PrintTemple Snack’s Taiwanese Style 'Burger'
Sure doesn't look like a burger. Unless your definition encompasses several slabs of pork belly—layered with skin, fat, meat, fat, meat, fat ad Lipitor—cooked to extreme unctuousness, dressed with pickled greens and ground peanuts then stuffed into a pillowy steamed bun that can barely contain its contents.
By now you've probably guessed that this porcine package comes from Flushing. This guo bao was lovingly prepared by the folks at Temple Snacks (aka Temple Snakes), in the Roosevelt Food Court. On my first few visits, I had no idea this bit of heaven on a bun existed. What can I say? When absolutely stuffed and facing a 42-item Chinese menu, I often resort to pointing at desserty looking items.
The only reason I heard of this shrine-worthy treat was a Chowhound thread saying that this classic Taiwanese street snack rivals David Chang’s pork buns. Said thread announced a Chowhound get-together on Sunday.
By the time I got there it was more like a dogpile. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see so many eager eaters digging on regional Chinese food. Plus the entire Temple Snacks menu had been translated into English. For some reason they were out of guo bao, strong which was translated to "Taiwanese Style Pork Burger." A return visit the next day proved successful, thus earning the guo bao a place in the hall of understated English translations of sublime Chinese snacks. In case you're wondering, yes, it's incredibly hard for me to take a good photo of something so delicious before eating it.
Methinks I need a lens-drool filter.
Roosevelt Food Court
135-28 Roosevelt Avenue, Flushing NY 11354 (map)
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4 Comments:
holy shit. i'm so glad i was already planning to go to flushing tonight. serious drool.
ninalalli at 3:17PM on 11/25/08
God, the cilantro is taunting me in that photo.
caroliiine at 5:18PM on 11/25/08
it's kind of funny for me when I read articles like this because as a taiwanese-american kid, I'm used to eating this kind of food and I don't think it's anything special. I suppose that it's the same the other way round for other people regarding their neighborhood eateries that get featured. so, maybe it's just because I'm spoiled but I didn't think the bun I got was good enough to be described as "heaven on a bun". as far as pork buns go though, it was probably one of the best I've had. but in comparison to some other foods I've had? it's so-so.
oh btw, it's gua bao, not guo bao.
justtryingthingsout at 11:09PM on 11/26/08
It's worse for me as Taiwanese, born and raised, and now live in the states and ... still crave for this kind of food. $4 dollar for Gua Bao just ... even after you justify it with higher income here. Then the chowhound thread talked about it "rivals David Chang’s pork buns" ? - how much Momofuku would charge for this?
Back home, you have thousands of proprietors doing nothing but Gua Bao for 40 years. One push cart, one food and whole his/her life. Here we have the one and only stall selling 42 different things, from Ah Ma Been (the duck) to Gua Bao and it already rivals the supposedly most hopeful young chef in the country ... what's the picture here? we are not in street food heaven are we?
That said, I still have to cling to whatever we have here. So Flushing mall I am coming. :-)
shengtang at 4:56PM on 09/10/09