Annie's Chamorro Kitchen

Siopao is a favorite snack on Guam that is of Chinese (Cha Siu Bao, or Chinese BBQ Pork Buns) or Philippine origin (Siopao Asado).  The Philippine version of these buns are normally steamed, while the Chinese version of these delicious snacks are also baked.

You can prepare siopao COMPLETELY from scratch, but there are a couple of shortcuts I take to make the preparation quicker and easier.  I do make the dough from scratch, but I save a whole lot of time by using leftover pulled pork from my Hawaiian Pulled Pork recipe.  Unless you are feeding a large crowd, you will most certainly have enough pulled pork leftover to make siopao (I use a 9-10 pound pork shoulder to make my pulled pork).  All I do is add a few more ingredients to the pulled pork to turn it into a sweet pork filling for my siopao. 

Give my recipe a try.  I think you’ll like it. 🙂

Pork Siopao

Dough:

• A doubled batch of my yeast donuts dough recipe (find it here)

Filling:

• About 4 cups leftover Hawaiian Pulled Pork (find my recipe here)
• NOTE:  To make chicken siopao, use shredded cooked chicken (I like to use a rotisserie chicken) instead of pulled pork
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1/4 cup water mixed with 2 tablespoons corn starch
• Optional:  6 hard boiled eggs, quartered (so you have 24 pieces of boiled eggs)

Materials:

• Parchment paper, cut into 3-inch squares, 24-36 pieces (amount depends on the size of your siopao)
• Steamer basket or pot

Directions:

Make my Hawaiian Pulled Pork recipe, then set aside about 4 cups of pulled pork.  Enjoy the rest of the pulled pork for your dinner.  In the next day or two, used the leftover pulled pork to make siopao. 🙂

Prepare the dough using my yeast donuts recipe.  Ensure you double all of the ingredients required for my yeast donuts recipe.  Follow the directions up to step number 5 (letting the dough rise).

While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the filling.  Place the leftover pulled pork into a medium sized pot.  Add the garlic, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce and hoisin sauce.  Bring the mixture to a boil then quickly stir in the water-corn starch mixture.  Return the mixture to a boil, cooking until it thickens.  Set the pork filling aside to cool (I placed the filling into a bowl and placed it in the freezer to cool while my dough was rising).

Cut the dough into 24 pieces (for larger siopao) or 36 pieces (for smaller siopao).  I made 24 larger pieces that measured about 4 inches in diameter after it was cooked/steamed.

Use a rolling pin to flatten each piece of dough into a circle about 6 inches in diameter.  Keep the center of the circle slightly thicker than the edge.  Place two tablespoons of filling in the middle of the dough.  Optional:  Add a piece of egg on top of the filling.

Pull the dough up around the filling, pinching to seal.  The sealed part becomes the bottom of the siopao.

Place the siopao on a piece of parchment paper, pinched side down.  Continue filling the remaining pieces of dough.

After all the dough is filled, place in your steamer basket.  I can fit about 6 large siopao in mine.  Don’t let the siopao touch the sides of the steamer, and leave about an inch or two between each one.  Place a clean kitchen towel between the steamer pot and the lid to prevent the condensation from dripping back onto the siopao.  Steam for 20 minutes then remove from the steamer to cool.

Enjoy while still warm. 🙂

Freeze any uneaten (and already steamed) siopao.  To reheat, defrost the siopao in the refrigerator then reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds.