Caobao Steamed Buns 草包包子
Caobao Steamed Buns is featured among the local specialties of Shandong.
Caobao Steamed Buns (草包包子) are a Jinan (济南) specialty named after the nickname of their founder, Zhang Wenhan (张文汉). A historical account by Niu Guodong (牛国栋), published by the Shandong provincial CPPCC history museum, describes the buns that established his shop’s reputation.
A three-part filling
Zhang cut the meat filling by knife, adding diced bamboo shoots and egg cake. Aged soy sauce and sesame oil seasoned this “three delicacies” mixture. He enclosed it in fermented flour wrappers and pinched the tops into chrysanthemum shapes. After steaming for more than ten minutes, buns with broken bottoms or escaping oil were removed before serving. The resulting buns had thin skins, plentiful filling and soup inside.
A shop remembered through its buns
The shop moved to Puli Street (普利街) in the early 1940s. Niu’s account also recalls the fragrance of the lotus leaves used to wrap the buns, a detail associated with older residents’ memories of the shop.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-27. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Popo le Chien · CC0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
