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). 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 1 hour. The dough will grow to 1.5X 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 1 hour. The dough will grow to 1.5X its original 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.
Hi Sarah!
I was wondering if instead of rolling hotdogs, can I just place the hotdogs on an elongated piece of dough like a boat? Or can I fill dough balls with other stuff like tuna or chicken salad and bake them like a dinner roll. Will the cook time be the same?
Hi Danielle, I would roll the dough around the hot dogs just to make sure they stay inside the dough. As for filling the dough with other stuff, you could try our Char Siu Bao recipe: https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-bbq-pork-buns-cha-siu-bao/. If you want to change up the filling, feel free! Just make sure the filling isn’t too wet.
LOVE this recipe! Was wondering what the science is behind preheating the oven before the 2nd proof? My oven preheats quite quickly (as well as heats up the whole house) wondering if I can just preheat after the 2nd proof or 1/2 thru the 2nd proof lol.
Hi Madeleine, our oven takes a long time to heat up to a temperature it can maintain! You can always feel free to preheat later, or whenever works for you. :)
Hi, if I use speed 2 on my kitchenaid mixer, how long should I knead for? The manual says I can only use the dough hook on speed 2, nothing lower and nothing higher. And will cane sugar be an okay substitute for granulated white sugar? Thank you
Hi CM, you can knead for the time specified in the recipe on speed 2. Cane sugar is fine to use, as long as it is granulated!
I mixed it on speed 2 on my Kitchenaid and it worked great! Thank you!
Hi – Can you substitute heavy cream with milk?
Hi Annie, the heavy cream is what gives this bread its soft and fluffy texture, so I’m afraid a milk substitute wouldn’t work here.
Can I freeze and reheat theses buns after I’ve baked them? Or should I freeze them before baking??
Hi Karen, you can freeze them after they’ve been baked. Then thaw and reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds, and eat right away.
Ok, thanks
Could this same dough recipe be used to make the similar hot dog flower bun? Thanks!
Yes, Connie! We haven’t tried it, but I think it would work nicely.
These were delicious! I baked these and came out great however the top didn’t brown. I did use egg wash. Do you think I should turn temperature higher or put it in oven longer? Thanks!
Hi Allie, if the buns aren’t browning, it could be that your oven just runs a bit cool. I would turn up the temperature by 25°F.