Baozi is a type of steamed bun or bread. Some of the most recognizable baozi are the fluffy white pork buns you can find in Chinese grocery stores or the golden brown sweet baked pork buns that you might get at dim sum. There are also buns with sweet fillings like red bean or lotus paste. There is a particularly interesting one with an egg custard filling that can have the consistency of runny egg yolk.
Baozi show up in other countries, under different names and are made with different cooking techniques and fillings.
Baozi can be made with a variety of dough recipes. If you aren't a stickler for tradition, you can also tried ready-made biscuit doughs or pizza doughs. Just avoid anything super-yeasty or sourdough-y. The buns tend to be mild in flavor and are sometimes lightly sweetened.
The fluffy white bao dough can be made with a recipe as simple as water, yeast, and all-purpose flour. (You may go for a Hong Kong flour or a Korean flour if you want something finer-milled.) Some recipes add milk and sugar, which may make for a softer white dough. Still others use both yeast and baking soda. Some add a little vinegar to make the dough whiter.
If you want to make a baked baozi, the dough requires milk, butter (or some form of fat), and eggs. An eggwash or a honey glaze helps make for a brown bun. A milk bread recipe would be a good candidate.
There is a variety of baozi that is more like a dumpling. This includes the famous XLB (xiao long bao) soup dumplings and Tibetan momos. In this case, the dough is probably just flour and water.
Once the dough has been well kneaded, you just make them into small balls, which you will later flatten and roll out. Usually, you roll out from the center outwards, trying for a thickish center and thinner edges.
Traditionally, we put baozi on a small square of wax paper or parchment paper and steam for about 20 minutes. Sometimes the filling is precooked. Sometimes, it is not. It is essential that the filling be fully cooked by the time the dough finishes cooking. Additionally, Steamed buns are really soft and moist just out of the steamer, but they can become dry after they cool down. A juicy, flavorful filling will make all the difference.
Buns can also be baked. It usually requires a different dough and an eggwash or some kind of glaze to get it nice and brown. It's probably easiest to bake them in a muffin pan using cupcake liners. See relevant recipe for times and temperatures.
There is a Shanghai style of cooking the buns that involves frying and then steaming them.
- Mantou (no filling)
- This is basically like a steamed dinner roll. This can be formed into a ball and steamed like in this video. Or it can be made by rolling out the dough flat and then rolling it up like a jelly roll. The jelly roll is then sliced and the individual slices are steamed. (See this video) This can be pretty nice fried and drizzled with sweetened condensed milk.
- Guo bao (no filling)
- This is made by rolling out the dough into an oval, and then folding it in half, after lighly oiling the surface. (See this video by Raymond Chen). After the guo bao has been steamed, it can be unfolded and stuffed with a variety of fillings to make a delightful sandwich or soft taco. In New York and London, this has become a popular Asian fusion dish. In London, this style is called Hirata buns after a Japanese chef popularized it in New York at a restaurant called Ippudo. The key appears to be to layer a flavorful soft protein with crisp, sweet and sour vegetables or greens and some sauce. Garnish with something crunchy. Be inspired by this Google image search
- Chinese and Vietnamese bao (uncooked fillings)
- The fillings are similar and are often pork-based, though there are some that use ground chicken. This is often mixed with wood ear mushroom and vermicelli noodles. There are also vegetarian varieties. The Chinese version has a more homogenous filling. The Vietnamese version will include a piece of egg and sausage.
- Cha siu bao (Cantonese barbeque pork bun)
- This is what you will see at dim sum, either steamed or baked. Despite being a savory dish, it is quite sweet.
- Wang mandu (Korean steamed bun)
- The filling appears to be pre-cooked and a little on the bland side because it is meant to be eaten with a dipping sauce.
- Xiao Long Bao (soup dumpling)
- This uses an unleavened dough to make the wrappers. It is wrapped similar to baozi with the pleating and twisting to make a little purse. The secret to soup dumplings is to make a gelatinous broth that is mostly solid when refrigerated. Combine it with the rest of your filling. Make sure to keep things cold when assembling your dumplings, and make sure there are no holes in the final product.
- Chicken curry pau (Malaysian style)
- Judging by this recipe, you just take normal chicken curry and wrap it in the dough. One could possibly do this with any suitable leftover.
- Momos (Tibetan style dumplings)
- This also uses a dumpling dough. The momos can be made to look like miniature bao, or they can be folded into the familiar crescent-moon dumpling shape. It has a variety of fillings. The momos are usually dipped into some tomato-based sauce. Here is a nice recipe
- Naihuangbaozi aka Lai Wong Bao (egg yolk custard steamed bun)
- This is a special dim sum bun. See video for how to make it and what it looks like when the "yolk" runs. Or this recipe by Andrea Nguyen for more background and recipe options.
- Doushou bao (red bean paste bun)
- This recipe says it all.