I was at T&T Supermarket today and saw an impressive and beautiful display of Chinese buns, or bao. The display is part of their Chinese Gourmet Bun Festival. I recognized many of the baos, but there was definitely one that caught my eye: the pumpkin bun.
Shaped to look like pumpkins, and filled with pureed pumpkin, I was definitely intrigued. (Pumpkins aren't native to Chinese cuisine, so it's always interesting to me when I see this item on Chinese menus). But I do have to admit that the biggest motivation to me buying the bun was the way it looked (yes, I too can be shallow when it comes to food).
Lucky for me, the bun was tasty. The pureed pumpkin was mixed with...I'm not sure what...perhaps a lotus paste, and it was GOOD. The bun was freshly steamed and hot to the touch (I basically burnt myself on the first bite!) The texture of the bun was a good balance of softness and elastickiness (yes, I just made that word up).
There were lots of other buns available to eat, but since I am watching my waste line, I only ate one. But I do urge you to try the buns - I'm not sure how long the festival runs, but it's definitely something to try before it's gone. (Note: the dried vegetable and pork buns looked yummy too).
