A hot Chinese bun is a wonderful thing. Hot, steaming and fragrant, each soft pillowy bun encases a delicious filling, sometimes just a bite of savoury meat, sometimes a yummy mix of meat and vegetables and sometimes just a sweet bit of something.
When I was little my dearest grannie 奶奶 would make buns for us girls all the time. We were skinny Chinese girls in the growing stage and boy-O could we eat alot! I loved the meat and veggie buns she made (I could eat 3 buns in one go!) but my favorites were the buns stuffed with red bean paste. To my young taste buds red bean paste tasted as good as chocolate!
This particular type of Chinese bun, the Cha Siu Bao Roasted Pork Bun 叉燒包, is not something my grannie ever made herself but, since living in HK, it's become one of my favorites. Chinese roasted pork Cha Siu 叉燒 by itself is already soooo good. But luscious roasted pork cha siu, diced into a deliciously sweet and savory filling as the secret heart of a warm and incredibly soft and hot Chinese bun? Ammmaazing!