Koah-pau

Koah-pau

A traditional gua bao
Alternative names	cuapao
Course	Snack, delicacy, main dish, side dish
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Fujian
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Lotus leaf bread, stewed meat, condiments
Ingredients generally used	Red-cooked pork belly, pickled mustard, coriander, ground peanuts
Variations	Fried chicken, fish, eggs, stewed beef, lettuce
Media: Koah-pau

Koah-pau
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	割包
Simplified Chinese	刈包
Literal meaning	cut bun
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin guàbāo Southern Min Hokkien POJ koah-pau
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	肉夾包
Simplified Chinese	肉夹包
Literal meaning	meat between buns
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin ròujiābāo
Japanese name
Kanji	角煮饅頭
Transcriptions Romanization kakuni manjū
Tagalog name
Tagalog	kuwapaw

Koah-pau or gua bao^[1] or cuapao^[2][3] also known as a pork belly bun,^[4] bao,^[5][6] or bao bun,^[7][8] is a type of lotus leaf bun originating from Fujianese cuisine in China.^[9] It is also a popular snack in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Nagasaki Chinatown in Japan.

It consists of a slice of stewed meat and condiments sandwiched between flat steamed bread known as lotus leaf bread (荷葉餅; héyèbǐng). The lotus leaf bread is typically 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) in size, semi-circular and flat in form, with a horizontal fold that, when opened, gives the appearance that it has been sliced. The traditional filling for gua bao is a slice of red-cooked pork belly, typically dressed with stir-fried suan cai (pickled mustard greens), coriander, and ground peanuts.^[6][10][11]

Etymology

In Hokkien, the word gua/cua (Chinese: 割/刈; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koah) means to cut by drawing the knife through an object.^[12] Bao/Pao (包; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pau) means "bun", so the name bao bun is redundant. The word bao (包) in Mandarin without any qualifiers is generally used to refer to baozi.

History

In Asia

Gua bao with bell pepper and water chestnut

The gua bao originated from the coastal regions of Fujian province in China. It is said to have come from either the cities of Quanzhou or Fuzhou.^[13] In Quanzhou, gua bao is known as rou jia bao (肉夹包; 'meat between buns') or hu yao shi (虎咬狮; 'tiger bites lion').^[14] The custom of Hui'an people in Quanzhou is to eat these pork belly buns to celebrate the marrying off of a daughter.^[15] In Jinjiang, a county of Quanzhou, there is a related vegetarian dish known as hu yao cao (虎咬草; 'tiger bites grass') that replaces the pork with a solidified peanut paste and the lotus leaf bread with a bread that is baked in a clay oven similar to a tandoor.^[16][17]

In Taiwan, gua bao are believed to have been introduced to the island by Fuzhounese immigrants. Fuzhou rice vinasse meat is wrapped in it, and ingredients are chopped and soaked in meat gravy to eat.^[18][19] The food is known colloquially in parts of Taiwan as hó͘-kā-ti (虎咬豬; 'tiger bites pig') in Taiwanese Hokkien due to the mouth-like form of the bun and the contents of the filling.^[10] Gua bao was a food that merchants consumed during ritual festivals when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. According to the research of Yu-Jen Chen, pork was expensive and not easy to acquire at that time, and flour was also scarce. As a result, the gua bao only became a popular street food among the public in Taiwan in the 1970s. Gua bao is now a popular Taiwanese street snack food and often offered with four-herbal soup (四神湯; sù-sîn-thng) at night markets.^[20]

In a bamboo steamer

In Singapore and Malaysia, the dish is popular among the Hokkien community, where it is known as kong bak pau (扣肉包; khòng-bah-pau).^[21][22]

In the Philippines, it is served in Chinese Filipino restaurants throughout the country, where it is known as cuapao (割包; koah-pau).^{[23][3][24][25][2][26]}

In Hong Kong, they are known as cha bao (叉包) which means "fork buns" as the sandwiches are usually pierced by a toothpick or bamboo skewer to keep the fillings in place.

In Japan they are called kakuni manju^{[27][deprecated source]} and are sold as a Chinese snack food. They are a specialty of Nagasaki Chinatown,^[28] having been sold in Japan for centuries due to the large number of Fuzhounese immigrants and historic relations between Fuzhou and Nagasaki represented by the construction of Sofukuji Temple.^[29][30] Recognizing the Fuzhounese community and historical connection, Nagasaki and Fuzhou established ties as sister cities in 1980.^[31]

In the West

Gua bao from Sydney

Gua bao became popular in the early 2000s in the West through chef David Chang's Momofuku restaurants (c. 2004) although he says that he was unaware that the gua bao dish already existed.^[32] His Momofuku recipe was born out of a desire to use leftover pork from his ramen, and he was inspired by his dining experiences in Beijing and Manhattan Chinatown's Oriental Garden where the Peking duck was served on lotus leaf bread rather than the traditional spring pancake. He called his creation pork belly buns.^[33] The name "gua bao" was used and popularised by chef Eddie Huang when he opened his BaoHaus restaurant (c. 2009).^[34][35] Many other restaurants serving gua bao have opened up since then, but they often refer to the dish by the ambiguous name "bao" or the erroneous name "bao bun".

