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One of the things I love most of Taiwan is the varied speeds of change in the country. The rocky path to my grandparents’ house have those same old rocks embedded, the same old metal spring buried at one side, rows of crops of 槟榔叶 (betel leaves) grown by the same old farmers at the other, the same kinds of grass growing at the side, the same family of daisies swaying along to the wind. Largely the same people, plus a few babies, minus some who passed away, the same smiles, the same faces, with a few more wrinkles. The same breakfast shops that had not changed in any way since before I was born. Things like that stay the same. They make the place we come from what it is.
Cycle a couple kilometres along the sort-of-expressway into the city. Most things would be different a year on. The same lady selling my favourite pancakes 车轮饼 stands at the same spot, but in front of a different shop. Shops promoting PDAs with wireless network connection spring up. Just 5 years ago, barely anyone owned a computer, let alone knew what the hell the internet was. [Even today, in the area my mum was born, few people have an internet connection (an estimated 1 in 3).] And right in the middle of the Pingtung city, now stands at least 3 new french bakeries, 1 Japanese bakery, and 1 modern Taiwanese bakery. That’s where I found 爆浆面包, or as I translate– Exploding Cream buns. An innovation unto the traditional tiny buns accompanying Western meals. Today, they are one of the most popular buns in Taiwan. Though they’re typically filled with a buttercream filling, I decided to go the healthier way with, well, tofu. If you don’t tell the people you’re serving that the buns contain tofu, there is little chance they’ll find out.
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The cream is injected into the bun rather than pre-inserted. DO NOT inject the cream into the bun while the bun is warm lest you want baked cream (a mistake a made for 2 buns, one of which’s innards are in the photo below).
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I’m providing 2 choices of filling. The Oreo Cream.
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The Coffee Cream version.
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And now the recipe! The recipe for buns is adapted from Christine’s Recipes. There are errors though! Add another 1 tsp of lemon juice for Coffee Cream and 1/2 tsp for Oreo Cream.
Assembly: stuff cream of choice into a piping bag. Make a hole in the corner of the bun and fit the piping nozzle into the hole to squeeze cream into the bun. If you press too hard such that too much cream enters, the bun literally explodes. So be careful!
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Hopefully, I’ll have something great for you tomorrow!
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This post is going to YEASTSPOTTING!!!
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