This is my Cheat Bao (Bun) Recipe and it is delicious. Filled with beef, basil, lemongrass, and garlic, it's full of flavour and aromatics. You're going to love it!
Watch How to Make It:
About This Cheat Bao (Bun) Recipe
Steamed buns have always been a labour of love. But a long labour. They take around 4 hours to make due to the proving time of the dough. A classic bao dough includes yeast...hence the proving. However, I have found a way around this that gives you a bready dough (I admit, not as bready and bouncy as a classic steamed bao), that takes a fraction of the time to make.
If you're a fan of dumplings, then you've got to try out my pan-fried lemongrass beef dumplings, they're so good!
What You'll Need For This Recipe
For the almighty dough, you'll need only two ingredients: self-raising flour, and greek yoghurt.
For the bao filling, you'll need the following:
- Beef mince
- Lemongrass
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Basil
- Sesame oil
- Soy sauce
- Sugar
- Black pepper
I cannot explain the aromatics of this recipe. You want to buy beef mince that is quite high in fat (I bought 20%), as you want that juicy filling. These are actually very simple to make. Especially, if you're comparing them to traditional steamed buns. I hope you give them a go, and if you do, leave a comment or DM me on Instagram!
Fancy Making Some More Dumplings?
Cheat Bao (Bun) Recipe
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 200g self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
- 180g greek yoghurt
For The Filling
- 400g beef mince (20% fat)
- 1 lemongrass stalk, bashed (to release aromatics) and finely chopped
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Handful of basil, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dough in a large bowl. Combine the self-raising flour and the greek yoghurt. Stir using chopsticks or a wooden spoon. Then, knead for 5 minutes until you have a bouncy, soft dough. Cover with cling film and set aside for 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients. Gently stir with chopsticks or your hands and then set aside.
- Get your dough and pierce it in the middle with your finger. Form a donut and then slice the donut to make a log (see my video on Instagram for reference). Slice your dough log into 10 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a circular wrapper that is around ½ cm thick and 3 inches in diameter. Sprinkle with flour to keep them from sticking.
- Place a spoonful of the filling into the center of the wrapper and seal in an anticlockwise motion (see my video for help on my Instagram). Repeat this step for all the wrappers.
- Place your dumplings onto little pieces of parchment paper, and then place them in your steamer. Steam for 10-15 minutes and then remove. You can either eat them now, or continue onto the next step to give your dumplings a crispy bottom!
- Grab a pan, place it on medium heat, and drizzle with oil. Add in your dumplings face up and fry for 4 minutes until the underside of the dumpling is golden and crispy. Remove from the pan and serve up while warm. Enjoy!
Mira
Wow so
Good and easy! I made them w vegan mince!
myriadrecipes
That's so great to hear! Love it! x
David
Hi,
I made the recipe and it came out much better than I thought the dough was very good, for filling i went with mince pork and shrimp with the same seasoning and it was absolutely delicious!
myriadrecipes
Hey! Thank you for your comment, I'm so glad you liked them!
Judith Franck
I made a half batch this weekend and we loved them. I added some chopped fresh ginger because I had some and I used a différent kind of yoghurt because I didn't have greak. It was very lean beef so it was a little dry but I'll know for next time I can promise there will be a next time (and I need to practice - I was too ashamed to photograph them!).
Keep on cooking!
Judith
myriadrecipes
Awh, thank you for your comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Oh please do send me pictures of you making them, I love receiving photos of remakes! X
Honey
Hi, do you cook the beef/filling before you steam?
Emily Roz
Hey! Nope, just add them into the bao raw. The steaming process cooks them perfectly! x
Julia
This is absolutely fabulous! We have now cooked it a few times already and will try with a vegan mince alternative next.
Question though: would it work to prepare the buns a day earlier (incl. steaming) and only throw them in the pan on the next day?
Emily Roz
Thrilled to hear you guys love them, they're a bit moreish aren't they? ❤️ If you're going to be really short on time (on the day of eating), then you can definitely prepare them the day before (incl. steaming), I'd just recommend steaming them for another 3-5 minutes to heat them up on the day you plan to eat them. Hope that helps!! Em xx
Ari
Delicious
Fiona
I tried those on the weekend and I absolutely love them! I now want to eat them all the time, and I was wondering if it's possible to freeze them at some point, either before or after steaming?
Emily Roz
Yaaay I'm so glad you liked them Fiona!! You can freeze them after steaming, and then to reheat, simply re-steam them for a few minutes until piping hot! 🙂