FOOD 101: Bao, Filled Steamed Buns From China
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Updated August 2026 August 22nd is National Bao Day, a relatively newly-established holiday reflecting the increased availability of bao in the U.S. If you like bread of all types, including steamed, doughy bread with a savory filling, then celebrate: It’s National Bao Day. Below: Elsewhere on The Nibble: > The different types of dumplings. > The year’s 15 Chinese food holidays. Bao (rhymes with cow), short for baozi, is a type of soft, yeast white bread, formed into filled buns wrapped around savory or sweet fillings. Every culture that makes pastry creates some form pastry with meat. One of our favorites is Chinese barbecued pork buns (char siu bao). But there are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations based on regional cuisines, although the buns are most often steamed. Bao are served at restaurants as appetizers, made at home, and sold by street vendors. They’re a popular choice on dim sum menus. is a traditional Chinese steamed filled bun (photo #1). Unlike dumplings, bao are not made with a pasta/noodle dough but with a soft yeasty white bread made from wheat dough. Steamed in bamboo baskets and served warm, they are a real comfort food. They are a variation of mantou from Northern China. Meats or vegetables are the most common fillings, and you’ll also find sweet bao, filled with custard, chocolate, red beans or other sweet. And there are different presentation styles, too. While bao can be eaten at any meal, and are a go-to breakfast food, in the U.S. bao have gotten the “American breakfast treatment.” Wow Bao in Chicago sells bacon, egg and cheddar bao; scrambled eggs bao with mushrooms and spinach; and spicy sausage and egg bao. We’re waiting for the PB&J bao for lunch. Check out the many different types of bao. But be warned: They will make you hungry. This recipe was created (photo #5) for the American Egg Board by Paul Sletten, Chef/Owner of Abreo in Rockford, Illinois.
1. MARINATE the julienned vegetables in vinegar, sugar and kosher salt for at least one hour but up to three days. 2. SET UP a bamboo steamer or similar steamer. Add the bao buns to steam, approximately four minutes. Meanwhile… 3. WHISK the eggs and scramble them in nonstick pan over medium heat. Stir and scrape the sides with a rubber spatula to prevent browning. Once eggs are 80% cooked… 4. TURN OFF the heat and cover the pan with lid to allow the eggs to finish cooking by steam. When the eggs are done… 5. SEASON the eggs with salt and cover with sesame seeds. Then cut each bao into four equal pieces. 6. TO ASSEMBLE, remove the bao from the steamer and place a portion of eggs on each; top with the pickled vegetables and drizzle with oyster sauce. If you want to try bao without investing a lot of time, use store-bought biscuit dough. They won’t taste exactly the same, but will give you an idea of what from-scratch will be like. |
 [1] Try your hand at making bao. Here’s the recipe for these steamed BBQ pork buns, called char siu bao (photo © The Woks Of Life).
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5. THE HISTORY OF BAO According to legend, baozi was invented by the Chinese military strategist and chancellor of the state of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang, during a military campaign in the third century C.E. In actuality, bao were derived from mantou, steamed buns without a filling, that originated in the north of China. Mantou are thought to have originated in the Qin State of the Zhou Dynasty during the reign of King Zhaoxiang (307 B.C.E.-250 B.C.E.). Along with other wheat-based foods like noodles, mantou and bao became popular during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E.-206 C.E.) Originally both styles—plain and filled—were called mantou. But centuries later, by the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 C.E.), the term bao or baozi was used to differentiate the buns with filling (source). But bao didn’t stay in China. It is believed that the Mongols brought bao to Central and East Asia, about the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century. Thanks to them, filled dumplings emerged in the cuisines of Persia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, among other cuisines. With the arrival of more Chinese immigrants to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s, Chinese cuisine expanded beyond the Americanized Cantonese foods that were previously available. Ask for bao the next time you visit a Chinese restaurant. It will most likely be BBQ pork, but you may find chicken bao, seafood bao, and those delicious dessert bao filled with sweet custard (recipe below).
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