We often go to the Harlow Chinese School for their cooking classes, but the dates haven’t previously lined up so that we could take our whole family. This time, however, everyone was free and excited to be attending to make bao buns – which is actually a favorite in our household! This class was all about Bao Buns, but in normal fashion, there were also some surprises and side dishes that were made to go with it.
The Harlow Chinese School’s cooking classes are quite casual, making them fine for couples or people with children. All of the filling for the bao buns were already chopped and marinated. Sun walked us through what she did to make the dough and filling, then demo’ed exactly how to make the bao. We were all given a bunch of dough and told to use smaller balls of dough to practice-fill the dough we roll out, to make some bao buns. When we were confident, we then got to gain the filling and fill our bao for real. Sun then explained that these would go in a giant steamer, to be steamed. The filling for the steamed buns were pork.
While everyone was building their buns, Sun was created a beef bao bun that was cooked in a different way; fried in a pan. These came out in batches and we went up to watch her make some, to better understand the difference. These bao buns were cooked with their opening side down and became very crispy. It was nice to get these to munch on while we waited for our batch of bao buns to steam. They also came out really well.
It’s worth noting here that Kai’s bao buns were a little different. I had requested the recipes ahead of time and created Kai’s bun dough and filling before the event, so that Kai could participate and still know exactly what macros are in his food, for his fitness journey. With that in mind, Sun complimented how fluffy and big his bao buns were! Amelia and Kai were very good at folding their dough and making their bao buns, with Robin needing a bit more help but having a fantastic time. Once our bao buns were done, we also tried some of the noodle salad that was made, however it had peanut butter in it – which only Robin quite likes.
We did enjoy all of the toppings that you could put on your bao buns; chili sauce, soy sauce, chili flakes – the works. It was fun to eat our full (and there was really so much food!) before we finished up and headed home. I am so glad we all got to attend together and that everyone enjoyed creating such delicious food.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!
I would love to learn how to make boa buns, that is so so cool. I bet a lot of skill and patience are required to make them that perfect.
Bao buns are absolutely delicious. I would love to learn how to make my own like this. What a cool class.
That looks fun and exciting to do. My sister and mom love taking lessons like this.
This must have been great fun to have been able to make your own bao buns. I’ve only ever had them in a restaurant so making my own would be great.
Looks like such a fun and delicious experience! I love how food-based workshops like these bring people together and celebrate culture in such a hands-on way. Those bao buns look amazing – now I’m craving some!