Egg and cheese bao buns from scratch

Thanks to Trade for sponsoring! Get a free bag of roasted-to-order coffee with select subscriptions: drinktrade.com/ragusea
**BAO RECIPE, MAKES A DOZEN**
1 cup (237mL) milk
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon neutral oil (plus extra for greasing the bao)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (40g) starch
all-purpose flour (about 3 cups, 360g max, but I do it by feel)
Combine all the dough ingredients in a bowl with as much all-purpose flour as you can stir in with a spoon. Cover and let sit about 20 minutes. Knead in more flour until the dough ball is smooth and just barely sticky. Cover and let rise a couple hours until doubled.
Roll out the dough to 1 cm thickness and bunch out rounds (I use the mouth of a pint glass), placing all the finished rounds on a sheet of parchment paper or coffee filters. You can roll out your dough scrap and punch out more rounds as needed. Lightly smear the tops of each round with oil and fold each one over on itself to create a semi-circle. Cover and let proof about 30 min before steaming.
Steam until the buns just finish puffing up and they feel baked inside when you poke them - about 10 minutes. After cooling, they can be frozen and thawed very quickly.
**SANDWICH RECIPE, MAKES A HALF DOZEN**
6 bao buns (see above)
1 egg
2 slices "American" cheese
salt
pepper
butter
water/milk
Gently open the bao buns and stuff each with a few scraps of cheese.
Beat the egg with salt, pepper and a splash of water or milk. Melt a film of butter in a nonstick pan and heat until foaming. Pour in the egg, slosh it around a little but do not stir. Once the egg cooks into a sheet that is solid enough to fold over on itself, well, fold it over on itself and kill the heat.
Tear the egg into scraps and stuff them into the bao buns. Place the buns in the pan with the residual butter and turn the heat back on. When the bottoms have just turned golden brown, splash just enough water in the pan to make a lot of steam and immediately cover - re-steam until the cheese is melted and the bread warmed through.

[@coboba]

I like these original video styles better personally. While there is the charm in the less-edited videos, these have a more concise feel to them that i can more easily follow along when actually cooking them.

[@mikkokuusela5788]

Two contrasting opinions with only 6 thumbs between them, we shall see which shall prevail

[@Nakke013]

I like these too much better. Some of the newer videos I thought that Adam was on drugs or something because he seemed some what crazy

[@Gatch5333]

I really like this style better too but at the end of the day I want him to do whatever makes him happy and I still get cool recipes.

[@samuraibat1916]

I think it would be neat if Adam took an old, less-edited videos and then did them again like this video. You can see his progression from low effort (but still tasty and fun) to high effort and a much more finished product (and perfectionists can then follow his improved video/recipe). Maybe that's too much effort for one recipe, though. idk

[@willgd6666]

I think I have a slight prefference to this style over the other, but definitely preffer a mix of the styles over addopting just one.

[@KontarAlt]

I like these speed recipes alot, Zero bs, just a good recipe

[@ThirdLawPair]

Seriously, I hate that I have to "jump to recipe" on every food blogger who thinks I want to read a story about their friggin grandmother before I gather my ingredients.

[@Nanook128]

​@@ThirdLawPairI had the most frustrating version of that the other day. I wanted to air fry some hash brown patties in my air fryer, and I was trying to look up how long and for what temperature to cook them at. The first link I went to had all the usual crap you have to sort through, and when I got to the actual instructions it just said "air fry until golden brown."

[@Bubba___]

@ThirdLawPair its probably to get more eyes on ads and affiliate links

[@ThirdLawPair]

@@Bubba___ that's exactly it. They fill the page with useless fluff because scrolling down the page boosts the search engine optimization (SEO).

[@keithjackewicz8423]

@@Nanook128gu

[@Pandaman64]

I can't communicate how much I appreciate you having the recipe in the description. So many other channels want to navigate me to their personal website, which inevitably has a deluge of adds and navigation becomes a problem and of COURSE it isn't cell phone friendly for the display.

