Siopao is a popular Filipino street food, made of soft, pillowy steamed buns filled with savoury pork. These tasty buns are often filled with a sweet and savoury mixture of pork. Siopao is perfect as a snack and is a staple in Filipino cuisine.

Tip #1

Proper Dough Consistency: Ensure the dough is neither too sticky or too dry for easy handling and smooth buns.

Tip #2

Steaming: Ensure there's always enough water in the steamer throughout the cooking process, but avoid letting water touch the buns.

Tip #3

Avoid Overcrowding: Steam buns in batches if necessary to prevent them from sticking together or becoming soggy.

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Siopao - Filipino Pork Buns

Preparation time: 1 hour | Dough Rise: 3 hours

Servings: 12 buns

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups (300g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (155g) cornstarch
1/4 cup (50g) white sugar
1 tsp instant yeast
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Pork Filling:

1 tbsp oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
500g pork, diced or minced
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Sauce (Optional):

1 cup water
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
3 tbsp sugar
2 star anise
1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Preparation

Dough Preparation:

Make the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, sugar, and yeast. Add water and oil, then mix with a stand mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes until a smooth, elastic dough forms. Adjust with a little more flour or water if needed.
First Rise: Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, dry place for 2 hours or until it doubles in size.

Pork Filling:

Cook the Filling: In a pot, heat oil over medium heat and sauté garlic and onion until translucent. Add pork and cook until slightly browned. Stir in soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, brown sugar, and water. Simmer until the pork is tender. Thicken with cornflour mixture and set aside to cool.

Assembling and Cooking:

Prepare for Second Rise: After the dough has risen, sprinkle with baking powder and mix briefly in the stand mixer.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a flat circle about 4.5 inches in diameter, with thinner edges. Place a generous amount of filling in the centre, gather the edges by pinching into pleats, and twist to seal.
Let the shaped buns rest covered for 15 minutes.
Steaming: Line each bun with parchment paper. Place in a steamer over a pot of simmering water (making sure the water does not touch the steamer) and steam for 12 minutes.

Sauce (Optional):