As little as ten years ago, bao were almost unheard of in the UK. However, in the past few years our knowledge of regional Chinese cuisine has come on leaps and bounds, and while there’s still an awful lot to learn, one thing’s for sure – we’ve fallen in love with these northern Chinese buns. Stuffed full of all manner of delicious things before being steamed until light and fluffy, there are entire restaurants dedicated to the delicacy, while street food stalls across the country sling out bao after bao to hungry customers. But where did this sudden love of bao come from, and why has it taken so long for them to make their way outside of China?
Bao are thought to have originated in China’s Three Kingdoms period, around the third century (although some historians believe they were around for much longer, with references to a similar-sounding delicacy dating back to 400 BC). They were supposedly popularised by Zhuge Liang, a legendary military strategist who was known for his tactical prowess. The story goes that when returning home with his army after defeating a king, they came across a river which was impossible to wade through. A local barbarian told him that in the past locals would sacrifice men and throw their heads into the river as an offering to its deity.
Preferring not to put his men through anymore suffering, Zhuge Liang decided to form steamed wheat buns into the shape of human heads, stuff them with meat and throw these into the river instead. The deity obviously found these much more delicious than its usual diet of severed heads, parted the waters and allowed the army to continue the journey. The resulting dish was called mantou (which roughly translates to ‘barbarian’s head’). By the tenth century, mantou referred to steamed bread rolls without a filling, while bao (or baozi, to use their full name) became a dish in their own right, stuffed with various other foods.
