other hand to fold the edge anticlockwise by pinching with thumb and index finger until the bun is completely sealed (please refer to the images above).
- Leave to rest for 15 minutes before frying.
Fry the buns
- Heat up oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Place in the buns (see note 4 & 5).
- When the bottom part becomes golden brown, pour in water then cover with a lid.
- Uncover when the water evaporates completely. Sprinkle sesame seeds and spring onion over.
- Cook another 30 seconds or so to crisp up.
NOTES
NUTRITION
NUTRITION DISCLOSURE: Nutritional information on this website is provided as a courtesy to readers. It should be considered estimates. Please use your own brand nutritional values or your preferred nutrition calculator to double check against our estimates.
Hi! do you use all purpose flour or bread flour?
I always use all-purpose flour. It works very well!
Thank you!
Hi Wei!
This looks delicious!! I’m wondering if this recipe would work well with ground turkey as well?
Yes Jane. You may replace pork mince with ground turkey. Happy cooking!
Just made them. Your recipe was super! i will definitely make them again. I was thinking of trying different variations on the pork but this was really excellent. One question I had, would it be ok to keep in the refrigerator for a day (rather than freezer)? Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Elly for trying out my recipe! Yes, you can store cooked bao in the fridge. To reheat: Place them in a hot frying pan, pour in some water. Cover to cook until water is completely evaporated.
They look amazing!!! What sort of dipping sauce do you use for them?
Hi Nicole, I usually serve them with my homemade chilli oil and a drop of Chinese black rice vinegar. You can also find some inspirations in my post on “Six Dumpling Dipping Sauces“.
is there any substitute for yeast, like baking powder? i would like to make these but theres no yeast left to be bought ):
I’m afraid you can not replace yeast with baking powder for this recipe. There are two solutions: Use unleavened dumpling wrappers and the same filling. Fry them the same way. Or you could try making a sourdough starter to replace yeast.
Can you substitute honey for the sugar when making the dough?
Yes you can. Make sure you dissolve the honey in water then add to the flour.
I love the fillings! Very close to what I used to have in HK.
However, wonder if you can help me on the dough? It came out chewy, one thing I have done differently is – I let it rise for 8 hours and knead twice. Was it too long and too much kneading ?
Hi Mimi! 8 hours is definitely too long if you’ve followed my recipe. You need to reduce the yeast volume if you plan to leave the dough to rise for an extended time. Alternatively, you may leave the dough to rise in the fridge. The low temperature will slow down the fermentation process. Over kneading also causes chewy dough as it tightens the gluten network.
I made these this evening, substituting ground chicken thigh for pork, and they turned out great! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and for the amazing Instagram posts (especially the ones showing various ways to fold them).
You are welcome Adam! Chicken thigh is a good choice (Chicken breast would be too lean). Very happy to know that you have enjoyed my dumpling guide!
Oh my god!!! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve been craving these ever since I left Shanghai a year ago, and I can’t find them anywhere!
You are welcome Krystal. Happy cooking!
What would you suggest serving with these to make a meal?
In Chinese household, it’s very popular to serve stuffed buns with congee (粥, Zhou), aka Chinese rice porridge. Soup is another option, eg, Egg drop soup (蛋花汤), Hot & sour soup (酸辣汤), etc..To add a bit of “green” to the meal, you can also prepare a vegetable salad dish.