Header image courtesy of The Night Market (via Facebook)
One of the top short holiday destinations of choice for Hongkongers has always been Taipei, and it’s easy to see why. After all, where else would you get to meander through sprawling night markets, nibbling at everything that catches your fancy for dirt-cheap prices? One of the best Taiwanese street foods is the gua bao (刈包)—white, fluffy flat buns wrapped around chunks of braised meat so tender they usually melt in the mouth. Because it is said that these buns resemble the mouth of a tiger gripping a piece of fatty pork, it is also sometimes referred to as the “tiger bite pig” bao (虎咬豬).
However, Taiwan is not the only place that specialises in baos, and variations can be found across China as well—not to mention modern iterations. Here are the best places to find baos of all variations and persuasions in Hong Kong.