This is my friend Mr Pork Bun. I'm guessing that's not his real name (although given the variety of 'English' Chinese names I've encountered - Fancy, Echo, Green Leaf, - Pork Bun is not that far-fetched) but that's how I think of him. He is a champion steamed bun maker and he has very plump hands and a face that reminds me of the soft doughy baozi themselves.
Bāozi 包子 are surprisingly easy to make at home - the dough is a simple mixture of flour, water, yeast and a little sugar, and the filling is as diverse as you'd like to make it - fragrant pork mince, a delicious savoury tofu and green herb combination, red bean paste (possibly not to everyone's taste), and custard (definitely not to everyone's taste). Red pork buns, char siu bao, beloved of every Australian child I know, are Cantonese and
therefore not as easily available in Shanghai. This has been a major disappointment for some of our smaller visitors, until they taste the Shanghainese pork bun - it is less sweet, juicier and more meaty than it's Cantonese counterpart.
