The insides are still steaming hot and the pork, ginger, and green onion filling is juicy and salty. The sheng jian bao are served in a box of ten or a bag of five, sprinkled with sesame seeds and, in some places, chopped green onions. The cover is removed after about five minutes and the remained of the liquid boils off. However, like gyoza they are fried on a cast iron pan that is filled with a generous amount of water, covered, and allowed to steam. The skins are moderately thick, not as much as the gua bao but not so thin as gyoza. The stinky tofu was Andrew’s idea.Īt the far end of the market was a vendor selling sheng jian bao, a pan-fried bun that I fell in love with in Shanghai, where I ate several times at Yang’s Buns. My friends Nathan and Andrew (aka loserstepaside here in WordPress) join me at the Tong Hua night market. It was a very satisfying dish to try, although the bottom pieces, thoroughly soaked in the chili oil, were blindingly spicy. Here, the tofu is served lightly deep fried with a healthy dose of chili oil and pickled cabbage as a garnish. Also similar to blue cheese, the flavor and the smell are different. It sparks similar responses, with some people loving it and others repulsed by it.
The tofu was stinky, not the vendor! Made by fermenting the tofu in a brine that can contain all manner of ingredients, the smell of stink tofu is as strong as that of blue cheese. Wandering through the rest of the market, we encountered a stinky tofu vendor. This was much less satisfying, although the pork filling was tasty enough. In contrast, the traditional Taiwanese version is made with a thicker bread dough so there is no stock inside, as it would only be absorbed by the bread.
Tong hua indonesian version skin#
The Shanghainese version with which I am familiar (think of the ones at Din Tai Fung restaurant) feature as paper-thin noodle skin and the filling includes not only pork but a cube of flavorful gelatinized stock that melts when the bun is steamed, producing hot soup that will gush all over if you do not eat it carefully. Better to stick with the steamed version.Īnother interesting item was the xiao long bao. While filled with the same tasty ingredients, the baked bun was dry and brittle, leaving me thirsty. The baked version, somewhat akin to a bagel, was not as enjoyable. Quite a bargain for the quantity and quality of food. Prices range from 50-65 New Taiwan Dollars, or less than US$2. While a little messy to eat, the flavor was rich and satisfying. The size of the bao is larger than I have seen at some places: about the size of a McDonald’s hamburger. The basic gua bao features both slices of fatty belly and slices of leaner meat. Vats of steaming buns and all the ingredients sat at the ready, ensuring us of a freshly-made, high-quality meal. The shop manager was friendly and more than happy for me to take pictures. The menu is limited: basically there are steamed gua bao with a few different types of fillings, a baked bagel-like bun with a more limited selection of fillings, and the Taiwanese version of xiao long bao, a steamed pork bun. The target restaurant was Shi Jia Gua Bao, a local chain famous for their gua bao.
Thankfully, one of the local HR team members did some research for me and found a helpful article on the Lauhound food blog. The objective of this visit was to locate a popular restaurant that serves gua bao, the steamed buns filled with braised pork belly and other goodies that I’ve previously tried making and have enjoyed at Little Bao in Hong Kong. Thankfully, Taipei is a familiar city and I was fortunate to have two friends join me for a trip to the Tong Hua Street Market in Da’an District. One of my rules of business travel is, whenever possible, to explore the city and eat at least one meal out and about, so I come away with at least some sense of the city.
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