This delicious baked bun is even easier to prepare than our homemade baked char siew bao recipe, and possibly healthier as well.

Homemade Baked Sardine Buns

Do you eat sardines? Do you like them?

Eat More Sardines

Sardines are a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids which are heart-healthy and provide other health benefits (see WebMD article on Omega-3 facts).  The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Guide recommends sardines, particularly Pacific sardines, as a Best Choice for sustainable seafood. So whether fresh or canned, in salads or for supper, grilled or baked, let’s all eat more sardines!

School of Sardines at Monterey Bay Aquarium

Here in Malaysia, we have lots of bakery shops selling all manner of baked goods from donuts and cakes to breads and pastries. But they also sell many different types of baked, filled buns. Being halal, they don’t sell char siu buns but you can find chicken curry buns, beef sausage buns, and spicy sardine buns.

These are very easy to make at home, if you follow our Baked Red Bean Buns recipe for the dough. The sardine filing is made from a couple of cans of sardines (one packed in tomato sauce, one in chili sauce) plus five finely chopped shallots all mixed together. No need for seasoning as there was enough salt and pepper already in the sardines.

Making Sardine Bun Filling

The filling was enough for about a dozen buns, so we cut the dough recipe in half to match.

Making Baked Sardine Buns

I was a little concerned that the shallots would be too raw after baking, but as you can see, they did cook through.

Homemade Baked Sardine Buns

That’s all there is to it! So try this recipe out yourself and start eating more sardines.

Aloha, Nate

I am entering this post in this week’s YeastSpotting roundup.

Other recipes to enjoy sardines:
Sardine Rillettes by Simply Recipes
Sardine Sandwiches by Nasi Lemak Lover
Gavros Saganaki by Kalofagas
Sardines in Spicy Tomato Sauce by Viet World Kitchen
Sardines, Onions and Tomato Curry by Teczcape