Today is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. I should probably be writing about mooncakes, which are traditionally gifted during this week. But let’s face it–mooncakes just aren’t that tasty. You know what Chinese food is tasty? Dim sum.
At dim sum, where servers push around carts of food, the fried sesame balls known as jian dui are my personal favorite. Andy, Dalton, and even my Lawyer Sis all prefer nai wong bao.
Nai wong bao is also known as a pineapple bun, although no restaurant actually puts pineapple in them. (Except for this one chain called Lunasia, which serves the closest dim sum to us but which Andy has deemed “a travesty.”) White people nicknamed nai wong bao “pineapple buns” because of the roughly hexagonal scale pattern cut into the dough and because nai wong bao is “so hard” to say (especially compared to words like “onomatopoeia” and “Worcestershire”).
Inside the soft bun (bao) with a cookie like topping is yellow (wong) steamed milk (nai) custard.
Nai wong bao is the reason our family is at the dim sum restaurants before the doors open. I don’t think I’ve even been to a place where they didn’t run out of nai wong bao…except for Lunasia, of course. Dalton alone can eat three of them AFTER stuffing his face with three entire orders of har gow (shrimp dumplings).
I’m not sure why there’s never enough nai wong bao. You’d think restaurants would make more of them, especially when the ingredients are simple and inexpensive, especially compared to har gow. Maybe it’s the proofing time? Or the space they take when proofing?
Maybe it’s all a ploy to get customers in early.
Andy was recently in Hawaii, visiting his mom. But Andy and his mom, unlike his East Coast wife, do not always have their eyes on the clock. They went to dim sum almost daily, but not when the doors opened. And each time, the nai wong bao was all gone.
Sad.
By the time Andy got back to LA, he had decided he would make his own damned nai wong bao. He consulted his bread baking book and YouTube. Then he got to work:
They turned out pretty well.
I posted pictures on Instagram. Midwest Mark immediately demanded the recipe. Betsy of Motherhood and Martial Arts mocked Mark, rolling her emoji eyes and implying he was dreaming if he thought he could actually make them. Mark then insisted that the gauntlet had been thrown and called for a “Blogger Bakeoff.” He’s been hounding me for the recipe on his blog and on Instagram.
I suspect Mark’s envy of our neighborhood cooking contest is the driving force behind his desire to show off for a bakeoff.
Betsy is having none of this. She has done entire posts about how baking is her Waterloo and refuses to pick up Mark’s gauntlet.
But here’s the recipe Andy used, should any of you choose to accept it!
I look forward to hearing about Mark’s adventures in the kitchen.
I love dim sum but it’s almost impossible to find a restaurant up here.
As for Mark, he’s probably going to ruin that lovely recipe by stuffing his with Spam…
LMAO about Mark and his beloved spam. Yeah, I suspect Boston would be the closest decent dim sum to you. But maybe you’ll get lucky and Lunasia will branch out!
I watched the recipe. I see why more people don’t make them. Time consuming but they look so good!
They are very soft and custard-y! And they reheat well.
Sound wonderful. Not sure I’ve ever seen them around here. The usual desserts at Chinese restaurants are ice cream or canned pineapple along with fortune cookies.
Andy will be amazed you aren’t given oranges. I’ve seen match ice-cream at Japanese restaurants, but never at Chinese places.
Never saw oranges. I think ice cream is easy for families with kids. You get that at a “nice” Chinese restaurant with a big eat in crowd.
Yes, this kid from a giant family would not have objected to ice-cream!
I kinda like moon cakes (a small slice with egg yolk and once a year.) I agree with you about jian dui. It’s one of my favorites. My family prefers (esp. daughter #3) the little custard tarts. We all agree that it’s best to go to dimsum with 7 or 8 people so you can have a sufficient variety. I like almost everything. Maybe everything.
I always forget to get my mooncakes in advance and get stuck with the less tasty options! Unlike you, I am a seriously picky eater.
Oh, boy. Now I’m going to have to prove myself, huh? Be careful what you wish for, Mark!
I’m disappointed there’s no actual pineapple, though. I assumed that was a key ingredient, which is why I was so intrigued in the first place. I love pineapple – and growing up in Hawaii, consider it “my” fruit. But they look delicious even without said pineapple, so I’ll go ahead and tackle these sometime in the next few weeks. Thank you for sharing. I can’t wait to prove Betsy wrong!
OMG, I’ll send you some terrible Lunasia pineapple buns and then you will be sorry again about what you wished for! Although, you could always try and make your custard pineapple flavored?
Okay. Ooooooookay, folks. Let’s not get our apron strings in a bunch. I remember your success with the pie. I wasn’t really implying you couldn’t do this. It was more like, sure, sure, “I’m Mark. I can bake anything, unlike that Betsy woman. Sheesh.” Alright, so that’s a slight exaggeration. I did love the line about about rolling my emoji eyes, but I was being sardonic toward myself. Nevertheless, you love a challenge, don’t you, Mark? And I’ll bet you can do this. And it WILL be fun to read about.
It will definitely be fun to read about. Especially if he insists on adding pineapple (and spam).
That’s okay, Betsy…even I’m afraid I might have bitten off more than I can chew. But it’s going to be fun finding out!
I actually had this thought.
Andy was horrified by this thought and first and then we kicked around ideas and decided that the best way would probably be to reduce pineapple down to a simple syrup and use it to replace some liquid in the custard.
I think that’s genius. Thank you for the tip!
I definitely won’t try to make them but I sure do want to eat them.
Same! I don’t have the patience for proofing. This is why I like baking cookies and cakes.
I’ve never had dim sum but I’d probably like it. Ergo I’ve never had bao of any kind. Chinese food is rather a mystery to me. Didn’t know about a Blogger Bakeoff, but leave it to Mark to come up with it.
I like the bao and rice wrappers more than many of the dim sum fillings, but I am a picky eater. Not going for those chicken feet for sure. No matter how much Andy loves them.
Also, fabulous title for this post. And, it was an honor to be included here. Thank you, Autumn. 🙂
It was hilarious to watch you smacking down the irrepressible Mark on Instagram. I appreciate you both giving me so much blog fodder.
Uum. You’re welcome, I guess. 😛
I have never progressed to the sweet options – and it sounds like I’ve been seriously missing out! The nearest dim sum to here is about 40 miles, only a little over an hour’s driving, so no excuse at all. The reason I don’t give in is that there’s a massive Asian grocers next door which is oh so very dangerous.
Looking forward to hearing how Mark gets on…
What’s the best thing at the Asian grocers?
How long have you got? 😉
The one thing I cannot resist is pickled plums, but there are many MANY things.
I’ve never tried those. Shall have to remedy that!
Nai wong bao sounds delicious! It has also got to be easier to pronounce than Worcestershire.
Right?!
I visited my extended Toronto family. A first cousin made her moon cakes …more like a mochi with a embossed stamp. Flavours were green tea and red bean taro filling. Outline was whitish mochi colour.
Those sound way tastier than actual moon cakes!