Every country has their signature style of making bread. The French have baguettes, Pinoys have pandesal and our Asian neighbor Hong Kong is known for their wide variety of bao. From sweet to savory, there’s a bao for everyone. Since traveling to Hong Kong is a no-go at the moment, a food business in San Juan called Bake Fresh has made it possible for you to order a box of “authentic” bao in time for an afternoon snack.
Best of all? They’re baked fresh by a Hong Kong native in a bid to bring her favorite Cantonese pastries to the Philippines.
Bake Fresh’s staple Cantonese buns come in an assortment of flavors. Their menu is made up of the usual bao flavors, like po lo bao (a soft bun topped with a sweet cookie crust) and char siu bao (a po lo bao stuffed with Cantonese style barbecued pork), as well other types of bread like ham and cheese rolls, coconut buns and sausage rolls.
Their po lo bao is made with a fluffy bun topped with sweet batter that caramelizes as it cooks and gives the top of the bun a rich and crunchy texture. The bun is delicious by itself, but proper po lo bao etiquette requires you to add a sizable slab of butter in the middle and wash it down with some Hong Kong-style milk tea to make it a truly authentic experience.
They also serve up other versions of their po lo bao with char siu, cream cheese, and salted egg filling. Their char siu bao is filled with sumptuous Cantonese-style sweet barbecue pork, and it’ll come as no surprise if one isn’t enough.
If you’re a salted egg fan, their salted egg po lo bao is definitely one to try. The rich filling (made with actual salted egg) perfectly complements the bun’s sweet crust and makes for a perfect afternoon pick-me-up.
Last, but definitely not the least, is their cream cheese po lo bao. Every bao is filled with a generous amount of cream cheese. The simple and tasty combination is bound to be a crowd pleaser that even the pickiest of palates will appreciate.
They’re open for orders weekly from Thursday to Saturday and ship deliveries out from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. They also offer free delivery for San Juan city residents.
You can place your orders through their Instagram
Header image courtesy of Bake Fresh Facebook
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Writer: ANDREIANA YUVALLOS
