The Chinese Hot Dog Bun. The Asian bakery classic, the food of my childhood, and the inevitable result of years of cultural assimilation.
As I got older, I came to realize how…actually disappointing these Chinese hot dog buns often are. After a long car ride from Chinatown, a cold hot dog of questionable origin wrapped in bread that has gone slightly soggy is not good eating. Very quickly, the hot dog bun went from being all I wanted from the Chinese bakery, to the last thing I wanted…replaced by the likes of the much more palatable coconut buns and pineapple buns.
Until this past weekend (when we baked these suckers), I hadn’t had a hot dog bun in over 10 years. After my mother discovered her cousin’s brilliantly easy Asian milk bread recipe, however, it was time to revisit this classic, and really do it up right.
As I see it, there are three main problems with the typical Chinatown hot dog bun:
1. The quality of the hot dog: not good.
2. The dough is usually wrapped around an uncooked hotdog before baking. The result? A total lack of flavor and a rubbery texture.
3. If they put them out in the morning, and you get there at 3:00 in the afternoon, you’ve already lost.
Alas, the Chinese hot dog bun was long overdue for redemption. In our version, you choose what brand of hot dogs you want to use. We sear them before they get wrapped in dough, and it makes all the difference. The result is a what I’ve always wanted a hot dog bun to be.
One can also get pretty creative with this concept, add some ingredients and make some cool hot dog recipes – maybe just some foreshadowing but for now, on with it!
Chinese Hot Dog Buns: Recipe Instructions
In the bowl of a mixer, add the heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, cake flour, bread flour, yeast, and salt (add it in that order).
DON’T HAVE BREAD FLOUR OR CAKE FLOUR?
Feel free to substitute all-purpose flour for both! We have since extensively re-tested this recipe, and have not found that using 100% all-purpose flour in this recipe makes a meaningful difference to the result.
Using the dough hook attachment, turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together.
After 15 minutes, the dough is ready for proofing. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes. The dough will grow to double its original size. Check out our original milk bread recipe for photos of this process!
In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the hot dogs, and allow them to crisp slightly and get some color on them. Set aside on a plate to cool.
After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles. Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 12 equal pieces.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take each piece of dough and roll it into a 10-12 inch rope, keeping the middle thicker than the ends.
Roll the rope around a hot dog, tucking in the ends. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (keep the buns 2-3 inches apart).
Repeat until all the buns are assembled.
Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and allow the buns to rise in a warm place for another hour. The buns should close to double in size.
Brush with egg wash, and bake the buns for 14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
Remove from the oven to a cooling rack and immediately brush your Chinese hot dog buns with sugar water. This last step gives them that signature Chinese bakery shine.
Enjoy these Chinese Hot dog buns!
Chinese Hot Dog Buns
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup heavy cream (160 ml, at room temperature)
- 1 cup milk (plus 1 tablespoon, at room temperature; total 250 ml)
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 1/3 cup sugar (75g)
- 1/2 cup cake flour (70g)
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour (500g)
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (11g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (7g)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 12 hot dogs
- Egg wash: whisk together 1 egg with 1 teaspoon water
- Simple syrup: 2 teaspoons (8g) of sugar dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
Instructions
- In the bowl of a mixer, add the heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, cake flour, bread flour, yeast, and salt (add it in that order). Using the dough hook attachment, turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together.
- After 15 minutes, the dough is ready for proofing. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 60-90 minutes, until the dough doubles in size.
- In the meantime, heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the hot dogs, and allow them to crisp slightly and get some color on them. Set aside on a plate to cool.
- After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles. Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 12 equal pieces.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Take each piece of dough and roll it into a 10-12 inch rope, keeping the middle thicker than the ends. Roll the rope around a hot dog, tucking in the ends. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet (keep the buns 2-3 inches apart). Repeat until all the buns are assembled.
- Cover the baking sheet with a kitchen towel and allow the buns to rise in a warm place for another hour. The buns should close to double in size. Brush with egg wash, and bake the buns for 14 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.
- Remove from the oven and immediately brush the buns with sugar water. This last step gives them that signature Chinese bakery shine.
I tried making these – while they doubled in size in proofing after rolling with the hot dogs they did not double in size.
Any Tips?
Hi Alex, you could put them in a closed oven (turned off) with a bowl of just boiled water below them to create warmth and humidity for proofing!
It’s an amazing simple recipe to make for kids and even for busy professionals.
Thanks Eric!
My bread is very hard. Do anyone knows why? Is it undercooked, overcooked or….?
I had leftover dough so made smaller balls of bread and they turned out perfect.
Hmmm not sure why that would be, Val. Perhaps it didn’t proof long enough to double in size?
Hi Sarah, I think I make it too thick and I didn’t mix well. I tried again, mixing it longer and making it thinner, it works! Thank you!
I made these before and it turned out fantastic (all all purpose flour). I’m not sure if I proofed the yeast before or not though. Do I need to proof yeast or should I use instant? Sorry I just like to make sure.
Hi A, you can use both instant yeast or active dry. In either case, you do not need to bloom the yeast in water/sugar beforehand. Just add to the mixer as instructed in the recipe!
My mom used to make a dish called “Pigs in a Blanket” on nights when she worked late, which was a hot dog wrapped in canned biscuit dough, she’d put a slit in half of them and fill it with American Cheese. I loved these as a kid but as an adult not so much. This reminds me of that only SO MUCH BETTER, these would be “Pigs in a Tuxedo” lol. I want to try these with cheese too. I wonder if “Pigs in a Blanket” are based on this recipe.
Haha not gonna lie, Chloe, your mom’s version sounds DELICIOUS to me. I’m a sucker for American cheese!
Hi Sarah, I love your milk bread recipe and am about to try the them with filling! This hotdog bun recipe says it bake for 14 minutes at 350. The ham and cheese recipe says to back for 20-24 minutes at 350. What’s the reason for the difference in baking time?
Hi Jocelyn, there’s quite a bit less moisture in the cooked hot dog than the ham and cheese. It also might take more like 14-17 minutes for the hot dog buns, depending on your oven!
Got it; thanks so much. Sarah. So much to learn and I feel so grateful to learn from you and your family.
I’ve made this twice now, and this is seriously the best way to have a hot dog! Thank you. <3
Love hearing that! Thank you!
Hi Sarah, thanks for sharing your recipe. Would really love to try this as these are my favourites!! Just a question, if I wanna bring this to share for the next morning, can I make them ahead the evening before? Will they stay fresh and soft like they do when fresh?
Hi Esther, they won’t be quite fresh out of the oven, but you can reheat them in the microwave for 20 seconds to make them taste like they were just baked! Otherwise, you can make the dough, and rather than letting it proof for 1-2 hours at room temperature, you can cover and refrigerate it overnight. The next morning, let the dough come back up to room temperature, punch the air out, and continue with the recipe (assembly, 2nd proofing, and baking).