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Featured

The Pork Chop Bo Lo Bao--The Next Great Asian Sandwich?

By Chantal Martineau, Wednesday, May. 6 2009 @ 12:32PM
Comments (7)
Categories: Fork in the Road on the Road, Snackshots

DSC02230.jpg
Now that banh mi is officially over, sandwich enthusiasts are on the lookout for the next great eastern import. We'd like to nominate the bo lo bao or pineapple bun for the job, a crunchy-topped sweet bread found in Hong Kong, Macau and a few other lucky spots in Southern China. We have found variants of the bo lo bao at Chinese bakeries here in New York, but none that were served the way we had them in Taipa, Macau: sliced with a tender brandy-marinated and fried bone-in pork chop spilling out of it. If you happen to be walking by a nondescript cafe on Largo Governador Tamagnini Barbosa in Taipa Village at any hour other than around 3 pm, you could easily miss out on these simple, delicious sandwiches. But at the golden hour of tea time, a queue of hungry locals wraps itself around the corner of Tai Lei Loi Kei awaiting their delicious afternoon treat. Based on the "bifana" made in Portugal, the sandwich (actually called a chu pa bao with the pork--bo lo bao only refers to the bread) also comes on a plain roll, but having it on a pineapple bun is quintessentially Macanese, as it perfectly blends both the cultures. Made with flour, eggs, lard and sugar, the bread (a carb-fat-and-cholesterol-packed calorie-fest voted one of the top ten most harmful snacks in Hong Kong) is like a sugar-topped scone, the yellow color coming from the eggs and sugar--not actual pineapple. When combined with the savory grilled pork chop, it makes for a perfectly balanced sweet-salty bite. No condiments necessary.

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Comments (7)

Sarah DiGregorio says:

Oh my god! I must have one!

Posted On: Wednesday, May. 6 2009 @ 4:50PM
Krista says:

I was in Macau in December and never got around to trying a pork chop sandwich. Now I am so mad at myself! Who knows when I'll ever go back?

Posted On: Wednesday, May. 6 2009 @ 5:04PM
yumyum in the tumtum says:

i'm from hongkong, and we love "bo-lo-bao"!! :) 'til this day, we always wonder why "bo-lo-bao" (being that "bo-lo" literally means pineapple in cantonese-chinese) doesn't have any pineapple in it. :D the crusted/flaky top could be quite a mess to eat this way, but definitely a must try! :) yum!

Posted On: Wednesday, May. 6 2009 @ 8:26PM
Chantal Martineau says:

I gotta say, of all the delicious foods I had in Macau (African chicken, amazing dim sum, rustic Portuguese) this was definitely one of my favorite finds. I'm going to try to replicate it with a pineapple bun from the Chinese bakery and a pork chop at home!

Posted On: Wednesday, May. 6 2009 @ 10:39PM
John says:

Somebody could make a fortune selling that type of inexpensive Chinese bun in high priced lunch areas, like Midtown.

Perhaps Jolibee's hamburger with slice of pineapple will catch on.

Posted On: Thursday, May. 7 2009 @ 9:56AM
Danny says:

wow, that's hot. i'm going to try that really soon. how can that be bad?

Posted On: Thursday, May. 7 2009 @ 11:14AM
cmartineau says:

Make your own... http://midtownlunch.com/2009/05/20/make-your-own-bo-lo-baopork-chop-sandwich-at-ying-du/

Posted On: Tuesday, May. 26 2009 @ 7:54AM

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