Celebrating Lunar New Year with a festive feast? This sui jian bao (pan fried bun) recipe is the perfect addition.

Ingredients (Serves 2-3 - roughly 27 buns)

Buns:

  • 6g active dry yeast 
  • 118g cold water 
  • 70g soy milk 
  • 20g oil 
  • 1 tsp vinegar 
  • 5g sugar 
  • 1g salt 
  • 300g of bleached plain flour 
  • 50g corn starch 

Filling: 

  • 1/2 Leek 
  • 1 carrot 
  • 250g pork mince 
  • ¼ tsp white pepper 
  • 1tsp soy sauce 
  • ½ tsp dashi powder 
  • 1 tbsp water 
  • 1tsp sesame oil 
  • 1tsp corn starch  

Dipping sauce: 

  • Your favourite chilli oil 
  • Soy sauce 
  • Vinegar 
  • Sugar 

Cooking Instructions

For the buns:

  1. Add everything into the bowl except the plain flour. Stir ingredients till the corn starch has dissolved 
  2. Add in your plain flour and knead on low until combined then up the speed a little and knead another 3-4 min till it’s a somewhat smooth dough.  
  3. Roll into a ball then poke a whole in the centre to make it a doughnut shape, then rip one side so now you have an even sized long dough.  
  4. Break up the dough into small portions (about 27 pieces), flatten and fold the outside into the centre to make a rough ball then roll around until it’s even. 
  5. Make sure the dough balls have about 1cm distance between each other and then cover with cling wrap and allow to rest for 30min 

 Steam bun dough in small circles on baking sheet covered with cling wrap

For the filling:

  1. Make your filling, place the carrot and leek in a food processor and pulse until it’s small fine pieces, place into a bowl. Dissolve your dashi powder in water, then add into your bowl along with your pork mince, and other seasoning. 
  2. With a gloved, massage and mix the meat in a twisting motion until well combined and no liquid present (tip: to see if the filling is to your taste, pan fry a small piece of filling, taste and adjust accordingly) (personally I don’t like it too salty as I always have it with a dipping sauce) 

To assemble:

  1. Grab a dough ball flatten the edge leaving it slightly thicker in the centre, place a tsp amount of filling in that centre, pinch the sides together, then grab one pointed side and pinch into the next point on the right and continue until the dough has encased the filling (also push the filling down while doing so) to complete the swirl look or shape the dough how you like. 

Raw dumpling on plate Round raw dumpling on plate

To cook and serve:

  1. Heat your steamer and let the buns proof for 10-15 min before steaming for 15 min
  2. In a fry pan, add a generous amount of oil and then carefully place your buns in and allow to cook until the base is crispy 
  3. Remove from the pan and enjoy with the dipping sauce 

 

 

 

Cooked buns with dipping sauce 

Wine Pairing

We recommend pairing with our 2018 The Rows '26' Riesling

 

Meet The Chef!

Meet our beautiful chef, Amy Edstein! Amy is the recipe and content creator from Feeding the Edstein's. Amy is a Sydney based mum who loves to cook what she craves and share her love for food. You’ll find her sharing her daily cooking adventures on social media, with plenty of tips and tricks along the way to get you inspired. If she’s not cooking up a 3 course meal that’ll make your mouth water, you’ll definitely find her dining out at the best local food spots. Be sure to check out her stories and give her follow on Instagram @feedingtheedsteins. Don’t be afraid to drop her a DM or just say hi.