When I first tried bao (bao translates to bun), I felt like discovering a new world :). The bun is insanely soft and just melts into your mouth. 

Traditionally, this bun is served with pork belly. The dish is called Gua Bao and in Taiwan it’s super popular street food.

I love how versatile bao buns can be.  However, I am not a huge fan of pork belly, that’s why my version is with chicken. If you want bao to be vegan, replace chicken with jackfruit or tofu!

Ingredients for 3-4 portions:

For asian coleslaw:

• 1 cup red cabbage, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, julienned 
• 7 spring onions, chopped
• 60 g snap peas, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp roasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
•  1/4 tsp ground black pepper  
• 1/8 tsp white pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

For crusted chicken:

• 300g chicken thighs
• 3/4 cup crushed cornflakes
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sriracha 

For serving:

• 8 defrosted boa buns
• sriracha
• fried onions

1. Heat the oven to 200 C. 

2. To a bigger bowl beat in the egg, add soy sauces and sriracha. Add crushed cornflakes to a separate plate. Pound the chicken and dip it into egg mixture then coat it with cornflakes. 3. Place chicken into a sheet pan and cook in the oven for 20-25min. After it’s cooked slice it in smaller pieces. 

4. Prepare coleslaw salad. In a bowl mix sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds, salt and peppers. In a bigger bowl add all the veggies and pour over salad sauce, mix to combine and set aside. 

5. Steam buns until it’s soft and warm (I steamed for 5-7 min).

6. Add to the ban coleslaw, chicken, pour sriracha on top and sprinkle some fried onions.