Chinese Curry Beef Buns. Savoury curried beef and onion stuffed inside a fluffy egg bun. Great as a snack or breakfast when you’re feeling hungry!
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What are Chinese Curry Beef Buns?
Chinese Curry Beef Buns are a popular Chinese baked bun stuffed with a curry beef filling with onions. You can usually find this baked good sold at many Chinese bakeries. The taste of the curried minced meats with the soft onions and that tender milk egg bun is pure heaven! Interestingly enough these actually taste better the second day as the flavours have had more time to absorb into each other. This Chinese beef bun recipe is my mother's.
This curry bun takes me back to memories of my mother and I. We would walk over to Chinese bakery that was only 10 minutes away from our home. My mom and I would pick a variety of sweet and savory buns. We would always make sure to get a curry beef bun. Then my mother and I would sit down at the café to enjoy the warm buns with a hot beverage. My mother would get the hot milk tea and I would get a hot Horlick or Ovaltine. It was something we would often do together.
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Egg wash
- Sesame seeds
Filling
- Ground beef
- Onion
- Cornstarch
- Sugar
- Salt
- Curry powder
- Turmeric powder
- Neutral oil: like vegetable oil, avocado oil or any scentless oil with a high smoke point.
Dough
- All purpose flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Dry Active Yeast
- Melted butter
- Warm water
- Milk of choice
- Egg
How to make Curry Beef Buns
Prepare Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add dry ingredients first: all purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast and mix well. Then add wet ingredients: melted butter, egg, water, and milk. Using a whisk, stir in one direction until your dough has come together in one ball. Cover with a wet towel and let this rest for 10 minutes.
- Dust it with extra all purpose flour. Knead the dough until it is no longer sticky inside the bowl. Place it back into the bowl. Cover with a wet towel. Let this rest for 45 minutes until the dough is almost fluffy and airy.
- Let this rest for 45 minutes until the dough is almost fluffy and airy.
- Once your dough has rested, roll it out onto a floured surface into a long tube. Divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll them into balls.
- Then cover again with a wet towel and let it rest for 60 minutes until they are fluffy and airy.
Make Filling
- Meanwhile, in a pan set over medium heat, add ½ teaspoon vegetable oil followed by finely diced onions. Cook until translucent.
- Next add in your minced beef and break it apart. Allow this to cook until meat is brown.
- Season with turmeric, salt, sugar, curry powder and mix well. Reduce heat to low setting. Finally add in cornstarch and mix well until combined.
- Remove off heat and transfer filling onto a plate. Allow this to cool completely.
Assemble Buns
- Preheat your oven to 360 degrees F.
- Once the balls have rested, pat them down a bit. Fill the center with 1.5 tablespoon of the meat filling.
- Pull up the edges of the dough and seal them well. Note: I would recommend filling the meat all at once, then wash your hands, and then seal the dough to prevent the curry from staining the buns.
- Place the filled buns onto a lined baking sheet with enough space in between.
- Beat 1 egg into a bowl and brush it over each bun. Sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.
Bake
Then bake for 20-24 minutes until golden brown on top. Enjoy warm or room temperature.
Storage & Reheating
Store buns in an airtight container in the fridge. They will last up to 4-5 days. When you want to serve, reheat in the microwave for 20 seconds or so.
Expert Tips
- Allow your dough to rise and make sure to let it rise for the instructed time.
- Do not overcook your minced beef. Once it’s cooked remove off the heat and transfer the filling onto a plate to cool down completely.
- Bake the buns just until golden brown (about 20-24 mins) and no more or they will lose their moist fluffy tenderness.
- To prevent your buns from getting stained from the curry, place all of your dough pancakes flat on a working surface, then scoop 1.5 tablespoon of the curry meat into the center of the dough for all 10 pieces. Then wash your hands and work on sealing the buns by pulling the edges up and over until they are sealed.
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📖 Recipe
Chinese Curry Beef Buns
Ingredients
Filling:
- 275 grams minced beef
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 1 ½ tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 0.5 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Dough:
- 250 grams all purpose flour
- 30 grams white granulated sugar
- 2 grams salt
- 4 grams dry active yeast
- 20 ml butter melted
- 100 ml warm water
- 10 ml milk of choice
- 1 egg
Other:
- 1 egg for egg wash
- black sesame seeds
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add dry ingredients first: all purpose flour, sugar, salt, yeast and mix well. Then add wet ingredients: melted butter, egg, water, and milk. Using a whisk, stir in one direction until your dough has come together in one ball. Cover with a wet towel and let this rest for 10 minutes.
- Dust it with extra all purpose flour. Knead the dough until it is no longer sticky inside the bowl. Place it back into the bowl. Cover with a wet towel. Let this rest for 45 minutes until the dough is almost fluffy and airy.
- Once your dough has rested, roll it out onto a floured surface into a long tube. Divide into 10 equal pieces. Roll them into balls. Then cover again with a wet towel and let it rest for 60 minutes until they are fluffy and airy.
- In a pan set over medium heat, add ½ teaspoon vegetable oil followed by finely diced onions. Cook until translucent.
- Next add in your minced beef and break it apart. Allow this to cook until meat is brown.
- Season with turmeric, salt, sugar, curry powder and mix well. Reduce heat to low setting.
- Finally add in cornstarch and mix well until combined. Remove off heat and transfer filling onto a plate. Allow this to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 360 degrees F.
- Once the balls have rested, pat them down a bit. Fill the center with 1.5 tablespoon of the meat filling.
- Pull up the edges of the dough and seal them well. Note: I would recommend filling the meat all at once, then wash your hands, and then seal the dough to prevent the curry from staining the buns.
- Place the filled buns onto a lined baking sheet with enough space in between.
- Beat 1 egg into a bowl and brush it over each bun. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top (optional).
- Then bake for 20-24 minutes until golden brown on top. Enjoy warm or cold!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
These buns sound fantastic!! Like a meal in a bun! I'd love a few of these for dinner some time 🙂
Katerina | Once a Foodie
We love the savoury meaty buns from our local Asian bakery and these look fantastic! I've never thought of making them at home but I might just give them a try. Thanks so much for sharing, Christie!
Desiree
Thks for sharing. Super easy recipe and soooo good
Michelle | Sift & Simmer
Love curry beef buns! Looks fantastic!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
That really was such a smart tip for keeping the curry from staining the bun. Your savory beef buns look SOOOO tasty good!!!
JenH
Whaaa!!! I remember going to the deli section of Ranch 99 and loving these! Made them this morning, and they are wonderful. The dough is really lovely to work with. Thanks so much for satiating this nostalgic craving!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe! I am so glad you enjoyed it!