Last year Lion and Bear fell in love with the animated film Abominable. They love the adorable Yeti, the great music, fun characters, and of course – the scenes of Yi’s grandmother Nai Nai in the kitchen making pork buns!

Almost from the very first viewing Lion has been asking if we can have pork buns – and so after stalling (because I have never made them before), doing some research, & watching Emmymade’s YouTube video a few times (I love Emmymade!)- we finally made our very first batch of Bao “pork” buns. And my oh my were they a big hit! Lion went back for seconds and tried for thirds – but alas, in the end his eyes were bigger than his stomach.

Of course – in true Wee Lairds Kitchen fashion we did make a few substitutions. I am unfortunately allergic to sea food and so we substituted soy sauce for the oyster sauce. As well, as a result of the pandemic, the market was out of ground pork – so I substituted ground chicken. Other wise, we followed the recipe and found it to be incredibly delicious!

Bao (Pork Buns)

Dough

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp yeast
• 300-500mL water ( just enough to make the dough come together

Filling

• 1 lb ground meat (pork or poultry)
• 1 lb shredded napa cabbage
• 1 large carrot shredded
• 3 green onions diced
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp soy sauce or oyster sauce
• 2 tsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp Chinese chicken bouillon
• S&P

Combine flour, yeast and water and kneed briefly until it forms a dough then set aside to rest for 2 hours. Dough should double in size during this time.

For filling – I cooked all of the meat through as I was using ground chicken, then I allowed it to cool before I combined it with all other filling ingredients and tossed to combine.

Using the pinwheel technique roll out dough, cut small circles and then gently press or roll dough flat. Stuff each circle generously and then using your thumb and index finger gently gather and pinch the edges of your dough to create pleats. Use your other thumb to gently press filling into dough as you gather your pleats to create the classic Bao shape. Give a gentle twist at the end and then place your bao onto a parchment or cabbage leaf lined steamer basket. Steam for 20 minutes – make sure to watch your water level and add water as needed. Remove from heat and serve warm.

We had a blast making these delicious Bao, and we hope you’ll give it a try! If you do – please like and respond with how things turned out for you! From all of us here in the Wee Laird’s Kitchen we wish you good health and happy cooking!