Shengjian Bao

Name: Shengjian Bao
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: Makes 12 buns
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour, 1 tsp (4 g) instant yeast, 1 tbsp (12 g) sugar, ½ tsp (2 g) baking powder; 160 ml / 163 g warm water (or the milk's richer version), plus more at the dough's asking; The dough kneaded 8 minutes to a smooth, soft ball, risen 1 hour to its doubled, and rested 15 minutes at the shaping's board; 300 g fatty pork mince (the 70/30); 100 g of the aspic's dice (the soup dumpling record's own method: 100 ml of the jellied stock, diced fine); 1 tbsp (15 g) grated ginger, 2 scallions' whites, minced; 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy, 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing, 1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil; 1 tsp (5 g) sugar, ½ tsp (2 g) salt, 1 g white pepper; 2 tbsp (30 ml) neutral oil, for the pan's first stage; The flour-water slurry: 1 tbsp (10 g) flour in 150 ml / 150 g water; The lid, for the steam's stage; The finish: 1 tbsp (10 g) butter or the oil's fresh spoon, 2 tbsp (15 g) sesame seeds and 3 scallions' greens, sliced

Chinese · Hard · Makes 12 buns

The Shanghai street canon's pan-fried bun and the potsticker's yeasted cousin: a fluffy, slightly sweet dough wrapper around a pork-and-aspic filling (the soup dumpling's own juicy trick, run at the bun's scale), pleated and pan-fried on its flat base to a golden crisp while its top steams to the bun's fluffy dome — the shengjian bao ("raw-fried bun") that the Shanghai breakfast street eats by the dozen, with the soup's careful bite and the bun's two textures (the crisp base and the pillowed crown) its whole identity.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The dough — the yeasted wrapper

The filling — the aspic's juicy trick

The pan-fry — the three-stage cook

- The dough's rise (1 hour to the doubled, at the kitchen's warmth), the filling's mix and its chill (the aspic's cold-chain law — the soup dumpling record taught it), and the slurry and toppings at the pan's station.

Step 1. Shape — the bun's pleated round. The risen dough divided to 12 (about 35 g each), each rolled to a 7 cm round (thicker than the potsticker's wrapper — the bun's own argument), and filled with a generous spoon of the chilled filling (about 25 g). The bun's crown pleated closed in the centre-topknot style (the bun's own shape — the closed crown, unlike the potsticker's half-moon), and the base's flat circle set on the floured tray. Checkpoint — each shaped bun is a round-bellied dome with its closed crown — the base's flat circle the pan-fry's contact, and the filling's aspic-diced mound at its cold centre. The buns rest 15 minutes at the board (the dough's second, brief rise — the fluffy's own insurance).

Step 2. The fry — the golden base, 3 minutes. The oil's film in the wide, lidded pan at the medium heat, the buns set in their flat bases (close-packed in rings), and fried undisturbed 3 minutes to the base's deep golden shell. Checkpoint — the buns' bases are deep gold and firmly crusted (the potsticker record's own law), and the buns themselves puffed a shade at the heat — the dough's rise continuing at the pan's warmth.

Step 3. The steam — the slurry's pour and the lid's 10 minutes. The slurry whisked and poured around the pan's edge, the lid on immediately, and the steam's 10 minutes at the medium heat (the sealed pan's interior at a genuine 100 °C) — the buns' crowns cooking in the sealed steam's circle while their bases continue their crisp. Checkpoint — at 10 minutes, the slurry's water has gone to the steam (the buns' crowns fluffy and cooked — the yeasted dough's risen argument), and the flour's residue lacing the pan's base at the buns' feet.

Step 4. The finish — the sesame and the scallion at the last minute. The lid off, the butter or the oil's fresh spoon dropped in around the buns' edges, and the sesame seeds and the scallion greens scattered over the crowns — the final minute's uncovered heat crisping the lace and toasting the sesame at the pan's raised temperature. Checkpoint — the eating test: the first bun's bite (the soup's careful nibble first — the aspic's melted broth releasing at the crown's puncture, the soup dumpling's own ritual run at the bun's scale), then the whole — the base's crisp, the crown's fluffy, the filling's juicy, and the sesame's toast — the Shanghai street canon's pan-fried bun, complete at the home pan. Chef’s Note — the slurry's lesser measure (150 ml against the potsticker's 200) is the bun's own adaptation: the yeasted dough's thicker wrapper absorbs the steam's moisture at a slower rate than the potsticker's thin sheet, and the lesser slurry's 10-minute stage delivers the crowns' cooking without the base's over-softening at the extra liquid's sustained steam. The lace's formation (the flour's residue at the pan's base) runs the same doctrine at the bun's scale, and the butter's or the oil's fresh spoon at the final minute the lace's crisping's own insurance.

