It has been many years since I had char siu bao, all the way back to my decades in Hawaii. “Bao” is basically a chinese dumpling with meat or vegetables inside. Char siu bao is a steamed bao with pork inside. “Broke da mout” as they say in Hawaii.
Much further back in time I remember a going to a dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong, where they had these giant carts filled with baskets of steamed bao of all kinds. I think I referred to this place as Dim Yum after that, much to the dismay of my chinese friends. I also remember the place being very loud, the combination of animated talking and the clatter of dishes building to a cacophony of sound and sustenance.
Pixar produced an award-winning animated short film called Bao, where a steamed bun comes to life, briefly. Very cool.
Food can be a time machine, reminding us that the past is not so distant as we imagined. I was in Raleigh the other day having char siu bao, bringing back memories of long ago, far away.
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