Baozi
包子 · bāozi (pinyin)
A yeast-leavened bun with a filling, most often steamed; unfilled steamed buns are called mantou.
What it means
Baozi (包子, bāozi; often shortened to bao, jyutping baau1) are yeast-leavened filled buns from Chinese cuisines, most often made from wheat flour and steamed. Fillings can be meat or vegetarian: Wikipedia lists pork, barbecued pork, bean paste, lotus seed paste and custard, and Omnivore's Cookbook describes a pork and Chinese chive filling as a northern classic.
Wikipedia says usage settled by the Qing dynasty so that baozi are buns with fillings and mantou are steamed buns without. It lists named types, including xiaolongbao (small buns from Shanghai with aspic that melts into broth), shengjian, a small, fried meat-filled bun also from Shanghai, cha siu bao with barbecued pork, and tangbao from Yangzhou.
The Taiwanese gua bao that appears on many English menus is a different shape, a folded, half-moon bun, according to China Sichuan Food, which says it is filled with red-braised pork belly.
A common mix-up
'Bao' on an English menu may mean a round filled baozi or the folded gua bao bun with an open filling; they differ in shape and how they are served.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between baozi and mantou?
Wikipedia says baozi are steamed buns with fillings and mantou are steamed buns without.
Are soup dumplings baozi?
Wikipedia lists xiaolongbao, the small meat-filled Shanghai bun with aspic that becomes broth when cooked, among the types of baozi.
Sources & further reading
Background and preparation references. Our descriptions are editorial summaries, not restaurant reviews.