Vegan char siu bao or cha siu bao (i.e. vegan roast pork buns). Does that even make any sense?
Well, yes and no. Obviously, there is NO pork in these buns. But they taste remarkably similar to the traditional pork cha siu bao that many of us know and love. So, if you’re looking for a great vegan Chinese recipe or vegetarian appetizer, then read on!
The vegan char siu bao filling is made with tofu, and the bun dough, which is normally made with milk and/or heavy cream, is fattened up with healthy, organic (and vegan) coconut oil. The result is soft, buttery bread that can really stand up to traditional Asian milk bread.
That’s the real magic of this recipe–no dairy needed to produce the authentic taste of a Chinatown roast pork bun. Whether you’ve always been vegan, or are a recent convert, these buns are definitely for you.
Plus, once you’ve made these the first time successfully, who’s to say you can’t add other stuff like mushrooms, or peas? This vegan char siu bao recipe is like a blank canvas… you can feel free to make it your own. Here’s what you need:
Vegan Char Siu Bao: Recipe Instructions
Start by making the dough. Add ½ cup warm water, 1 teaspoon active dry yeast and 1/3 cup flour to a large bowl, and mix well. Set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes until the mixture foams up.
Mix the coconut oil into the foamy yeast mixture until you can’t see any solids and then mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the last 2 2/3 cups flour, vital wheat gluten, sugar, and salt. Mix in until a dough forms. Knead for 10 minutes. You can add some flour to make it easier to work with, but don’t worry if it’s a bit sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof for 1 hour.
While that’s happening, make the filling. Heat your wok or cast iron pan over medium-high heat and add the oil, onions and extra firm tofu.
Cook for 3-5 minutes until one side of the tofu is just browned. Turn the mixture over with a rubber spatula and brown the other side. Feel free to add more oil if the mixture looks a bit dry.
Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, and white pepper.
Stir everything together and then add the water/vegetable stock and flour. Stir gently so as not to break up the tofu chunks.
Let the mixture simmer until the liquid thickens into a sauce. It should thicken further as it cools. Set the mixture aside to cool completely before making the buns. If the mixture looks a little wet, you can put it in the fridge to solidify it for easier assembly.
Once the dough has proofed for an hour, turn it out onto a well-floured surface and knead for another 2-3 minutes to ensure most of the air bubbles are gone. Add just enough flour so you can knead it, but be careful not to dry out the dough. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and cover with a damp towel.
Roll out each dough ball into a disc, where the middle of the disc is a bit thicker than the sides. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center and fold up the edges to close the bun. The dough is fairly elastic, so you can stretch it to cover the filling if needed. Check out our other cha siu bao recipe for more photos on bun folding.
Be sure to pinch it closed, and place it seam side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Keep all the dough balls and the finished buns covered with damp towels until they’re all assembled. Let the buns sit for another 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together the sugar and warm water and brush the mixture onto the buns. At this point, we sprinkled the buns with some black sesame seeds, but it’s not really a necessary step.
Place the buns in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Brush the buns with the remaining sugar water when they come out of the oven. Serve warm!
Tip: Store these buns in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat one, heat it up in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.
By the way, this vegan char siu bao dough is seriously good enough to use for our regular roast pork buns. So check out our roast pork cha siu and roast pork cha siu bao recipes, and mix and match them for whatever version you want!
Vegan Char Siu Bao
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 cup warm water (separated in two 1/2 cup portions)
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour (divided)
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon vital wheat gluten (can be eliminated if using bread flour)
- ½ cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 pound extra firm tofu (drained, pat dry and cut into ½-inch cubes)
- 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- white pepper (to taste)
- 1 ¼ cups water or vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons flour
Sugar water to coat the buns:
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons warm water
Instructions
- Start by making the dough. Add ½ cup warm water, 1 teaspoon active dry yeast and 1/3 cup flour to a large bowl, and mix well. Set aside in a warm place for 15 minutes until the mixture foams up.
- Mix the coconut oil into the foamy yeast mixture until you can’t see any solids and then mix in the remaining 1/2 cup of warm water. Add the last 2 2/3 cups flour, vital wheat gluten, sugar, and salt. Mix in until a dough forms. Knead for 10 minutes. You can add some flour to make it easier to work with, but don't worry if it's a bit sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let it proof for 1 hour.
