Gua bao

Gua bao (Chinese: 割包 or 刈包; pinyin: guàbāo; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koah-pau; lit.: 'cut bread'),[1] also known as pork belly buns,[2] ambiguously, bao,[3][4] or erroneously as the bao bun[5][6] ("bao" means "bun" so the translated name "bun bun" is redundant and "bao" in the Chinese language without any qualifiers is generally used to refer to baozi) is a type of lotus leaf bun (simplified Chinese: 荷叶包; traditional Chinese: 荷葉包; pinyin: héyèbāo) from Fuzhou,[7] the capital of Fujian province, with similar variants found elsewhere with sizeable Fuzhounese communities. It is a popular street food in Taiwan.

Gua bao
A traditional gua bao
CourseSnack, delicacy, main dish, side dish
Place of originChina
Region or stateFuzhou, Fujian
Created byFuzhou people
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsSteamed bread, stewed meat, condiments
Ingredients generally usedRed-cooked pork belly, pickled mustard, coriander, ground peanuts
VariationsFried chicken, fish, eggs, stewed beef

It consists of a slice of stewed meat and other condiments sandwiched between flat steamed bread known as lotus leaf bread. The lotus leaf bun is typically 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) in size, semi-circular and flat in form, with a horizontal fold that, when opened, gives the appearance that it has been sliced. The traditional filling for gua bao is a slice of red-cooked pork belly, typically dressed with stir-fried suan cai (pickled mustard greens), coriander, and ground peanuts.[4][8][9]

Lotus leaf bread is a traditional Chinese accompaniment to rich dishes such as bowl-steamed pork in rice meal or roast duck and thus the buns support a wide array of fillings with gua bao being just one style which utilises pork belly. A lotus leaf bun by itself is called a "he ye bing" but with filings is called a "he ye bao". They are found all across China, being particularly common in North China.[10]

History

Past

In Taiwan, gua bao were introduced to the island by Fuzhounese immigrants[11] where the flavors were modified to suit local tastes which favoured Southern Fujianese flavours over Eastern Fujianese ones. In Taiwan they are sometimes referred to as Chinese hamburgers[12] although Westerners generally refer to Roujiamo as "Chinese hamburgers".[13][14] The food is known colloquially in parts of Taiwan as hó͘-kā-ti (虎咬豬; 'tiger bites pig') in Taiwanese Hokkien due to the mouth-like form of the bun and the contents of the filling.[8]

In Hong Kong, they are known as cha bao (叉包) which means "fork buns" as the sandwiches are usually pierced by a toothpick or wooden skewer to keep the fillings in place.

In Japan they are called kakuni manju (角煮饅頭)[15]and are sold as a Chinese snack food. They are a specialty of Nagasaki Chinatown,[16] having been sold in Japan for centuries due to the large number of Fuzhounese immigrants and historic relations between Fuzhou and Nagasaki represented by the construction of Sofukuji Temple.[17][18] Recognizing the Fuzhounese community and historical connection, Nagasaki and Fuzhou established ties as sister cities in 1980.[19] Another iconic Nagasaki dish of Fujianese origin is champon.

Contemporary

Gua bao became popular in the West through chef David Chang's Momofuku restaurants although he says that he was unaware that the gua bao dish already existed because his Momofuku recipe was inspired by his dining experiences in Beijing and Manhattan Chinatown's Oriental Garden where the Peking duck was served on lotus leaf bread rather than the traditional spring pancake and he called them pork belly buns.[20] The name "gua bao" was used and popularised by chef Eddie Huang when he opened his BaoHaus restaurant.[21][22]

In Singapore, the dish is popular among the Hokkien community, where it is known as kong bak pau (炕肉包 khòng-bah-pau).[23]

In the United States, New York City has a significant population of Fuzhounese Americans and gua bao is a popular dish sold at restaurants along with other iconic Fuzhounese dishes such as Fuzhou fish balls and lychee pork.[24]

In the United Kingdom, they are often called hirata buns, named after Masashi Hirata, the executive chef of Ippudo in New York as many ramen restaurants began to adopt the practise of selling gua bao alongside their ramen dishes due to the influence of Momofuku and to meet high demand from customers who mistakenly believed they were a staple of ramen restaurants.[25]

There have been many new trendy "gua bao" which incorporate pan-Asian fusion or non-Chinese stuffings between the lotus leaf buns, such as kimchi or karaage.[26] Although these are technically not gua bao at all as they do not include pork belly, and in China would only be considered different lotus leaf bun sandwiches (he ye bao).

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See also

References
  1. "Entry #8213 (割包)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan]. (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.
  2. Erway, Cathy (April 2, 2014). "Taiwanese Pork Belly Buns (Gua Bao)".
  3. L., Mandy (February 6, 2013). "Who Took the "Gua" out of "Bao".
  4. Glassberg, Julie (February 23, 2010). "Baohaus". The New York Times.
  5. "Steamed bao buns". BBC Good Food.
  6. "Simple Bao Bun Recipe". Sorted.
  7. "Take a bao". chinatown.co.uk.
  8. "Gwa-Bao (割包 Braised Pork Wrapped in Steamed Buns)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). 2011.
  9. Erway, Cathy. The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544303010.
  10. Dunlop, Fuchsia. Every Grain of Rice. W. W. Norton Company. Kindle Edition.
  11. "老字號割包店 肉香Q嫩不油膩-華視新聞-華視新聞網". news.cts.com.tw.
  12. "刈包". nrch.culture.tw.
  13. Alison Spiegel. "What Are Chinese Hamburgers And Why Aren't You Eating Them?". huffingtonpost.com.
  14. Mads Schmidt. "Call it a Chinese hamburger". gbtimes.com.
  15. "刈包". ettoday.net/.
  16. "A Guide to Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown: Enjoy Local Specialties as You Walk!". wow-j.com.
  17. "The first Chinese style temple in Nagasaki". japan-kyushu-tourist.com.
  18. "Sofukuji Temple (崇福寺)". travel.navitime.com.
  19. "Interchange Fuzhou City between cities". city.nagasaki.lg.jp.e.jc.hp.transer.com.
  20. "Momofuku's pork buns". gourmettraveller.com.au/.
  21. Wong, Maggine (August 31, 2018). "The secret of gua bao: The Taiwanese street food taking over the world". CNN.
  22. Nguyen-Okwu, Leslie. "16 Dishes That Define Taiwanese Food". www.eater.com. Eater. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  24. "A Guide to Eating Regional Chinese Food in NYC". Eater.
  25. "Trendspotting: Hirata buns". blogs.timeout.jp.
  26. "CHICKEN KARAAGE & KIMCHI BAO". hakka.com.au.
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