The Dog Ate My Blogwork

Literally.

We've been meaning to post on these delectable baked buns since we stumbled upon them in Chinatown around New Year. That day we bought a sampling of goodies from this tiny stall and ate most of them in the car, but held aside one of these shiny beauties for later. We wrapped it up and set it on the counter, planning to sample it around cocktail hour. But our voracious rottweiler mix mutt - who can smell a month-old piece of meat from a mile away and would probably eat cardboard if it were painted to look like cat poop (fellow dog owners, you know what I mean) - got to it first.

Two weeks later we found ourselves in the area again and bought another. Wiser for experience, we ate it on the street, then and there. It's a char siew bao (BBQ pork bun), but with a twist: the meaty filling is studded with what we believe are lotus seeds. The combination makes for an agreeably lighter bao than your average all-meat version. Beyond that, this vendor's char siew stuffing hits just the right notes of meat and sweet, smoky and porky.

The lotus seed-pocked interior invites documenting, so we held off on sharing this treat until we could get back to the stall, bring a bun home, cut it open, get out the reflector, and set up the tripod.

Well, this past Sunday we got as far as bringing it home. We placed it on the kitchen counter - carefully positioning it right up against the wall, as far from counter lip as possible and well out of reach of the hound. And went to our respective offices to tend to other tasks.

An bit later, lunch digested enough have created a void in our bellies that would be well serviced by a half bao each, we went downstairs to retrieve it ... and found nothing but a piece of plastic wrap on the floor.

This bao is apparently so good that it drove our pretty old, incredibly lazy, exercise-shunning dog to heretofore unknown physical feats.

Of course, you may not wish to trust the culinary opinions of an undiscerning dog. But trust us. This is one beautiful bao.

Char siew bao stall, Jalan Hang Lekir close to the corner of Jalan Petaling (near the longan juice stall). This stall also sells Malay kuih, Shanghai char siew buns (log-like shape, delicious but lotus seed-free char siew filling), honey buns (nothing exciting here), and kaya puffs (wonderful crisp, flaky pastry but a filling a bit too sweet for our taste).

Comments

[Pille]

Looks delectable:) And I'm happy my parents only have a small dog who simply cannot jump too high (she's also 15 years old by now, so we it's pretty safe to leave tasty morsels on the work top:)

[bayi]

They look like Seremban siew bao but the variety from Seremban, which is franchised all over the city, do not contain lotus seeds. Rather, they contain green peas and taste just as yummy. But you are right. The lotus seed ingredient makes the siew bao special and is worth blogging. The Seremban siew bao costs about RM1.00 to RM1.10 each and the higher price for the lotus variety must be because of that special ingredient. I haven't tasted the lotus type and look forward to this experience.

[Nate]

I guess you'll just have to go back to Petaling Street again. I'd love to see you post about what it looks like around Chinese New Year.

[phiz]

how are you guys not incredibly fat, with all this irresistible eating?

[Robyn]

Pille - lucky you! Our hound has proven her ability to find food almost anywhere it's hidden!

bayi - I've had seremban siew bao, both in seremban and here. I like 'em, but I think these are nice .... just a bit more subtle in terms of sweetness. Give 'em a try and see what you think!

Nate - will try to. Though much of the New Year's decorations up now have been there since last New Year's! We did a Ctown New Year post - google 'EatingAsia Chinatown KL Eatabout'.

phiz - our secret is called sweat, and buckets of it, in the gym. For some strange reason we actually enjoy it. Maybe bec we look forward to the rip-roaring appetite a good workout conjures up!

[Ying]

The char siew bao must be tasted very yummy, even the dog know to enjoy it. I must go there and try it out.

[deborah]

Haha, sounds alot like the Seremban siew pau (crispy pork bun). There's a stall in SS2 (next to an Ampang Yong Tau Foo restaurant), PJ where the older sibling has been operating it for many years, if I'm not mistaken ...while the younger sister is based in a coffee shop next to the old Lim Kok Wing college in Taman SEA, PJ.

Their paos are excellent too! =)