[@Vale-qw9rr]

Firefox Mobile has a feature that reduces a webpage entirely to the text, and puts it in a very readable vertical format. It's great.

[@kc-lz8gs]

me when i'm so stupid i don't know how to click a link. not sure how people have degenerated this much over time.

[@timothychang34]

as a chinese-american, i've kind of been waiting for someone to start fusing 2 of my favorite breakfast/brunch styles together, American diner and chinese dimsum

[@sillypinkmoth]

​@@dadiscoverychannelok👍

[@Krossfyre]

I do have to say I prefer this video style over the less edited ones. Occasional less edited videos are nice, but these more edited ones are really pleasant to watch. I really just love listening to you talk near nonstop, no matter the topic.

[@shaundao3401]

agree!

[@pacenal_18]

I like how you don't pretend this is authentic. The twists are nice. I don't really care about authenticity but being honest about it is a nice change in the cooking world

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

People won't say it's cultural appropriation if you don't say that it's an authentic recipe

[@tomfeng5645]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j It's almost as if cultural appropriation requires a pretense of authenticity to be severe

[@v-ia]

honesty tastes great doesn't it

[@MouseCIick]

lol when I saw the cheese in the bao my mind was blown. I just realize Chinese don’t really eat cheese.

[@lazercheesecake]

I definitely love how Adam approaches “authenticity.” I don’t fully agree on all his views regarding authenticity and tradition but I respect them because they are also in turn respectful and well thought out. The argument of cultural appropriation is about respect to the original culture and how it’s depiction affects the original culture, but Adam does his best to never intentionally disrespect the original culture or depict it in a way that hurts the culture he took it from.

[@uniworkhorse]

I've always been intimidated by baos at home but Adam has the inate ability to make me less afraid to try stuff at home, this looks sooooo good what a combo. I remember always eating the meat first out of my char siu baos just so I could enjoy the bread alone as a kid

[@Me-da-Ghost]

I thought I was the only one who did that! Every talks about how the bread is bland and the filling is better, but for me it's always been the opposite. Something about a plain, solid chunk of straight carbohydrates just appeals to me way more than random conflicting flavors mixed in.

[@skeleton608]

Are you one of those weirdos who scrapes the icing off of cupcakes? 😂

[@griddycheese]

If you eat bread by itself you like torture

[@apalinode3859]

You’d probably like Mantou. It’s basically like bao but all bread with no filling. Easier to make, too. You could also try huajuan or flower rolls / flower buns which is basically the same thing as mantou but rolled flat, brushed with oil and dusted with green onion or other seasonings, and rolled back up so that there’s a swirl of flavoring.

[@uniworkhorse]

@@skeleton608 deadass I am LOL (except red velvet that icing actually tastes good)

[@ericwWu]

As a taiwanese-brazilian adult who forgot to take notes in childhood, I've been searching for easy bao recipes for quite a while. This seems to do it.

[@LunarisDream]

This is more complicated than normal baozi due to having to cook the filling separately and also having to cook the whole thing in multiple steps. Normal baozi is easier - dough, shape, put filling in, fold and pinch, steam. This recipe is slightly ridiculous to me as you can achieve similar results by toasting an egg and cheese sandwich that you can throw together in a fraction of the time, or make actual Chinese baozi with almost the same amount of effort. Heck, just throw the fillings in, maybe even with some ham, and make normal baozi with western fillings. Less work and there's no filling spilling out from the side.

[@johnzheng8652]

​@LunarisDream There are more steps in baozi that can have a serious detrimental effect if done incorrectly. A filling that's too wet will collapse the dough part (and same problem if you roll the dough too thin before folding). The folding itself can also be difficult, if you get oil or oily folling on the parts you need to merge the bao will open during steaming and possibly spill filling all over the other ones. I see Adam's thing as making a shaped mantou (basically if you only the flour part of baozi) which is quite a bit easier than learning to make a full baozi. Then the filling is just a completely seperate thing that many people alreayd know how to do. I agree that making a baozi with Western-style filling definitely requires less cook time, though.

