Koah-pau

Koah-pauorgua baoorcuapaoalso known as apork belly bun,bao,orbao bun,is a type oflotus leaf bunoriginating fromFujianese cuisineinChina.It is also a popular snack inTaiwan,Singapore,Malaysia,Philippines, andNagasaki ChinatowninJapan.
It consists of a slice of stewed meat and condiments sandwiched between flatsteamed breadknown aslotus leaf bread(荷葉餅;héyèbǐng). The lotus leaf bread is typically 6–8 centimetres (2.4–3.1 in) in size, semi-circular and flat in form, with a horizontal fold that, when opened, gives the appearance that it has been sliced. The traditional filling for gua bao is a slice ofred-cookedpork belly, typically dressed with stir-friedsuan cai(pickled mustard greens),coriander, and groundpeanuts.
InHokkien, the wordgua/cua(Chinese:割/刈; Pe̍h-ōe-jī:koah) means to cut by drawing the knife through an object.Bao/Pao(包; Pe̍h-ōe-jī:pau) means "bun", so the namebao bunis redundant. The wordbao(包) inMandarinwithout any qualifiers is generally used to refer tobaozi.
The gua bao originated from the coastal regions ofFujian provinceinChina. It is said to have come from either the cities ofQuanzhouorFuzhou.In Quanzhou, gua bao is known asrou jia bao(肉夹包; 'meat between buns') orhu yao shi(虎咬狮; 'tiger bites lion').The custom ofHui'anpeople in Quanzhou is to eat these pork belly buns to celebrate the marrying off of a daughter.InJinjiang, a county of Quanzhou, there is a related vegetarian dish known ashu yao cao(虎咬草; 'tiger bites grass') that replaces the pork with a solidified peanut paste and the lotus leaf bread with a bread that is baked in a clay oven similar to a tandoor.
InTaiwan, gua bao are believed to have been introduced to the island byFuzhouneseimmigrants. Fuzhou ricevinassemeat is wrapped in it, and ingredients are chopped and soaked in meat gravy to eat.The food is known colloquially in parts ofTaiwanashó͘-kā-ti(虎咬豬; 'tiger bites pig') inTaiwanese Hokkiendue to the mouth-like form of the bun and the contents of the filling.Gua bao was a food that merchants consumed during ritual festivals whenTaiwan was under Japanese rule.  According to the research of Yu-Jen Chen, pork was expensive and not easy to acquire at that time, and flour was also scarce. As a result, the gua bao only became a popular street food among the public in Taiwan in the 1970s. Gua bao is now a popular Taiwanese street snack food and often offered withSishen soup(四神湯;sù-sîn-thng) atnight markets.
InSingaporeandMalaysia, the dish is popular among theHokkiencommunity, where it is known askong bak pau(扣肉包;khòng-bah-pau).
In thePhilippines, it is served inChinese Filipino restaurantsthroughout the country, where it is known ascuapao(割包;koah-pau).
In Hong Kong, they are known ascha bao(叉包) which means "fork buns" as the sandwiches are usually pierced by a toothpick or bamboo skewer to keep the fillings in place.
InJapanthey are calledkakunimanjuand are sold as a Chinese snack food. They are a specialty ofNagasaki Chinatown,having been sold in Japan for centuries due to the large number of Fuzhounese immigrants and historic relations between Fuzhou and Nagasaki represented by the construction ofSofukuji Temple.Recognizing the Fuzhounese community and historical connection, Nagasaki and Fuzhou established ties assister citiesin 1980.
Gua bao became popular in the early 2000s in the West through chefDavid Chang'sMomofukurestaurants (c. 2004) although he says that he was unaware that the gua bao dish already existed.His Momofuku recipe was born out of a desire to use leftover pork from his ramen, and he was inspired by his dining experiences inBeijingandManhattan Chinatown'sOriental Garden where thePeking duckwas served onlotus leaf breadrather than the traditionalspring pancake. He called his creationpork belly buns.The name "gua bao" was used and popularised by chefEddie Huangwhen he opened his BaoHaus restaurant (c. 2009).Many other restaurants serving gua bao have opened up since then, but they often refer to the dish by the ambiguous name "bao" or the erroneous name "bao bun".
In theUnited States,New York Cityhas a significant population ofFuzhounese Americansand gua bao is a popular dish sold at restaurants along with other iconic Fuzhounese dishes such asFuzhou fish ballsandlychee pork.
In theUnited Kingdom,Erchen Chang, Wai Ting and Shing Tat Chung opened BAO in London, further popularizing the snack in the West.Gua bao are often calledhirata bunsin the United Kingdom, named after Masashi Hirata, the executive chef ofIppudoin New York as many ramen restaurants began to adopt the practise of selling gua bao alongside their ramen dishes due to the influence of Momofuku and to meet high demand from customers who mistakenly believed that the gua bao was a Japanese food item.
There have been many new trendy "gua bao" which incorporate pan-Asian fusion or non-Chinese fillings between the lotus leaf buns, such askimchiorkaraage.Although these are technically not gua bao at all as they do not include pork belly, and in China would only be considered different lotus leaf bun sandwiches (he ye bao).