bánh bao — Vietnam

Bánh bao is a soft, rounded steamed bun with a savoury filling, part of the broad bánh category of Vietnamese preparations built on rice or wheat dough. Compared with its Chinese relatives, the outer bun is usually sweeter, and the dough is often enriched with a little milk. It is reported throughout Vietnam, where it is sold as a quick breakfast or snack from street carts and bakeries, wrapped individually and kept warm in steamer baskets. It developed from baozi carried south from northern and eastern China and from Mongolian buuz, adapted over time into a distinct, sweeter Vietnamese bun. To prepare it, a dough of flour, milk, sugar and a leavening agent is kneaded and left to rise, then divided into rounds. Each round is filled with a mixture of seasoned ground pork, wood ear mushroom and shallot, along with a piece of hard-boiled egg, then gathered and sealed at the top. The buns rise a second time before being steamed until the dough is glossy and fully set. Cooks vary the filling, adding sausage or extra egg, and adjust the sweetness of the dough and the ratio of pork to mushroom, which changes the bite from meaty to lighter and more vegetable-forward. A related sweet version, filled with a custard-like egg yolk cream, is also made in southern China under different names, showing how the same steamed, filled bun format travels and changes across the region.