''Koah-pau'' or ''gua bao'' or ''cuapao'' also known as a pork belly bun, ambiguously as bao, or erroneously as bao bun, is a type of lotus leaf bun originating from Fujianese cuisine in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is also a popular snack in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, and Nagasaki Chinatown in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It consists of a slice of stewed meat and condiments sandwiched between flat steamed bread known as lotus leaf bread (). The lotus leaf bread is typically 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 Pork belly or belly pork is a boneless, fatty Primal cut, cut of pork from the Abdomen, belly of a pig. Pork belly is particularly popular in American cuisine, American, British cuisine, British, Swedish cuisine, Swedish, Danish cuisine, Danish, ...

, typically dressed with stir-fried

suan cai ''Suancai'' (also called ''suan tsai'' and Chinese sauerkraut; ) is traditional Chinese pickles made from Chinese cabbage ( napa cabbage) or Chinese mustard. Suancai is a unique form of paocai, due to the ingredients used and the method of pr ...

(pickled mustard greens),

coriander Coriander (), whose leaves are known as cilantro () in the U.S. and parts of Canada, and dhania in parts of South Asia and Africa, is an annual plant, annual herb (''Coriandrum sativum'') in the family Apiaceae. Most people perceive the ...

, and ground

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

Etymology

Hokkien Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...

, the word ''gua/cua'' () means to cut by drawing the knife through an object. ''Bao/Pao'' (包; ) means "bun", so the name ''bao bun'' is redundant. The word ''bao'' (包) in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

without any qualifiers is generally used to refer to

baozi Baozi (), or simply bao, is a type of yeast-leavened filled bun in various Chinese cuisines. There are many variations in fillings (meat or vegetarian) and preparations, though the buns are most often steaming, steamed. They are a variation of ...

History

In Asia

The gua bao originated from the coastal regions of

Fujian province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...

. It is said to have come from either the cities of

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

. In Quanzhou, gua bao is known as ''rou jia bao'' () or ''hu yao shi'' (). The custom of Hui'an people in Quanzhou is to eat these pork belly buns to celebrate the marrying off of a daughter. In Jinjiang, a county of Quanzhou, there is a related vegetarian dish known as ''hu yao cao'' () 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. In

, gua bao are believed to have been introduced to the island by

nese immigrants. Fuzhou rice vinasse meat is wrapped in it, and ingredients are chopped and soaked in meat gravy to eat. The food is known colloquially in parts of

as () in

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien ( , ), or simply Taiwanese, also known as Taigi ( zh, c=臺語, tl=Tâi-gí), Taiwanese Southern Min ( zh, c=臺灣閩南語, tl=Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí), Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively ...

due to the mouth-like form of the bun and the contents of the filling. 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 Sishen soup () at

night markets Night markets or night bazaars ( zh, 夜市) are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. The culture of night markets originates from C ...

. In

and

, the dish is popular among the

community, where it is known as ''kong bak pau'' (). In the

, it is served in Chinese Filipino restaurants throughout the country, where it is known as ''cuapao'' (). In Hong Kong, they are known as ''cha bao'' () which means "fork buns" as the sandwiches are usually pierced by a toothpick or bamboo skewer to keep the fillings in place. In

they are called kakuni manju and are sold as a Chinese snack food. They are a specialty of Nagasaki Chinatown, 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. Recognizing the Fuzhounese community and historical connection, Nagasaki and Fuzhou established ties as

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

in 1980.

In the West

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. 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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and Manhattan Chinatown's Oriental Garden where the

Peking duck Peking duck is a dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by ...

was served on lotus leaf bread rather than the traditional spring pancake. He called his creation pork belly buns. The name "gua bao" was used and popularised by chef

Eddie Huang Edwyn Charles Huang (born March 1, 1982) is an American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and former attorney. He was a co-owner of BaoHaus, a gua bao restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village of Lower Manha ...

when he opened his BaoHaus restaurant (c. 2009). 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". In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

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 Lychee pork, or lizhi rou (; Eastern Min: liĕk-chiĕ-nṳ̆k), is a dish in Fujianese cuisine that consists of small pieces of deep-fried pork and sliced Eleocharis dulcis, water chestnuts served in a sweet and sour sauce. Its bright red colour ...

. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Erchen Chang, Wai Ting and Shing Tat Chung opened BAO in London, further popularizing the snack in the West. Gua bao are often called hirata buns in the United Kingdom, named after Masashi Hirata, the executive chef of

Ippudo Ippudo, also known as in Japan, is a Japanese fancy-ramen restaurant chain with locations worldwide. Ippudo is well known for its tonkotsu ramen, and has been described as "the most famous tonkotsu ramen shop in the country". History Ippudo w ...

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. 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 Kimchi (; ) is a traditional Korean side dish (''banchan'') consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage or Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

or karaage. 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

File:Tiger-striped Guabao with Dongpo pork at Sanhoyan restaurant in Da'an.jpg, With

Dongpo pork Dongpo pork (), also known as Dongpo meat, is a Hangzhou dish made by pan-frying and then red-cooking pork belly. The pork is typically cut into thick, approximately 5 centimeter (2.0 inch) squares, with an even distribution of fat and lean meat ...

File:Gua-bao by the Yuan Fang Guabao at Huaxi Street 2023-04-28 01.jpg, With Dongpo pork and ''

'' File:Gua-bao by the Yuan Fang Guabao at Huaxi Street 2023-04-28 02.jpg, Steamed lotus leaf bread File:Taiwanese hamburger at Bao Netil Market.jpg, With peanut powder File:10.10 總統偕同副總統出席「中華民國109年國慶酒會」 (50444384663).jpg File:GeBao.JPG File:Fish Gua Bao 2023.jpg, With fish

References