
Did anyone else also grow up eating Chinese Hot Dog Buns?
My mom used to make Chinese Hot Dog Buns for me all the time for school for breakfast, and it is still one of my favorite Asian bun recipes.
Hot dog wrapped in fluffy and soft milk bread, what is there not to love about Chinese Hot Dog Buns?

The secret to fluffy, soft, and tender Chinese Hot Dog Buns is “Tangzhong.”
Do you ever wonder why Asian bread is always so soft yet slightly chewy? It is because of Tangzhong.
What is Tangzhong? It is a roux made with flour and water, which helps keep the bread extra moist and soft. Adding in Tangzhong guarantees that your Milk Bread will come out perfect every time.
After you make your Tangzhong, make sure it is completely cooled down before adding it to the rest of the ingredients; I recommend making it the night before to help you save time.

Most of us don’t have a stand mixer, and I wanted to make this Chinese Hot Dog Buns recipe accessible to everyone so that we will use our hands throughout the process.
Not going to lie; this Chinese Dog Bun recipe takes ALOT of love and patience. It is not hard, but there are alot of resting times between and alot of hand kneading.
My mom and I practiced without a stand mixer EIGHT times before filming our recipe, so I promise this recipe is fail-proof and ready for you to try.
However, if you have a stand mixer at home, I also have the recipe for a stand mixer down below!

Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup (360 g) flour
- 3 tablespoon (36 g) sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 50 g water
- 1 egg
- 60 g milk
- 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 8 hot dogs
- Egg yolk mixture: 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
Tang Zhong
- 1 tablespoon (16g) flour
- ½ cup (114 g) water

Tang Zhong
- In a pot, mix flour and water. Once everything is combined, bring it to the stove and turn the heat to medium.
- Keep stirring until it becomes a thick consistency; this process takes around 3-5 minutes. You want the paste to be thick enough so it isn’t runny and sticks to the sides.
- Let the tangzhong in the fridge until it’s completely cooled down (at least 30 minutes). You can prepare this step the night before to save time
Standmixer Steps for Milk Bread:
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl – flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.
- Next, add all the wet ingredients except butter – tangzhong, milk, water, and egg.
- Using the stand mixer, mix until the bowl is clean and everything is combined around 5-8 minutes.
- Next, cut butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl. Mix the butter at a slow speed until the butter is well incorporated into the dough.
- Turn the speed up, and knead for another 10 minutes or until the bowl is clean and everything is combined. To check if everything is connected, spread the dough apart to ensure it is smooth using your hands.
- Cover the dough and rest for 1 hour or until double in size.
Hand Mixing Steps for Milk Bread:
- Add flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to a big mixing bowl. Mix everything till combined.
- Next, add egg, milk, water, and tangzhong; use a chopstick Stir until flakey and knead until it forms into a ball. It will be sticky, but that is normal; as long as you can form it into a ball, you can move on to the next step.

- Lightly dust flour on a clean surface and keep kneading the dough until smooth. A method that helps speed up this process is to stretch the dough forward and then fold it back. Repeat this process until the dough is no longer sticky (around 10 minutes).

- Cut butter into small pieces and fold it into the dough. The dough will become sticky again; keep kneading until it is smooth and no longer sticking to your fingers. A method that works well is throwing the dough on the floured surface to eliminate air bubbles. This process may take another 10 minutes.
- Once the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, form it into a ball, cover with a damp towel, and let it rest for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

Hot Dog Buns:
- Remove the dough from the bowl, and cut the dough into 8 even pieces.
- Form the dough into a ball, and push out the air bubbles while you form them into individual balls.
- Take one piece of the dough, and flatten it with your hand. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, pushing out all the bubbles. Roll the dough to an oval shape, around 5 inches lengthwise
- Next, Roll the dough down from the top, making sure there are no air bubbles, and pinch the opening close
- Roll out the dough until it is double the size of the hot dog length-wise.
- Wrap the dough around the hot dog, tucking in the end, and have the end part facing down.
- Cover with a damp towel, and rest the hot dog’s buns for a 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, brush on egg yolk mixture and sprinkle on roasted white sesame seeds.
- Bake at 385F for 15 minutes
Chinese Hot Dog Buns
Materials
- 2 ½ cup 360 g flour
- 3 tablespoon 36 g sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 50 g water
- 1 egg
- 60 g milk
- 2 tablespoons butter room temperature
- 8 hot dogs
- Egg yolk mixture: 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
Tang Zhong
- 1 tablespoon 16g flour
- ½ cup 114 g water
Instructions
Tang Zhong
- In a pot, mix flour and water. Once everything is combined, bring it to the stove and turn the heat to medium.
- Keep stirring until it becomes a thick consistency; this process takes around 3-5 minutes. You want the paste to be thick enough so it isn’t runny and sticks to the sides.
- Let the tangzhong in the fridge until it’s completely cooled down (at least 30 minutes). You can prepare this step the night before to save time
Standmixer Steps for Milk Bread:
- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl – flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.
- Next, add all the wet ingredients except butter – tangzhong, milk, water, and egg.
- Using the stand mixer, mix until the bowl is clean and everything is combined around 5-8 minutes.
- Next, cut butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl. Mix the butter at a slow speed until the butter is well incorporated into the dough.
- Turn the speed up, and knead for another 10 minutes or until the bowl is clean and everything is combined. To check if everything is connected, spread the dough apart to ensure it is smooth using your hands.
- Cover the dough and rest for 1 hour or until double in size.
Hand Mixing Steps for Milk Bread:
- Add flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to a big mixing bowl. Mix everything till combined.
- Next, add egg, milk, water, and tangzhong; use a chopstick Stir until flakey and knead until it forms into a ball. It will be sticky, but that is normal; as long as you can form it into a ball, you can move on to the next step.
- Lightly dust flour on a clean surface and keep kneading the dough until smooth. A method that helps speed up this process is to stretch the dough forward and then fold it back. Repeat this process until the dough is no longer sticky (around 10 minutes).
- Cut butter into small pieces and fold it into the dough. The dough will become sticky again; keep kneading until it is smooth and no longer sticking to your fingers. A method that works well is throwing the dough on the floured surface to eliminate air bubbles. Refer to the video tutorial for more information. This process may take another 10 minutes.
- Once the dough is smooth and no longer sticky, form it into a ball, cover with a damp towel, and let it rest for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.
Hot Dog Buns:
- Remove the dough from the bowl, and cut the dough into 8 even pieces.
- Form the dough into a ball, and push out the air bubbles while you form them into individual balls.
- Take one piece of the dough, and flatten it with your hand. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, pushing out all the bubbles. Roll the dough to an oval shape, around 5 inches lengthwise
- Roll the dough down from the top, making sure there are no air bubbles, and pinch the opening close
- Roll out the dough until it is double the size of the hot dog length-wise.
- Wrap the dough around the hot dog, tucking in the end, and have the end part facing down.
- Cover with a damp towel, and rest the hot dog’s buns for a 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, brush on egg yolk mixture and sprinkle on roasted white sesame seeds.
- Bake at 385F for 15 minutes