- While that's happening, make the filling. Heat your wok or cast iron pan over medium-high heat and add the oil, onions and tofu. Cook for 3-5 minutes until one side of the tofu is just browned. Turn the mixture over with a rubber spatula and brown the other side. Feel free to add more oil if the mixture looks a bit dry.
- Add the soy sauces, sugar, salt, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, and white pepper. Stir everything together and then add the water/vegetable stock and flour. Stir gently so as not to break up the tofu chunks.
- Let the mixture simmer until the liquid thickens into a sauce. It should thicken further as it cools. Set the mixture aside to cool completely before making the buns. If the mixture looks a little wet, you can put it in the fridge to solidify it for easier assembly.
- Once the dough has proofed for an hour, turn it out onto a well-floured surface and knead for another 2-3 minutes to ensure most of the air bubbles are gone. Add just enough flour so you can knead it, but be careful not to dry out the dough. Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and cover with a damp towel.
- Roll out each dough ball into a disc, where the middle of the disc is a bit thicker than the sides. Put about 2 tablespoons of filling in the center and fold up the edges to close the bun. The dough is fairly elastic, so you can stretch it to cover the filling if needed. Check out our other char siu bao recipe for more photos on bun folding, Chinese BBQ Pork Buns (Cha Siu Bao. Be sure to pinch it closed, and place it seam side down on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Keep all the dough balls and the finished buns covered with damp towels until they're all assembled. Let the buns sit for another 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix together the sugar and warm water and brush the mixture onto the buns. Place the buns in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Brush the buns with the remaining sugar water when they come out of the oven. Serve warm!
- Tip: Store these buns in the refrigerator. When you're ready to eat one, heat it up in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.
- By the way, this dough is seriously good enough to use for our regular roast pork buns. So check out our roast pork cha siu and roast pork cha siu bao recipes, and mix and match them for whatever version you want!
nutrition facts
Thanks for the recipe!! As a Chinese vegan I have missed my dimsum sooo much! I struggled with the folding but they turned out beautifully :)) I didn’t get to use up all my tofu though, do you think this could make 12 buns potentially? I tended to have alot of dough at the clasp section.
Hi Hannah, the number of baos can vary due to the amount of filling you use and how thick you make the buns, but I’ll share a secret with you.
Get a digital kitchen scale and weigh the entire ball of bao dough. Then divide by 10 (or 12 in your case), and split the dough up by weight using the kitchen scale. I weigh the filling also and use the exact amount for each bao, and voila! You have 12 almost identical baos that weigh the same. Happy bao making!
Is coconut oil necessary? Can I omit oil for the dough recipe?
Thanks for the creative vegan recipe, greatly appreciated
Hi Sabrina, the oil needs to be in the dough to give it the soft texture of a milk bread.
Hello,
i want to try out this great recipe and was quite wondering how much sugar comes into those savory buns – do they taste sweet or can i substitute the sugar with, for example honey or lesser of it?
Thanks in advance!
Hi Jenny, they’re slightly sweet, like Hawaiian rolls or other Asian milk breads. You can try reducing the sugar a little bit, but I would definitely still include it. Haven’t tried honey, but you could experiment as well.
I do not have wheat gluten or bread flour, would just all-purpose flour work? I can’t wait to try this recipe out, it sounds amazing!
Hi Anee, yes, you can use all purpose flour in a pinch!
Hi! Is coconut oil refined or unrefined? Thank you!
Hi Mj, we use unrefined coconut oil in this recipe.
Made this and turned out delicious. Struggled a bit with the folding, but that’s ok. The filling tasted just like the omni version. My bro is not vegan but he devoured half the batch in one day. Thanks for the great recipe!
You’re welcome, MJ!
I just made this recipe for the first time today, and we LOVED it!
We’re doing a whole food/plant based diet these days, so I used whole wheat flour for this recipe, cut the sugar in half, and it still made for a lovely nutty, earthy bun.
I also added some fresh shiitake mushrooms to the filling and it added another level of umami.
Thank you all so much for all the time and effort put into these recipes and this website.
Hi Nicolas, you’re welcome and thanks for sharing your comment and cooking experience :)
Thanks for sharing, Nicolas! So glad you enjoyed these!
Hi Nicolas, so glad you liked it and that we could help you as you eat more plant-based! The mushrooms are a great add too.
Thank you for reading and cooking!
Is there something else I could use to substitute the coconut oil? I really want to try this recipe but coconut oil is bit pricey where I live :\
Hi Lisa, I used coconut oil because it has a great flavor. Although I have not tried it, I think vegetable oil will work.