[@user-zr9hu3tf1y]

​@@LunarisDreamjust one thing to add to this convo that i didnt seen mentioned, separate cooking of the dough lets you put them in the freezer like he did

[@chenjamin4061]

adam! instead of pressing out rounds with a glass, i’d rec comes rolling the dough into a long, thin-ish tube and then cut it into the appropriate amount of pieces. then, simply knead the bao into shape gently with your palms. the texture comes out much better!

[@chenjamin4061]

recommend *

[@RainbowGin]

But the cup is easier

[@bloodangel13]

Also! For authentic home style bao, use sesame oil to fold the bao to give it a nice toasted aroma to it.

[@Tenshi6Tantou6Rei]

@@RainbowGin I mean, only if you must have perfectly round bao. If you don't care if it's slightly mishappen, then tube, cut, flatten method is much easier lol

[@NZtechfreak]

The extra kneading helps to generate that nice fine crumb that you want for bao. Some like May Chow have quite an elaborate kneading process to achieve this, but I find a good knead when shaping suffices for home.

[@jhiggins1829]

I feel like a little everything bagel seasoning sprinkled on the bao before cooking would be really good. Make them even more bagel adjacent

[@Ealsante]

But why should they be bagel adjacent? Not every bread aspires to be a bagel.

[@jhiggins1829]

@@Ealsante Adam said that the fresh bao reminded him of bagels. Everything bagels are my favorite kind, so if I ever made these I'd probably add everything seasoning to them. Of course they don't have to be like bagels, it's just where my head went when he mentioned the similarity.

[@Azian_Euroz]

I love bao and was always too lazy to see how the dough was made. Thanks for showing me how simple it is, including the steaming.

[@samhumphrey7058]

Adam, you make me passionate about cooking, and you motivate me to try more stuff in the kitchen. I watch all your videos, and I can honestly say that your style of video and listening to you talk. I could just listen to you all day. Thankyou for what you do, you do it so well.

[@ligmaballs2022]

They look surprisingly similar to lotus buns. Recently, last week during CNY we ate these buns with pork and sauce inside

[@theunease5541]

Definitely gonna try these. I have been wanting to try making bao for a while now and putting it into an approachable format like this helps make me realize I can make them.

[@NaviniusGames]

Nice green eggs! Will you have a green eggs and ham recipe soon?

[@LadyMorrigan]

Ikr, I was shocked 😂

[@aragusea]

At this point, I think the problem has to be the c-log format itself, or maybe how it interacts with YT compression. I’ve tried every LUT imaginable, etc, no progress. I know people get nice colors with Canon, but I just can’t seem to.

[@zifork]

Do you have your camera set to auto white balance? That could be the problem - the eggs are tinted green in the same shots that your marble counter is tinted blue. When the counter looks white, the eggs look more yellow.

[@zachpw]

@@aragusea I've noticed your videos have always been quite blue, I thought it was on purpose. I wonder if maybe your computer display isn't calibrated right. Some suggestions: I assume your video lights all have a color temperature of 5600K. If that's true, you should set your camera's white balance to either 5600K or the Daylight setting (which will actually be slightly warmer in a pleasing way). You could get an X-rite color checker. It's a little board of colored squares, and in your editor you use a dropper tool to select the color and it automatically adjusts all the colors to be correct. I believe Da Vinci Resolve lets you select all the colors, but any editor should at least let you select the gray ones to set the white balance in the right ballpark.

[@coconutisland.]

Adam if you’re looking to expand on the bao then I highly reccomend making a video on char siu bao- it’s a Chinese style pork barbecue bao and it’s super delicious. Keep up the good content!❤️

[@RIPMrAlwaysFirst]

This is such a brilliant idea, Adam!