Doneness & Quality Checkpoints

The dough: kneaded, risen, and shaped at the thicker wrapper — the fluffy's own argument.
The filling: the aspic's dice kept cold — the soup's own law.
The three-stage pan: the golden base, the 10-minute steam, the sesame's final toast.

Finish & Plate

The pan's sheet to the table or the buns plated crown-up with the lace beneath — the Shanghai street's own presentation, and the vinegar's dip at the side. The leftover re-crisps 5 minutes in the covered pan; the uncooked buns freeze 2 months.

Shengjian Bao

Prep: 1 hour, plus 1 hour 30 minutes rising · Cook: 15 minutes · Total: About 2 hours 45 minutes · Makes 12 buns

Ingredients

The dough — the yeasted wrapper

300 g plain flour, 1 tsp (4 g) instant yeast, 1 tbsp (12 g) sugar, ½ tsp (2 g) baking powder
160 ml / 163 g warm water (or the milk's richer version), plus more at the dough's asking
The dough kneaded 8 minutes to a smooth, soft ball, risen 1 hour to its doubled, and rested 15 minutes at the shaping's board

The filling — the aspic's juicy trick

300 g fatty pork mince (the 70/30)
100 g of the aspic's dice (the soup dumpling record's own method: 100 ml of the jellied stock, diced fine)
1 tbsp (15 g) grated ginger, 2 scallions' whites, minced
1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy, 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing, 1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil
1 tsp (5 g) sugar, ½ tsp (2 g) salt, 1 g white pepper

The pan-fry — the three-stage cook

2 tbsp (30 ml) neutral oil, for the pan's first stage
The flour-water slurry: 1 tbsp (10 g) flour in 150 ml / 150 g water
The lid, for the steam's stage
The finish: 1 tbsp (10 g) butter or the oil's fresh spoon, 2 tbsp (15 g) sesame seeds and 3 scallions' greens, sliced

Instructions

Shape — the bun's pleated round. The risen dough divided to 12 (about 35 g each), each rolled to a 7 cm round (thicker than the potsticker's wrapper — the bun's own argument), and filled with a generous spoon of the chilled filling (about 25 g). The bun's crown pleated closed in the centre-topknot style (the bun's own shape — the closed crown, unlike the potsticker's half-moon), and the base's flat circle set on the floured tray. Checkpoint — each shaped bun is a round-bellied dome with its closed crown — the base's flat circle the pan-fry's contact, and the filling's aspic-diced mound at its cold centre. The buns rest 15 minutes at the board (the dough's second, brief rise — the fluffy's own insurance).
The fry — the golden base, 3 minutes. The oil's film in the wide, lidded pan at the medium heat, the buns set in their flat bases (close-packed in rings), and fried undisturbed 3 minutes to the base's deep golden shell. Checkpoint — the buns' bases are deep gold and firmly crusted (the potsticker record's own law), and the buns themselves puffed a shade at the heat — the dough's rise continuing at the pan's warmth.
The steam — the slurry's pour and the lid's 10 minutes. The slurry whisked and poured around the pan's edge, the lid on immediately, and the steam's 10 minutes at the medium heat (the sealed pan's interior at a genuine 100 °C) — the buns' crowns cooking in the sealed steam's circle while their bases continue their crisp. Checkpoint — at 10 minutes, the slurry's water has gone to the steam (the buns' crowns fluffy and cooked — the yeasted dough's risen argument), and the flour's residue lacing the pan's base at the buns' feet.
The finish — the sesame and the scallion at the last minute. The lid off, the butter or the oil's fresh spoon dropped in around the buns' edges, and the sesame seeds and the scallion greens scattered over the crowns — the final minute's uncovered heat crisping the lace and toasting the sesame at the pan's raised temperature. Checkpoint — the eating test: the first bun's bite (the soup's careful nibble first — the aspic's melted broth releasing at the crown's puncture, the soup dumpling's own ritual run at the bun's scale), then the whole — the base's crisp, the crown's fluffy, the filling's juicy, and the sesame's toast — the Shanghai street canon's pan-fried bun, complete at the home pan.

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The filled, uncooked buns hold 24 hours refrigerated and freeze 2 months (cooked from frozen at +4 minutes' steam). The crab-meat version and the vegetable's own run this master's triple doctrine. - The canon's seat: the dumpling canon's fusion summit — the potsticker's pan, the soup dumpling's aspic, and the bao's dough — at the Shanghai street's most beloved bun.