i actually went to eat dimsum with my friend E and conquered 2 types of bao; on the way back from Chinatown, i picked up 2 frozen types, and at the bakery i bought 2 more. you gotta love being Asian sometimes haha.
the inside is made from custard mixed with egg yolks, and it's a sweet dessert bun. it's really delicious, and some dimsum places have the option of frying them. there are plenty of variations on this bun as well, including having runny centres (vs. a thicker cream), and changing the outside to glutinous sticky rice.
we also got an order of vegetable buns for a more savoury treat!
i personally didn't like the veggies that were put in there, but E thought they were quite delicious. it's stuffed with random gourd vegetables, and the wrapper is made from rice flour - hence the clearish look. it's similar to what you'd see on har gow.
on the way home, i picked up 2 more types from the bakery. the the top two are the pineapple bun & the coconut bun, and the bottom is the sesame ball.
pineapple buns can be filled with cream, shredded pork, bbq pork, or nothing at all. i prefer them to be plain since the outside is already coated with a crunchy layer of pineapple flavoured goodness. aside from that, it's just like a regular roll made with a bit more sugar. coconut buns are essentially the same thing, except they have a coconut filling and shredded coconut scattered on top of the bread.
the sesame ball, though not truly a "bao", is made from glutinous rice on the outside (mochi). the inside is usually sweet red bean (adzuki bean) paste, and then the whole thing is deep fried and rolled in sesame seeds. the actually outside isn't sweet; it's what's inside that flavours the dessert. it's super good, hot or cold, and rather filling because of the stickiness of the outside.
i also bought 2 packs of frozen baos from the supermarket to steam at home. the first pack consisted of 6 pork baos (£3.50).
the filling consisted of ground pork, vegetables, and seasoning. my favorite part was the outside. usually with pork buns, the outside is just regular steamed bread. this one was actually like the kind on a char siu bao - sweet, fluffy, and incredibly yummy (: even though the buns were tiny and totally overpriced, it was a worthwhile investment.
the second pack was a pack of 6 lotus paste buns (£2.99).
interestingly enough, i don't even eat these at home, but i guess being away from LA makes you crave everything you normally wouldn't get (does that ever happen to you??). the outside is regular bun material - white steamed bread, and the inside is a sweet lotus paste, similar to the kind you would find in a moon cake.
these are good to eat for breakfast, lunch, or just as a snack. give it a try; i've found very few people who haven't liked them!
Gerrard's Corner (dim sum)
30 Wardour St.
London, W1D 6QW
Loon Fung Supermarket (Chinatown branch)
42-44 Gerrard St.
London, W1D 5QG