[@passerby4507]

Hey Adam, try this stuffing: braised pork, peanut powder, pickles and cilantro (or basil if you hate cilantro). That's roughly the authentic Taiwanese recipe, except it's pickled mustard greens.

[@laurenc.590]

Yes to all of the above (albeit I just omit the cilantro), and you can still add a fried egg and/or cheese if you like... just might wanna make bigger buns to fit it all!

[@Dewkeeper]

Everyone should have pickled mustard greens in their pantry, they're absolutely delicious and keep well.

[@inthefade]

Holy eff that sounds good. Do they also put some roasted crushed peanuts on it because that would just add the textural magic that I imagine that it needs. Also, some heat in there too would amp it up. This is on my list of must try recipes now.

[@Ealsante]

Ah, the classic kong bak bao! Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

[@passerby4507]

@@inthefade Peanuts can be crushed as well, sure. I don't think there's usually heat, at most it'll be some white pepper.

[@believe07]

I absolutely loved this one. I've been obsessed with bao for a while now and didn't know that they were that easy to make. Thank you

[@bdluejay]

I love bao buns so much, this is such a cool and simple fusion that can be modified in a number of ways

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Looks amazing! Thanks For this 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@tmck4138]

I would love to see more fusion recipes.

[@bugtank]

Thank you Adam! Can’t wait to make these.

[@LizzieShiro]

I’ve had a craving for bao buns for a few weeks now. Thanks for the video!

[@tvh300]

Good to see you back to your old style!

[@Juno_Colchis]

I really enjoy that even though I don't like the breakfast sandwich part, I can still take the awesome bao knowledge and use it for other things! Might try these to put some kind of veggies and tofu on top!

[@RebelRhiannon]

Yum! I will have to try this! A lot of people are commenting on the video styles so I will add my two cents- I love all your videos, so do whatever makes you happy!

[@sentientarugula2884]

If there's one style that more people like, he should stuck to that style.

[@aragusea]

@@sentientarugula2884I’m not sure you really believe that?

[@fakesilver746]

@@araguseai enjoy a bit of variety cuh

[@HarvestStore]

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

[@Nikki0417]

That looks delicious and super easy. I'm definitely making it for my next batch of breakfast food.

[@Greendawn-di3dl]

Oh man that sounds awesome!

[@NitinPatelIndia]

Thank you for your services, spoon.

[@azulagirl325]

Def making these!!!!

[@LiefLayer]

I just recently made a bunch of steamed bread filled with beef tongue stew (before this video). I froze them and when I want to eat them I just put some in the microwave with a cup of water to make some steam. I agree... easy to make and really good. I use a colander and a lid with a kitchen towel for steaming... it work really well.

[@theelectricant98]

Can't wait to try these!!

[@kimsnader8777]

Thank you for giving me one more variation to add to my breakfast arsenal!

[@LaineyBug2020]

They're way too cute!

[@sheilam4964]

Thx for doing this, filming it and sharing it with us

[@Zaillith]

Finally a new idea for a breakfast sandwich. Thanks for the great video!

[@Zaillith]

@In-box-Me-Via-MrAdamRagusea eh? What about?

[@diegoparga9324]

I WILL make these this weekend

[@seacucumberable]

Great recipe, great video!

[@jrk1666]

you can also do bao gyoza style, fry for a bit in a pan lower the flame and add a cup of water and lid for 10-15 min depending on size

[@fakelove6289]

With condensed milk!!!

[@erzsebetkovacs2527]

@@fakelove6289 Where does the condensed milk go?

[@themushroominside6540]

@@erzsebetkovacs2527 Its used as a topping like a dessert bun, its not actually cooked and fried with the bao, you can instead place it on the side and dip the bao, certain jams/preserves may pair well with it too. Bao are so versatile

[@sembalo1776]

Never made bao buns nor have i eaten any, will have to try this!

