I'm trying to think of story pitches for The Cleaver Quarterly - which is an awesome new quarterly that focuses on Chinese food. Sadly, the Chinese food scene in Humboldt has grown dim (SUM!).
One of my favorite Bao moments was in Laos, where a street merchant on his bicycle rode up beside me and tried to sell me a coconut bao. It was a quarter or even less to buy, so whatever, I bought it. My little taste buds still remember that first fucking bite. I never understood the term "a taste of heaven" until that day. I was so enamored in that moment of eating my little sweet, steamy bun that I missed my boat ride down the Mekong River. No regrets.
Even if I don't get a story in with the The Cleaver Quarterly, I will absolutely devote once again, trying to make my own perfect bao bun!
Image courtesy of Glen Koenig/LA Times.
One of the readings about bao that I was able to stumble upon was an LA TIMES article written by Andrea Nguyen, who's trick for the perfect bao is creating the perfect dough first. Though she doesn't have an active recipe on how to make the "perfect dough" she lists the main ingredients to create it. Just moderate gluten all-purpose flour (I've heard a lot about King Arthur's flour as one of the best to use), fast-acting yeast, canola oil, baking powder, sugar and water are the most basic ingredients to create a steamy, fluffy dough.
It's such a meticulous gathering and formulation of all ingredients that creates something so simple yet so delicious!
Oh to have that sweet, sweet yummy softness in my mouth once more!