I talked to Rachel Wharton a while ago about the lack of sandwich culture in the Philippines. I didn’t grow up with any Filipino “sandwiches” except stuffing leftovers in pan de sal or dinner rolls.
I really thought about it when I visited markets in Ilo-ilo and Manila. Most breads are buns for transport and not the loaves we’re used to in the U.S. No one is locally making sliced bread. You wouldn’t see anyone making European style boules or sour doughs because the hot humid weather didn’t allow for much proofing.
I’ll elaborate on this more, but the issue at hand is my search for sandwiches. It was fruitless. The ones I found were from American franchises or pale emulates of deli classics. Ah, but wait, I needed to take a step back and really look at what people ate for lunch in a hurry.
Enter siopao (sho-pow)! You might recognize these steamed bao buns from dim sum or akin to those found in NYC places like Momofuku or Ippudo. At a restaurant, you’re likely to get 3 minis with roast pork tucked inside. In the Philippines, siopao are much bigger and can come with different kinds of meat. I was lucky to grab a siopao bola bola (meatball) with spicy sauce from Kowloon House in Manila.
We can argue up and down about the sandwich validity of siopao but I see it serving the purposes of convenience, portability and satiety; the things I value most in a NY lunch. Must find a recipe for the dough, this could be a fun thing to try!
This is happening.
This is serious
This could be the greatest thing ever.
This is brilliant. I will eat these daily. I invite all my tumblr friends to come to my home and eat these.
