Baozi: Chinese Steamed Buns

China has many different types of popular food that can be enjoyed as street food, at home or in a restaurant all over the country. One such food is Baozi, a type of steamed bun, which comes in a variety of sizes and fillings. We take a look at the history of this bun, and how you can enjoy it at home!

Baozi can be traced back to around 1800 years ago, with the creation of the more simplistic mantou steamed bread dumpling. As legend states, the mantou dumpling was created by Zhuge Liang, who was leading the Shu Army to southern China. On the way they needed to pass a river, which had its own legends, stating that to cross 50 men would need to be sacrificed, with their heads thrown into the river to please the gods of the river. Not wanting to cause any more bloodshed, Liang made meat-filled buns shaped like a head using the meat from cows. These were thrown into the river in place of the intended sacrifices. Over the years these buns were adapted, making their way into dim sum in smaller sizes, as the Baozi people know and love now!

There are two main types of Baozi found in China; Dabao and Xiaobao. Dabao is the bigger of the two, at around 10cm across, and is often an individual portion served as a takeaway dish from a street food vendor. Xiaobao, on the other hand, are typically around 3cm across and usually come served in a steamer basket in portions of ten pieces at a restaurant. Typically, the Baozi is filled with tasty pork, although cities such as Shanghai will have a vegetarian option, such as tofu and spinach, on offer. While they can be eaten for any meal, these steamed buns are often enjoyed as a breakfast.

One of the most popular forms of Baozi is the Cha siu bao, which sees the steamed bun filled with the popular Cantonese style barbecue-flavour char siu pork. Another popular kind is xiaolongbao, which is more like a dumpling than a bao, as it has a much thinner dough, and contains meat in a broth. While most are savoury buns, filled with meat or seafood, there are a couple of sweeter bao, such as the Naihuangbao, which is filled with a sweet yellow custard.

The popularity and enjoyment of Baozi and similar steamed buns is not limited to China. There are similar dishes adopted in many countries in South East Asia, with the pau from Malaysia, bakpao from Indonesia, salapao from Thailand and siopao from the Philippines.

If you would like to try some of these delicious oriental buns, then check out the range we have available here at Oriental Mart!