What Is a Bao Bun?

When I lived in New York, one of the favorite spots for a pre-show dinner was a soup dumpling restaurant. My improv team would gather to slurp down these delicacies before doing the fun make-’em-ups at the UCB Theater. These fond memories also exposed me to another dumpling-adjacent treat: the bao bun. But what is a bao bun? How do you eat bao buns? Here’s everything you need to know about bao buns. 

What is a bao bun?

Bao buns are yeast-leavened breads that are usually filled with either vegetables, meat, or a combination of both. There are also sweet versions that are great as a dessert or a breakfast; kind of like a fancy Pop Tart. The fillings can be added prior to baking, creating more of a closed dumpling. Or, the buns can be baked splayed open so that they can be filled later, kind of like a sandwich.

One thing that makes bao buns stand out is that they are traditionally steamed after they are allowed to proof. The resulting bread is light, fluffy, and looks like a perfectly round marshmallow. Except it’s bread. 

Where are bao buns made of?

Bao buns start with the traditional bread ingredients: flour, water, yeast. This dough is then enriched with sugar and milk. This results in bread that is on the sweeter side and, along with the steaming, creates the fluffy texture that is the bao bun’s signature feature. 

The fillings can vary wildly depending on from where they originate. Ground pork is probably the most popular savory filling, mixed with greens and pickled vegetables. The sweet fillings include sweetened bean paste, lotus seed paste, pandan, coconut, chocolate, or fruit.

Where are bao buns from?

Bao is a shortened form of the Chinese word Baozi. The word dates back to the 10th century, when it was used as a catchall term to describe a filled bun. 

Over time, the Chinese bao bun was adopted throughout the country’s varied regional cuisines and even made its way into neighboring countries like Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, and Mongolia, to name a few.

How do you eat bao buns?

Ravenously, with your mouth watering.

Bao buns are a handheld food, making them great for on-the-go meals. For the enclosed buns, just grab it and take a big ol’ bite. You can now buy frozen buns at the grocery store which makes their preparation about as fool-proof as possible. The open bao buns are more like biting into a taco; it’s still pretty easy, you just have to be cautious about spillage.

In most cases, the traditional, Chinese-inspired fillings are the best. But don’t limit yourself to just those. Any East Asian cuisine will find its way into the snug interior of a bao bun and seem right at home. I’ve even seen bao bun burgers, which give them an American twist. Try them all; the world is your bun.