I found it really funny when pork belly buns became one of the most hipster street food trends out there. I grew up eating these buns. They were absolutely delicious, but you don’t invite your friends to hang out over pork buns; you have them with your family on a Sunday. Now, not only are these buns in fashion, they are stuffed with all sorts of things that take the fancy of creative street food vendors in east London. I’m not judging at all. In fact I have done versions stuffed with ox cheek and venison rendang (see here) and braised radish (see lettuce cups kueh pie tee, here), and yes, at a Shoreditch pop-up at that. I’m not uptight about tradition; food should be about fun and flavour.
Nothing beats the original kong bak pau that I grew up with, though. This one is Mum’s signature dish. She pulls it out of the bag only for people she really loves or really wants to impress. There is a fair bit of time and effort involved, but the results are worth it.