the asians know their bread,
and that's the truf.
i'm no expert on the east,
but something culinarily spectacular happened where the chinese
{my 'cestors}
mastered the art of crustless bread.
{if you've never been to a chinatown bakery, you haven't lived}
this doughy goodness became apparent to me in my youth
in a time where meat,
vegetables,
and crust
were nowhere near my dietary wants (or needs?)
dough balls
were what i called the filling-less version of my favorite chicago dim sum joint's cha sao bao that mum and i used to make...
and the filling in the ones at the restaurant were just another obstacle to get past before indulging in the sweet, pillowy soft buns.
now, although i've since expanded my fave foods to include meat and other things,
the doughy part of the bao has always been the best part.
until
i
tried
on the lower east side
where the bun and the filling go together hand-in-hand like macaroni and cheese,
country fairs and fried things,
and gustav mahler and french horns.
the bun and filling are equally delicious
and each one enhances the other as you gorge.
and i don't know when this started,
but it seems that all the haute baos these days are no longer dough balls
but more like doughy taco things
where the bread dough is flattened out
and then steamed
and then wrapped around their hangar steak or berkshire pork belly or tofu
which is pretty friggen genius if you ask me.
it allows for more filling options,
like cilantro and crushed peanuts and taiwanese red sugar.
{enter a whole new world of tastes}
and allows for prettier pictures {see above}
baohaus' baos are
ridiculous.
outrageous.
you've got no idea.
they're cheap,
they're comforting,
and they go well with juice
hey, juice.
and the tenderness of their perfectly cooked fillings
inside of their maximumly doughy casings
make for a near-perfect bao.
the only thing i ask is,
why do they have to be served in a closet-sized l.e.s. florescent light land?
why can't they be stationed on the upper west side inside my living room?
and can there be a baohaus truck?
and after eating these, is it possible that i will ever meet a better bao?
i'm really close to calling this the best bao in the world.
but i ain't gonna because
mum might get sad
and because
i've got 28 more restaurants to go!!!
xoxo
yeh
baohaus is located on rivington and norfolk in the glorious lower east side.