Cha siu pineapple buns (叉燒菠蘿包/菠蘿叉燒包)

A few weeks ago, I realized that I was getting enough coupons from 99 Ranch that I should actually be using them (lol), so I went ahead and did that. Because I’d somehow managed to get $36 (!!) worth of coupons to spend at the steam table/BBQ counter, I was able to buy some youtiao, a whole soy sauce chicken (醬油雞), and a ginormous hunk of cha siu for a grand total of $4!!! My inner Asian/Cantonese person was happy :’) (slash, why have I been wasting these coupons all these years?!)

Cha siu bao have been on my mind for years now, almost as long as I’ve been thinking of making cha siu. I remember asking a good friend whether I should start with steamed or baked ones first, and he recommended the former because it was more classic. But when I saw friends making pineapple buns during SIP, I knew that that was the one I was going to pick too. It was a good choice.

So yes, I ended up using storebought cha siu for the filling, but honestly it just made the work that much easier (not to mention, why wouldn’t you if you’d gotten it for almost-free??). The bun itself was straightforward too; using a weighing scale to divide them definitely made them look nice and even! Altogether, the taste was spot-on, and with the generous portion sizes, they were very satisfying indeed :) I’d make these again, though maybe would try other bun variations to see if I can get an even fluffier texture :D

Pineapple bun with butter (菠蘿油)

(bun recipe from Tasty Cooking Studio)
(filling recipe from The Woks of Life)