Chinese New Year 2026 : Char Siu Bao Workshop Gathering ( Includes meal )

Hello all!

2026 Chinese New Year is coming up! So, the Char Siu Bao Bun Workshop is back! This time we are hosting the gathering with Slow Food DC, a non-profit organization that promotes and celebrates local, seasonal, and sustainable food sources; works to preserve the culinary traditions of the region’s ethnically and culturally diverse populations, and supports the right of all people to enjoy good, clean, fair food. In 2024 Chinese Street Market received the Snail of Approval award from Slow Food DC for our extensive cultural outreach through food and work to promote good, clean and fair food for all.  

We are excited to bring the DMV community together again. During the workshop, we are going to create the Cantonese Char Siu Bao Buns filled with classic pork belly or vegetarian mushroom fillings. The char siu bao bun is one of the “Big Four” in the Cantonese Dim Sum world – which includes crystal shrimp dumplings, dry steamed shumai, cha siu bao buns, and egg tarts. The Char Siu Bao Buns are loved for their sweet and savory fillings and fluffy bao dough. This significant facet of Han Chinese food culture originated in the Guangdong province, and we at Chinese Street Market are proud to bring it to our community here in the DMV.  

The Cantonese Char Siu Bao Buns were created by the Dim Sum masters at least 100 years ago. They were products combined both traditional Chinese food with the western bakery techniques, during the era when the door was open to accept the Western knowledge in general in China. Unlike the Northern region’s baos, these Cantonese Char Siu bao buns are made of cake flour, which makes the baos dough soft and fluffy like a cake texture. While creating the fluffy dough is complicated in process, your instructor, Susan Qin of Chinese Street Market DC, will share tips to simplify the process. In this class, we will try both techniques on baos – one is the traditional sour dough method, and another one is the simplified version to short the process. We will compare the final products of two methods in the end. If you have an allergen or food restriction, please inform us before the class so then we can accommodate you! In this class, we will be providing a optional curated meal alongside a classic Lunar New Year dessert Tangyuan, please choose from the following:

Meal option 1: 

- Hand-pulled Noodle with House Slow cooked Chicken Stew ( Xi'an Street Food )

- Mala Crispy Tofu Snack (Sichuan Street Food) (V)

- Tangyuan ( sweet sticky rice ball dessert, a classic Lunar New Year dessert) （V,GF)

Meal option 2 :

- Hand-pulled Noodle with House Minced Mushroom Topping ( Xi'an Street Food ) (V)

- Mala Crispy Tofu Snack (Sichuan Street Food ) (V)

- Tangyuan (sweet sticky rice ball dessert, a classic Chinese New Year dessert)（V,GF)

Donation to Slow Food DC is recommended.

Part of our ticket sales are donated to Slow Food DC.

 About the Instructor:

Susan Qin is the founder and cultural curator of Chinese Street Market DC, a collaborative platform that showcases Chinese culture through traditional, regional Chinese food recipes, and works to build a community of local Asian talent and creators.

Susan was born and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan. Her family belongs to the Buoyi minority group in China. While receiving her education at a foreign-language boarding school, she also developed a passion for Ancient Chinese Literature at a young age. The ancient Chinese culture and philosophy so elegantly expressed in her books were a formative inspiration. Eventually, Susan moved to the U.S. as a teenager and has spent her adult life in New York City and Washington, D.C., earning a degree in Economics and building a professional career in the financial services industry.

Susan’s unique experiences growing up with both Eastern and Western cultural experiences expanded her worldview, and she often found herself acting as a cultural ambassador, de-mystifying aspects of Chinese culture for friends and acquaintances. This led Susan to build a community for people to share their Chinese culture with anyone who has a passion for learning more, with food as a lens for connection. Today, the Chinese Street Market DC can be found at Farmer’s Markets throughout the DC area and hosting educational cultural events. The food she serves often incorporates produce from her fellow farmer's market vendors, which allows CSMDC to root diasporic food stories in freshness, sustainability, and the Mid-Atlantic food system. She is known at the local farmer's markets as the Senior Dumpling Consultant.

About Chinese Street Market:

The Chinese Street Market DC community is a place to share your nostalgic food memories or pursue your cultural passion. We strive to serve as trustworthy connectors for food and culture, removing language barriers for better cultural understanding.

The DC area is rich with a multi-generational East Asian diaspora, and starting with Chinese sub-cultures, we work to introduce all East Asian food makers to a larger audience. Our goal is to help tell their stories within the context of their traditions and traditional multi-generational recipes. We do this by showcasing their stories on our online platform and offline through food popups and events.

The inaugural street market, held in September 2019, was a special event that drew over 3,000 visitors to Downtown DC in just one afternoon. In 2021, Chinese Street Market DC was voted by Washington City Paper's Best of DC poll as the runner-up for Best-At-Home-Meals, coming in just after a Michelin-rated restaurant. Today, you can enjoy this unique cultural experience by joining our online community or through our in-person popups at local farmer's markets and special events. Join us in learning, connecting, sharing, and preserving this cultural experience and community.

COVID-19 Policy:

Guests to this event are encouraged to be vaccinated. Unvaccinated guests must bring a COVID-19 rapid test and test on-site prior to entering the farm OR bring a negative PCR test from the last 24 hours when test was taken. Vaccinated guests may show their vaccine card, a photo, or their online registry. We reserve the right to make changes to this policy based on the changing situation with COVID-19.