Best for: Crisp bottoms, juicy centers, soup inside.
Sheng jian bao is Shanghai’s great breakfast bun: a yeasted dough wrapped around seasoned pork and a cube of jellied stock that melts into soup as the buns fry, steam, and crisp in one pan. A lidded cast-iron skillet on the grill does the steam-fry perfectly — sesame side up, bottoms shattering.
Cast iron: Large lidded cast-iron skillet over medium heat on the grill; 375°F. Equipment: 12-inch cast-iron skillet with lid, grill, spatula, small brush.
Ingredients
Rise: 45 minutes. Total: 1 hour 40 minutes.
Dough
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3/4 cup warm water
Pork filling
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 1/3 cup jellied chicken stock, cut into small cubes (or 1/3 cup rich stock set with 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin)
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon fine table salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Frying and finish
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1/2 cup water, for steaming
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2 scallions, thinly sliced
Directions
Stir the flour, yeast, sugar, and warm water into a dough, knead for 8 minutes until smooth, cover, and let it rise for 45 minutes, until puffy.
Stir the ground pork with the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, ginger, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper in one direction until tacky, then fold in the jellied stock cubes and keep the filling cold.
Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Roll each into a 4-inch round, thicker in the center, place a heaped tablespoon of filling in the middle, and pleat and twist the top closed.
Heat the cast-iron skillet on the grill to 375°F with the neutral oil. Set the buns in seam side up, close together, and fry for 2–3 minutes, until the bottoms are golden.
Pour in the 1/2 cup of water, cover at once, and steam for 8–10 minutes, until the buns are puffed and the pork registers 160°F. Uncover and fry for 2 minutes more to re-crisp the bottoms.
Scatter with the sesame seeds and scallions and serve in the skillet — warn everyone: the first bite has soup in it.
Grilling tip: Cold filling is what keeps the stock cubes intact while you pleat — if the filling warms up, the soup melts before the buns ever see the pan.
