“Liu Sha Bao” (or “Liu Sa Bao”) are Chinese custard salted egg yolk buns. Recipes vary—some have salted duck eggs and some don’t, some have coconut milk and some don’t, some have evaporated milk and some don’t, and some have a flowing molten filling and some don’t.
 
“Shanghai: Dim Sum Recs? Specifically Liu Sa Bao” was posted on Chowhound on February 3, 2008. “Liu Sha Bao is a custard salted egg yolk bun” was posted on Twitter  by Peng Wenmei on July 1, 2009. “Liu sha bao basically means that ‘flowing sand’ and the egg custard mixture will flows out of the buns like flowing sand” was posted on the website Guai Shu Shu on July 6, 2014.
 
“Phoenix bun” is sometimes the English name for liu sha bao. “The egg yolks are also used as a filling in Phoenix buns, in which they’re combined with condensed milk for a salty-sweet mixture that oozes out of the steamed buns” was printed in the article “Seriously Asian: Salted Duck Egg” by Chichi Wang on the website Serious Eats in July 2011. New York City’s Nom Wah (Nom Wah Tea House opened in Chinatown in 1920 and is located on 13 Doyers Street; Nom Wah Nolita is on 10 Kenmare Street) lists the dessert “Steamed phoenix buns (salted duck egg custard).” “Get the custard buns –- here called phoenix buns for some reason –- for dessert too, as they’re damn delicious” was suggested by Nom Wah Tea Parlor—NY On the Inside on September 20, 2018.
   
   
Nom Wah Nolita (New York, NY)
DESSERTS
YOU’RE THE BUN I WANT
Steamed red bean buns 5
Steamed phoenix buns (salted duck egg custard) 5.5
       
Chowhound
Shanghai: Dim Sum Recs? Specifically Liu Sa Bao
CrazyC | Feb 3, 2008 04:31 PM
I will be spending a few days in Shanghai, and have been missing these baos! In Cantonese it’s Lau Sa Pau. The filling is a molten egg yolk… runny and yummy!
 
If anyone has a suggestion on where to go for these bao in Shanghai, I would greatly appreciated!
 
Twitter       
Peng Wenmei
@HoneyMarquise
Replying to @scarletswalk08
@scarletswalk08 Liu Sha Bao is a custard salted egg yolk bun .. 😊
9:08 PM - 1 Jul 2009
       
Twitter
Min Poh
@minpoh
@janeyybaneyy wahaha. really? urps. i am fine! and i just saw fiona at my shop. 😊 we need to meet for our monthly liu sa bao!
4:22 AM - 29 Oct 2009
 
Twitter
A L A R I C • S N G
@AlaricSng
Dim sum brunch at east ocean with the buddies! Woots! Can’t wait for my liu sha bao (custard bao with salted egg yolk) ooooooozzzzzeeee!
10:41 PM - 26 Dec 2009
 
Serious Eats (July 2011)
Seriously Asian: Salted Duck Egg
CHICHI WANG
(...)
Salted duck egg yolks are a versatile cooking ingredient. You’ll find them as an ingredient in the center of glutinous rice patties wrapped in bamboo or banana leaves. The egg yolks are also used as a filling in Phoenix buns, in which they’re combined with condensed milk for a salty-sweet mixture that oozes out of the steamed buns.
   
14 October 2012, Daily News (New York, NY), “Best Dim Sum” by Jacob E. Osterhout and Patty Lee, pg. 5:
RECOMMENDED PACIFICANA 813 55th St., Sunset Park; (718) 871-2880, PacificanaBrooklyn.com (...). Pacificana also makes impressive desserts, ranging from the traditional (egg tarts) to the adventurous (durian puffs). Keep an eye out for liu sha bao, a steamed bun filled with a gooey sweet and salty egg custard.
 
Veg Dim Sum
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Phoenix Bun
These Phoenix Buns are kind of fascinating. The paste inside these is a slightly salted, slightly sweetened duck egg yolk. I don’t know if they are claiming each one of these is a single whole yolk, but it’s about the right size! If you like custard buns, you may think these are awesome too. It’s like custard buns but at the extreme eggy level. I bought these frozen at the Kam Man in the South Bay Shopping Center.
     
