What a timely challenge . . . I'm cooking parent at preschool tomorrow . . . I'm teaching them how to make guk char siu bao for New Year's. My 3 year-olds know how as they've been practicing quite some time but the others . . . This time I'm using Corinne Trang's recipe w/o food coloring. I thought about Eileen Lo's but I was concerned the 5 spice might have a bit of kick. I marinated the pork (strips to get the flavor more evenly distributed) last night and started roasting some before work. The kids have already attacked the char siu - apparently very tasty after Cheerios. In the past, I've also used Tropp ("Modern Art') for a more savory filling. Usually I use David Soohoo's bread recipe as outlined in Beth Hensperger's bread machine book and Eileen's filling (from the dumpling book - but that book was also written before certain ingredients became available in the States). The kids have an easier time helping. The one difference is that I go through a double rise. Rise 1, then shape, rise 2, then bake. The first rise definitely improves the shaping of the dough, particularly for the base of the palm flower. I find that the finished product has a softer interior. I plan to make brush the tops w/ sesame oil. It's supposed to keep the top moist. It's the only step that I haven't tried before. The shaped bao rise on a Silpat (no more torn bao for us!). In general, everything winds up hemispherical unless the kids are doing the shaping (then it's a bit more like a football). Oh yes, if you are in Bay Area, come on down. I'm making about 6 dozen of them so I won't notice if someone decides to sample :) Since I still have a pork butt (bought the double pack at Costco), I think that we're having red-cooked pork for the Super Bowl. So stay longer :) Pam