When I was living in Japan I used to buy these buns from the seven eleven below my apartment. In true Japanese style in addition to the traditional Chinese fillings they came in all sorts of kooky flavours like pizza, cheese & curry and chicken and mayonnaise. Along with a can of hot coffee they were a most reliable cure after a night out clubbing in Ropponggi. On a more recent trip to Sydney, my two year old daughter took great delight in watching highly skilled chefs throw hand stretched noodles around the kitchen and produce baskets of gorgeously delicious steamed buns formed intricately into the shape of little pink pigs!
“These buns are deliciously light and fluffy and can be filled with just about anything. When we ran out of the pork mixture we tried a couple with chocolate and medjool dates, they were really good too – so feel free to experiment with the fillings, the dough works well with both sweet and savoury flavours.
“We purchased the BBQ pork (char siu) from an Asian take-out place, which made the filling really quick and easy to make. Steamer baskets can be purchased cheaply from an Asian supermarket.”