Learn how to make these delicious and filling bbq pork buns below. Using seitan and a delicious homemade bun, these buns are guaranteed to satisfy. This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.*
These delicious and flavorful Vegan Char Siu Bao are everything I could have wished for and more. Growing up I lived a 5 minute drive from Seattle’s International District which made a major impact on the food I ate growing up. For a major part of my childhood, I would go with my mother almost every Saturday morning to enjoy some delicious Dim Sum. It was something I always looked forward to and was a fun dining experience. If you’ve never been to a Dim Sum restaurant before, this is essentially what occurs at one. While you can order off a menu from these places, but the main way you get served food is from servers who push carts around to every table that are full of steam and baked buns, dumplings, vegetables, and meats. The food is always fresh and very aromatic and delicious smelling.
Since moving away from the Seattle area and becoming Vegan it’s become practically impossible to get traditional Dim Sum let alone vegan options. I always look forward to trips back to Seattle where even at the very south edge of the city limits where my family has now moved, I can find vegan Cantonese and Vietnamese foods I grew up eating.
Okay enough chit-chat, let us get to the recipe and what you’ll need to know. This recipe is a little time consuming, but well worth it. You can also make large batches to freeze the buns for future snacks and meals. This recipe as always is Vegan friendly. This recipe is sadly not GF due to the seitan and bread, but it is dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, and soy-free
What ingredients go into Vegan BBQ Pork Buns?
Seitan:
- Vital Wheat Gluten
- Chickpea/Gram Flour
- Vegan Broth (I used a vegan chicken flavored one from Better Than Bouillon*.)
- Chinese 5 spice Powder
- Oyster Mushroom Sauce. (I found mine at Uwajimaya, but you can also find here on Amazon*.
- Pure Sesame Oil
- Trader Joes Mushrooms and Company Seasoning
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Sugar
Glaze:
- Corn Starch
- Vegan Broth (I used the vegan chicken one again.)
- Neutral Oil
- Shallot or Onion
- Ginger Paste
- Oyster Mushroom Sauce
- Soy Sauce
- Hoisin Sauce
- Maple Syrup
- Chinese Cooking Wine
- Pure Sesame Oil
- Optional Vegan Red Food Coloring
Bao Dough:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Vital Wheat Gluten
- Instant Yeast
- Sugar
- Salt
- Non-Dairy Milk
- Lukewarm Water
- Vegan Butter
“Egg” Wash:
- Vegan Butter (Melted)
- Sugar
How to fold a Bun/Baozi?
Folding buns has always been intimidating to me, but it thankfully wasn’t that hard to do. They may not be 100% uniform, but nothing is leaking out at least. When rolling out the bao dough you want to first leave the center thicker than the edges. This prevents the center of the bun from ripping and spilling the contents out while you fold and bake the buns. Once you have the bun filled you’ll want the crimp the edges into each other. Pressing gently with your finger to ensure the edges are sealed. Here is a great video to give you a better visual idea of what needs to be done.
*Disclaimer: This video does contain animal products in it. I only reference them for the folding method, but not the recipe themselves.*
The first folding method is what you’ll want to use, but you can always try others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwhJMvbyad8
Substitutions for Vegan BBQ Pork Buns:
- Oyster Mushroom Sauce: If you cannot get ahold of this sauce then you can replace it with more hoisin sauce.
- Trader Joes Mushroom and Company Seasoning: This can be replaced with simply more salt. This seasoning from Trader Joes is essentially just salt with a little Umami flavor from mushrooms.
- Chinese Five Spice Powder: While I wouldn’t recommend removing this ingredient as it’s an essential flavor in this dish, you can make your own. Here’s a great recipe from The Spruce Eats.
- Chinese Cooking Wine: You can replace this cooking wine with a Dry Sherry. You can also use Mirin which is sweet Japanese cooking rice that is often used for sushi rice, but it will add a hint more sweetness. Which isn’t necessarily bad since we are already using sugar in this recipe.
- Pure Sesame Oil: You can replace this with Sesame oil that isn’t pure. If you can’t find that then just use neutral cooking oil. While the sesame oil adds a great flavor to the bun, you can make this recipe with a neutral oil like vegetable oil.
If you make this recipe we’d love to hear from you down below in the comment sections. You can also tag us on one of our social media or use our hashtag #vegantheway. You can also stay up to date with our new recipes and post by subscribing to our email notifications.
Thank you for checking out our Vegan BBQ Pork Buns/Char Sui Bao and make sure to check out our other vegan recipes like our Vegan Donuts Recipe (7 Flavors), or our Vegan Mushroom Stroganoff.
