Barbecued pork buns, or char siu bao, were one of my favorite Chinese dishes growing up. Golden orbs of soft, tender bao bread envelop sweet barbecued pork within. These flavorful buns are great for parties, and are a hit with kids – even the picky eaters! Most often, char siu bao is steamed. It is snowy, fluffy, and very delicate and clean-tasting. However, I find that baked char siu bao is are more versatile for wine pairing. Its toasty, rich flavors match a wider array of varietals and winemaking styles. Read on for the recipe and our tips on the best wine pairing with char siu bao.
Wine Pairing with Char Siu Bao
One key rule of wine pairing is to match sweet with sweet. Tuck honey-glazed pork into creamy milk bread, and you have a sweet combination on your hands. As such, the first criteria for wine pairing with char siu bao is to opt for a sweeter or more fruit-forward wine.
My top pick would be a Vouvray Chenin Blanc with residual sugar. It has crisp minerality, plenty of apple, stone fruit, and floral aromatics, and a honeyed sweetness that is perfect with the sweet buns and filling. I also like that it has clean acidity, but is rounded and smooth on the palate. Since milk buns are a very soft bread, wines with piercing acidity come off harshly against the light, fluffy crumb.
Vouvray comes in a wide range of styles, from sec (dry) to moelleux (very sweet). You’ll want a light to medium off-dry Vouvray. Unfortunately sweetness isn’t always labeled, so it’s important to know the wine. Here are a few Vouvray wines that are off-dry:
Budget Vouvray Wines:
Domaine Pichot Domaine le Peu de la Moriette: This wine is affordable and easy to find, in stores from BevMo to Total Wine, so we’re listing it first. It is rounded on the palate, with ripe stone fruit aromatics, a touch of honeyed sweetness, refreshing minerality, and clean acidity. It usually costs anywhere from $14-$19 per bottle.
Champalou Vouvray (Sec Tendre): This family-owned vineyard harvests all of its wines by hand, and uses only native yeasts during fermentation. While the Champalou Vouvray is relatively dry, its succulent stone fruit and delicate floral aromatics make it compatible with sweeter dishes.
Splurge Vouvray Wines:
Domaine Huet Demi-Sec: Any bottle from this producer labeled “Demi-Sec” will be an exceptional example of Vouvray Chenin Blanc. Domaine Huet masterfully balances natural sugar, acidity, minerality, and aromatics, and its Vouvray ranks amongst my favorites.
Tailoring the Meal to the Wine
The biggest rule of wine pairing? You have to like the wine! If you don’t enjoy sweeter wines, I recommend tailoring this recipe to make a dry wine work. Eliminate the sugar in the char siu pork filling, and reduce the sugar in the milk bun recipe (see notes). You’ll get a bun that is more savory, but still tasty. Without sweetness dominating the flavors, a more delicate wine can shine, such as a bone-dry Chablis or an earthy Burgundy.
Prefer red wine? My recommendation would be to increase the amount of meat. Fold more savory char siu pork into the bun (see photo above for an example of extra filling), and it will be hearty enough to taste great with a sip of bold red wine. Try a juicy Central California, Lodi, or Napa Petite Sirah. These have the sweet berry fruit needed to match the barbecue glaze, along with the chocolatey tannins to stand up to the fatty meat. Trinitas makes a great value Petite Sirah that fits this profile. Another option is juicy, California-style Zinfandel, whose succulent fruit will practically sauce the pork for you. And finally, for those who prefer a drier wine, a Syrah-Grenach-Mourvedre blend will have enough fruit to match the saucy BBQ pork, but not overpower it.
Planning Ahead to Make Char Siu Bao
Char siu bao is not hard to make, but it is rather time-consuming! If you want to try pairing char siu bao with wine, there is no shame in buying pre-made char siu, which is sold at plenty of Chinese grocers and restaurants. This will save you plenty of time, without sacrificing any of the flavor from freshly-baked buns. That said, if you want to make everything yourself, here are a few pointers:
- Start up to two days in advance. If you’re making char siu pork from scratch, it needs to marinate overnight. Then, you can either cook the pork and bake it into buns the next day, or cook it one day before you make the buns to split up the cooking time.
- Use the regular oven bake feature, NOT convection bake. This goes for both the buns and the meat. While convection may save time, from my experience I have found that it dries out the meat. It also makes the bread brown unevenly, on one side.
- Keep an eye on the dough. If you are making the pork and buns on the same day, all that roasting and simmering creates a pretty warm kitchen. The dough may rise faster than usual.
Baked Char Siu Bao (Chinese Barbecued Pork Buns)
Ingredients
For the Buns
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ to ⅓ cup sugar (see note above, use less if you are pairing the dish with a dry wine)
- 1 ½ tbsp instant yeast (do not use active dry yeast unless you are willing to bloom it in warmed milk first)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
For the Filling
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce (or light soy sauce plus ¾ teaspoon sugar)
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons sugar (see note above: reduce or eliminate the sugar if you are pairing this dish with a dry wine)
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups Char Siu pork, finely diced (see below for full recipe)
For the Topping
- 1 egg, beaten
- Optional: Sesame seeds
Instructions
- Sift all dry ingredients together until well mixed.
- Add wet ingredients. Using the dough hook fitted to a mixer, knead the dough on a low setting until it is smooth and elastic. It should be moist and springy, but not stick to your hands. This takes about 15 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Let it rise until it is doubled in size. With instant yeast on a dough made from cold milk and cream, this should take about 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the temperature of your house.
- While the dough is rising, prepare the filling. Simmer the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan on low heat until it is thickened and syrupy. Remove it from the heat and mix in the diced char siu pork.
- Once the dough is done rising, punch it down and place it onto a floured surface. Roll it out into a log and divide it into twelve pieces.
- Roll each piece out into a flattened circle. Place the pork into the middle, lift the edges up, and pinch in the middle to seal. Note: The dough is quite pliable, and can accommodate up to two tablespoons of meat. Add more or less depending on your own preferences.
- Grease a baking tray. Place the buns, seam side down, onto the tray. Let them rise until they have grown outwards by about a centimeter. This should take about 30-45 minutes. If you’ve been simmering the char siu sauce and are preheating your oven, your kitchen may be pretty warm, so judge based on the appearance of the buns rather than time alone.
- While the buns are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F on the regular bake setting (not convection!). Brush the tops of the buns with egg yolk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
- Pair with off-dry Vouvray and enjoy!
If you want to make Char Siu pork yourself, here’s an easy oven recipe.
Easy Char Siu Pork (Chinese Barbecued Pork)
Ingredients
- 2 lb pork shoulder butt, sliced into one inch-thick strips
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp five spice powder
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp honey
- Optional: ¼ tsp red food coloring (I omit this because I prefer natural ingredients, and the pork tastes exactly the same)
Instructions
- Mix the sauce ingredients.
- Place the sliced pork and sauce into a large ziploc bag or covered bowl. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- The next day, preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Place the pork strips in a rack over a pan. You can line the pan with foil or put a little bit of water into the pan to make cleaning easier.
- While the oven is preheating, start to simmer the marinade along with the honey, until it is thickened to a syrupy consistency.
- Insert the pork into the oven, basting with the marinade every 15 minutes. Be sure to baste both sides, and flip the meat so it cooks evenly.
- When the pork is cooked through (approximately 50 minutes, depending on your oven), remove from heat. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then slice across the grain into pieces about ¼” thick.
Enjoyed this wine pairing with Char Siu Bao? Check out our other wine pairings and recipes here!