Char Siu Bao

Overview

Char Siu Bao is a cooking recipe in Starsand Island. These fluffy steamed buns are filled with seasoned barbecued pork, making them a satisfying snack that combines the soft texture of flour dough with the savory richness of meat. The recipe is purchased from the Merchant Ship that docks at Starsand Port.

Char Siu Bao is cooked on either the Campfire or Gas Stove. It restores 69 stamina and sells for 110 Coins. Among the ten Merchant Ship recipes, Char Siu Bao is one of the simpler options, requiring just Flour and Meat Bites. It provides a decent stamina boost for a relatively quick cook time of 52 seconds.

Recipe Details

How to Unlock

The Char Siu Bao recipe is available from the Merchant Ship at Starsand Port. You first need to complete the Starsand Port Construction quest by helping Marston rebuild the Maritime Bureau. Once the port is up and running, the Merchant Ship docks and offers its inventory. The ship operates from 08:00 to 22:00, and its stock refreshes every Monday.

Other Merchant Ship recipes include Sauce Pancake, Cheesecake, Black Forest Cake, Century Egg and Pork Congee, Tea Egg, Youtiao, Steamed Rice Roll, Steamed Corn Dumplings, and Tiramisu. Buying all ten recipes gives you a wide selection of new dishes to add to your cooking rotation.

Ingredient Sourcing

Flour

Flour is produced at the Separator by processing Wheat. Wheat seeds are available from the Happiness Seed Shop early in the game. Each Wheat harvest can be fed directly into the Separator to produce Flour. Because Flour is one of the most commonly used base ingredients (appearing in noodles, dumplings, cakes, and cookies), maintaining a dedicated Wheat field is essential.

Meat Bites

Meat Bites are produced at the Separator by processing any raw meat: Beef, Fowl, Mutton, or Pork. Fowl is the easiest to obtain early on because chickens and wild birds are common on the island surface. As your ranch grows, keeping livestock like cows (Beef) or sheep (Mutton) provides a renewable meat supply. Process the meat at the Separator to convert it into Meat Bites before cooking.

Meat Bites are also used in Soup Dumplings (which grants the Forest's Gift buff), Century Egg and Pork Congee, and Eldergrain Roll. Plan your meat processing batches to cover multiple recipes at once.

Comparison to Similar Recipes

Char Siu Bao uses Flour and Meat Bites, the same base ingredients as several other stove dishes. Here is a comparison to help decide when Char Siu Bao is worth cooking versus alternatives:

Char Siu Bao restores more stamina than Soup Dumplings (+69 vs. +55), but Soup Dumplings grant the Forest's Gift buff, which is valuable for Moonlit Forest exploration. If you need a pure stamina refill without any special buff, Char Siu Bao is the better pick. For higher sell value and stamina, Hot Dry Noodles outperforms both, but requires three different base ingredients.

Tips

• Process raw meat at the Separator before cooking. Char Siu Bao requires Meat Bites, not raw meat. Keep a stack of Meat Bites in your storage so you can cook on demand.

• Build multiple Campfires or Gas Stoves to cook Char Siu Bao in parallel. The 52-second cook time adds up if you are making a large batch on a single station.

• Visit the Merchant Ship every Monday to check for new recipe scrolls. Buying all available recipes early gives you the widest range of cooking options.

• Char Siu Bao makes a practical everyday meal because Flour and Meat Bites are two of the most readily available base ingredients. It is not flashy, but it keeps you fed reliably through the mid-game.