{"id":1869,"date":"2026-05-27T17:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T17:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1869"},"modified":"2026-05-27T17:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T17:06:46","slug":"baoing-out-exploring-the-bloodline-of-a-beloved-chinese-staple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=1869","title":{"rendered":"Bao\u2019ing Out: Exploring the bloodline of a beloved Chinese staple"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jackie Lau\u2019s been making char siu buns for a long time, beautiful round pillows, stuffed with the honey-barbecue pork, rich and red, the color of joy and prosperity, that her husband, Jerry, has been making for an even longer time.<\/p>\n

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But the buns themselves? They go back centuries in China, beginning with mantou.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just plain steamed dough,\u201d Jerry Lau tells me. \u201cPeople would make it to eat with things like congee for breakfast, with nothing inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was some time later, though, that a stuffed version took Northern China by storm.<\/p>\n

There are legends surrounding their invention, but Jackie Lau says it was an enterprising chef who crafted the modern version, sometime in the 19th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a barbecue shop, making char siu much like we make it,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ate one bite of the char siu, then one bite of the bun and he thought, \u2018Why don\u2019t I stuff this in the bun and steam it?’\u201d her husband adds. \u201cAfter that, people really loved it, and he began to sell it on the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wheat was a staple crop where the dish has its origins, and it is primarily wheat flour in bao\u2019s signature fluffy buns, though the Laus incorporate a mix of other flours, as well. There is yeast to make it rise, a little sugar for a touch of sweetness. After proofing, they are broken into small servings, stuffed with pork and steamed. Served in threes on Moon Wok\u2019s dim sum menu, they are wholly satisfying, in particular at happy hour.<\/p>\n

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Though they\u2019re lovely to enjoy while sitting, bao are eminently portable, a factor that helped the dish proliferate and evolve in the many nations where Chinese immigrants landed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful that all these countries folded it into their own cultures,\u201d says Jerry Lau of the humble dish\u2019s formidable international bloodline. \u201cAnd there is always so much satisfaction, every time, to watch customers bite into the bun and see them enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read on for some of the different takes and where you can find them.<\/p>\n

Moon Wok Kitchen & Lounge:<\/strong> 11701 International Drive in Orlando, 407-778-1700; instagram.com\/moonwokkitchen)<\/p>\n

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B\u00e1nh Bao (Vietnam)<\/h4>\n

Mills Market\u2019s Cecilia Nguyen remembers making b\u00e1nh bao with her mother. This is the Vietnamese evolution of the classic, traditionally filled with ground pork, wood ear mushroom, onion, Chinese sausage and a quail egg. (At Mills Market, sometimes it\u2019s a 1\/4 chicken egg instead.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d go all out,\u201d she says. \u201cI still remember doing all different designs and flower shapes, and I\u2019d put the sausage in the petals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, when she and restaurateur Johnny Tung married, she brought it to the table at a gathering with his Taiwanese family.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone had a blast, and it is a really special memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, too, is the b\u00e1nh bao they sell daily at Mills Market, a holdover from when the space belonged to Tien Hung Market, each bun lovingly crafted by the very same matriarch who sold them both here, and in her bakery up the road, for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they sold the market to us,\u201d Nguyen remembers, \u201cshe wanted to keep that tradition going, and so did I. We get them from her fresh almost every day and steam them around 10 a.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means if you want one straight from the basket, you should show up around 10:30 a.m. If you can\u2019t, fear not. These big, fluffy buns are available out of the grab-and-go case all day long. And they are quite popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a perfect, quick, hearty snack,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s not messy to eat. It\u2019s a great go-to when you are hungry and busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a beautiful tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though we all fall under the umbrella of Asian and we all know bao, the way I was taught to make it, the way it was passed down to me, is different,\u201d Nguyen says, referencing the feel-good scenes in films where people get together and make dumplings and bao.<\/p>\n

Why is that always a part of the movie? Because *it\u2019s a thing!* Making a new memory with an old tradition. It\u2019s special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills Market:<\/strong> 1110 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando; mills-market.com<\/p>\n

Gua Bao (Taiwan)<\/h4>\n

These Taiwanese \u201ctacos\u201d might be the first thing Americans think of when they hear the word bao, but they, too, are an evolution from the Northern Chinese original just the same, one that transformed in China\u2019s Fujian Province \u2014 where that distinct, clam shell bun was created to allow for larger cuts of protein \u2014 and then took off in Taiwan as a wildly popular street food.<\/p>\n

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