[@2rustysporks]

ooo I really like this idea.

[@Project337]

Not sure if it's the lighting or color grading but what in the Dr. Seuss is going on with those eggs...?

[@TundieRice]

Green goddamn eggs…it ain’t right 😞

[@DungeonsLover]

I've wanted to make bao for so long, but was too intimidated to try. Thank you, Adam for those wings you gave me. The flight was very delicious!

[@AlexAnom420]

I also enjoy throwing egg white in there as well.

[@carsn6244]

This looks chill

[@dannyboyNS752]

Can't wait to try thes... but funny you should say they are a lot easier. I've found bagels one of the easier breads to make... I especially love that i can make them the night before, then just give them a quick bath in boiling water with malt syrup the next morning and then bake. Perfect lazy Sunday late breakfast/brunch treat!

[@joshuaburton3478]

Love the New Heights tee, always fun to see references from other KZbinrs

[@karu6111]

bao buns + braised pork = heaven

[@scruffopone3989]

This one looks killer Adam, genuinely gorgeous looking bao buns, but then using them for an egg and cheese sandwich? If I didn't eat just now my mouth would be watering.

[@plotdot32]

Thanks so much! I’ve been on a bao binge as of late, and they’re really expensive in my local Asian market - like 8 dollars for 10 frozen buns. This seems easy enough to do myself in stead!

[@user-zr9hu3tf1y]

i just made them, badly, and with flour 1 and a half years out of date, and im still impressed with how they turned out

[@jacelarper8368]

Thanks for giving me an idea for a new recipe, Guse-man! 👍

[@mikael4751]

Thanks, man!

[@phlimy]

Garnished mine with goat cheese and honey. Pure bliss

[@Thuggie28]

Definitely lifting the dough recipe. Been looking for an at home method.

[@outdoorloser4340]

Love these videos 😂

[@vsznry]

Wow bao.

[@mploehrer]

Genius.

[@cucinainfamiglia2018]

❤ bravissimo 👍 ottima idea 😋 grazie ❤🇮🇹😋👍💖

[@Noway-sg8md]

sounds good

[@akulseshadri]

Another Ragusea Instant Classic

[@andrewwilliams8841]

That looks amazing! I get little sandwiches like that at this ramen izakaya in Portland, usually with karaage or pork belly with a little spicy mayo, pickled red onions, and scallions. They're great -- I've never thought of making an egg and cheese sandwich that way, but I'm sure it would be all soft and gooey and delightful.

[@flaviocatarino4328]

Loved it. Keep up the good content my friend.

[@stevenadel8759]

I was with you until you said one egg for six buns!

[@finnjacobs]

I love how Adam always just casually drops alternatives. Why does it have to be milk, why cant it be water or white wine, who's to say that onky milk works? Love how he just frequently says that it needs liquid and all are fine. Like if you don't use white wine like he often does, he also gives you water + vinegar as a substitute.

[@sm0925]

I made them and theyre sooo good. Gonna be a new stable 100%

[@user-zr9hu3tf1y]

yeah, i just made them badly and with flour that was marked best before june 2022, and im sitting here munching on just plain buns while i wait for the others to cook, im surprised how satisfying they are

[@serpentax]

i live in taiwan so i'm just going to buy the buns at the store. and i'm going to steam in my rice cooker. i really like bao. i've been making tacos out of all kinds of different regional cuisines, but it's never crossed my mind to do it with bao! thanks for the inspiration, adam.

[@chezmoi42]

Yes! Chinese tacos? Mexican bao? (Con)fusion cuisine!

[@esterdelluongo2784]

I love Adam Ragusea

[@Okamare]

Love the vid, just wanna say i miss the podcast and hope for its return!

[@sosalovesmylfs69]

i love you adam. idk if you still stay in knoxville. but as a fellow knoxville-ian? lol. i would like to say that we are v lucky to have you. pls keep doing what you’re doing. and take care of yourself 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@baldcarrots]

I'd love a video on the colour correction you apply to your videos.

