There’s various cha siu bao filling recipes online, but here’s one I adapted to suit me! There’s less salt in the recipe because I like using the leftover marinade from roasting cha siu – can’t have any food wastage, esp when it’s the best part!
I use my tang zhong bread recipe for the baos. It makes it nice and fluffy on the inside. Being such a versatile recipe, I’ve used it for many other bakery breads.

Cha Siu Bao aka Chinese BBQ Pork buns filling
Ingredients
- 2 cups diced cha siu
- 1 small onion`
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- leftover marinade from cha siu + 1/2 cup water OR 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 Tbsp standard flour
Instructions
- Stir fry the onion until soft
- Add the ingredients for the sauce (sugar, soy sauces, oyster sauce sesame oil)
- Stir until it starts bubbling
- Add the cha siu marinade/chicken stock and flour
- Stir until thickened
- Taste and season as needed. Try not to eat all of it at once!