hum bao and humbao (1990)

[victor steinbok]

Asian--yes, general supermarkets--mostly no. I have never seen them as
singles, however--usually in packs of four to six, depending on size and
prep method (bake or steam). As far as I can tell, none are intended to be
microwaved, but I've never been able to read the non-English directions on
them so it could be something lost in translation. In any case, I've never
seen the ones similar to the Dutch ones in the US. Those used to cost from
10 to 70 cents apiece--like I said, basic snack or fast food. The ones I've
seen in Boston/SF/Chicago/Madison tend to be for home production, not food
on the go.

Of course, the ones at bakeries are just snacks--I do believe that's egg
glaze mostly, not honey (but it might be sugar/honey glaze on some of them).
I've seen them on menu lists (or carts) in dim sums in Boston, New York and
Chicago (I've only been to one dim sum in Oakland and never in SF). But they
are listed under a variety of names.

VS-)

On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 10:18 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>wrote:

>
> Based on Google Translate, the Dutch Wikipedia page (
> http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bapao) seems to say they are from Chinese
> culture via Indonesia.
>
> The dish takes on different forms and names in English, such as nikuman,
> which has come from China via Japan, and manapua, popular in Hawai'i. Lots
> to explore here!
>
> Humbao here can be either steamed (white) or baked (brown, generally with a
> honey glaze).
>
> Surely, they must sell these products in the freezer section of US grocery
> stores--Asian if not general--though frozen just isn't the same.
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Seattle, WA
>

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