Breakfast Bao

I never expected to discover something on my own, let alone in Hyde Park, but our local pan-Asian noodle house is now serving home-made bao for breakfast on the weekend (8-11am). I had two each of Mongolian Beef and Chicken Chow Siu (they're two for $3) and they were really nice. They're not just home-made, they're made to order; so the vegetables in particular are amazingly fresh and the dough was just the right shade of fluffiness.

If you go, I recommend calling ahead (773.684.2801) to place an order, as it takes them about 20 minutes to make, as I found when I went last week while very hungry. I broke the manager's horns a little bit last week when it took so long, and he agreed that they could start them in advance "if we know you're coming." Just tell them you spoke to the obnoxious tall guy with the long hair. They don't seem to have had many takers, so they're not making them in advance.

They have six flavors: BBQ pork, chicken basil, vegetable curry, mongolian beef, chicken chow siu and beef chow siu. The Mongolian beef meat was actually a little dead for me, but it was leavened with some marvelous fresh green that really saved it. The chicken chow siu was really marvelous, with ginger that really sang of being freshly shaved and then just lightly steamed.

I would have sampled more flavors for you, but I didn't know I was going to like them so much I would have to post. They were also out of a couple flavors by Sunday morning, so apparently Saturday's the better day to go.

Noodles Etc
1333 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
773.684.2801
http://noodlesetc.com/index.html

Yum, that sounds delicious. I would love to try the Chicken Basil, and thanks for the tip for calling ahead.

When I saw the "breakfast bao" title, I immediately thought of Wow Bao, which has some really tasty breakfast bao as well. I haven't tried their bacon, egg and cheddar (it just seems like a weird combination for a bao to me...a bad fusion of American/Asian) but the egg and spicy Sichuan sausage and egg, spinach and mushroom bao are both very tasty.

Speaking of breakfast baos... My favorite? The big bao (dai bao) from Chiu Quon on Argyle. Pork, chinese sauage and a quartered hard boiled egg in a bao for $1.30 (I think)...

Hurdler4eva wrote:When I saw the "breakfast bao" title, I immediately thought of Wow Bao, which has some really tasty breakfast bao as well. I haven't tried their bacon, egg and cheddar (it just seems like a weird combination for a bao to me...a bad fusion of American/Asian) but the egg and spicy Sichuan sausage and egg, spinach and mushroom bao are both very tasty.

Likewise. I actually prefer the breakfast bao at Wow Bao to the regular lunch offerings (even though there's some overlap). The bacon one doesn't do a thing for me, but you're right, the sausage/egg one and the spinach bao both work really well.

Not only that, but I used to work near the State/Lake location, and would always internally chuckle at the dozens lined up for Starbucks knowing that Wow Bao's Intelligencia was way better, cheaper, and quicker. Suckers!

@ Charlotte: I've always worshipped that giant bao at Chiu Quon (though I was under the impression that they were made at the Double Happiness bakery across the street from them). And I don't think this is new, but Chiu Quon (in Chinatown at least) also has a "pork with vegetables" giant bun for steaming, which contains pork, cabbage and ginger. Right now, I prefer it as it seems more like a "food in a bun" thing rather than a "slabs o' meat in a bun", though of course I may swing back the other way.

Not to get to distracted from the original topic, but Chiu Quon could be considered to have its own breakfast-style bao in their ham-and-egg bun. Which is actually much better than I thought it was going to be. The whole cross-over food thing can be weird. I remember a Chinese banquet for my sister's college graduation where I basically refused to eat (much of) Shrimp with Thousand-Island Dressing even though it was really delicious, just because the whole idea of warm thousand-island dressing just seemed WRONG, let alone as part of Chinese food.

But the buns at Noodles Etc are all pretty mainstream. They have some nouveau-Asian dipping sauces for them, too. I can't remember any of them but you know: lime-ginger, that sort of thing...

MycoMan wrote:I remember a Chinese banquet for my sister's college graduation where I basically refused to eat (much of) Shrimp with Thousand-Island Dressing even though it was really delicious, just because the whole idea of warm thousand-island dressing just seemed WRONG, let alone as part of Chinese food.

This sounds like an excellent variation on LSC's Mayo Shrimp.