Baozi - Chinese Dumpling
by Liv | Published on March 21st, 2009, 8:44 am | Food
One of the things I love about big cities like L.A., N.Y. or London is the food. London by far has been my favorite. Almost every imaginable food is available, and generally within walking distance. One of the ones I haven't found in this (triad) area (yet) is the Chinese Dumpling (which I believe is called a Baozi). I've been dieing to try one since Anthony Bourdain stated it was the "have-to" Chinese food. Someone mentioned that a the English equivalent of the translated Chinese word for the smaller Chinese Dumplings (Jiaozi) means "Heinous Excursion". So you can imagine my delight when we're walking through China Town in London and just after doing the tango with a giant panda bear, we discover a little market with a young Chinese woman and a fresh batch of Chinese Dumplings.
In pork, beef, or chicken Baozi can be very small almost bite-size (Xiaolongbao) or If you find them like we did they're about 6-8 inches round, hand-pressed closed breading (Mantou) with a Asian stew filling consisting of meats and/or vegetables. They are, for a better lack of the words... simply the most amazing Chinese food I've ever eaten. It should be, it's their comfort food. It's a recipe, I've vowed to tackle in the next few months....
There's something to be said with waking up in the morning, hitting an authentic French Bakery for breakfast, and then walking the streets for lunch eating a Baozi Dumpling. We so often forget how much taste is a sense, and providing it sensory input during certain experiences can make the journey so much more fun!
The vendor realized we "weren't from around here" with our American dialects, and asked "where are you from?" Shannon replied "North Carolina".... We might as well been speaking to Chinese....(to an American)... because from the look on her face she didn't recognize that country.