Siopao
Sep 30th, 2008 by Robert Colinares | 36,850 Views | Print Post
Siopao is another dish that Filipinos adopted from the Chinese and it became very popular and a favorite among many. Siopao is also called “Salapao” in Thailand, “Baozi” in China, “Pau” in Hong Kong, or simply known as “Steamed Buns” in English. Basically, it is a steamed bun filled with a savory meat filling.
Back when I was in the Philippines this was one of my favorite snacks or meals. It does not require utensils to eat and it can be consumed on the go. That’s one of the reasons Siopao can easily be found on the sidewalk at vendors or eateries (Turo-Turo). Whenever I got here in the U.S.
I sort of forgot about Siopao and needless to say I had not had it in a long time until I came across it on the Internet while browsing around. The last time I ate Siopao was when my sister in-law made one, but she made it out of mix found in many international grocery stores. It was ok, but I wanted to make mine from scratch. So I started looking for recipes on the web and studied theirs so I could try and make my own version while my mouth was watering at the same time. As many of us know when your looking for recipes online a lot of the recipes are copied from someone else’s and most of them have not even tried the recipes. Often enough you ask yourself a question, “does this person who posted this recipe even know how to cook at all?” Probably not! They obviously don’t have any business having a recipe site whatsoever. I am not a professional chef or cook, but when I share my recipes with others I can assure you that I have cooked it first then eaten the dish myself and made certain adjustments until I was totally satisfied with it. Otherwise I would not even think of posting the recipe. I write my own recipes based on how exactly I cooked it. Anyway let’s look at the recipe and start steaming… Yum!..
One piece of advice is that you don’t try to make this if your hungry because it does take a little time and patience to get the final product, but it is very rewarding. I asked my American wife to try it and she said it was ok, but she would rather have ham and cheese for stuffing. I told her this is Siopao, not Hot Pockets. I did mention before that she is picky right? Anyway it’s more Siopao for me, 12 Siopao to be exact, and I was the only one here to eat all of it.
For the Dough
Ingredients:
3 Cups of all-purpose flour
1 Packet active dry yeast
1 ½ Cup of luke warm water
½ Cup white sugar
½ Cup shortening (Crisco)
1 Tbs. salt
Food coloring (red) for flavor identification
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl dissolve yeast in luke warm water, add sugar, salt, and 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour. Beat thoroughly until you have the consistency of a soft sponge. Cover loosely with seran wrap, set aside, and let it rise for 30 minutes. Add shortening, (Crisco) mix well, and then add the remaining ½ cup of all-purpose flour. Knead until smooth. On a flat surface, counter top or table top, dust surface with flour and roll the dough to form a 2 in. tube. Keep adding flour if needed to avoid the dough from sticking to the surface and to your hands. After forming the dough into a 2 in. tube, cut dough with a sharp knife using a cutting board so that you have 2×2 in. pieces. Place on a tray, line with wax paper, and dust with flour. Set aside.
For the Filling
Ingredients:
1 ½ Lbs. Pork or Chicken cut in ¼ in. cubes
4 Cloves of garlic smashed
1 Small onion diced
3 Tbs. Soy sauce
3 Tbs. Hoisin sauce
2 Tbs. Oyster sauce
½ Cup of water
4 Tbs. Brown sugar
½ Tbs. Ground black pepper
1 Tsp. MSG (optional)
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
2 Tbs. Asian sesame oil
2 Tbs. Shortening (Crisco) for sautéing
6 Hard-boiled eggs
Directions:
In a large frying pan heat and sauté 2 Tbs. of shortening over medium heat. Next sauté garlic until golden brown, add onions and cook until onions hit the shiny stage. Then add meat, (pork or chicken) sauté it for 2 minutes, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes over medium low heat.
In a mean while, mix cornstarch in a small bowl with ½ cup of water until totally dissolved, set aside.
After five minutes remove cover, stir the meat, and add the following: soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch-water mixture, and the brown sugar. Then season it with msg, black pepper, and sesame oil. Stir well and bring to a boil. Let it simmer uncovered for another 5 minutes on low heat while stirring occasionally. Remove pan from the heat and let it totally cool.
Take the dough cut in 2×2 in. pieces and dust each one with flour. Next roll each individual piece into a ball with your hands and lay the rounded dough onto a flat surface. Again dust with flour. Using a rolling pin flatten the dough to 3/8 of an inch thick or about 5 inches in diameter.
Slice hard-boiled eggs crosswise and carefully arrange 3 slices at a time onto the center of the rolled-flattened dough. Then spoon about one spoonful of pork or chicken filling onto the center of the dough. Pull edges of the dough together and twist together firmly. Using wax paper cut in 4×4 inch pieces, place buns on there upside down so the smooth side is up on the wax paper. Steam Siopao for 25 minutes per batch. Enjoy your Siopao and if you made a little too many to be consumed at one time, relax. You can freeze these buns and re-steam them for 15 minutes later. Just make sure you thaw it out first.
