Amongst several tiny outlets for baozi – Chinese steamed buns – along Newport Court, near the Leicester Square tube station in London’s Chinatown, only the pork bun from the takeaway bun stall operated by Yang Guang Supermarket looks, feels and eats like a burger.
A street food favourite in the heart of the West End, Yang Guang stuffs each bun with a plump little patty of minced and marinated pork, its juices easily absorbed by the piping-hot fluff all around it. As viewed in the photo at the top of this post I’ve squirted the pork not with ketchup but with Sriacha hot sauce.
Importantly, the meat filling, hand-shaped into one solid piece, is not mealy, mushy, strippy, chunky, BBQy, cabbage-y or sweet as it can be with other baozi. Sure enough there’s a burger in that bun – a fresh, moist, tasty, £1.70 Chinese pork burger.
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Incredible – I’ve walked past this place a million times and never bought anything to eat. Suffice to say that will change shortly.
@Chris – You’ve walked past these buns millions of times without trying one? Crikey! Better make an appointment with the optometrist (or electrician?) and get you’re ordinarily estimable food-radar checked.
It’s a joy to behold – and preferable to the sometimes (always?!) overly sweet roast pork buns…
@Dick – Agree that these ones are not dessert-sweet breakfast buns.
Yeah I’ve only tried these once, but that little parcel of goodness was warm and satisfying!
@Kavey – Yes, all in all a painless experience.
I agree, these little buns are perfect for a late afternoon treat. I always try to stop by when I’m in Chinatown.
A friend of mine made me taste them this week end and there are so yummy as a street food snack. Next time I will add some spicy sauce.
@Chris, same here…. I’m worried these might become quite a habit though
I too bear the guilt of having walked past and never tried one. In my defence I can never get past the lady in the window of the Jenta Cafe making dumplings. I feel obligated to go in and have some.
Having a few Martinis tomorrow, this looks like the ideal way to start the evening
I’ll hit this up next time I am down there, plus the Hong Kong convex waffle stand if that’s still around!
Baozi amaze-ment! Thats it I’m getting one tomorrow… 🙂
I figured from the pic that could only be Sriracha! Flying goose brand, right?
Thanks for sending me this Daniel – a colleague and I have a lunch trek planned for next week to try these lovely buns!
Having seen your comments about this place a few weeks back I thought I’d give it a try. A friend and I were walking through Chinatown and my friend said ‘shall we have a bun?’ I looked up and we were just at this place. Anyway, suffice it so say that we had a pork bun each! I’m still wiping the chilli sauce off my face! They were delish!
Their chive and egg buns are also delicious! Even better than the pork ones, if that is possible.
Finally got round to trying one of these bad boys today. Like other posters I too have walked past this unknowingly missing out on these delectable treats. No more. Never again.
That bun was one of the finest things i think i’ve ever eaten. Whether the fact it costs a mere £1.50 has anything to do with that, i can only guess. But either way, it’s just incredible. Beautiful soft bun, wrapping itself surprisingly delicately around the gloriously moist and flavourful pork, oh my god…. chuck on some sriracha after the first heavenly bite (next time i’ll have two, one with soy sauce to compare) and it really doesn’t get much better than that.
Daniel, you’ve done Londoners a great service highlighting this little gem.
People, go forth and sample. It’s your duty.