Bake for Happy kids
Monday, February 10, 2014
Liu Sha Bao / Chinese Molten Salted Egg Custard Steamed Buns 流沙包
Being Asian or not, most of my Aussie friends and I love love love Chinese custard steamed buns. However, not all Chinese custard steamed buns are exactly the same. Being Asian, I know that there is a few variants of custard steamed buns…
 
. Some contain salted duck eggs but some don’t… especially the cheap frozen ones sold in Asian groceries. Typically, salted duck eggs are quite expensive. To keep the cost of manufacturing, salted duck egg yolks are never added into these cheap buns.
. Some contain coconut milk but some don’t… especially non the southern-Asia-originated ones.
. Some contains evaporated or condensed milk but some don’t…
. Some has flowing molten filling but some are not…
 
Guai Shu Shu
It Dripped But Did Not Flowed Out.. What Is It?–Salted Egg Yolk Custard Buns or Liu Sha Bao or Nai Huang Bao (流沙包 / 奶皇包 /奶黄包）
Posted on July 6, 2014 by Kenneth Goh
(...)
Liu sha bao basically means that “flowing sand” and the egg custard mixture will flows out of the buns like flowing sand. If it did not flow, it will be called nai huang bao or egg yolk custard buns.
       
China Sichuan Food
Custard Bun-Milk Yolk Buns
January 11, 2015
Another famous and great dim sum steamed bun recipe—Custard bun also named as milk yolk buns. Those little buns are also named as Lai Wong Bao.
 
This is the version with butter and egg for sweet teeth. Just a remanding, there is a sister bun of this milk yolk bun named as Liu Sa Bao which uses salted duck egg and thus providing a savory and salty filling. Those two versions are quite similar but different in tastes.
 
Caltucky
Phoenix Buns (Egg Custard Buns)
BY HYE BIN / JAN 8, 2017 / LEAVE A COMMENT
Let me start off this post by saying that my love of phoenix buns was born from my love of hot pot. The hot pot restaurant I go to around here, and back home is Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot in Mountain View. REAL TALK: I really like the hot pot but I LOVE THE PHOENIX BUNS!
(...)
Ingredients:
Custard Filling:
2 tbsp custard powder
3/4 cup wheat starch
2 tbsp rice flour, or cake flour (OR 1 1/2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour)
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup cane sugar
1 large egg & 1 yolk, beaten
       
YouTube
How to make Salted Egg Yolk Custard Steam Bun!!! (Liu Sha Bao) 如何制作黄金流沙包！！！
Lauren’s Kitchen
Published on Jul 4, 2017
   
YouTube
#themeatmensg #simple #delicious
Salted Egg Custard Steamed Buns - 黃金流沙包
theMEATMENchannel
Published on Sep 6, 2017
Recipe at: http://www.themeatmen.sg/salted-egg-c...
Any dim sum place worth its salt will feature their take on the perennial crowd pleasing salted egg custard buns. It can vary from charcoal flavoured buns to liquid custard centers, but everyone has a personal ideal benchmark for liu sha bao.
 
The Guardian (London, UK)
10 of the best restaurants near New York’s main attractions
Adam Gabbatt @adamgabbatt
Mon 2 Oct 2017 01.30 EDT Last modified on Mon 13 Aug 2018 11.04 EDT
(...)
Chinatown
Nom Wah Tea Parlor
Nom Wah is the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, and offers some of the best dim sum around. The pork buns are splendid, as are the eggy phoenix buns for dessert.
(...)
. 13–15 Doyers Street, nomwah.com
       
YouTube
Liu Sha Bao (Salted Egg Yolk Custard Buns) - Masters of Food: EP3
SETHLUI.com
Published on Nov 18, 2017
Learn how everyone’s favourite dim sum dish is made - delicious, flowy liu sha bao.
       
TimeOut Dubai
Dubai’s Sugarmoo tops list of world’s best Deliveroo restaurants
The judges loved its “Instagrammable sweet treats”
Scott Campbell
April 22, 2018 7:55 AM
(...)
Meanwhile at Singapore’s Canton Paradise, the dish Liu Sa Bao scored highly.
 
They are ‘flowing filling buns’, or fluffy balls of sweet bread filled with molten egg yolk.
 
Yum China
Liu Sha Bao – Salted Egg Yolk Bun
Tiana Matson • May 24, 2018
Salted Egg Yolk Buns are called Liu Sha Bao (Liu Sa Bao) or Golden Liu Sha Bao in Chinese and are traditionally found in Cantonese restaurants.
 
The delicious filling is made with salted egg yolk. Check out my recipe for Salted Duck Egg.
 
Medium
The Changing World of Dim Sum
In Hong Kong, rents are rising, tastes are evolving, and the undisputed capital of dumplings is at an inflection point.
Max Falkowitz
Aug 27, 2018
(...)
Liu Sha Bao: Steamed buns filled with salted duck-egg custard.
     
LONDON THE INSIDE
NOM WAH TEA PARLOR
NY ON THE INSIDE
September 20, 2018 BY JULESP
(...)
Get the custard buns –- here called phoenix buns for some reason –- for dessert too, as they’re damn delicious.