Hi,
I’ve tried your recipe of Pork Barbecue and Beef with Broccoli and they taste awesome.. Thanks.. Just wondering though if you know how to make the sauce for the siopao.. This is the sauce besides the one that’s already inside the siopao when you cooked.. Remember in the Philippines, they have it in bottles just in case you want more.. haven’t found them here in the US yet.. Also do you know how to make fishball sauce? Not the chili sauce being used now but the real fishball sauce with brownish color used by vendors in the streets in the Philippines… Thanks
Filipino Siopao is the best siopao amongst Siopaos. When I was in college back in PI, I had to have one as my snack. I bought frozen ones(not made in the Philippines) from the Asian store, after steaming one of them, I gave the rest to my outdoor cats. Never made it, but I will definitely try your recipe. I’m almost positive that it’s delicious because of your comment “I am not a professional chef or cook, but when I share my recipes with others I can assure you that I have cooked it first then eaten the dish myself and made certain adjustments until I was totally satisfied with it. Otherwise I would not even think of posting the recipe” Love that comment because I am the same way. Keep up the good work
Hi,
Can you also post an article on how to make a fried siopao? is it simply frying a regular siopao or their is something special about it?
You can also email me if you don’t mind. mareyes123@yahoo.com.ph
Tnx.
mark
Mark,
I never heard of Siopao being fried before. I will try to look it up see what a can fine out. Sorry!
-Robert
Alex,
As a matter of fact, I do have to recipe for the Siopao Sauce, I just need to get around it and post it here. I’ve been pretty busy for last few months now and I do need to post more recipe on this site. Anyway, thank you for your positive comments!
-Robert
Espie,
Thank you for the compliments. I must admit, I really like the Fillings of this recipe, but the Dough needs a little tweeking. I like the bleach white dough, I just need to try different types of flour. Next time, I will try rice flour. I do need to get a better mixer though, I like to have the big Kitchen Aide, with the dough hook (I haven’t figure out yet, how am I going to convince my wife to spend four hundred dollars on a mixer). Don’t try mixing this dough with a hand mixer, you’ll regret it. I know this from experience. Again, thank you for the compliments. God Bless!
-Robert
Ok Robert. I’m looking forward for the fried siopao recipe.
Thanks.
-Mark
Hi Robert,
I just found out the their is no special recipe or procedure for fried siopao. It is just frying the bottom part of the siopao. hehehe
Thanks anyway.
Mark
hi robert
what kind of a steamer do you use?
any kind or the bamboo made ones
thanks
Georgiagook,
What I use for steamer is the aluminum ones. If you prefer the Bamboo kind that’s perfectly fine too. Goodluck!
-Robert
Robert,
Would you share your Caldereta recipe?
Thanks,
Espie
What a great recipe! I’ve always wanted to know how to make this!
hi to all,
This is a lovely recipe, I wanted to try to make siopao but i cant find crisco here in EU, any alternative pls?
Thanks in advance.
Anne
gud day. anybody who knows how to make sauce for siopao? please help me.thanks
hi
gud day, iv’e tried to make siopao but i wonder why it looks likes yellowish?because i know that siopao should be white in color but mine became yellow , can u help me with this?
hi! i too am looking for the perfect siopao recipe. this is my first time on your site—would love to try your other recipes too:) My question is: how sticky was your dough, if at all, after rising? I find that if I keep dusting with flour to prevent sticking, it adds a little too much and results in a dense siopao:( Advice?
Hi,
You might want to drop a couple tbsp of vinegar to your boiling water when steaming the bun to have a whitish bun. I got this tip from the ready made bun flour I bought from the asian grocery and it works for me.
Hi Mr Robert,
Salamat sa recipe ng Siopao.gumawa ako kanina at super ung kinalabasan wow sarap!thnks
greeting’s from Germany!!!
I noticed that you call for 1 tbs salt in the dough ingredients, but do not see it being used. Is this supposed to be added or something that should not be in the recipe??
Thompson,
My apology. Yes add the salt along with the sugar, water, and flour.
-Robert
Thanks for the information. I am a lover of the Filipino version of siopao, even the ones they serve at 7/11 are pretty decent if you are in a hurry.
I never had that, I’m curious to try. I like that you write a bit about all food and that it is not just recipes.
Hello. I wanted to tell you that I can not thank you enough for putting this recipe on your blog. I have been searching for this recipe I kid you not, for 11 years. I tried my first siopao adan when I was pregnant because a coworker of mine (from the Phillippines) brought them in for me to eat. He thought I was too skinny and needed to eat more. I loved them from the first bite and they helped to curb morning sickness, I swear by it. I went from too skinny to being too big in no time at all. In all these years I never forgotten them. So a BIG thank you for posting this.
yes there’s a special recipe for fried siopao.. just keep on searching.. in philippines its fried siopao, but in other country they have other name for that.. it took a lot of searching before i found the recipe for fried siopao..Napasigaw talaga ako sa tuwa ng makita ko yung recipe..since then i always cook that special siopao…here are tips:
1. the name is not fried siopao kaya nahihirapan kayong magsearch.. kapag nalaman nyo na yung real name nito Wow tuloy tuloy na.. kabikabila ang recipe sa internet…
2. they use less sugar for the dough
3. the recipe dont use lard or shortening.. thats why its so cheap compare to other siopao in philippines…
But thats not the main secret!!! the secret is how they cook the siopao… you’ll be surprise.. Good luck everyone..
thanks for sharing your recipes. they are all “doable” and delicious.
the fried siopao is called fried baozi or sheng jian bao. There are so many recipes on the net so just choose the best one that works for you guys.