Asado Siopao

Although asado siopao is originally a Chinese food, Filipinos seems to love it that much. You can even find a lot of restaurants adding siopao on their menu list. Well, it’s time for you to learn how to make them at home. Preparing and cooking Asado Siopao is not that hard, it only requires some time and effort. But it will definitely be worth it.

Here’s how to make Asado Siopao:

Ingredients:

Asado Filling:

500g Pork
1 medium sized Onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. Oyster Sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 pc. Star Anise
1/2 cup Water
2 hard-boiled Eggs
Canola Oil
Cornstarch
Salt
Pepper

Dough:

3 cups All-purpose Flour
2 tsp Dry Yeast
2 tbsp. Baking Powder
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tbsp. Vegetable Oil/Lard/Shortening
1 cup Warm Water
Salt
Wax Paper

Process:

The Making of the Dough:

1. In a bowl, pour in the warm water. Add in the sugar and the yeast. Stir and set aside. (You can wait until the bubbles starts to form or just combine it with the dry ingredients and let the dough rise for a couple of hours)

2. On a separate bowl, put in the dry ingredients. All-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the vegetable oil too. Mix until you form the dough. Remember that the dough requires tons of kneading until the dough texture becomes smooth. Cover it with a cling wrap and let it rise for about 2-3 hours or even overnight in the fridge.

Let’s prepare the filling…

1. Heat some canola oil in the pan. Sauté onions and garlic.

2. Add in the pork. Sauté for about a minute. Pour some water in.

3. Drop the star anise. (Remember to remove it after a minute or two)

4. Pour in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

5. Dilute about a tablespoon of cornstarch in a warm water. Pour it in to mixture until the saucy texture is achieved.

6. Set aside and let it cool.

Wrapping up:

1. Prepare all the dough first. Cut them into almost equal sizes. Form a ball and use a rolling pin to create a disc.

2. Scoop some amount of the filling and put it on the center. Add a sliced hard-boiled egg.

3. Wrap by pinching the edges in a circular motion and twist to fully close the bun.( See the video for a more detailed process)

4. In a Steamer, place wax paper before putting in the buns. Steam the buns for about 15 – 20 minutes.

Read and Serve it hot!

Note from Delish:

For some, making siopao might seem complicated, but it’s not. One important note, I’ve used vegetable oil because I couldn’t really find shortening or lard available to buy. If you want to have a whiter siopao, you need to use high grade quality All-purpose flour and shortening (which is white in color). Some might add some vinegar to the water for steaming. But I haven’t tried that yet to see if it works.

If you have any questions, please drop a comment below or send me an email.

Watch how to make Asado Siopao here: