Being able to make my own bao is a bonus. It means I can stick some into the freezer and can have bao on tap, so to speak. Today I made some duck bao. I have a deep love for duck cook any which way EXCEPT soup. I cooked the fillings a day before I want to wrap.

Division on labour makes for a stress-free cook. My daughter is also on holiday so I have a chief bottle washer. I am using my old recipe but reduced the yeast to 1 pkt and added 1 tsp of sugar. In doing so I have to wait a bit longer for it to proof but it works the same. – Easy Char Siu Baozi (叉烧包) – Just Julie (julieolive.co.uk)

Cooking and baking is a forever learning process. If for any reason you think you are good enough then you are wrong. Recently I learned something new so am sharing another TIP.

New TIP – After wrapping and shaping your bao do not wait too long before steaming. 10 minutes is more than ample. I find the longer you wait the bao shape will sink a little and not stay in the same sexily shaped you wanted after steaming.

This recipe have been on the pipeline for yonks. It was in my old blog which I have lost and I meant to put into this new blog but the opportunity did not present itself until today. I have developed this over 22 years to suit my taste. Please use this recipe as a guide and adjust to suits your taste.

I have marinated my char siu for 2 days, praying for a not too hot and not too chilly weather to set up the BBQ. I wanted to BBQ it. To me one can cook char siu (Chinese BBQ pork) absorption way, or in oven just do not give that BBQ flavour that can only be obtained if you do it over a charcoal fire.

I have made extra sauce today because I have more plans for my char siu – kekekekekekeke However I like to plan my daily cook/bakes etc as I am too old and tired to do everything in one day. besides which I am only 70% recovered from my left side frozen neck, shoulder and elbow.

In my char siu I used fermented red beancurd for the ‘saltiness’ and the red colouring. If you can get maltose that will also help in giving your char siu that extra shining glaze. Failing that after you make your sauce if you want it shining add sesame oil a touch.

TIP – Western sauces use butter eastern sauces use oil for the shine. Though I would not mind adding butter to char siu sauce for myself as I love love love butter.

Note : if you do not want to use red fermented beancurd you can use 2 tbsp oyster sauce instead for the ‘saltiness’. I like to use red fermented beancurd for the colouring.