Learn how to make the banh bao dough on your own if you don't have the premix flour on hand. It's really easy and you only need a handful of ingredients that you might already have in your pantry!
Some of you already know how much I love banh bao, but sometimes I don't have the banh bao premix flour on hand to make the dough. Today, I'm going to share with you my recipe on how to easily make the mix that is required to make banh bao from scratch.
And yes, you can absolutely make this dough from scratch because I didn't have any of the premix packets on hand. It allowed me to compare the packages of the flour mix along with a homemade version.
The premixed bag comes with the dry ingredients and yeast already added in, but with just a little bit of effort and time, you can achieve the same mixture right at home.
All About Banh Bao Dough
Banh bao dough is generally used for making Vietnamese steamed pork buns, which goes by the name banh bao. This dish is a very popular "on-the-go" snack that is usually eaten for breakfast or for a quick snack. It's generally served warm, straight from the steamer. It is very popular in Vietname is a food served out of street carts and inside restaurants.
In the western Vietnamese restaurants, you may not often find this on the menu. However, making banh bao steamed pork buns is fairly straightforward.
It's really easy to make the dough mixture from scratch, and you may find that you have all the ingredients for it already in your cabinet.
However, if you have the premix, you can always go to my recipe for banh bao to start assembling all of the recipe that includes the filling.
Other Types of Recipes to Use Banh Bao Dough For
I've seen a lot of restaurants use this dough in place of taco shells, which is a really great idea! It's almost like a Mexician-Asian infusion. And they did it well!
The restaurant that I went to perfected the bao and called them "bao tacos".
If you can believe it, I've also seen "pizzas" made from banh bao dough!
Brands for Banh Bao Dough Flour Premix
Premix banh bao brands are reliable and readily available at most Asian supermarkets. I often try to stock up on the premix flour and wood ear mushrooms just so I have the dry goods in stock.
However, there are two brands that I love if you were to go buy these flours.
This is the highly recommended one:
The second brand would be this one:
Tips in Preparing Banh Bao from Scratch
Before you get started on making the dough from scratch, I wanted to make sure you had a few tips and tricks to make sure you have the softest and fluffiest banh bao dough possible! What makes a good banh bao is the steamed dough. It needs to be perfectly fluffy, almost cloud like as you bite into it.
- Make sure you use warm milk, as this will help activate the yeast.
- The dough needs time to rest in a warm place. If I'm cooking in the kitchen, I'll just place the dough close to the warm stovetop in order to allow the yeast to work it's magic.
- Air bubbles are important because this shows that the yeast is getting activated.
- When rolling the dough, make sure that you don't roll it too thin otherwise it will allow the filler ingredients to break through when you are trying to assemble it.
- If you are kneading this recipe using your bare hands, roughly mix the dough. If you then cover it, and allow it to rest for 15 minutes, the dough will relax the gluten, making it easier to knead. You can continue doing this if at anytime the dough is getting too hard to knead. Resting allows the dough to be more pliable.
- When steaming, ensure that you allow the steamer to go to a rolling boil, then switch it to low heat. This will allow the banh bao outer shell to puff up without any wrinkles.
- White buns are the signature of a good banh bao. When you are making the dough from scratch, it may turn yellow. A way to avoid this is by adding 2 tablespoons of vinegar to the water that is being boiled as well as adding drops of lime juice. This allows the acidic vapor to work with the dough.
Homemade Banh Bao Flour from Scratch Recipe
This is how you can make fluffy, steamed bao buns without premix flour with just a few basic ingredients!
Ingredients for Homemade Banh Bao Dough
- 1 cup of milk, warmed in microwave
- 1 ¼ active dry yeast
- ¼ cup of sugar
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- 2½ cups of flour
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon of lime juice
Instructions for Making Vietnamese Banh Bao Steamed Buns from Scratch
In a microwave-safe bowl, heat milk for 30 seconds. Ensure the milk is not to hot as you don't want to kill the yeast.
Add sugar to the warm milk and stir until dissolved. Add yeast and give it a gentle stir. Let it rest for 10 minutes. The yeast will start frothing. 
Next, you'll want to add in the sugar, salt, flour, vegetable oil, and baking powder into a mixer. Using a kneading attachment for the mixing stand or manually, incorporate the dough so that it is no longer sticky and pulls cleanly.
Cover the bowl with a clean towel or plastic wrap and allow it to sit in a warm spot for at least 1 hour until the dough doubles in size.
After resting, remove the dough from the bowl, add the lime juice, and knead it to remove bubbles.
Shape it into a log and divide it in halves until you have 12 pieces. Roll them into a ball and cover them with a damp cloth. Allow 15 minutes before shaping the dough.
Place one ball into a floured surface and allow it to form a ¼ -inch circle with edges that are thinner at the perimeter than the center.
Add the filling as needed.
Allow the steamer to come to a rolling boil, then turn the heat to low. Place the buns on the steamer with the buns about 1-inch apart.
Buns with filling should be cooked between 6-8 minutes where buns with raw filling should be cooked between 13-16 minutes.
Wrap the lid of the steamer with a kitchen towel to avoid water from dripping into the buns.
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Other Vietnamese Recipes You Might Love
If you loved this recipe for banh bao, a deliciously authentic Vietnamese steamed pork bun, you might also love these recipes below:
- Instant Pot Banh Tet
- Banh Uot with Premade Rice Sheets
- Vietnamese Banh Canh Soup
- Banh Xeo, Yellow Pancake Omelette
- Vietnamese Banh Bao Steamed Pork Bun