Vegan Baked BBQ Pork Buns / Vegan Baked Char Siu Bao
Equipment
- Mixing Bowl
- Oven
- Rolling Pin
- Utensils
Ingredients
Seitan:
- 1/3 cup Vegan Broth (I’m using chicken flavored one from Better than Bouillon)
- 1/3 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 1/2 tbsp Oyster Mushroom Sauce
- 1/2 tsp Pure Sesame Oil
- 1/2 tsp Trader Joes Mushroom and Company Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 tbsp Chickpea/Gram Flour
- 3/4 cup Vital Wheat Gluten
Glaze:
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- 1/2 cup Vegan Broth (I’m using chicken flavored one from Better than Bouillon)
- 2 tbsp Neutral Oil
- 1/2 cup Shallots Finely Diced
- 1/2 tbsp Ginger Paste
- 2 tbsp Oyster Mushroom Sauce
- 1 tsp Soy Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 1 tsp Maple Syrup
- 1 tbsp Chinese Cooking Wine
- 2 tsp Pure Sesame Oil
- 2 drops of Vegan Red Food Coloring (Optional)
Bao Dough:
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Vital Wheat Gluten (This gives the flour some extra protein for the yeast to eat which allows for bread to rise better.)
- 7 grams / 2 1/4 tsp Instant Yeast
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Non-Dairy Milk
- 1/2 cup Lukewarm Water (100-110° F)
- 2 tbsp Vegan Butter
"Egg" Wash:
- 1 tbsp Vegan Butter (Melted)
- 1/2 tbsp Sugar
Instructions
Seitan:
- Mix all the ingredients except the vital wheat gluten together.
- Next, mix in the vital wheat gluten until everything comes together. Let the dough sit for 10 minutes as this will activate the gluten.
- Next, knead the dough or run it through a food processor for around 3 minutes.
- Form the seitan dough mixture into a log and tightly wrap with foil. If the foil is not tight enough the seitan might expand or burst out of the foil.
- Steam the seitan for 45 minutes in an instant pot or another preferred steaming method.
- Once done steaming remove the foil-wrapped log and allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes or until you can safely touch the foil and unwrap the seitan.
- Place the seitan in the fridge in a ziplock bag or container to finishing cooling and setting until you’re ready to chop it up for the filling.
- When you’re ready to chop the seitan I recommend chopping them small. Too large of pieces won’t be as tender when eating as smaller pieces.
Glaze:
- Mix the vegan broth and corn starch to make a slurry and set aside.
- Next, heat the oil over medium-high in a wok or saucepan and add the shallots. Stir-fry for around 3 minutes or until it starts becoming translucent.
- Mix in these ingredients next into the wok/saucepan: ginger paste, oyster mushroom sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Chinese cooking wine, sesame oil, and the optional red food coloring.
- Stirring the mixture until it starts to bubbling. This will take about 3 minutes.
- Once the mixture is bubbling reduce the heat to medium-low and mix in the corn starch and broth slurry. Cook it for a couple of minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the seitan.
- Set the mixture aside in the fridge until the dough is ready to fill.
Bao Dough:
- Combine your yeast and 1 tsp worth of the sugar with the lukewarm water in a bowl or mixing cup.
- Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes to proof the yeast. It should become bubbly and start filling up the bowl.
- Combine the flour, vital wheat gluten, remaining sugar, and salt in a bowl.
- Warm the non-dairy milk and butter until it reaches around 120 F.
- Add the proofed yeast and liquid mixture to the dry ingredients.
- Knead the bread by hand or with a dough hook until it because glossy, smooth, and elastic. This will take around 9 minutes.
- Lightly oil your hands and form the dough into a ball. Lightly oil the dough ball with your hands and place in a bowl to rise.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 30 minutes to 1 hour. If you live in a cold area place the bowl in an oven that's off with a bowl of hot water. This will heat the oven a little to replicate an environment that the bread can rise in.
Folding and baking the Bao:
- Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a clean working surface that is lightly dusted with flour.
- Press or roll the dough out into an even square and cut the dough into 9-12 pieces.
- Roll the dough pieces out into a disc shape, but leave the center a little thicker than the edges. This helps ensure that the filling doesn’t burst out of the dough while baking.
- Add around 2 tablespoons of the seitan and glaze filling to the center of the disc and seal the bun by tightly crimping/folding the edges into each other.
- Once the bun is tightly sealed, place them seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Once all the buns are filled and sealed let them rest for 10-15 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375° F.
- Once the oven is preheated brush the “egg” wash over the buns.
- Bake the buns for 20 minutes or until the buns are golden brown.
- Serve the buns warm. You can refrigerate them and just microwave them for 20 seconds. Wrapping them in a damp paper towel when microwave can keep the dough soft.
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