@sinbad - I like to read about new foods before I try them...just in case, and from what I can tell rice flour acts like wheat flour but while no one has described what they taste like they always mention that it - tastes different.

So from that non-description description, I might be going out a limb but I would think that the rice flour dough would taste just as you said - more like a spring roll as opposed to white bread because if it acts like wheat flour, the texture would be near the same, so the taste would have be the main difference.

This sounds to me like it would be a great gluten free (GF) recipe since it uses rice flour instead of wheat! Always thinking of my GF friends!

I was at an Asian market one time and I am pretty sure I saw siopao there, as I remember thinking "that reminds me of a Hot Pocket." But because it looked like a Hot Pocket it kind of scared me (too many Hot Pocket mouth burns secondary to most likely user error when cooking it in the microwave).

But now after reading this article I would like to try these, what I will call Asian party pockets (because what better for a party than a easy to eat finger food) because the siopao dough is made from rice flour!

I do not think I have ever had rice flour dough! What does it taste like? I am thinking more spring roll shell versus white bread... am I right?

I always enjoy tasting foods from different countries, and ordered some siopao at a restaurant in Chicago. It was a cold, rainy day and the warm, hearty siopao really hit the spot.

I love to cook and try to recreate foods that I have eaten in a restaurant. I looked online for a recipe for siopao, and found many to choose from.

You can be as creative as you want to be with the fillings and I like to add some cheese and water chestnuts to the meat and vegetables I put in the filling.

I think trying a sweet siopao that is filled with custard or fresh strawberry jam would also be very good and may be the next recipe I try.

My sister in law is from the Philippines, and enjoys cooking traditional food from her country. We always benefit when we are invited over for dinner.

The siopao recipe she uses calls for pork, but she usually substitutes chicken for the pork. She also adds eggs to the filling which makes it very hearty.

I enjoy these best when the dough and the filling are warm. I have enjoyed siopao a couple of times since then, but wouldn't want to go to that much effort and make them at home myself.

The filipino siopao really reminds me a lot of the dumplings I had while I was traveling in South Korea. In Korea they sell mandu, and it is basically a dumpling stuffed with a variety of things, though pork with seasonings, or kimchi are the most popular fillings.

The siopao I had while traveling had pork in it and it immediately made me think of mandu. I am really starting to wonder who started this dumpling madness first. It is an insanely popular snack throughout Asia and you can find it in most countries you visit. I guess it will remain a mystery, so I'll just have to enjoy the resulting tastiness.

I had a chance to try siopao at a Filipino restaurant near my house. I was pretty excited when it opened up because I am always trying out new foods and like to find things to enjoy from different countries.

For myself I found that the asado siopao was savory and I really loved the combination of rich beef with soy sauce and seasonings. I actually dragged a few friends of mine in to try siopao and they all really enjoyed it too.

I think that asado siopao may be worthy of a place on my top ten list of favorite foods. Although, it does remind me a lot of other dumplings I have had in Asia.

My Filipino friend said that this is really good. I actually saw it in an Asian market, in the frozen section. They had packages of six steamed buns with different fillings. I picked up a packet with roasted pork. These were pre-steamed so I had the option of either microwaving it or steaming it for sixty seconds myself. I steamed them because I figured they would taste better that way. It tasted fine, but I'm sure the fresh kind is much better. This was actual siopao though, not Chinese or Japanese steamed buns.

Is there any difference in taste at all between siopao and the Japanese version?

When I was in the Philippines, I ate a lot of siopao. They are sort of the equivalent of hot dogs in the U.S. Philippines have it as a snack food or junk food. I don't know if it's junk food, I think it's much healthier than my idea of junk food because it's steamed, not fried and is full of meat filling. It's the perfect street food because it's warm, tasty and cheap. I used to love having it on rainy days. I think it became my comfort food.

There are lots of different varieties. I think the chicken and pork siopao are the most popular. From what I remember, vegetarian ones were not that common. There are also sweet ones made with bean paste and other things but I definitely prefer the meat ones.

I have had siopao twice since my visit to the Philippines. Interestingly, both were at Thai restaurants. The Thai version is basically the same, it's just called "salapao" instead of siopao. I've never tried making it at home, I think it would be way too hard.