Flaky pork floss bun 馃惤
Puff pastry is very popular all over the world. I think it is both an old fashion and a modern baked goods. There are so many different ways, creations and occasions that could be used on, from a very ordinary piece of croissant to a master piece from celebrity chefs. It all thanks to the buttery flavor, the flaky and light texture, and the flexibility in shape carving.
Back in my childhood, we didn't use to have very fancy and exotic cuisine in Taiwan. My first memory of pastry is the puff pastry corn chowder, where the baked puff pastry is placed and sticked to the bowl on top of the chowder. I always loved to break the pastry and dig into the soup having the puff pastry being soaked.
One other snack of puff pastry in my childhood was the puff pastry snack on the market from Taiwan called "Milano", the shared childhood memory back in the 90's. It is a piece of layered puff pastry coated with a very thin layer of white chocolate.
One other place where I could enjoy the puff pastry is the flaky pork floss bun which could be found in many of the traditional Taiwanese bakeries. Pork floss are filled into a tender dough and then topped with a squared piece of puff pastry, the combination brings out so much flavor in one bite. The butter from the puff pastry would smooth the dryness of the pork floss, and the sweetness from the dough would balance the savoriness of the pork floss. Eventually, it is my favorite flavor - the mixture of sweetness and savoriness.
Pork floss is something that would always be in stock at home in most of the Taiwanese families. I love it so much that I could eat it with anything or every meal although it would not be defined as "healthy" food 馃槵. Now I still have it in stock in our Boston house but not from my favorite store in Taiwan 馃構.
Frozen puff pastry are so easy to obtain here in the US, as you could find them in most of the supermarkets. I tried to replicate this flaky pork floss bun just to recall the pleasant flavor from hometown. I hope that someday, I will take on the challenge to make my own puff pastry!
I share the same childhood memories of those chowder with puff pastry in fancy "Western" restaurants (they were actually very much Taiwanese style as I now recall). Popping and soaking the cap into the soup was the highlight and relief of uneasy and tedious dining hours. (highlight for the child to have something to mess up with and relief for the parents to spare the hyperactive child's energy). In addition, love for pork floss shared as well :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your memories! I wonder where this presentation of chowder was originated from! Pork floss are one the bests :P
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