Siopao (sho-pow) is another popular Filipino snack. They are fluffy steamed buns that are filled with a sweet and savory meat-like filling, called Asado. It’s one of the best Filipino savory snacks! And this dish is very nostalgic to me, it takes me back to the Philippines and also Guam, my home. This is pretty close to the real thing, and if you don’t believe me, it looks like you gotta just try it for yourself. You won’t regret it, just trust me! It’s the perfect all-day snack because I personally ate these for breakfast, lunch, snack, and even dinner. And if you’re like me, you would probably do the same!
Steamed buns are a very popular thing around Asia, although they may be called something different in every country. Siopao was introduced to the Filipinos by the Chinese, I mean it’s pretty similar to their Char Siu Bao (Pork Steamed Buns). The Asado filling is a type of braised meat, it was inspired by the Spanish Asado, however, the flavors are more similar to that of the Chinese braised meat. Since the Philippines has both Chinese and Spanish influence, it made sense that they made their own style of the steamed bun.
This was another dish that my mom would always bring home after work. She would often stop by the Filipino bakeries before coming home and buy my brother and I a few of these to eat. Sometimes, I would just eat these for dinner because it’s just that good. And even when I lived in the Philippines for college, I would buy some whenever I craved for it because siopao is so widely available in almost every bakery. Now that I live in Virginia, I don’t have this accessible to me, especially a vegan one, I had to make it for myself. And let me tell you, the homemade stuff is way better.
Top Tips:
- When cooking up these buns, it’ll be so tempting to uncover the steamer basket once the time is up. However, you need to let the buns set! Otherwise if you uncover them right away they will deflate and lose its fluffiness. So, once the cooking time is up, turn off the heat, and allow the buns to set an additional 5 minutes covered in the steamer basket.
- If you do not have a bamboo steamer basket, you can use a steamer pot. But make sure to wrap the pot cover with a towel and tie it up. The condensation that comes from the pot cover can drip onto the buns and it can ruin them.
- It’s pretty unlikely that you will be able to fit all the buns at once into the steamer basket. So work in batches.
If you’d tried this recipe out let me know in the comments! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @flouredframe and don’t forget to tag me when you create my recipes! Happy cooking!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Siopao Asado (Filipino Steamed Buns)
Equipment
- Food scale or measuring cups, see notes
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Fine mesh strainer
- Medium-sized saucepan
- 2 Large pots or pans to cook with and to use the steamer basket
- Rolling Pin
- Bench scraper or knife
- Parchment Paper
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Damp cloth
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
Dough:
- 156 grams Warm water, 100° F
- 1 ¼ teaspoon Instant yeast
- 320 grams All-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 50 grams Granulated white sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoon Vegetable oil
Asado Filling:
- 1 tablespoon Soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Vegan oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoon Hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoon Granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon Water
- 100 grams Soy curls
- 2 teaspoons Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Paste
- 2 cups Hot water (or as needed)
- ¼ Yellow onion (diced)
Instructions
Start making the dough:
- In the bowl of a stand-mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, granulated sugar, instant yeast, and oil. With the dough hook attachment, on the lowest speed, allow it to mix the ingredients together until it starts forming a shaggy dough. Increase speed to 2 and continue to knead for 10-12 minutes. You should get a smooth and supple dough. Not too sticky and bounces back when you press it.
- Roughly shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set it in a warm spot to rise. About 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Make Filling:
- Combine soy sauce, vegan oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix together 3 tablespoons of water and cornstarch until dissolved in a separate bowl. Set these aside.
- Break up the dried soy curls into smaller pieces. Dissolve the vegetable bouillon paste and hot water in a large bowl, then rehydrate the soy curls in the broth for 10 minutes. Strain the soy curls through a fine mesh strainer and use a spoon to gently push on the soy curls to squeeze out excess broth. You can save the broth for something else! Set the soy curls aside.
- Heat up some oil in a large pot or pan over medium-heat. Add in the onions and garlic, and continue cooking until the garlic is fragrant the onions are translucent, about 3 minutes. Add in the sauce, along with the cornstarch mixture and cook until it thickens. Add the soy curls and toss in the sauce. Transfer the filling in a large bowl and set it aside to cool.
Assembly:
- When the dough has doubled in size, punch down the dough to release the gases. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough and into a rough 20 x 16 inch rectangle. Then, gently fold the dough in half on the short side (16 inch side), and roll it out again into a 20 x 16 inch rectangle. Repeat this once more, a total of 3 times.
- Then roll it up into a cylinder (like rolling up a cinnamon roll), and cut the dough into 12 pieces (the sides will have a spiral pattern due to the folding).
- Then with the rolling pin, roll the dough into 4 inches in diameter, then flattening the edges so that they are thinner than the center of the dough. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Take a piece of dough, place a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center. Wrap the filling by bringing the dough up around to the top. Making sure that the sauce does not touch the edges, otherwise, it will not seal properly. Then slightly twisting the dough to close it and pinching it firmly to join the edges. Repeat for the remaining dough.
- Place the buns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and cover with a damp tea towel and rest for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line the steamer basket with parchment paper. Prep a pan with 1-inch of water, and bring it to a simmer. Working in batches, place the dough in the bamboo steamer, make sure not to overcrowd. Leave enough space in between as it will puff up in size. Set the steamer over the pan, and steam for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the buns rest inside the steamer for 5 minutes. Do NOT Remove the cover/lid. This is very important, because if you remove the cover too early, the buns will collapse and lose their fluffy shape! Carefully remove the bao from the steamer and set it onto a wire cooling rack. Continue cooking the rest. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Measure your flour properly. I test my recipes, 100% in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error.
- If you’re measuring by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour. This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate.
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