Yummy Kitchen

Siopao Asado

Siopao Asado is a soft and fluffy bun made by steaming a mixture made with all purpose flour, baking powder, shortening, salt, sugar and yeast that have savoury meaty filling made of pork, soy sauce, oyster sauce, oil, sugar, garlic, onion and corn starch or potato starch.. With its soft, fluffy bread and sweet and savoury flavours of fillings, these steamed buns are hearty and tasty. Follow Siopao Asado recipe to make this scrumptious cake in your home.

Where did the Siopao Asado come from?

The Philippine food scene is a mixture of many cultures like Spanish, Japanese, American, Chinese, European and more. The love for these soft fluffy buns came from Chinese immigrants to come over and trade. This Siopao was the Philippine’s adaption for the Cantonese “char siu bao” dumpling. In North China, the dough is soley made with yeast, while the South Chinese and Philippine ‘bao’ or Siopao contains both yeast and baking powder used to give the dough its soft and tender characteristics. Another big difference with the Siopao compared to it’s Chinese counterpart is that the Philippines makes its dough or filling slightly sweeter.

According to records the Siopao filled with either vegetable or meat was created since the Three Kingdoms between 220 and 256 A.D. and was originally called mantou or flour head. It started to gain popularity in the Philippines when it was introduced around the 1920’s by a Cantonese immigrant named Ma Mon Luk, a street vendor who promoted his homemade siopao door to door by giving each person a sample as well as donating these as free food for disaster victims. He sold Siopao and Siomai side by sde with his signature mami, which is a regarded as a popular Filipino noodle soup made with wheat flour noodles, broth, and wonton dumplings.

There’s a certain look that one goes for when trying to find their perfect looking Siopao Asado. The Siopao or ‘hot bun’ and the ‘Asado’ a term referring to the style of cooking the meat by mixing certain ingredients and spices to create a saucy tender and flavorful filling that can be used in meats like pork, beef, and chicken. Some also just make the filling and eat it as a main dish to side with rice. As there are so many varieties of siopao like bola bola a meatball like textured filling, char siu a sweet and sour sauce filled bun, shrimp and sometimes even salted duck egg, even certain regions in the Philippines have begun to make their own variant. For example in Siargao Islandm the ‘paowaw’ is a Siopao bun filled with ‘bukayo’ which is sweetened shredded coconut meat, in many other countries like Japan has popularized filling red bean to create a sweet and ‘healthy’ filling for the Siopao that is also popularly made and sold in the Philippines. While people consume this any time of the day, there are many who eat the Siopao Asado as a light snack, for brunch, as a side with a bowl of noodles, some even buy the XL or extra large Siopaos in specialty stores or convenient stores to eat is as a whole meal or to share with friends.

There’s no need to go out and look for a convenient store that still has that last bit of Siopao Asado that no one chose. Or go out of the comfort of your home only to be told that the last Siopao Asado bun has been sold. Try out this quick and easy recipe yourself and enjoy them at the comfort of your own home.

Siopao Asado

Course: SnacksCuisine: Filipino
Makes

20

pieces

Savory, meaty delights at the palm of your hand.

Ingredients

  • Dough
  • 2 tablespoons yeast

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1 cup water

  • ½ cup sugar

  • 2 teaspoon salt

  • ½ cup shortening

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 5 and ½ cup all purpose flour

  • Fillings
  • 1 kilo pork

  • 3 tablespoons oil

  • 2 tablespoons garlic (minced)

  • 2 cups onion (chopped)

  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch

  • 4 tablespoons water

  • ¼ cup sugar

  • 5 tablespoon soy sauce

  • ¼ cup oyster sauce

Directions

  • For the Filling
  • In a pan at medium heat add oil and sauté the garlic till fragrance. Then add the onions and cook these till slightly translucent.
  • Add the pork in the pan and sauté till the pork changes in color. Add the soy sauce, sugar and oyster sauce. mix well.
  • Mix the cornstarch and water in another bowl before adding it in the pan. Mix well till the sauce thickens. Set aside to cool.
  • For the dough
  • In a bowl, mix yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and water. Let this rest for 10 minutes.
  • Add ½ cup sugar, salt, and shortening. Mix well.
  • Add flour and baking powder. Mix till you get a soft dough.
  • Place this on a floured surface and start kneading till smooth. Use a scraper to make it easier to knead. This is ready when it bounces back then pressed.
  • Place this in an oil greased bowl and cover it for 25 minutes. After rising place it back to a floured surface.
  • Form this into a log and cut these to 20 equal pieces.
  • Flatten the dough with your hand, stretching the sides. Add 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the middle.
  • To seal, cover the filling while pinching the ends together. Place this on a small piece of parchment paper. Cover the sealed siopaos for 30 minutes.
  • Prepare the steamer. Make sure the water is boiling before adding the siopao. Let this steam for 12 minutes.
  • Remove from the steamer and serve hot.

Recipe Video

Notes

  • Use a weighing scale to make sure all the dough balls are cut equally.

Siopao Asado recipe (tagalog)

Sahog

Masa

Palaman

Paano lutuin

Para sa Palaman

  1. Sa kawali na may katamtamang init, ilagay ang mantika ant bawang, lutuin hangang mabango na ang bawang. Ilagay ang sibuyas at lutuin hanggang lumambot.
  2. Ilagay ang pork sa kawali hanggang magiba ng kulay. Ilagay ang soy sauce, asukal, at oyster sauce. haluin ng mabuti.
  3. Ihalo ang cornstarch at tubig sa ibang mangkok bago ilagay sa kawali. Haluin hangang kumapal ang sauce. palamigin.

Para sa Masa

  1. Sa isang mangkok ihalo ang lebadura, 1 kutsarang asukal, at tubig. Itabi ng 10 na minuto.
  2. Idagdag ang ½ tasa ng asukal, asin, at shortening. Haluin ng mabuti.
  3. Ilagay ang harina at baking powder. Ihalo hanggang makabuo ng malambot na masa.
  4. Ilugar ito sa ibabaw na winisikan konti ng harina. Imasahe ito hanggang kuminis ang itsura ng masa. Gumamit ng scraper para mapadali ang pagmasa. Handa na ito kung bumalik ito sa porma niya kung sinundot.
  5. Ilagay ang masa sa mangkok na grinasa ng mantika at takpan ng 25 na minuto. Pagkatapos ibalik ito sa makinis na ibabaw.
  6. Iporma ito ng pahaba at ihati ng 20 na pantay pantay na piraso.
  7. Patagin gamit ang mga kamay, hilain ang mga gilid. Lagyan ng 1-2 na kutsaritang palaman sa gitna.
  8. Para isara, kurotin ang mga gilid at ilagay ito sa maliit na parchment paper. Takpan anf mga ginawang siopao ng 30 minuto.
  9. Para handain ang steamer. Siguraduhing kumukulo ang tubig bago ilagay ang mga siopao. Isteam ng 12 na minuto.
  10. Tanggalin sa steamer at ihanda habang mainit pa.