[@88WhiteRhino]

I made 10, still had some leftover dough so I made two cheese dumplings. They turned out ok but I wish they turned out as good as Adams. His look like little breakfast tacos!

[@larry3847]

thank god, we are back to videos we once loved

[@Scerttle]

of all the doughy things Adam has made on the channel these do seem the most simple

[@Pridetoons]

More recipes like this please!

[@radza100]

I love bao with just condensed milk.❤

[@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv]

Condensed, that has a lot of sugar, or evaporated milk, no sugar just milk with half the water removed.

[@TundieRice]

@@EthelredHardrede-nz8yvis that supposed to be a question or a statement? Condensed milk (at least in the US) means that it’s sweetened, evaporated milk being unsweetened.

[@EthelredHardrede-nz8yv]

@@TundieRice Both and you just said what I did. Ask radza.

[@unit--ns8jh]

This proves bao are simply awesome no matter what you put in 🙂 I'm still sour that the bao place near my office closed shop two years ago 😐

[@saumyabehl]

It's like a cross between naan and kulcha but steamed

[@francine4773]

I was watchinf a video on finance and accidentally clicked to this somehow. Worth.

[@OCaptainMercaptan]

freddy fazbear? more like eggy fazbao

[@nerrickk9024]

I've become obsessed with making scrambled eggs in a wok with high heat. Throw some oil in until it starts smoking, add in the eggs and they cook in like 10 seconds.

[@exploshaun]

Asian here. I love fusion food.

[@lemonlordminecraft]

Little shreds of cabbage on that could do wonders. Makes me wonder if you could do that on the regular sandwich or if the texture would just be wrong. I’ll test next time I’ve got a cabbage

[@delivfx]

I dont know if you like or dont like these but i think you should add poppy or sesame seeds when u put them in the pan to fry and re steam them. these look amazing though!

[@evilamy5]

I know it was part of the ad break, but like, unironically, Reanimator coffee IS my current fav.

[@aragusea]

My thoughts exactly, #ad but also #notanad

[@jovanjovan1950]

Bro i was lisening to ur videos in the backround while playing a game and a kid lost so many times against me that he started crying and now when i watch ur videos i always remember how i made that kid cry and i feel horrible abt it to this day😭

[@sebas9504]

Nice

[@ZimbolicalMayhem]

Hope to see your podcast return

[@gangstreG123]

The logical progression of this, Adam, is to Taiwanese Guabao which may not fit into a clean eating diet, but the braised fatty pork and peanut powder are quite a nice combination.

[@leonardarola]

Yum!

[@untitled.8135]

Yeahhh I like This Style of Video better than the “live” version, this looks deeeeliiiush

[@OneNvrKnoz]

Shove in a crispy piece of bacon and I’m sold!

[@Buddy26420]

small sausage link would go good in those buns

[@MartianBuddy]

Look like cute tacos. I hope you make bao pizza.

[@Svafne]

Boa wap wi wa! This might be a sign from the gods that I should indeed make some bao!

[@nou6990]

if people (still) complain about authenticity or whatevs id like to say that here in taiwan we eat this all the time! just with bigger buns and with other fillings too, so although it may not be authentic chinese cuisine, it def is authentic taiwanese breakbast

[@nicoskefalas]

Yeeey Adam content!!! Any updates on the pod? Miss it sooo much

[@mikkojensen]

you should pre wet your filters before blooming the coffee grounds, gets rid of the papery notes. This is especially important with chemex filterts since they're so thick. Might seem unnecessary but I notice a surprising difference if I don't have time to go through that step

[@FractalZero]

There's a great spot in Edinburgh that does breakfast bao :)

[@pauliusd6505]

Hey is the podcast coming back anytime soon? Used to be my favourite part of Monday mornings :(