Bao Buns - Fried Chicken

Before COVID, I often traveled to San Francisco for work. Now, I reminisce about my favorite SF food places. They would inspire me with new ways to enhance an existing dish or give me ideas for a new one. 

Ippudo, a ramen restaurant, is one of these places. The ramen is simply amazing, but the steamed buns are even more so! The presentation of the steamed buns is impressive. I remember being in awe when the appetizer arrived. You could just see chicken and fresh veggies sandwiched in between the buns.  The little bit of spicy mayo dripping off the sides of the buns was so enticing.

Like most dishes, there are many variations and many names. In Vietnam, we call these soft steamed buns Bánh Bao. My version is inspired by my mother’s cooking. One of my favorite memories was watching my mom make the dough for the bánh bao. They are sweet, fluffy and served as a ball shaped concoction. You never really know what is inside until you take a bite. When helping my mom in the kitchen, my job was to cut paper from my school notebook so Mom can use to line the bánh bao. How much ink did I consume eating the banh bao all of those years? Who knows. Times have changed, many years later I am now making steamed buns for my daughter and she is cutting out PARCHMENT paper for me to use to line the buns. The technique of making the dough is the same, knead the dough, let it rest for 30 minutes, roll it out, form into the shape that you want, rest again, steam and enjoy!

In this dish I combine my mom’s fluffy bánh bao recipe with the bao bun from Ippudo to create my own fried chicken split open bao. I hope you enjoy this recipe!