Chinese Pastries

Some days it’s not a croissant I’m craving, but Chinese pastries. When I first moved to Philadelphia I thought I’d never learn my way around the city, so each morning I’d set out on my bike in a new direction. It was a great way to get to know my new city, and really see all the different neighborhoods. At first I thought I’d never learn my way around, but within a week I realized how small Center City is, though I am still a bit challenged when it comes to the outer edges of the city which seem to stretch out almost infinitely. My ride to work was often the same, but I’d vary my ride home all the time. One of my favorite routes was to travel east on Race St. from 17th to Fourth St, which took me right through Chinatown.

When I lived in NYC, Chinatown was not on my way anywhere, and the one time I tried to ride a bike there I nearly had a heart attack! (This was out of fear, not poor physical shape.) This did not in any way deter me from visiting Chinatown frequently, in fact when I was in college at NYU my friend Alice and I would go every Friday for lunch, and some grocery shopping.  One of our favorite places was Sam Wo’s on Mott St, a place made famous by Woody Allen in the movie Manhattan. But way before that as far back as I can remember I’d beg to go to Chinatown just so I could get a steamed pork bun.

Though I was well acquainted with the pastries of dim sum, it wasn’t until I moved to Philadelphia where I had such easy access to the bakeries of Chinatown that I got even more familiar with the array of pastries, both sweet and savory available. In addition to this wonderland of pastries I also found out that I like congee, though for years (including every time it was offered to me at dim sum) I turned up my nose at it.  

Not surprisingly, different bakeries are good at different things. The Mayflower bakery has a variety of steamed buns, and baked buns, as well as a startling assortment of highly decorated miniature cakes. My favorite thing there is something they call a butter bun. I’m not quite sure what’s in it, but it has a crispy sweet layer on the top, and a buttery filling. No doubt it if I knew what was in it I’d be horrified, but somehow when in Chinatown I suspend all my standards of wholesome food…  For most things I prefer the Asia Bakery on Tenth St. When I first discovered it the place was a dingy hole in the wall type of place, but a few years ago they did a big renovation and now it is bright and cheery and the pastries on display are all tempting.

They have a wide variety of steamed buns, these are fluffy white buns filled with all kinds of fillings, pork, bbq pork, combination buns that generally include a hard-boiled egg, and even a hot dog wrapped with that same fluffy white dough. These are kept in steamy glass cases, where you need direction as they all look the same, except the hot dog buns. Many of these same varieties are also made in baked buns, but those are made with a sweeter, more bread-y dough, similar to a brioche or challah dough. There are more types of these buns, including pineapple filled, curried meat and chicken, bean pastes (which are quite sweet). And always the tiny, two-bite egg custard tarts, miraculously never overcooked!

Because more is more, there are also the pastries made with puff pastry dough, flaky and tender, filled with many of the above mentioned fillings, and sometimes there are small triangles of delicate dough filled with a shrimp paste with crunchy water chestnuts, and fried, and my favorite, the fried taro cake. This is an odd looking, craggy oval, with a shattering, crispy shell, filled with the dense mashed taro that makes mashed potato seem light, and in the center a warm (if you’re early) saucy ground pork mixture. If these are good they are addictive, if they are bad, it is a very sad thing.

All of this brings me to last week when on my way home from dropping my daughter at school I stopped by Asia Bakery. It was early enough that even the things that weren’t in the steam box were still warm. (Just for the record, I got extra knowing I was going to write about them, and wanted to have pictures.) On my way I started planning what to get. Though as a child the bun I had to have was a steamed bbq pork bun, I now prefer the pork and vegetable, which must be an ironic name, because the only vegetation I’ve ever tasted is some cilantro and water chestnuts. I wanted to have a good variety, so looking at the top photo, and starting from the top left I got, a curried beef pie, a fried taro cake, a baked bbq pork bun, a steamed pork and vegetable bun, and in the center an egg custard tart.

If there is no Chinatown near you, and nowhere you can easily get any of these buns, I apologize for torturing you. If you live in NYC, or nearby here is a guide to the Chinese bakeries there.  If you live anywhere near Philly, and plan a trip here, I’d be happy to act as your guide through Chinatown here! There are some really fun stores, a few grocery stores, as well as some really good food for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

What type of breakfast pastries do you crave?