Gua bao from Las Vegas

In the United States, New York City has a significant population of Fuzhounese Americans and gua bao is a popular dish sold at restaurants along with other iconic Fuzhounese dishes such as Fuzhou fish balls and lychee pork.^[36]

In the United Kingdom, Erchen Chang, Wai Ting and Shing Tat Chung opened BAO in London, further popularizing the snack in the West.^[15] Gua bao are often called hirata buns in the United Kingdom, named after Masashi Hirata, the executive chef of Ippudo in New York as many ramen restaurants began to adopt the practise of selling gua bao alongside their ramen dishes due to the influence of Momofuku and to meet high demand from customers who mistakenly believed that the gua bao was a Japanese food item.^[37]

There have been many new trendy "gua bao" which incorporate pan-Asian fusion or non-Chinese fillings between the lotus leaf buns, such as kimchi or karaage.^[38] Although these are technically not gua bao at all as they do not include pork belly, and in China would only be considered different lotus leaf bun sandwiches (he ye bao).

Gallery

• 
  With Dongpo pork
• 
  With Dongpo pork and suan cai
• 
  Steamed lotus leaf bread
• 
  With peanut powder
• 
• 
• 
  With fish

See also

• List of sandwiches
• List of snack foods
• Fujian cuisine
• Taiwanese cuisine
• Zhangcha duck
• Hamburger
• Roujiamo, a similar food from Shaanxi Province

References

1. "Entry #8213 (割包)". 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan]. (in Chinese and Hokkien). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011.
2. Polistico, Edgie (2017). Philippine Food, Cooking, & Dining Dictionary. Anvil Publishing, Inc. ISBN 9786214200870.
3. Fernandez, Doreen; Alegre, Edilberto N. (1989). LASA: A Guide to 100 Restaurants. Manila: Urban Food Foundation. pp. 100, 188, 190.
4. Erway, Cathy (2 April 2014). "Taiwanese Pork Belly Buns (Gua Bao)".
5. L., Mandy (6 February 2013). "Who Took the "Gua" out of "Bao".
6. Glassberg, Julie (23 February 2010). "Baohaus". The New York Times.
7. "Steamed bao buns". BBC Good Food.
8. "Simple Bao Bun Recipe". Sorted. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
9. 江韶瑩 (2009). 臺灣民俗文物辭彙類編 (in Chinese). 國史館臺灣文獻館. ISBN 978-986-02-0399-8.
10. "Gwa-Bao (割包 Braised Pork Wrapped in Steamed Buns)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). 2011.
11. Erway, Cathy (2015). The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544303010.
12. "台日大詞典：割包". Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
13. "A Street Food Goes International: Taiwan's Gua Bao". New Southbound Policy. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
14. "福建名小吃｜泉州人都爱吃的传统古早味儿，你吃过哪几样呢？". xw.qq.com. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
15. "What Is Taiwanese Gua Bao?". MICHELIN Guide. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
16. "虎咬草-吃在晋江-晋江魅力-印象晋江-晋江市人民政府". www.jinjiang.gov.cn. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
17. 网易 (25 May 2019). "【老闽南】闽南人独爱的这款"咸烧饼"你吃过吗？". www.163.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
18. 江, 韶瑩 (2009). 臺灣民俗文物辭彙類編 (in Chinese). 國史館臺灣文獻館. ISBN 978-986-02-0399-8.
19. "老字號割包店 肉香Q嫩不油膩-華視新聞-華視新聞網". news.cts.com.tw.
20. Cathy Teng (July 2022). "A Street Food Goes International Taiwan's Gua Bao". Taiwan Panorama.
21. hermes (13 May 2018). "Love of pork belly and buns". The Straits Times. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
22. "Kong Bak Pau (Braised Pork Buns) – 扣肉包". 15 September 2015.
23. Macaalay, Raymund (29 July 2020). "Cuapao". Ang Sarap.
24. Official Gazette. Vol. 1. Philippines. Bureau of Patents, Trademarks, and Technology Transfer, Philippines. Intellectual Property Office, Department of Trade and Industry. 1988.
25. Philippine Humanities Review. Vol. 2. College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines. 1985.
26. "kuwapaw". Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph. Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. 2018.
27. "刈包". ettoday.net/.
28. "A Guide to Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown: Enjoy Local Specialties as You Walk!". wow-j.com. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
29. "The first Chinese style temple in Nagasaki". japan-kyushu-tourist.com.
30. "Sofukuji Temple (崇福寺)". travel.navitime.com.
31. "Interchange Fuzhou City between cities". city.nagasaki.lg.jp.e.jc.hp.transer.com.
32. The Story Behind the Momofuku Chili Crunch, With Eddie Huang, 20 July 2020, retrieved 30 June 2021
33. "Momofuku's pork buns". gourmettraveller.com.au/. 20 May 2010.
34. Wong, Maggine (31 August 2018). "The secret of gua bao: The Taiwanese street food taking over the world". CNN.
35. Nguyen-Okwu, Leslie (6 March 2019). "16 Dishes That Define Taiwanese Food". www.eater.com. Eater. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
36. "A Guide to Eating Regional Chinese Food in NYC". Eater. 25 February 2019.
37. "Trendspotting: Hirata buns". blogs.timeout.jp. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
38. "CHICKEN KARAAGE & KIMCHI BAO". hakka.com.au.