Welcome as we embark on the culinary adventure of making Chinese sausage buns from scratch! If you’ve ever had Chinese sausage buns before then you will know how they are the perfect combination of fluffy dough and savory sausage.
Follow along to learn how to make your own delicious sausage buns at home. From kneading the dough to shaping the buns and then to baking them to golden perfection.
Sausage buns and Pineapple Buns are two staple items at any Chinese bakery. They are the two most popular buns.
Did you know that both sausage buns and pineapple buns can actually be made with the same base dough? You can make a batch of dough and make half sausage buns and half pineapple buns if you wanted.
Tangzhong
If you’ve had buns from the Chinese bakery before then you know how soft they are. And how they are soft even the day after. The buns stay soft with something called Tangzhong. This is the secret to soft bread.
Tangzhong is made from cooking water and flour together until it forms a paste. You then use this paste in your bread dough. This results in the soft bread dough you’re accustomed to from the Chinese bakery.
To make the tangzhong, you heat water and flour in a pot on medium heat until it thickens into a paste. Once a paste has formed, transfer it to a bowl and let it cool down before using. TIP: cover the tangzhong with plastic wrap while it is cooling. Ensure the plastic wrap touches the tangzhong so that a crust doesn’t form on top of the tangzhong while it is cooling.
What type of sausage to use
You can use whatever type of hot dog sausage you like. I personally use Schneiders Red Hot sausages. I find these tastes the most like the sausages from the Chinese bakery.
Do you cook the sausages first?
Yes, you use cooked sausages in this recipe. Cook the sausages and let cool before assembling the sausage buns.
Equipment needed:
- Food scale. To measure out the ingredients
- Stand mixer. For kneading the dough. (You can also always hand knead)
- Baking tray
- Pastry brush. To brush on the egg wash
- Rolling pin. To roll out the dough during the assembly stage.
Making the bread dough + assembly
- Combine together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, and yeast)
- Add in the egg, milk, and tangzhong
- Knead until a rough dough forms
- Add in the butter and continue to knead
- Let the dough rest ~40 minutes until doubled in size.
- Lightly knead the dough then separate it into 8 pieces. Knead each piece of dough into a ball and let rest 15 minutes.
- (refer to pictures below or watch video) Take a piece of dough and roll it out flat with a rolling pin. Then roll up the dough into a cylindrical log. Wrap this dough around a sausage. Tuck the edges in and pinch it together to ensure the dough doesn’t unravel. Do this with all 8 pieces of dough.
- Let rest 45-60 minutes until doubled in size.
- Brush the buns with an egg wash
- Bake at 350F/177C for 25 minutes
Chinese Sausage Buns
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 25 grams bread flour
- 125 mL water
Bread dough
- 360 grams bread flour
- 60 grams sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1 egg
- 100 grams milk
- 30 grams butter, softened
Filling
- 8 sausages (cooked)
Instructions
- Make the tangzhong by combining 25 grams flour and 125mL water together in a pot. Heat this on medium heat until it thickens into a paste. Allow this to cool to room temperature before using.
- In a large bowl, combine together flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.
- Add in the egg, milk, and tangzhong. Knead until it forms a rough dough
- Add in the butter and continue to knead
- Let the dough rest for ~40 minutes until doubled in size
- Lightly knead the dough and separate the dough into 8 pieces. Knead each piece of dough into a ball and let rest 15 minutes.
- Take a piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll it out flat. Then roll the dough up into a log and wrap it around the sausage. Repeat this step with all 8 pieces of dough.
- Let rest 45-60 minutes.
- Brush the buns with an egg wash
- Baker at 350F/177C for 25 minutes
Want more Chinese bakery recipes? Check out my pineapple bun recipe!
Or maybe check out: