Pan-Fried Pork Buns (Sheng Jian Bao)
Crispy on the Outside, Juicy on the Inside
Cantonese style sheng jian bao are exquisitely made with crispy skin and lots of juices and tasty meat inside. Compared to Shanghai pan-fried pork buns, the Cantonese ones have thicker dough skin and use more vegetable than meat ingredients for the filling. Also, Cantonese sheng jian bao don't add sesame seeds on top, and both sides are pressed flat and fried crispy golden brown, giving them an almost cylindrical shape.
Origin & Transformation of Sheng Jian Bao
Pan-fried pork buns, or Sheng Jian Bao, first appeared in Shanghai over 100 years ago. At that time, Shanghai teahouses served – aside from tea – pan-fried mantou. When people weren't at one of these teahouses, they still wanted some dim sum snacks in place of a full meal. Thus, sheng jian bao were invented to fill this need, and appeared as a sort of "street food" away from the teahouses.
As their popularity grew, the size of sheng jian bao also grew, as did the price for a single bun. Sheng jian bao then had lots of dough and meat, and were filled with fresh, hot soup juice. There is a certain amount of skill required in ensuring that none of the juice leaks out of the bun. And diners who are not used to eating pan-fried pork buns, or those eating in too much of a hurry, might have their tongues burned by the hot soup inside.
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Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
- 7 ounces (200 grams) streaky pork
- 1 ounce (20 grams) small dried shrimp
Seasonings
- 0.7 ounce (20 grams) chopped green onion
- 1 teaspoon (3 grams) yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) salt
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) chicken bouillon
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salad dressing
- sesame oil and water-starch solution to taste
Cooking Directions
Preparations
- Wash green onions and chop them up. Wash streaky pork and mince. Wash small dried shrimp, then strain water out.
How to make Sheng Jian Bao filling
- Place green onions, streaky pork, and small dried shrimp into container. Add ground pepper, white sugar, salt, chicken bouillon, sesame oil, and light soy sauce. Stir evenly. Add a bit of water-starch solution. Stir vigorously in one direction, thus making the filling.
How to make Sheng Jian Bao dough
- Add yeast, salad dressing, white sugar, and salt to all-purpose flour. Use chopsticks to stir evenly in one direction until you create a dough with a smooth surface. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to sit and ferment for approximately 40 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
How to make Sheng Jian Bao skins
- Knead dough into long strips of equal size, about 0.35 ounce each. After kneading them into circular shapes, press them flat. Roll them into circular dough skins of reasonable thickness.
How to assemble Sheng Jian Bao
- Add an appropriate amount of filling to the center of each dough skin. Use the index fingers and thumbs of both hands to pinch the edges of the dough skin, moving counter-clockwise to press creases into the dough. Repeat this process until the bun is sealed, forming the final shape of the bun.
Put it all together
- Heat a pot. Add an appropriate amount of cooking oil. Add uncooked buns. Cook over low heat until the bottoms of the buns are golden brown. Flip over each bun one by one, and brown the other sides.
- Add a bit of water (no higher than 1/3 of the height of each bun). Cover pot and fry for approximatelymately 7 minutes. Remove lid and turn heat on high. Cook until water is completely evaporated.
- Tip: Only add the water after the buns are fully formed. Adding the water too early will have an adverse effect on the taste and appearance of the buns.