Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The terrible, horrible, no good, very bad bao

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I was so excited when I saw these in the case. CH and I had been in Denver several weeks earlier, loading up on groceries at Viet Hoa Supermarket, when I saw a sign for an Asian bakery just before we pulled out of the lot. It was dingy inside and the cases were empty—it looked more like a wholesale place than a retail bakery—but in a glass-walled refrigerator on the side I spotted two baskets of large, saran-wrapped steamed buns. Even though they were hard and cold, and looked dried-out on the outside, I bought three and crossed my fingers that they would be delicious. After all, even a bad bao is still pretty good…right?

The answer is no. When I steamed one later on (I had promptly stowed them in the freezer), I discovered how wrong I was. The dough was crumbly and dry, the meat tasted and felt like cardboard, the pieces of Chinese sausages were without flavor, and the tiny hard-boiled quail egg was rubbery. These were bao that tasted of sadness.
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I suppose I should have guessed. I mean, look at the wretched thing, with its dry, cracked skin.

When I go home for winter break, I'm bringing back a load of my dad's baozi, damnit.

3 comments:

  1. Dude I thought that was a thumb in there. Gross. Also bad is bao whose outside is yums but once you bite in, the innards are smushy and fall apart in a not-tasty way :(

    PS Would you like a care package?

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  2. oh no! i'm so sorry it was bad. you should make your own if you have time! or just have your parents freeze them and ship them to you!

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  3. Yvo: Ewww. SO not a thumb. (Sent you an email btw.)

    Xiu: I was thinking about tackling my own! If I have time at some point I will.

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